JOINING A CHOIR

    I've always loved singing, but singing hasn't always loved me. I

would open my mouth with a beautiful song in my head, fully expecting my voice to follow suit — only to get an awful tone (音调）in return.

    Still, without a second thought, I continued to try to sing whenever possible. On car journeys, when my now twenty something sons weresmall, they would make a great play ( hands over their ears， shoutingNo，Mum，stop!') of going through punishment as I sang along to the radio.

    Never in a hundred years would I have thought about joining a choir. And when I did finally become a member of my first choir 15 years ago, something fantastic happened to my life. From the first time I experienced my voice as something special but also comfortable, in harmony (和谐）with the other singers, I lost my heart to singing. It was like falling in love. And everyone in the choir had the same shining smiles and bright eyes — singing made them feel happy, too.

    Although it is singing itself that makes me happy，it is also how a choir works together. There is something magical about breathing together. The voice of everyone singing quietly together is powerful and excitingly mysterious (神秘的），almost spiritual.

    And there's the unexpected friendship from the activities we do as a choir: raising money for good causes and taking our singing sometimes to places where people are forgotten and sad.

    I am now a member of six choirs and，if I can，sing every day of the week. I stand in front of several hundred people，and know that some，if not all，of each song will sound not bad at all.

    From a large elephant to a small mouse, animals live happily together in Disney's new movie Zootopia. Judy Hopps, the main character, becomes the first rabbit police officer in the city. While solving a mystery, she meets the smart fox, Nick, who helps her with her case (案件), and some other animals like the lion mayor (市长) and a sloth(树獭)called Flash. Here is something more about the movie.

    There are 64 kinds of animals in the movie. All of them look like real ones except Judy, the first rabbit police officer. Its appearance is a bit different from real rabbits. Real rabbits actually have split lips (嘴唇)，but the film makers decided to make Judy's lip all together to look nice.

    Film makers learned that not all fur (皮毛) of animals is the same. In the movie, some of polar bears' fur is clear. It appears white because the light reflects off it. Part of a fox's fur is dark at the root, getting lighter till its red top. They did so to make sure that the animals in Zootopia were believable.

    Moreover, a film maker, Nathan Warner with his partners also took a trip to Africa for researching animals. There they had a close watching of different animals. According to their discovery, these artists added leaves to animals' coats like the big sheep. They also made animals' tears run from the inside corners of eyes down to the outside of the mouths.

Here is a part from Maria'sdiaries(日记) about her vacation.

The 3^rd Day:Yesterday we arrived in London in the rain. We went to some big shops.

The 4^th Day: Wecame to Paris. The day was cloudy and the food wasn't good. We liked the shopshere, but the things were dear.

The 5^th Day: Wearrived in Rome in the hot weather. We had lunch in a small restaurant, and thefood was delicious. We visited some shops. They were all wonderful.

The 6^th Day: Wewent to New York and the things in the shops were all dear. But we liked thewarm weather there.

The 7^th Day: Todaywe visited New York City. The weather was fine. We'll go back home tomorrowafter a week's vacation.

    In Britain you're allowed to drive a car when you're seventeen. You have to get a special two-year driving license before you start. When you're learning, someone with a full license always has to be in the car with you because you aren't allowed to drive the car on the road alone. You don't have to go to a driving school—a friend can teach you. The person with you isn't allowed to take money for the lessons unless he's got a teacher's license. 

    Before you're allowed to have a full license, you have to take a driving test. You can take a test in your own car, but it has to be fit for the road. In the test, you have to drive round for half an hour and then answer a few questions. If you don't pass the test, you're allowed to take it again a few weeks later. In 1970, a woman passed her fortieth test after 212 driving lessons! When you've passed your test, you're allowed to go on driving if you like, and you must be healthy. Britain's oldest driver was a man who drove in 1974 at the age of 100. 

    Before 1904, everyone was allowed to drive, even children. Then from 1904 car drivers had to have a license. But they didn't have to take a test until 1935. In the early days of car driving, before 1978, cars weren't allowed to go faster than four miles an hour, and someone had to lead the car with a red flag.

Hi! Do you know who I am? Well, my name is Lost and Found. I am a box. Now I am in Classroom 2E, No.1 Middle School. You can see a pen, a watch and a notebook in me.

Dear Ms. Rowling，

My name is Michelle. It is a great pleasure to write to you. I like reading your books Harry Potter. A few days ago，I listened to a radio program about you. Now I know you were born in England and you are now living with your husband and children in Scotland. I also know that you taught English at home and in other countries before you started writing books. The radio program said that you could write only when your baby daughter fell asleep，so you worked on the first book for five years. That was really a difficult job. But you have already finished writing seven Harry Potter books. That's great!Your son David，your daughters Jessica and Mackenzie must be proud of you. Of all five books I have read，I love the second one best because I find it easier to understand. It brings me anew world where I can enjoy the adventures with Harry and his friends. I hope I can become a writer like you when I grow up. Thank you for spending time reading my letter. 

Yours sincerely，

Michelle