Dear Sir,

    I would like to recommend Liu Hua for this year's Youth Service Award.

    Liu Hua is a clever girl. She is very good at drawing and she often teaches children how to draw after school.

    Liu Hua is kind and friendly. She comes to our community center every day. She does a lot of things for the center. Sometimes she comes to the center at the weekends to teach English. All the members of the community center like her very much.

    Last month, Liu Hua broke her arm while playing tennis, but she did not stop coming to the center. She said that she felt happy to help others.

    Many members think that Liu Hua should get an award for her hard work. We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully,

Xiao Hong

A Recommendation {#blank#}1{#/blank#} 

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}We must take care of it. We should keep the land, air and water clean. Pollution(污染) is a “dirty” word.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}Pollution comes in many forms. We can see it, smell it and drink it. Pollution harms our health and even our life.

    People have been polluting the Earth, such as made a fire, washed his clothes in the rivers and threw his rubbish on the ground. Many years ago, the problem was not so serious, because there were not so many people.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}But now the land was used up or the river was dirty in a place, man moved to another place. So now the whole world is slowly polluted.

    When talking about pollution, we once only meant the air pollution. Air pollution is the most dangerous now.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}We are glad that the public are paying more attention to the dangers of pollution.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. There still was lots of clean air, land and water.

B. And more and more people are working hard to get rid of(消除) it

C. The Earth is our home.

D. but there still is water pollution and noise pollution and so on.

E. Pollution means making things dirty.

    As Grade Nine students, we are as busy as bees. Every day we have to spend a lot of time finishing our homework, so we don't have much time to do sports. However, almost all the students realize the importance of exercise. We still try to spare time(课余时间) to do sports after school.

    Tom (a 15-year-old boy from Class 9)

    Doing sports is part of my life. As soon as the bell of the last class rings every day, I will be excited and rush out of the classroom to play football with my classmates in the football field. Playing football can help me keep healthy and always make me energetic(精力充沛的). In this way I can learn better later on.

    Lucy (a 14-year-old girl from Class 6)

    Rope skipping(跳绳) is my favorite sport. I often do it with my sister Lily. We want to take part in the school rope skipping competition(竞赛). So we practice it again and again so as to win the competition.

    Jim (a 16-year-old boy from Class 2)

My dream is to be a professional runner. I usually train hard every day so that I can make my dream come true. Sometimes my parents are not happy. They say I spend too much time in running. But I never go running during the class. I do it after school. I don't think it has any bad effects on my study.

    Information Card

    Traveling by subway can sometimes be a challenge, especially during rush hour. You have to fight your way into the carriage (车厢), and keep away from others' hot water. The smells of some passengers' food are very strong, too.

    Since April, the local government of Beijing has collected public opinions on the new Beijing Subway Passenger Rules. The rules say that if passengers have bad manners while on the subway, they will end up with bad credit (信用) scores or even being refused by the subway. Four kinds of behaviors (行为) were added to the new rules. They include stealing others' seats, eating or drinking, handing out advertisements, and not paying for the tickets.

    As for eating and drinking on the subway, ①不同的人有不同的观点. Some people support the rules that all passengers except babies and people with certain health problems are not allowed to eat or drink on the subway. ②The have pointed out that the smell of food and drink can make other passengers unhappy.

    However, others question this rule, saying that drinking water should be allowed ③________ people can get thirsty after long rides on the crowded subway.

    The Silk Road is known all over the world.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}It went along the north of China, India, and Persia and ended up in Eastern Europe near today's Turkey and the Mediterranean Sea.

    It was called the Silk Road because one of the major products traded was silk cloth from China. Chinese silk was soft and of high quality. So people throughout Asia and Europe loved it very much.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}Even the Romans called China the "land of silk".

    Besides silk, the Chinese also sold tea, salt, sugar, porcelain(瓷器)and spices(香料). Most of the goods were expensive. This was because it was a long trip and trades didn't have a lot of room for goods. They bought goods like cotton, ivory, wool, gold and silver.

    Traders traveled in large caravans (商队). They would have many guards with them.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}Most of the road was through dry land, so camels were popular animals for transport.

    Although there was some trade between China and the rest of the world for some time, the silk trade developed quickly during the Han Dynasty which ruled from 206 B. C. to 220 A.D.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}During this time, Chinese traders traveled safely. Also, traders had a higher social position.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}It not only helped develop trade between different countries, but also helped make ideas, cultures and inventions spread across the world.