Ann wanted to play in the city orchestra (管弦乐队), but she was nervous (紧张的). She thought it might be too difficult. The first day she was so nervous, and she could hardly breathe. After a few rehearsals (排练), she could comfortably play along with everyone else. She found that there was no reason to be nervous and began to enjoy herself.

    In rehearsals, Ann became friends with Danny. Danny sat next to her and always helped her. Ann often asked him questions about music. Danny's parents were musicians. They started teaching Danny music when he was only five years old. Ann couldn't imagine playing the violin at that age.

    Ann's another friend in the orchestra was Marie. After rehearsal, Marie would tell Ann funny stories. Though Marie was much older than Ann, the two became good friends.

    The orchestra was rehearsing music for a concert. Ann invited some of her friends at school to come. Though they didn't understand music, they promised to come. They all liked Ann and wanted to cheer her. Ann's family also planned to go to the concert. Ann looked forward to the event, and she hoped it would not rain on the night of the concert.

    On the night of the concert, Ann was excited. Danny and Marie both told her that the concert would be fun. Ann knew that she would enjoy it. The conductor (指挥) Mike was nervous. Ann was surprised because she knew that he conducted many big concerts all over the world. After the concert was over, the conductor seemed happy. He said the orchestra gave a fine performance.

    It is school time again, a new start of a new period.

    You are, probably feeling excited and a little sad that summer is over. Some kids feel nervous or a little scared on the first day of school because of the new things, new teachers, and maybe even a new school. Luckily, these new worries only stay for a little while.

    On your first day, most teachers start the school year by introducing themselves and talking about all the things you'll do that year. Maybe you'll have a chance to tell something about yourselves to the others of the class. The most important thing for you is to learn new rules and follow them. After all, rules can make the school life better. Besides, the most exciting thing for you is to meet new friends in a new place. The first day of school doesn't sound bad, but there is some advice for you to make you a better person, such as developing good learning habits, making a good plan and taking your new schoolwork seriously. The last but not the least is to have fun in your new school.

    As the saying goes: Good beginning is half done.

Many Chinese words include directions or positions. What is the Chinese history and culture hidden behind these words?

When we go shopping, we say "mai dongxi" instead of "mai nanbei" in Chinese. Going back to the ancient city of Chang'an, the national capital in Tang dynasty, there were two large markets, one was in the east and the other was in the west, which were called "eastern market" and "western market". People went shopping either in the eastern market or the western one. As time went by, people started to describe shopping as "mai dongxi".

We use "shang cesuo" in Chinese to express "go to the bathroom" and "xia chufang" to mean "go to the kitchen". Why? In ancient times, houses were built in a certain way. The gate of the house would face south, with the bathroom in the north eastern part of the house and the kitchen in the south eastern part. On maps, north is usually at the top while south is at the bottom. In Chinese, we talk about "the north" as "shang" and "the south" as "xia". So people would say they were going "up" to the bathroom and "down" to the kitchen.

Ancient Chinese not only used "shang" and "xia" to refer to directions, but also social status. "Shang" was seen to be honorable, while "xia" stood for humility (谦卑). For example, people used "huangshang" to refer to the emperor and "dianxia" to refer to the son or daughter of the emperor, who had a lower status than the emperor.

What is your dream job, a pilot or a policeman? What do you hope your job is like? Read the following stories and find more at www.cambridge,org/aw/cambridgeenglish.

Once there lived an old man in a mountain village. He was a famous hunter. He often went hunting alone in the mountains. He was not afraid of any wild animals, not even a tiger. 

One night, someone saw a tiger come into the village, and stole two sheep away. The next night the tiger came again. The villagers were frightened. They asked the old hunter to catch it so that they could have a safe life. 

When the old man heard about the tiger, he thought hard. He wondered why the tiger came at night twice but only stole the sheep. The next night he walked outside the village. Suddenly he saw the tiger coming. He quickly threw himself on the ground. To his surprise, the tiger did not come at him. But went away. He followed it quietly and found it was running on two of its feet just like a man. Then everything was clear. 

On the fourth day, when it got dark, the hunter took some animal skins with him and hid himself behind a big tree near the village. He was waiting for the" tiger". As soon as the " tiger" came near the tree, the old hunter jumped out, caught the " tiger" by the "leg" and said, " Don't be afraid. I do not mean to hurt you. You know who I am, don't you?"

The " tiger" said " Yes" and took off the tiger's skin. 

"You are poor. But you mustn't steal anything from others. Here are some animal skins for you. You may sell them at the market. With the money, you can buy food and clothes for your family. Work harder and try to make a living. " With tears in his eyes, the poor man thanked the kind-hearted old hunter and walked home. 

Helen's uncle has a big and beautiful farm. Ella, Emma, Peter and Helen are there. They find many great animals there.