Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland, is famous for its festivals. There are twelve festivals around the year. Half of them are celebrated during the months of July and August.Thousands of people visit it. Here are some of the events（公开活动）you can enjoy in Edinburgh.

Edinburgh International Festival

The first Edinburgh International Festival was planned during World War II for artists to find hope and communicate with each other. Later, actors, musicians, dancers and singers from all over world came over to give performances.

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

This is one of the largest art festival in the world. There are thousands of shows across the city. It was first held as a supplement（补充）to the Edinburgh International Festival. Then it developed very well. Anyone can perform in the festival and many artists take part in it. During the festival, you can go to the Royal Mile to watch performances for free.

Edinburgh International Book Festival

It began in 1983. It is the largest book festival in the world. It is held every year in Charlotte Square Gardens in the center of Edinburgh. There are over 700 event for kids and adults who love books. You can meet many writers, talk to them or ask them to sign a book. Kids also like it because they can listen to stories and watch artists draw pictures of the stories.

    ①    

     Hello, I'm Tom. I remember at one time, when we were running on the playground, I was too tired to go on. As I wanted to give up, some of my classmates cheered me up. My classmates' encouragements helped me finish the run. I'll never forget it.

    ②    

     Hello, I'm Mary. When I was in Grade Two, I didn't prepare well for an English contest. I said sorry to my teacher. He said: “Any opportunity is important. You should never give it up easily.” Later on, I made good use of every opportunity. I'll never forget him.

    ③    

     Hi, I'm Lucy. The time I traveled to Qingdao with my classmates was the most unforgettable experience. We swam in the sea and caught crabs (螃蟹) on the beach. We played games and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. I will never forget that trip.

     ④   

     Hi, I'm Jim. I took part in the red song competition with my classmates last year. Every day, we rehearsed(排练) very hard in order to get a good result. Because of our hard work, we achieved a good result in the competition.

May 31, 2017

    Jaden is a six-year-old boy. He experienced the unlucky things of life twice. First he lost his dad when he was four and his mom died unexpectedly in her sleep last month. Jaden's heart was broken. His parents' death hit him a lot.

    But things always go towards a good side. A few weeks later, Jaden told his aunt that he was tired of seeing everyone sad all the time. He'd like to see more smiles around him. He hoped that the number of the smiles could reach 100.

    Then he asked his aunt to buy him some little toys and take him to the center of the city. “I'm trying to make people smile,” said Jaden. At first, he was not sure if the people passing by would like to receive his toys. In fact, he was always successful and got close to his dream step by step, because no one could refuse such a little boy's giving and expecting.

    “I'm keeping a count of 100 smiles,” said Jaden. When asked if he could make it, he answered, “I think I can.”

Reported by Barbara

●Build a good home learning environment.

    School is not the only place for study. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}It is important to provide a workplace of their own, so that they can read books or just write a letter to their friends.

●{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Kitchen and dining room are not suitable for regular study, because books and pens get in the way of daily uses of those areas. Find a place where a child can leave his papers and pens without having to clear everything away every night. For a child that likes being alone, give him a corner in his bedroom. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}.

●Keep things in order.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Parents should encourage their children to leave them neat and orderly when they aren't using their workplaces. It is important for the children to have room for themselves. The workplace should be personal, but not another part of the playroom.

●{#blank#}5{#/blank#}.

    Encourage the whole family to help support the environment that children need for success at school. Give them a good example of how to deal with problems, how to manage time and how to get things done in the right way. Study will be more enjoyable when it is supported by the whole family.

    My name is Jack Brown. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}I am a middle school student. This is a picture of my family. There are six people in the picture. My parents are teachers in my school.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Their names are Lucy and Tom. Lucy is 9 years old and {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Tom and I are in the same(相同的) school. Lucy is a tidy girl. Her books are in the bookcase. Her pens and pencils are in the pencil box.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} His things are everywhere. His keys are on the bed and his eraser is under the chair. Who is the other(另一个) girl in the picture? Oh!{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Her name is Linda.

    I am walking through the winter park where the trees stand cold and bare (光秃秃的). The yellow leaves have fallen to the ground. Now, a group of women gather at the sides of a path. In the cold winter, they're moving their arms and legs to a rhythm (节奏). They are, of course, the dancing aunties.

    It seems that if you go to any public space around China, you're likely to see these dancing aunties. When I first came to China, it was one of the first things that annoyed me. That's because in Britain dancing in public is not a cultural habit. You won't see any age group swinging their arms and tapping their feet in a park. Usually, they just take a walk for exercise.

    Now and again the dancing aunties have hit the headlines (头条新闻). Some people find them annoying. But others respect their right to dance in public. Most of them are middle-aged. They finally have some free time to do whatever they like. There is no more work, and their kids have left.

    All in all, I like seeing these women enjoying themselves. They remind us of the importance of exercise as we get older. Besides, most of them have raised the whole families. Now it is their time to have fun and enjoy some peace.