Dear Peter，

    Thank you for your letter. Now I'm going to answer some of your questions. You ask me about the weather in Beijing in winter. It's quite cold and it often snows in winter. After snowing, the ground is white. And I can skate on the ice. It's very interesting to skate. I like winter best.

    You ask me when it is the best time to come to China. I think the best time to come to China is in spring or in fall. It's often too hot in summer and it's too cold in winter. I have to finish this letter now. Ask your brother to come to China with you together. Welcome to Beijing soon.

Yours，

Jim

    Look，this is my family. There are six people in my family. My grandfather and grandmother are old. My grandfather is tall. He can read a book. My grandmother is short. She can sing and dance. Now they are in the park. The park is big. There are ten tall trees in the park. There are seven boys and six girls in it，too. The park is green. Do you like green?

    Many years ago, people use a stick, a large piece of wood and dry leaves to make a fire. Today, wood, gas (煤气) and electricity (电) can all make a fire. I think wood is the most dangerous. And I like gas most because it's easy.

    People use fire in many ways. At home, people use fire to cook food and boil water. In factories, workers use fire to melt (熔化) metals (金属) to makes things of different shapes. Some workers use fire to make glass.

    Fire can help us to do many things, but sometimes fire is dangerous. Cigarettes and campfires can all start a fire in the countryside, in schools and at homes. We must be careful. We mustn't smoke in the countryside, and we mustn't cook without an adult (成年人). We mustn't play with matches. We mustn't play around a fire.

Sally: Good morning, Janet.

Janet: Good morning, Sally.

Sally: Do you have any new skirts?

Janet: No, I don't.

Sally: Do you want to buy some?

Janet: Yes, I do.

Sally: There is a new shop next to our school. Let's go there this evening. I want to buy a pair of red shoes there.

Janet: OK. Are the clothes there expensive?

Sally: No, they aren't. A skirt is only thirty yuan.

Janet: That's great.

Sally: See you this evening.

Many people don't have the same hobbies, but they can still be good friends. Li and Wang are good friends. Li likes collecting stamps (集邮). Wang doesn't like collecting stamps. He likes swimming.

Wang often asks Li to go swimming with him, but Li always (总是) says he is very busy (忙碌的). Yes, he is always busy with his stamps. "You should collect something with me," Wang often says to Li. "You should collect something." Li often says to Wang. Wang likes playing the violin, but Li doesn't. Li likes playing the piano. They like to help each other. That's why they are good friends.