"Haibao, the mascot(吉祥物) of the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, is very cute, "said Gu Hui, a school kid. "I want a big toy like the mascot."

    Haibao looks like the Chinese word ren, which means people or a person. The name, a typical lucky one in Chinese tradition comes from the Chinese phrase "Si Hai Zhi Bao" —the treasure of the four seas. It also means the treasure of Shanghai, which lies beside the sea.

    Haibao's blue curly(卷曲的) hair looks like the waves of the sea. Its smile is a sign of the healthy spirit of China. Those thumbs-up(翘拇指) will welcome millions of people to Shanghai from around the world. Its big feet show China has the ability to host a successful Expo.

    Haibao was created by two artists, one from the mainland(大陆) and the other from Taiwan. The design is about people living together in the city. The designers want it to fit the theme of the Shanghai Expo, that is, a good life should be created by all the people and people should have harmonious relationships(和谐关系) with nature and society, so that life in cities would be better.

    Surely the mascot will become the lucky symbol and cultural remark of Shanghai Expo.

    Mr. and Mrs. Turner live outside a small town. They have a big farm and they are always busy working on it. Their son, Peter, studied at a middle school. The young man studied hard and did well in his lessons. It made them happy.

    Last month Peter finished middle school and passed the entrance examination (升学考试). Mrs. Turner was very happy and told the farmers about it.

    Yesterday morning the woman went to the town to buy something for her son. On the bus she told one of her friends how clever and able her son was. She spoke very loudly. All the people in the bus began to listen to her.

    “Which university (大学) will your son study in?” a woman next to her asked.

    “In the most famous university in our country!” Mrs. Turner said happily.

    “The most famous university?”

    “Oxford University (牛津).”

    Most of the passenger (乘客) looked at her carefully. Some of them said to her, “Congratulations!”

    A woman said, “I'm sure he'll know Fred Smith.”

    “Who's Fred Smith?”

    “He's my son.”

    “Does he study in the university, too?”

    “No,”said the woman. “He is one of the professors.”

    Look! This is a picture of my family. I have a big family. They are grandparents, my parents, my sister and I. The old man on the left is my grandfather. He is a farm worker. He likes flowers. There are many flowers on the farm. The old woman next to my grandfather is my grandmother. She likes cooking. My father is on the right of my grandmother. He is 40 years old. He likes playing basketball with his students. The woman next to my father is my mother. She is a manager of a hotel. In front of them are my sister and I. My sister is a student. We are in different classes but the same grade. She is in Class One, Grade Seven. I'm in Class Four, Grade Seven. My sister likes drawing and I like reading.

Cell Phone Madness

    When I opened the box at my 12th birthday party, I couldn't believe my eyes. I had really got a cell phone!

    As soon as I got to my school the next morning, I showed off my phone and asked everyone for their number. It felt like I didn't even exist in that class anymore. I wouldn't pay much attention to the teachers because I was too busy on my phone. Luckily I didn't get caught using it. I was pretty sure that the teacher did notice that I stopped paying attention to her because a week later we took a test and I got Grade D for the first time. To make matters worse, my mom had to sign the test. It was hard to show my mom the paper. She never expected “D” on my tests. Well, finally, I showed her and she couldn't believe it. She was angry but most of all, she was disappointed(失望的).

    Weeks passed and my parents started to dislike the fact that I had a phone. They would say, “We have noticed that you never pay attention to us. It's like you have your own little world now and we don't communicate as much with your phone.” I acted like they were wrong, but then I started to wonder if it was true that I was spending too much time on the phone.

    A week later I tried going a whole day without a cell phone and it didn't go that badly. I had so much fun because I was actually spending time with my family and paying attention to them. From that day, I had a different point of view towards cell phones.

    Phones really take you away from the rest of the world．I'm not saying that phones are bad and not to use them, but you do have to spare some time to spend with your family and not get stuck with your phone all day. My phone took away time from my homework and from my family. It also affected my grades.

    I will keep using my phone, but I will have it under better control.

    A little boy invited his mother to attend his school's first teacher-parent meeting. To the little boy's disappointment, his mother said she would go. This would be the first time that his classmates and teachers met his mother and he was embarrassed by her appearance. There was a serious scar (伤疤) that covered nearly the whole right side of her face. The boy never wanted to talk about why or how she got the scar.

    At the meeting, the people were impressed by the kindness of his mother with the scar, but the little boy was still embarrassed and hid himself from everyone. However, he could hear clearly the conversation between his mother and the teacher.

    "How did you get the scar on your face?" the teacher asked.

    The mother replied, "When my son was a baby, he was in a room that caught on fire.

    Everyone was too afraid to go in because the fire was out of control, but I went in. As I was running towards his bed, I saw a burning wood falling down and I placed myself over him trying to protect him. I was knocked to be unconscious (无知觉的), but luckily, a fireman came in and saved both of us." She touched the burned side of her face. "This scar will be forever, but until today, I have never regretted doing what I did."

    When the little boy heard this, he couldn't help running towards his mother with tears in his eyes. He hugged her and felt his mother was greater than anyone. He held her hand tightly for the rest of the day.

    Henry is a little fatter than he wants to be. He wants to 1. So he is on a diet (节食). He tries 2too much and he eats very little sugar because it will make him 3. He also does exercise every 4. He swims very often, 5he runs about two kilometres a day. Now he is6than before. Henry's sister, Susan, is healthier than Henry. 7 is also younger and thinner than he is. She does 8 every day, too. She doesn't 9 much meat. But she eats a lot of fruit and 10 because she thinks they are better for her health.