I'm Zhao Kai, a student at Hongxing Middle School. The new term begins and I {#blank#}1{#/blank#} a new friend at school. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} name is Alice Green. She is a(an) {#blank#}3{#/blank#} girl. She comes to China with her parents. She isn't heavy or thin. She is of medium {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. She is tall with big blue eyes and short brown hair. She usually {#blank#}5{#/blank#} glasses in class, because she is a little nearsighted.

    Alice and I are in the same class, {#blank#}6{#/blank#} we go home together after school. {#blank#}7{#/blank#} the way home, we talk about many things. She often {#blank#}8{#/blank#} her hometown(家乡)—New York to me. And she invites(邀请) me to visit it. She enjoys music and {#blank#}9{#/blank#} singing hard every evening. So do you know what her dream is? She wants to be a {#blank#}10{#/blank#}. She also likes watching movies and her favorite actress is Gillian Anderson.

    Wang Feng is one of the most popular rock stars in China. I love his music even though I speak very {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Chinese. Of course, I look {#blank#}2{#/blank#} the English translations of his songs on the website so I can understand their meanings. Wang Feng was born into a musical family on June 29, 1971 in Beijing. He started{#blank#}3{#/blank#} the violin when he was five. In 1994,he found(组建) the band No. 43 Baojia Street. Unluckily, the band finally {#blank#}4{#/blank#} up and Wang Feng started his solo career(独唱生涯) Wang Feng writes his own songs. He once wrote a beautiful song {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Our Dream” for Beijing Olympics in 2008. In this song he described how happy the Chinese people {#blank#}6{#/blank#} to host the Olympics. If you've {#blank#}7{#/blank#} heard of Wang Feng before, I wish you could try to listen to his songs. I believe you will enjoy {#blank#}8{#/blank#} for years. For all those who are already the {#blank#}9{#/blank#} of Wang Feng, it will be great to hear from you as well. I'd like to make {#blank#}10{#/blank#} with all of you.

    Different people have different kinds of hobbies. Some like reading and drawing. Some like playing sports and some like collecting stamps. I have many good friends. They all have their{#blank#}1{#/blank#}hobbies. When they were young, they usually{#blank#}2{#/blank#}with doll. Now they grow up, they start to have other hobbies. Some of them go out{#blank#}3{#/blank#}a sport like football or skating. Some like collecting{#blank#}4{#/blank#}and stamps. Some of the most{#blank#}5{#/blank#}hobbies are watching TV plays and listening to music. I used to read books{#blank#}6{#/blank#}draw pictures. I could learn many useful things.

    People will spend a lot of{#blank#}7{#/blank#}training hobbies. Some of them may be{#blank#}8{#/blank#}in playing the piano for many years. While some others may{#blank#}9{#/blank#}their interests very often.

    Why do people need hobbies? I think a hobby is something we are{#blank#}10{#/blank#}of doing. The main goal（目标） of a hobby is to give us a break from our work or study.

    One day, a father and his son went to a kite flying festival. When they arrived, there were already many adults and their children playing in the park. When the son saw the sky filled with {#blank#}1{#/blank#} kites in different shapes, he was excited and wanted to get one too. His father agreed to buy one for him. So they went to a kite shop and {#blank#}2{#/blank#} a beautiful one.

    With the string(线)in hand, the son started {#blank#}3{#/blank#} the kite. Soon, the kite was high up in the sky. After a while, the son said, "Father, it seems that the string is stopping the kite from flying higher. If we cut it, it will be free and fly even higher. Can we cut it?” The father didn't reply, but just cut the string off the reel(线轴). Suddenly, the kite began to go {#blank#}4{#/blank#}, which made the son much happier.

    However, to his surprise, the kite was coming down. They waited for quite some time. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}, it fell onto the grass. The son felt upset and asked, "I thought that after cutting the string, the kite would fly higher. Why did it fall down?”

    The father smiled and said, “The role of the string was not stopping the kite from flying higher, {#blank#}6{#/blank#} helping it stay in the sky, because the kite {#blank#}7{#/blank#} can' t fly up. By using the string you help the kite go up in the right {#blank#}8{#/blank#}. When you cut the string, it could not support the kite.

    In our life, we may sometimes feel like there are certain things that are holding us back and stopping us from growing. But in fact, these might be the things that support us{#blank#}9{#/blank#}. We can really grow up and become stronger by realizing the {#blank#}10{#/blank#} of these things.

    How are you spending your next vacation? No plans? Then {#blank#}1{#/blank#} going to an English language school, in the United States or the United Kingdom? Many schools have short lessons for {#blank#}2{#/blank#} of all ages, from seven to seventy years old!

    Foreign students can stay in school buildings or with {#blank#}3{#/blank#} there. Living with a family can be fun and can really help you learn.

    Just think you'll get two hours a day of breakfast and dinner conversation with English-speaking people! That will help you {#blank#}4{#/blank#} your English a lot.

    Classes are usually small with eight to ten students. For most afternoons you can go swimming, play soccer and do{#blank#}5{#/blank#} outdoor sports. You'll have fun at the same time!