When you are learning English, listening, speaking and writing are important, but reading can also be very helpful. When you read, you can not only learn some new words, but also you can learn how to use these English words. When you read, it gives you a good example for writing.

    Good reading tips:

    Try to read at the right level(水平). Read something that you can (more or less) understand. If you need to stop every three words to use a dictionary, it is not interesting.

    Try to increase the number of your new words. If there are four or five new words on a page, write them in your notebook. But you don't have to write them while you read. Instead, try to guess their meaning as you read: mark them with a pen. Then come back when you have finished reading to look them up in a dictionary and write them in your own vocabulary book. Then try to remember them.

    Try to read regularly. For example, read for a short time once a day. Fifteen minutes every day is better than two hours every Sunday. Fix(固定) a time to read and keep to it. You could read for fifteen minutes when you go to bed, or when you get up or at lunchtime.

    Read what interests you. Choose a book or a magazine about a subject that you like, because you are going to spend time and money reading it. So, choose an interesting book. You can also read newspapers. There are many English newspapers in China. For example, 21st Century Teens. It is easy enough for you to understand it. There is something interesting in it.

    The street food stands（摊）are very popular in Korea . They take their name from the two kinds of hot foods they sell : Dukbokgi and Odeng .

    Dukbokgi is a spicy hot food made of rice cakes and some vegetables . These rice cakes are finger-shaped . They are white , and they are about ten centimeters in length（长度）. They are mixed with sliced vegetables in a pan with a spicy red dressing（调料）. Fifteen minutes later , they are ready to eat . Odeng is made of ground fish . It comes in many shapes : some are square（正方形）, others are round , and still others are stick style . You can buy big or small ones . At these food stands , you can also eat Odeng , which has been boiled in a pot . It is served on a long stick so can eat it easily .

    The food sold at these stands is not expensive , compared to what other foods in Korea cost . Each Dukbokgi and Odeng costs about twenty to fifty cents , depending on the owner .

    Each food stand has its own recipes（菜谱）for its food ; for example , some like to add sugar or other special ingredients（材料）in the food . Usually , there is just one owner , but if the food stand is big , there may be two or three owners .

    When I was an elementary school student , I used to stop at street food stands every day after school to eat street food because I like it so much .

    Who wants to eat food that is thrown away as waste? Believe it or not, that's exactly what world leaders did at a lunch held by the United Nations in 2015.

    During the meal, the world leaders enjoyed dishes like salads and burgers made with thrown-away vegetables and fruits. Chef Dan Barber, who helped create the meal, hoped that the experience would make the leaders pay more attention to the issue of food waste.

    It is a huge problem. One out of nine people on Earth does not get enough food. Yet every year over one third of the food produced worldwide goes to waste!

    Why is so much food wasted? Firstly, food is often thrown away before it reaches customers because too much of it is produced, or because it is not kept properly in farms. Secondly, shops and supermarkets usually throw away unsold food. Finally, customers often buy more food than they need, so a lot of uneaten food is wasted.

    How can you waste less food? When eating out, you may ask for less food and take home what is left. Visit fast food restaurant less often, since they usually more wasteful. Encourage your favorite restaurants to give unsold food to food banks.

    You can also waste less food at home. Use smaller rice bowls so that you serve less rice.

    Encourage family members to use unfinished rice to make rice puddings. Tell family members to make a shopping list and buy only what is on the list when shopping for food.

    Food waste is a growing problem and we, either farmers or food sellers or customers, must take this problem more seriously and do what we can to help.

    February 14 is a day for people who have fallen in love. On this day, these men and women give gifts (presents)and cards to each other for Valentine's Day(情人节).This day has been popular with people in love  for a long time. At first，this holiday was called Lupercalia. Then the name of the day was changed to Saint Valentine's Day. The man named Saint Valentine was killed on February 14，270 AD, because he was a Christian (基督教徒).

    Before Saint Valentine was killed，February 14 was the old Roman holiday，Lupercalia. The church wanted people to think of a Christian holiday on this day，so the church changed the name of the holiday.

    This change did not stop people in love from giving gifts to each other. People usually gave gloves, handkerchiefs, or even underwear was gifts. Sometimes people also put hearts and flowers on the presents before giving it to the other persons.

    Valentine cards did not become popular until the 1750s. The first Valentine cards were made by hand. People wrote their own words on the cards. These words were usually funny.

    Now, every year around February 14，cards and chocolates fill shops for people in love.

    There are many unusual hotels around the world. In Greenland, there is a hotel made out of ice, open between December and April every year. In Turkey, there is a cave hotel with a television, furniture, and a bathroom in each room. And in Bolivia, there is the Salt Palace Hotel.

    Thousands of years ago, the area around the Salt Palace Hotel was a large lake. But over time, all the water disappeared. Today, the area has only two small lakes and two salt deserts.

    The larger of the two deserts, the Uyuni salt desert, is 12, 000 square kilometres. During the day, the desert is bright white because of the salt. There are no roads across the Uyuni desert, so local people must show guests the way to the hotel.

    In the early 1990s, a man named Juan Quesada built the hotel. He cut big blocks of salt from the desert and used the blocks to build it. Everything in the hotel is made out of salt the walls, the roof（屋顶）, the tables, the chairs, the beds, and the hotel's bar.

    The sun heats（使变热） the walls and roof during the day. At night the desert is very cold, but the rooms stay warm. The hotel has twelve rooms and a double room costs $ 60 a night.

A sign on the hotel's wall tells guests, "Please don't lick（舔） the walls."

Scientists say that hobbies can make kids cleverer, healthier and even more successful when they grow up. How?

When you have a hobby, you learn new things. You have to read instructions (说明书). You look at websites, magazines and books to get more information about your hobby. More reading makes you a better reader and a better learner. 

For many hobbies, such as building model cars and making pottery (陶器), you have to use your brain as well as your hands. We learn by doing things and by touching things. These kinds of activities make people more creative (有创造力的). 

Having a hobby makes you feel good. Scientists say, "When you make something, the feel good part of your brain gets a message. It makes you feel happy. " When we feel happy, we have less stress(压力). Too much stress can make people ill. 

People with hobbies learn how to make goals and solve problems. Learning these skills when you are young can help you when you grow up. For some kids, having a hobby can be the first step to find a better job in the future.