Mr. Smith made many tests with different animals and the monkey was the cleverest of all the animals.

      One day Mr. Smith put a monkey in a room. He also put some small boxes in it. In one of the boxes there was some food. "How long will it take the monkey to find the food?" Mr. Smith said to himself. "Let me wait and see." He left the room and waited outside. Three minutes later, he put his eye to the keyhole. What did he see? He saw the eye of the monkey. The monkey was on the other side of the door and looked at Mr. Smith through the keyhole.

    Mary is an English girl. She's six years old(岁). Her mother takes her to school in the morning and brings her home in the afternoon. She likes her nice school. She likes her teachers, too.

    One day, she says (说) to her mother, "Mum, we have a new girl in our class today, Her name is Kim. She's six years old, too. She's very nice, but she isn't English. She is German(德国人)".

    "Does she speak (说) English"?

    "No, but she laughs(笑) in English", Mary says happily(高兴地).

Dear Helen,

I had a great time in Hong Kong. I spent five days there. Let me tell you what I did. Today I went shopping with my aunt but I didn't buy anything. The things were too expensive.

Yesterday I took a boat trip around the famous Victoria Harbor(维多利亚港). I took lots of photos.

The day before yesterday I went to the zoo. I saw some monkeys there. Oh, I also bought some gifts there. On Thursday I went to the bird market. I saw many kinds of birds from all around the world. On Wednesday my aunt took me to the beach. We lay on the beach and enjoyed the sun. On the beach I met my friend. We played happily on the beach. What about your trip? I hope you have a great time in Toronto.

Yours,

Zhao Pei

Mrs. Baylor has a pet parrot. The bird is smart and it's learning (学习) to talk these days.

This morning, Mrs Baylor goes shopping and leaves (留) the parrot at home. There is something wrong with her sink (水槽) and Mrs. Baylor forgets a plumber(水管工) will come to fix it.

KNOCK(敲门声) KNOCK "Who is it? " the parrot calls.

"It's the plumber." the man says. He waits, but no one comes to the door. 

KNOCK KNOCK "Who is it? " the parrot calls.

"It's the plumber!" the man says. But still, no one opens the door.

KNOCK KNOCK "Who is it? " the parrot calls.

The man lets out a shout (吼叫), "IT'S THE PLUMBER! " This time, he shouts so loud that he loses his breath (呼吸)and falls down (倒下).

Just then, Mrs. Baylor comes back and she just finds a man on the ground.

"Oh, my dear!" she says, "Who is this?" And the parrot shouts, "IT'S THE PLUMBER!" 

Are you nervous when you stand in front of the public? Are you 1 to make a speech(演说;讲演)? Li Jun, a middle school student, felt shy 2 he was making a speech the other day. Li had thought it would be quite easy to speak in front of3 classmates.

"I was wrong. It was very different and much 4 than talking to my classmates during playtime,"Li said."I tried, but it was really difficult to speak. I felt like a mute(哑巴) and wanted to leave the classroom 5 ."Li is not alone. Many middle school students now have the same6 as Li. After class, most of them can7 their ideas freely with their best friends. But they8 speak well in public. According to Zhou Hong, a teacher from a university, the main reason is that schools in China pay more attention to writing than 9 .

Zhou hopes schools can give students more chances to open their10 such as speech competitions, English corners and class discussions.11 can join in any one.12 he also gives some advice to students."During your free time, you should13 more. When you're speaking in public, take it easy. Just imagine you're talking to 14 and speak out your ideas clearly," Zhou said."That15 a fine public speech and you'll feel confident."

It 's the year 2123.With the help of the newly-invented time machine,Joe (J),a middle school student in the United States,travels back to 1886to interview Mark Twain (M).

J:Hi, are you Mr. Mark Twain?

M:Yes, I am. Do I know you?

J: My name is Joe. I come from the future. Nice to meet you, Mr. Twain! M: Oh, oh! What a big surprise!

J:You are my favorite writer! May I ask you a few questions?

M: Sure. 

J: So what encouraged you to become a writer?

M:Well, when I was young, I never thought I would became one. 

J:Then, what was your dream job?

M:In fact, I just wanted to make a living at that time. I was a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi. But in 1861, I moved west. 

J:What did you do there?

M:I worked as a gold miner(淘金者). But sadly I didn't find anything close to gold. 

J:What did you do there?

M:I enjoyed creating stories Maybe I had a talent for that. I sent some of my stories to The Territorial Enterprise. It was a leading newspaper at that time. The boss was so satisfied with them that he offered me a writing job. 

J:And then you became famous as a writer?

M:Um. . . you could say so. 

J:One last question, could I share this interview on the internet?

M:Wait a minute. What is this "internet" thing?

J:. . .