Hello, friend!
My name is Rose. I'm an English girl. I'm twelve. I'm from London. Now I'm in Sydney. Do you know Sydney? It's a big city in Australia（澳大利亚）. I'm in No.1 Middle school. I'm in Class Two, Grade One.
There are forty students in our class--21 girls and 19 boys. My teachers are nice to me. I like drawing and running. My family are in Sydney, too. My father is a doctor. My mother is a worker in a shop. They're busy（忙）
I like China. Please write to me soon.
Yours ,

Rose

    Happiness is for everyone. You don't need to worry about people who have beautiful houses with large gardens and swimming pools or those who have nice cars and a lot of money and so on. Why? Because those who have big houses may often feel lonely and those who have cars may want to walk on the country roads in their free time.
    In fact, happiness is always around you if you put your heart into it. When you are in trouble at school, your friends will help you; when you are studying hard at your lessons, your parents are always taking good care of you. When you get success, your friends will say congratulations to you. When you do something wrong, people around you will help you to correct it. All your happiness is always around you.
    Happiness is not the same as money. It is a feeling of your heart. When you are poor, you can also say you are very happy, because you have something else that can't be bought with money. When you meet with difficulties, you can say loudly you are very happy, because you have more chances to challenge yourself. So you should not always say you are poor and you have bad luck. As the saying goes, life is like a revolving(旋转的) door. When it closes, it also opens. If you take every chance you get, you can be a happy and lucky person.

    Every year in early April, thousands of people in China visit the tombs(墓) of their parents, grandparents and ancestors. It is Tomb Sweeping Day, the traditional Chinese festival to remember the dead.

    Tomb Sweeping Day falls on April 4 this year. On the day, Chinese families will clean away the grass around the tombs. Then they burn paper money and put flowers and fruit in front of the tombs. They hope the dead can enjoy them and bring the family good luck.

    However, it is not only the Chinese who remember the dead, people in other countries also have festivals for the dead.

    In Japan, O-Bon festival is one of the most important festivals. It is held from Aug.13 to 16. It is also a holiday for a family reunion(团圆). During O-bon, Japanese people return to their hometown and visit their ancestors' tombs. They also believe their ancestors' spirits return home to be with their family. People danced a dance to welcome the spirits. On the last day of O-bon, they put paper lanterns in a river to say goodbye to the spirits.

    In Russia, people remember their ancestors on the Day of Rejoicing(欣喜).  It's usually in late April or early May. The name of this festival means birth and happiness. Russians believe that people shouldn't feel sad for the dead because death means birth in another world. On the day, Russian people draw beautiful pictures on eggs and put them in front of tombs. After that they have a picnic together. They hope for a good life for both the living and the dead.

    "How are you?" is a nice question. It's a friendly way that people in the United States greet each other. But "How are you?" is also a very unusual question. It's a question that often doesn't have an answer. The person who asks "How are you?" hopes to hear the answer "Fine.", even if the person's friend isn't fine. The reason is that" How are you? "isn't really a question and "Fine." isn't really an answer. They are simply other ways of saying "Hello" or "Hi".

    Sometimes, people also don't say exactly what they mean. For example, when someone asks "Do you agree?", the other person might be thinking, "No, I disagree. I think you're wrong." But it isn't very polite to disagree so strongly, so the other person might say "I'm not so sure. "It's a nicer way to say that you don't agree with someone.

    People also don't say exactly what they are thinking when they finish talking with other people. For example, many talks over the phone finish when one person says "I have to go now." Often, the person who wants to hang up gives an excuse, "Someone's at the door." "Something is burning on the stove." The excuse might be real, or it might not. Perhaps the person who wants to hang up simply doesn't want to talk any more, but it isn't polite to say that. The excuse is more polite, and it doesn't hurt the other person.

    Whether they are greeting each other, talking about an idea, or finishing a talk, people often don't say exactly that they are thinking. It's an important way that people try to be nice to each other, and it's a part of the game of language.

Hi, everybody. Here we're in front of the South Gate. Go straight on, and you'll find the Panda House. Pandas are cute. They like to eat bamboo and lie down all day long. Every year, lots of visitors come here to see them. 

Walk along the road. To the north of the Panda House, you'll find the lions. Lions are the kings of the animal world. Remember that they're dangerous. Never go near them. 

Turn left, and to the west of the Lions' Area, you'll find the World of Birds. Birds make beautiful sounds when they sing. To the north of the World of Birds is the Monkeys' Forest. Monkeys are clever and funny. They jump around and make people laugh. 

Then turn right, and to the east of the Monkeys' Forest, you'll see the giraffes(长颈鹿). They're quite tall. Their long necks help them eat the leaves from trees. 

Northeast of the giraffes there's a bridge. Cross the bridge, and you'll see the elephants. Their large ears are like open fans. 

Here you can see all kinds of animals. Have a nice trip!