Dear Sir,

    My name is Li Qiang. I'm in Class 3, Grade 2, and I'm thirteen and a half years old. I want to be in a club in our school. I do well in languages and I can speak English very fluently（流利地）. I can also play the piano very well. I took part in several English competitions. Last year in School English Show I got the first prize. So I think I can be in the English club.Can I join you? Me email is liqiang666@163.com. Please write me back and let me know.

Li Qiang

  I am a student of a middle school. My class teacher is Mrs. Green. She is more than 30 years old. She is our English and History teacher. She is strict(严格) and at the same time she is very kind.

    In our school, there is a playground. We do morning exercises, play basketball and volleyball there. Our PE teacher, Mr. Jackson teaches us to do ball games. He was once a successful sportsman. He is our hero. Our school also has a swimming pool. We take swimming lessons there.

    Our school building is very large and the school hall is on the ground floor. Every year, we have a prize-giving ceremony(颁奖典礼)in the hall.

      Why are so many people so afraid to fail? Quite simply because no one tells us how to fail so that failure (失败) becomes an experience that means growth. We forget that failure is part of the human condition and that every person has the right to fail.

      Most parents work hard at preventing failure or protecting their children from the knowledge that they have failed. One way is to lower standards. 60% of the parents choose this way. When a child finishes making a table, the mother describes it as “perfect” even though it doesn't stand still. Another way is to blame (责怪) others. If John fails in science, his teacher is unfair or stupid.

      There's a problem with the two ways. It makes a child unprepared for life in the real world. The young need to learn that no one can be best at everything, no one can win all the time, and that it's possible to enjoy a game even when you don't win. A child who's not invited to a birthday party, who doesn't make the honour list on the baseball team, feels terrible, of course. But parents should not offer a quick consolations (安慰), prize or say, “It doesn't matter.” Because it does. The young should be allowed to experience failure and be helped to come out of it.

     Failure never gives people pleasure. It hurts both grown-ups and children. But it can be really good to your life when you learn to use it. You must learn to ask “Why did I fail?” Don't blame anyone else. Ask yourself what you did wrong and how you can improve. If someone else can help, don't be shy about asking them.

    Do you know what is useful to stop a cold? It is your body working against the virus（病毒）that makes you uncomfortable when getting a cold, but not the virus Itself? So if you are strong and the virus is strong enough, too, you will feel terrible.

    Vitamin C won't stop a cold

    It is said that Vitamin C helps you beat the cold. However, many tests have shown that it does not stop colds. It only helps you feel a little bit better.

    Staying indoors won't protect you

    Cold viruses like to stay on your computer mouse or desk. A study found that 47%of the viruses Indoors are on the desks, 46%are on the computer mice, and 45%on telephones.

    Wearing more clothes won't keep you away from colds

    Colds are more common in autumn and winter. That's because the cool, wet and cold weather drives people indoors where viruses may more easily jump from one person to another. And the peak（高峰期）in colds is in September and early January, because students come back to schools after the summer and winter vacation.

    Old grandma's chicken soup is right

    Grandma's chicken soup is a traditional way to help you get well. Scientists say it is true. The chicken soup does help to beat a cold. Many canned（罐装）soups are just efficient（有效的）as homemade ones.

                                                           Information Card

    I have had a lot of problems recently. Firstly, I'm not happy in class. I'm so shy that I'm afraid of speaking in class. Secondly, I argued with my best friend. I'm very worried because I have few friends. I don't want to lose her. Thirdly, I feel nervous when the midterm exams are coming. And sometimes I even can't sleep well at night.

    Yesterday, my mother took me to the doctor. I told the doctor my problems and 他给我一些建议. He asked me to make more friendly friends and play games in my free time, so that I would not be so shy. He also said, "If you don't want to lose your best friend, you should talk with her. Tell her ________ you think." Because I couldn't sleep well, he asked me to eat some food that was good for sleep. And he asked me to relax. I'm trying to follow his advice. I think I will get better soon.

    Vienna is a beautiful old city on the River Danube in the center of Europe. It's the capital city of Austria and the center of European classical music. In the 18th century a lot of musicians came to study and work in Vienna.

    In the Strauss family, there were two composers called Johann Strauss: the father and the son. The father, Johann Strauss the elder, wrote and played music for traditional dances, called the waltz. His dance music made him famous all over Europe. The son, Johann Strauss the younger, was also very successful and popular. He wrote over 150 waltzes. In 1867 he wrote The Blue Danube waltz.

    Mozart was another very important composer. He was born in Austria in 1756. Before he was six, he played not only the piano but also the violin. His family took him around Europe and he gave concerts in many cities. He wrote hundreds of wonderful pieces of music. But he became very poor and died in 1791 when he was only 35. Like Johann Strauss, father and son, he was a great European musician, and many people still think his music is perfect.