This week we asked students at New Star High School about the best ways to learn more English. Some said they learnt by using English. Some students had more specific suggestions.

      Lillian Li said the best way to learn new words was reading English magazines. She said that she never studied grammar. She thought it was too boring.

      Wei Ming felt differently. He has been learning English for six years and really loves it. He thought studying grammar was a great way to learn a language. He also thought that watching English movies was a good way to watch the actors say the words.

      Liu Chang said that joining the English Club at school was the best way to improve her English. Students got lots of practice and they also had fun.

    I have a garden(花园)．It is a great place to have fun．Now it's summer．The garden has many colors—green，white，red and yellow．There are three trees in the garden—an orange tree,an apple tree and a pear tree．The orange tree is young and it doesn't have any fruits．There aren't many pears on the pear tree，either because of the cold weather in April and May this year．There are a lot of green apples on the apple tree．It always has a lot of fruits every year．

    There are two animals in the garden now．Max is my dog．Max is big,but he is very friendly and everybody loves him．He's 4 years old．Max is playing with Hector, my beautiful white cat．Hector is about ten years old：

    There is a purple tent (帐篷)in the middle of the garden．My brother,Luke，likes camping(扎营)，but my mother doesn't want him to go camping．So he sometimes sleeps in the purple tent．I think my mother is right．Camping in the garden is safe (安全的)for a five-year-old boy．

根据材料内容简要回答下列问题。

Family Traditions

    Where are your family traditions? The following information comes from several readers：

JARED:{#blank#}1{#/blank#}We take turns picking a movie to watch together. It's fun because I watch something my parents like, and they watch something I like. My mother likes old black and white movies, so I see a lot of them! We also make pizza and eat it in front of the TV.

WINNIE:{#blank#}2{#/blank#} My favorite meal is spaghetti and meatballs. My mom usually cooks, but my dad and sister help. On my sister's birthday, we eat pizza. On my mom's birthday, we have chicken, and on my dad's birthday we have steak. Of course, we always have a birthday cake, too. What are your family tradition? The following information comes from several readers:

DANNI:{#blank#}3{#/blank#}My family is really busy. We have a large family, and it's not easy for everyone to get together at the same time. On that day, we go to a nice restaurant and we talk and talk and talk.

SUZIE:{#blank#}4{#/blank#}After dinner, we go to the living room and play a board game, such as Scrabble  or Monopoly. We have about seven different ones we play, but we only play one game a night. I plan to keep this tradition after I start my own family.

ROB:{#blank#}5{#/blank#}I get up early and make something special, such as a mushroom omelet with fruit salad. Then I put it on a tray with a newspaper and a flower, and bring it to my mother for breakfast in bed. She always acts surprised, but I do it every year.

    While you are at the bookstore, you may be faced with a difficult decision: e­ books or paper books? Each one has its advantages and disadvantages. Making the best decision depends on a number of factors(因素).

    An e­ reader can carry a whole library wherever you go, which is great for travelers or those who always want a choice of reading materials. Although e­ readers are convenient, high levels of screen brightness from an electronic device(电子设备) can cause eye problems. A study in the Information Science Research found that young people preferred e­ readers, like smart phones or iPads. That's why most teenagers are short­sighted.

    Many book lovers prefer paper books and value the feeling of them. Paper books are very well designed, they look and smell good, and they carry with them a more human touch. Avid(热衷的) readers prefer reading on paper .Perhaps this is their choice because paper books give them a sense of ownership .It is reported that reading on paper rather than an electronic screen is better for memory and focus .But paper books are heavy and they are not convenient to carry.

    Which is your decision, an e ­book or a paper book?

    About the year 1900, Charlie Chaplin (卓别林) was often seen waiting outside the back entrances of London theaters. He looked neither tall nor short. He was hoping to get work in show business. Luckily, he soon got a chance to act and it was also his first performance on the stage.

    But twenty years later, this same Chaplin became the greatest, best-known comedian (喜剧演员) in the world. Any regular visitor to the cinema must have seen some of Charlie Chaplin's films. People everywhere have laughed at them until tears have run down their faces. Even people who don't understand English can enjoy Chaplin's films because they mostly have no sound. It isn't what he says that makes us laugh. It is based on little actions which mean the same thing to people all over the world.

    Chaplin lived most of his life in America and died in Switzerland on Christmas Day in 1977, at the age of eighty-eight. There was sadness all over the world at the news of his death.

    Kyra Komac, 28 years old, now has 25 furniture(家具）stores all over the country. The new store, in London's Camden High Street, takes her back to where it all started.  She tells us about how the business began.

    "When I was little, my mother began selling flowers in Camden Market. She couldn't leave me at home on my own, so I had to go to the market with her. To begin with, I didn't have to do anything. I just sat there, and my mum told me jokes and stories so I didn't get bored. When I got older, I gave my mum a hand and I really enjoyed it."

    "Then, one year, my grandma gave me a book for Christmas. It was all about making candles and I loved it. I was 14, and I didn't have to go to the market anymore because Mum could leave me at home on my own. I spent my free time making candles of all shapes and sizes. I made hundreds of them."

    "One day, my mother was ill so I had to go to the market on my own. I decided to take some candles with me and see if I could sell them. They were sold out in twenty minutes! The next week, my mum gave me some money to buy some wax(蜡）to make more candles. They were sold out really quickly, too."

    "Nine months later, we decided to stop selling flowers. My mum and I couldn't make enough candles during the week, so some of my school friends started to give us a hand. I paid them one pound for every candle, and we used to sell them for three or four times. It was fun and my friends worked with me in the market."

    "At the age of 22, my uncle lent me some money and I opened my first shop in Portobello Road. Since then, I've never looked back, even in difficulties. In the first store,  we only sold candles, but now we sell everything from furniture to paintings. Oh, and candles，of course."