Look at the picture. Who is the girl? She is my friend. Her name is Alice Black. She is an English girl.

    Alice has a big family. Her grandparents have two daughters and one son — her father. Alice lives with her grandparents, parents, two brothers and one sister. Alice has two dogs — Bobby and Tony. Bobby is black and Tony is white. Alice likes them very much. Alice is a middle school student. She has a good friend at school. Her name is Helen. They are cousins, too.

    I have a pen pal in Canada. His name is Simon. He lives in Ottawa, Canada. He is twelve years old. He also studies in Grade Two.

    Simon lives in a happy family. His father is a policeman and his mother is a bank clerk. Simon and his parents like exercising. They almost exercise every day. Simon's father is tall. He is good at playing basketball. Simon's mother likes playing volleyball.

    Simon usually gets up at 6. 30 am. He eats his breakfast at home. Then he goes to school. It's kind of far from the school to his home, so he usually has his lunch at school.

    Usually, Simon does his homework four times a week. Simon likes watching TV. He usually watches TV for about one hour every day. He goes to bed at nine.

    Driving a car at high speed along a highway seems to be fun. You need only to follow the bright traffic signs beside the highways and it will take you to where you wish.

    But to a London taxi driver, driving is not an easy job. A taxi driver has to have not only good driving skills but also a good knowledge of the city of a London, from the smallest lane(小巷) to the most popular bar around. He has to be at the service of all kinds of passengers at all times.

    A certain London taxi driver told of his job as follows.

During the night it is quite usual for him to stop two or three times for some refreshments (点心). He said. "I never drink when I'm working —- I would lose my licence"

    He normally goes home between 2 and 3 O'clock in the night. There are times he has to stay longer and try to make more runs. He said, "That's the worst thing about working for yourself. If you don't make the money, no one is going to give it to you."

London taxi drivers not only 'take' but also 'give'. Every summer hundreds of children from London will go for a day at the sea— by taxi! Their rides are paid by the taxi drivers, and these fares(车费) all go to the 'London Taxi Fund for Underprivileged Children. At the sea, they are met by the mayor, and a lunch party is also held in honour of the taxi drivers and the children. After a happy day running around the sea beaches and visiting the market, the children go home again-- by taxi, and free of charge, of course!