My family took a trip to Qingdao last summer vacation. We had great fun there.

    We went to Qingdao by fast train. It was about 11:00 am when we got to the train station. First, we took a taxi to the hotel. After a short rest, we had lunch in the restaurant near the hotel. We ate some fish dumplings there. They were really delicious and they weren't expensive. We enjoyed the meal very much. In the afternoon, it was sunny and hot. So we went to the beach(沙滩). There were quite a lot of people there. My father and I swam in the sea. It was really cool. My mother lay(躺) on the beach and enjoyed the sunshine. She said it was relaxing. Well, the best thing was that I made two new friends on the beach. They were from Canada. That made me feel happy. They said they would write e-mails to me later.

    Qingdao is really a good place to relax. I want to visit it again next year.

    Ray Charles，a black singer and pianist of the USA．He had won 12 Grammy Awards （格莱美奖） and performed at 10，000 concerts around the world．Many musicians called him simply"the Genius"（天才）．

    Ray Charles was born into a poor family，without a father．When he was 5 years old，his younger brother died，and around the same time，Charles started to lose his sight．By the age of 7he was completely blind．He had already been learning the piano for a year，and when he went blind，his mother knew this would be the only way he would make any money in the future．All his life，Charles remembered her saying："Do it right，or don't do it at all．"

    Later he went to a school for blind and deaf children．There the teachers also encouraged him to study music．Sadly，while he was still at school，his mother died．He left school and in the early 1950s Charles organized a group of players．He sang，played the piano and wrote music．

    He made many classical CDs with famous artists such as Elton John and the Beatles．

    In 2003 a film of his life Ray was made．The part of Charles was played by a younger actor and musician called Jamie Foxx．The film director brought Foxx to meet Charles．After they had been playing together for two hours，Charles，then aged 73，jumped up and said："He's the one…he can do it．"A year later Charles died aged 74．The film of his life has been as popular as his songs and means that the memory of Charles'music will live on．

    I'm Lee. I'm 13 and I'm in Class One. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. they are Gina, Lily and Ben. Lily and Gina are in Class Two. Ben is in Class One, too. We are all in Grade Seven.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. My favorite sport is ping-pong. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} I have three ping –pong balls and four ping-pong bats. Lily and Gina are sisters. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. They think it is boring. Their favorite sport is tennis. They play tennis with their parents and two brothers. Ben's favorite sport is soccer. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}.

A. He plays soccer very well

B. I have three good friends.

C. I like playing sports with my mother.

D. Because it is interesting.

E. We like sports

F. I don't like playing basketball

G. They don't like ping-pong.

    Once upon a time, there lived a very rich and wealthy man in a big town. He led a luxurious life. He always showed off his wealth to his friends and relatives.

    His son was studying in a distant city and he returned home for vacation. The rich man wanted to show off to his son how rich he was. But his son didn't like any luxurious lifestyle. However, the rich man wanted to make his son realize that his lifestyle was extremely rich and that poor people suffered a lot. He planned a day's visit to the entire town to show him the life of the poor people.

    The father and the son took a chariot and visited the entire town. They returned home after two days. The father was happy that his son was very quiet after seeing the poor people honoring（尊敬） the rich man and after witnessing the sufferings of the poor.

    The rich man asked his son, "Dear boy, how was the trip? Have you enjoyed it?"

    "Yes my dad, it was a great trip with you," the son replied.

    "So, what did you learn from the trip?" the father asked.

    The son was silent.

    "Finally you have realized how the poor suffer and how they actually live," said the father.

    "No father," replied the son. He added, "We have only two dogs, they have 10 dogs. We have a big pool in our garden, but they have a large bay（港湾） without any end! We have luxurious and expensive lights from various countries, but they have countless stars lighting their nights. We have a house on a small piece of land, but they have abundant fields that go beyond the horizon（视野）. We are protected by huge and strong walls around our property（财产）, but they bond with（与……连着） each other and surround themselves with their fellow beings. We have to buy food from them, but they are so rich that they can grow their own food."

    The rich father was stunned and speechless, on hearing his son's words.

    Finally the son added, "Dad, thank you so much for showing me who is rich and who is poor. Thank you for letting me understand how poor we really are!"

    Valentine's Day is a very old holiday. It goes back to the times of Ancient Rome (古罗马). One of the characters we often see on Valentine's Day is Cupid. He was the son of Venus, the goddess of love. He shoots people with arrows (箭) of love. When a man and a woman are hit by his arrows, they will fall in love.

Today people celebrate Valentine's Day on February 14. If a man and a woman are in love, they will give each other gifts. The most popular gifts are flowers (especially roses) and chocolates. Couples may also go to a restaurant for a very nice dinner or plan something else romantic.

    In the United States, Valentine's Day is not just for lovers. Children make special Valentine's cards for their classmates. Families and friends may give candy or other small gifts to each other. It can be a fun day.