It isn't hard to plant potatoes.

    First, you take a seed potato and cut it into four pieces. Be sure each piece has one or two eyes where it will begin to grow.

   ①    Second, cut the pieces in water for one day.

   ②    Third, plant each potato piece about four inches under the soil.

   ③    Fourth, water the soil two or three times a day.

   ④    Finally, put out any weeds（杂草）in the area. Your new potatoes will be ready to eat in about two months.

    "I first saw Beijing Opera in London in 1993, and it just shocked me. It was really amazing," says Ghaffar Pounazar.

    The 32-year-old British gave up his work in London and came to a Beijing Opera school. Since then, Ghaffar Pourazar has worked hard on this art.

    On stage, the Beijing Opera actors not only act, they also sing and dance while performing some difficult movements(动作).       ①         When Pourazar first got to China. He couldn't speak any Chinese, and he knew nothing about Beijing Opera. As the oldest student in the Beijing Opera school, he learned more slowly than his classmates, but he didn't give up. Now, he can perform Beijing Opera like a professional(专业人士).

    But Beijing Opera is not as popular as it was before. The young Chinese now spend more time on the Internet. This makes Pourazar very sad. "I used to get really angry at what was happening to Beijing Opera and at the Chinese people. This is part of your culture. You created this amazing thing. but now you are forgetting it, throwing it away."

Pourazar has decided what to do.        ②     Now he is performing a Beijing Opera that is about the Monkey King in two languages, Chinese and English. The Monkey King is a hero in a Chinese story. Chinese people love him very much. In the Beijing Opera, Pourazar acts the Monkey King.

    Traveling can teach us a lot in our life. It gives us valuable lessons that schools may not teach. Experiences, skills or challenges we learn through journeys make us wiser and stronger. So let's see some lessons that traveling can bring to us.

    Throw ourselves into the surroundings （周围的事物).

    The world is a wide classroom of life and traveling teaches us how to throw ourselves in a situation and enjoy the surroundings fully. This lesson is especially good for those searching for freedom ( 自由) in heart.

    Don't allow unpleasant things to influence us.

    A journey is not always full of happy moments. Sometimes it is an unpleasant memory: Being a traveler has its own difficulties such as missing planes, losing money, getting sick, and so on. However, don't let these things make our days unhappy. Everything will be OK, so enjoy the journey no matter what happens.

    Just do it.

    We need to give some things that we may not experience a try. In other words, whether we have done it or not, just do it.

    Popular music in America is what every student likes. Students carry small radios with earphones and listen to music before class, after class and at lunchtime. Students with cars buy the large speaker and play the music loudly as they drive in the street.

    Adult(成年的) drivers listen to music on the car radio as they drive to work. They also listen to the news about sports, the weather and the life of American people. Most of the radio programs are music.

    Pop or popular music singers make much money. They make a CD or tape and radio stations use them in many places. Once the popular singer is heard all over the country, young people will buy his or her tape. Some of the money from these tapes comes to the singer. Wherever the singer goes, all the young people want to meet him or her. Now the singer has become a national star.

    There are other kinds of music that is important to Americans. One is called folk music. It tells stories about the common (普通的) life of Americans. Another is called Western or country music. It is about country life and the love between a country boy and his girlfriend. They are very popular among young people.

    Hello, everyone! I'm Mike and I'm 12 years old. I live in Beijing with my parents. I'm looking forward to the weekend. All the students in our class are going to Tian'anmen Square to watch the flag- raising ceremony（升旗仪式） on Saturday morning .We're going to meet at five o'clock at the school gate. We're going there by underground(地铁). After watching the ceremony，we are going to visit the Railway museum（铁路博物馆）. I hope the weather is fine. In the afternoon we are going to watch a basketball match in the sports hall. In the evening we're going to watch a movie. On Sunday morning, I'm going to Beihai Park with my friends. We're going to take a walk in the park and collect litter there.

    What an interesting weekend!

Information Card

    The professor always tried so hard. He had tons of brilliant ideas—but they never worked. Time after time, he would dream up an amazing idea that was sure to change the world—and then it didn't. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} "A time machine!" he shouted. The professor's dream wasn't just any old time machine. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} 

    But his wife wasn't so sure about the professor's great idea. "It'll never work. You can't make time," she doubted. The professor disagreed. "{#blank#}3{#/blank#} If you can make money and save money, why can't you do the same with time?"

In his workshop, the professor drew lots of plans for his new time machine. He soon lost track(轨道) of time. He created model clocks of every shape and size.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Finally, he made an amazing discovery—a way to save time and give him lots of extra(额外) time. "I've got it!" he cried. "If I give up my time machine project, I'll have plenty of time for other things!"