Cars are very important in the life of the Americans. ⑴Without a car, most American people would feel that they are poor. And even if a person is poor, he doesn't really feel poor when he has a car. ⑵Henry Ford was the man who started making cars in large numbers. He probably didn't know how much cars would affect the American culture. Cars have made the United States a nation on wheels. And ⑶it has helped to make the United States what it is today.

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    Friends are very important in everyone's life because friends are always there when we need them. It's great to have many friends, and I can't think about my life without my friends.

    My best friend is Lisa. When I first met her, I was five. She is one year older than me. Now she is in the same class with me, in the 8th grade. She is tall and quite thin. She has long curly blond hair and blue eyes. Lisa and I like doing a lot of things together and talking about different things. She always helps me with my math and I sometimes help her with her English and history, I had to do a report(报告)on science once, but I didn't understand(理解) what the teacher said. The next day, I read it in front of the class. But the teacher told me that my report was wrong and my classmates laughed at me. I felt very bad about myself. Lisa was the only one who didn't laugh at me. She tried to be nicer than anybody else and made me happy.

    Lisa is friendly and everybody loves her. I am happy to have a friend like her.

Information Card

    My favorite animals are swans (天鹅). They are white. They can swim very well. I think they look like beautiful girls in white dresses (连衣裙). They have a pair of wings (翅膀) and they can also fly (飞) well. I believe  (认为) they are angels (天使) from the sky (天空). They bring us love and make (使) us happy. They are always friendly to us. We can't kill them, because they are our friends. I love them!

    I also like dogs. They are not beautiful, but they are the best friends. They keep the thieves (小偷) away. Dogs have the best hearing and eyesight. They can hear (听见) in the noise (喧闹声) and see in the dark (黑暗). If we are in danger, they will help us at once (立刻). So, I love them.

    What do you do when you begin to read an English newspaper?

You'd better know what sections there are. Usually, there is international news, business, science and technology, entertainment or lifestyle, sports and cartoons. You can choose your favourite section to read carefully.

    That you come to the article itself. If you don't have time to read the

whole article, the headline(标题) and photo give you a general idea of the story.

    Different kinds of articles

    A news article includes body text and a photo with a short piece of text under it. It usually puts the most important information at the very beginning. If you don't have much time to read the story, just have a look at the first paragraph.

    A feature article is an in-depth(深人的) report on an event or a person. It usually has an interesting opening. You get to know the idea of the article as you read.

    Another kind of article is an opinion article. Usually, some famous people give their own opinions about an important issue in a fun way. Opinion article is different from news stories that are all facts.

Be a critical(批判性的) reader

    There are advertisements in newspapers. They can provide useful information about products, places, food or jobs. Remember that people make advertisements to sell you things. You don't have to do everything advertisements tell you to do. You should be critical enough to judge which advertisements are useful and which are not.