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    After you get back home from a trip, one of the most pleasant things is sharing your stories with people. And that's what we'd like you to do. Our magazine's “True Stories” section is for your strange experiences, heart-warming tales and funny stories on your trip. So if you have good stories, please write to us!

    If your story is chosen as the best one, you will win the nine-day trip across North America, including a seven-night trip along the California coast. For more information, please call 800-227-2826, or e-mail us at TrueStories@hotmail.com.

    Besides, you need to remember a few things if you want to write a story:

    Keep the story brief (简短的) and lively (within 250 words).

    Please send your story as the body of your e-mail, not as an attachment (附件).

    Most of the stories we print have photos, so send pictures, but try not to go crazy. Send only the best one(s).

    Please send your photos as an attachment, not embedded in (把……嵌入) the body of your e-mail.

    We don't mind if you or your friends are in the pictures, as long as you tell us who or what is in the photos.

    We need to be able to get in touch with you, so tell us your phone number and home address.

    It was a summer afternoon in the countryside. Wan Bo, a university student, was painting while his classmate Tang Qi was making a wooden box by the river. A little riding on a rocking horse caught their eye by chance. It brought them back to their childhood, warm and happy.

    "Why not try to make one by ourselves?" said Wan Bo. "You are good at making things and I am interested in painting."

    "Actions speak louder than words," Tang Qi said. Then, the two young men began to collect some information about it. During those days, watching videos about caring(雕刻) and shaping wood into horse shapes on the Internet became an important part of their life.

    Several months later, a wooden rocking horse appeared. They felt so excited that they put the picture of it on the Internet right away. To their surprise, it attracted lots of people's attention and some even hoped to order one.

    The two young men thought it might be a good chance. They sent some forms to the customers to make a survey. According to the result, they made each customer a special rocking horse. These horses were quite different from those produced in other factories, and they soon became popular among the customers.

    In the first year of their new hobby, Wan and Tang made thirteen rocking horses. Sometimes, they also repaired rocking horses for people. They made the old ones look new again. Wan and Tang helped those people bring back many happy memories.

    Their hobby has now become a successful and busy business.

    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.

    Did you know that tea, the most popular drink in the world（after water）was invented by accident？Many people believe that tea was first drunk about 5, 000 years ago. It is said that a Chinese ruler called Shen Nong was the first to discover tea as a drink.  One day Shen Nong was boiling drinking water over an open fire. Some leaves from a tea plant fell into the water and remained there for some time. It produced a nice smell so he tasted the brown water. It was quite delicious, and so, one of the world's favorite drinks was invented.

    A few thousand years later, Lu Yu, "the saint of tea", mentioned Shen Nong in his book Cha Jing. The book describes how tea plants were grown and used to make tea. It also discusses where the finest tea leaves were produced and what kinds of water were used.

    It is believed that tea was brought to Korea and Japan during the 6th and 7th centuries. In England, tea didn't appear until around 1660, but in less than 100 years, it had become the national drink. The tea trade from China to Western countries took place in the 19th century. This helped to spread the popularity of tea and the tea plant to more places around the world. Even though many people now know about tea culture, the Chinese are without doubt the ones who best understand the nature of tea.

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    Hello, everyone. I'd like to have a brief introduction to the overseas study group. There will be {#blank#}1{#/blank#} group members visiting the USA. We will start our journey at 19:00 on August 15 from Shanghai and will arrive in {#blank#}2{#/blank#} at 22:15. From August 16 through 23 we'll {#blank#}3{#/blank#} in Harrison Middle School. As for the nights, we'll stay at the local students' homes so that we'll have more time to practice our {#blank#}4{#/blank#} English. After that, we'll tour some large {#blank#}5{#/blank#} and the last stop is San Francisco. On August 27, we'll fly back to our homeland, and we will enjoy parents' warm hugs the next day.

    A city without cars would be very strange, right? But Venice is such a city.

    Venice is in the northeast of Italy. It isn't built on land, like Beijing or Shanghai, but on more than 110 islands. Seawater is everywhere around the city.

    Even so, travel isn't difficult. The waterways have always been the best way to get around. There are 117 waterways and more than 400 bridges that can lead you where you want to go.

    People in Venice move from place to place by boat. They like to enjoy cool summer nights while taking boat trips. They can talk to other people as they go along.

    Venice grew out of small islands in saltwater lakes when some Italians escaped(逃跑)from a war more than 1,500 years ago, and built homes there.

    Water makes the city special, but it is also a big problem.

    Once, people used too much underground water. This made the city get lower, little by little. Now the city has gone down by 23 centimetres.

    Another problem is the rising seawater. The temperature has risen over the years. This has made arctic(北极的)ice melt.

    Scientists are trying different ways to stop the city from getting even lower.