He is quiet and shy．He likes to hide his eyes behind his hair. He doesn't smile very often. However， if you talk to him about music， he will have a lot to say.

    This is Jay Chou， a pop singer in Taiwan. He was born（出生）on January 18th. He's 36 years old now. His fans were so excited because he sang songs in Beijing on September 12 in 2003．And the album Ye Huimei was released（发行）in July and was named after（以……取名）his mother.

    Jay grew up just with his mother. He did not talk much and did badly in many school subjects.

    His mother noticed the boy's special interest in music and sent him to learn the piano when he was only three years old．He loved it and kept on practicing.

    Jay is not very handsome， but he has big crowds of fans.

    It was 8:30 at night. Don was driving home. He was surprised when he saw a large, green light in the sky. The light was floating（漂浮）over a field. Don stopped his car and went out. He stood behind a tree and watched.

    The light got very bright. It came nearer and nearer. It was a UFO! And it landed in the field!

    "What's that? Maybe there are travelers from space in the UFO, "he thought. He started to walk across the field.

    Then a large door on the UFO opened. Something came out! It moved toward Don.

    The thing was not nice to look at! It had long yellow strings（细绳）on its face. Two round and blue balls were on its face. Under the round things, there were three holes. One hole opened and closed and made big noises.

    Now Don was afraid, but he tried to be brave. He walked nearer and listened to the terrible noises.

    "Hello," said the strange thing. "My name is Zeeb. I'm from the planet Mars（火星）. This is my first trip to the earth. Glad to meet you."

Nowadays, more and more new sports are becoming popular among young people. Why do young people prefer new sports? Because these new sports bring more fun to them and it's also a great way to stay healthy.

One popular new sport is skateboarding. It is a fun way to exercise and it is also a great way to improve yourself. You can use skateboards (滑板) to try difficult or new jumps. This sport needs practice and skills, but it is easy to learn and you will get a lot of fun from it.

City outdoor cycling is becoming more and more popular, because it is a great way to see the city and get exercise at the same time. You can bring your own bike or rent one when you are ready to see the city on two wheels.

Playing frisbee (飞盘) is a great way to play a sport with a group of friends. It is relaxing and it is good for your arms. There are many different frisbee games you can play. You can even meet some new friends while you're having fun!

When I was a kid, a tree grew in front of my home. At the age of 10, I was just tall enough to reach its lowest branch and lift myself into its embrace. I wasn't the only climber. Sometimes two or three of my friends would join me in the sycamore, or in the maple down the street. Climbing trees allowed us to enter another world. In fact, it was a world within a world: We took our imaginations with us into those heights, which by turns were a fortress, a pirate ship, a spaceship, or a mountain castle. 

In my small Maine town there are some lovely maples, lindens, and oaks. Their branches spread wide and they are strong enough for people to climb. But I have not yet seen a climber. Perhaps computer games have taken place of tree climbing, or maybe the activity went the way of monkey bars, which came to be viewed as too risky and have largely disappeared from playgrounds. 

It is a sad loss. I have always believed that, since low-hanging limbs provide no benefit to the tree, they must be meant for the child. Robert Frost understood this when he wrote: When I see birches bend to left and right, across the lines of straighter darker trees, I like to think some boy's been swinging them. My only disagreement with Frost is his inference that tree climbing is a gender-specific undertaking. Both boys and girls have what it takes to make a joyful ascent. 

The campus of the university where I teach is lovingly landscaped with all sorts of trees. During a recent walk, I grabbed a branch and a moment later I was sitting on it. Then the memories came flooding back: The old friends, the long view of my neighborhood, and finally, the reluctance to return to earth when the parental call to supper came. 

I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't hear the student calling to me from below. He asked what I was doing. I didn't waste time on explanations. "Come on up, "I said. "The air's fine. "But he only laughed, and waved me off. He didn't know what he was missing. 

I still remember that I went to the beach with my family last summer holiday. We put all our toys and   tools we might use into the car. Then we left for the beach. It was boring to do nothing in the car, so we started to sing songs all the way.

 After a couple of hours, we stopped to have lunch. I ate pizza, potatoes and chicken. They were delicious! Finally, we arrived in Pensacola. My uncle Luis was waiting for us. We all stayed in the same seaside hotel. It was great to have a view of the sea through the hotel windows. Of course we were very tired from our traveling so we rested all day.

 The next day, I was ready to play on the beach. However, I forgot something very important. So I was sunburned at the end of that day. I couldn't move. I lay on the bed and watched television. I felt unhappy even if it was my favorite cartoon. I could hear my brother swimming in the sea outside. I really wanted to join him. Next time I go there, I will be careful and I'm sure I' ll enjoy my holiday on the beach then.