Long, long ago there lived an old man. He had a very big orange tree in his garden. On the tree there were many fine oranges.

    One day the old man found one of the oranges was bigger than the others. It was as big as a watermelon. So he took the big orange to the king. The king was very happy and gave the old man a lot of money for it.

    When a rich man heard of this, he said to himself, "It is only an orange. Why did the king give him so much money? If I take my gold cup to the king, he will give me much more money for it."

    The next day when the king got the gold cup, he said to the rich man,"What a beautiful cup! I'll give you something for it. Please take the great orange."

    Goldfish are good pets. They are funny to watch. But they need the right home. They are not happy if they are living in a bowl. A tank is bigger. It can hold more water and it has more room for goldfish to swim. So a tank is a good place for goldfish. Here are some ways for keeping goldfish in a tank.

    Put a tank at home. Do not put it near the window. It could get too warm from the sun.

    Put some water in the tank. Wait a few days, check the water and make sure the water is clean. Then put some rocks and plants on the tank bottom for fish to hide behind them.

    Get your fish. Bring it home in a bag. The bag must be full of water. Let the bag float (漂动) in the tank. Wait half an hour. Then open the bag. Let the fish swim out.

    Look after goldfish. First put a cover on the tank. It can keep fish safe. With a cover nothing can fall into the tank and fish cannot jump out. Do not feed your fish too much! A fish should eat most of its food right away. Clean the tank each week. To keep the water clean, you must take out old water and add new water.

    Your fish will be happy to live in a tank.

    For me, living in Canada for 25 years, China is a new world that I have longed to explore. This spring, I chose Yangzhou to be my first stop on a 16-month trip around China. It was like love at first sight. At 15, I bought a book of collection of poems about Tang Dynasty. Through it, I heard of Yangzhou for the first time. I was deeply attracted(吸引) by a poem written by Li Bai-“Sailing to Yangzhou in March”(烟花三月下扬州).

    Yangzhou,sitting 2,500 years at the crossing of the Yangtze River and the 2,400-year-old Grand Canal(大运河), is one of the first 24 historic and cultural cities in China. In the old town,there are many streets and houses. It's best to visit the city in spring. Spring paints the city in brigtht colors.

    Yangzhou has always been famous for its gardens. Among them ,the Slender West Lake, one of the biggest attractions in the city,was my first stop. The park with its fantastic landscape and lots of history has enough to keep a tourist busy for the whole day. What a shame I simply could afford half a day!

    My next stop was He Garden,one of the best prottected gardens in Yangzhou. It was once owned by the family of He Zhidao in Qing Dynasty. He Zhidao successfully brought Chinese and Western architectural(建筑的) features together.

    Yangzhou is also the starting point of the Grand Canal tour. Taking a boat along the part of the canal in Yangzhou, I was amazed at the liveliness of this ancient waterway and the city's history and culture.

    Luckily, my two-day trip to Yangzhou was filled with pleasure and wonder. It made me hungry for more China.

                                          Information Card

    The bar chart shows the amount of money spent on two types of electronic items in country X.

    Study the information in the chart by choosing and reporting the main features.

English weather

    Everybody talks about the weather in England and this is not surprising. It changes from minute to minute, so it's always interesting. Someone once wisely remarked(评论) that other countries have a climate, but England just has weather! Gretel was amazed by this talk at first, but she has got used to it now.

    Last month Gretel really understood why everyone is so concerned about the weather:  you can never be certain what's going to happen. Though it was spring, there were heavy snowfalls. As usual, no one expected it. The pipes in many houses were frozen; trains failed to run; cars on the roads shrank; there were many accidents on the roads; lots of people slipped on the icy pavements and got hurt. The weather was very bad. Everyone complained gloomily(沮丧地), "What awful weather we're having! Haven't seen anything like it!". And then, suddenly, the sun came out, the snow melted and it was spring again.

    "Typical(典型的)! Just typical! " Gretel remarked. "From the way you talk about the weather, Gretel," Mr Clark said, "anyone would think you were English."