Dear Fatima,

     Thank you for your wonderful birthday present. It was lovely.

     I told you in my last letter that we were going to Disneyland, Paris. Well, we've been! I loved it. It's not so large as Walt Disney World in Florida, but it is pretty large all the same. In fact, it's one fifth the size of Paris.

     It was so crowded! We had to wait a long time to go on the rides sometimes, but the weather was very fine, thought not so sunny as in Florida.

     There are great things to see. Sleeping Beauty's Castle is wonderful. My young sister Annette liked that best. Then there's Frontier Land—you feel you are in the middle of an old Western film. My elder brother Tom liked that. I loved the Pirates of the Caribbean area. You visit it in a boat. You really think you are living in those exciting times—but without the danger, of course.

     There are some great rides, too. I think the best is the Peter Pan ride. You seem to fly through the air over London. There's also a ride that actually goes upside down. I didn't dare to go on it, but my dad did.

     Another thing—did you know that there are more trees in Disneyland than in the whole of Paris?—150, 000 of them! My mum found that out.

     Are there places like those in your country? If so, what are they like? I know so little about you as yet, I'm so looking forward to hearing from you again. I'm sure we're going to be great pen pals. Please write back soon!

                                                              Love,

                                                             Louise

Information Card

    Making a public speech is the thing that most people don't want to do. The reason is that we are all afraid of making mistakes in front of others. The more important the speech is, the more frightened we will be. But forget it now. Public speaking is easy. It's just a simple talking, Although I'm a shy man, I've been making speeches and talking on radio and television for more than 30 years. Anybody who can talk can speak in public. Here are some of the lessons I have learned:

    Keep your speech simple. Your audience can't take all of your main ideas, and they can only remember one or two of them, not ten or twenty. So you should prepare one or two of your main ideas very well. But if you can't express what you want to say, then your speech will not be paid attention to. And if you don't have a clear idea of what you want to say, your audience won't, either.

    Organize your speech well. No matter how long or short your speech is, you have to organize your speech—how you are going to open or begin, what main points you want to make and how you're going to close or end. A strong close is usually very important and critical(关键的): the last thing you say is what your audience will most likely remember. If not, they will be confused.

    Keep your speech not long. The standard (标准的) length of a speech is usually 12 minutes. Most people can't put their minds in one thing for too long time, which will make them tired and lose their interest. If you pay no attention to your audience's reaction(反应)，the audience will get bored. Of course, your speech will fail.

    Following these suggestions above, you can make a good speech in public, and you will be an excellent speaker, I think.

    People have always wanted to know what our future will look like. Go on reading this text, and you will know what will happen in the next fifty years.

    How can we know what the future will look like? To be able to understand the future, you have to know the past, what has taken us to where we are today and what has changed along the way? The world has changed a lot in the last 150 years, but people are driven by the same basic needs as they were 150 years ago. Will this change in the next 150 years? No.

    What inventions have really made a different in the last 150 years? In the past years, the inventions that have changed most people's everyday life are telephone, radio, television, computer, the car and the internet. Then we of course have a lot of inventions that have made life easier, like new medicine, faster cars, trains, etc. In general, people have been working hard in the last 150 years to make inventions that will make the world a better place. Since there is still much to do in the area, this will be important for at least the next 150 years.

    Why do we need to guess the future? Guessing the future is important for two reasons: First, we need to start to think about what kind of future we would like for ourselves and our children. And then we need to know what decisions we need to make today that will give us the best future.

    We live in different places. For example, some people live in the mountains; some people live on plains; some people live near water.

    Mary lives near the sea. The sea is blue. She likes to play on the beach with her friends.

    Tom lives by a lake. The lake is very big. The water is clear. He often goes boating with his family on fine days.

    Jack lives in the mountains. The mountains are very high. In the summer, it's very cool there. In the winter, the mountains are all white. Jack likes to play in the snow with his sister.

    Jim lives on a plain (平原). He likes flying kites when the weather is fine.

    Tony lives in the desert (沙漠). It is very hot and dry. It doesn't get much rain. Tony likes to ride his camel all around.

    David lives in a forest. The forest has many trees. It rains a lot there. David likes to climb the trees and play in his tree house.

根据短文内容，完成表格。

①{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Henry, a student of fifteen, wants to see a movie, but he has only five dollars.

②{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Jane is going to buy some nice clothes for herself. She doesn't care about the prices.

③{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Linda and her friend Mark are going to have lunch together. They don't like to eat in a noisy place.

④{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Mr. Smith wants his son to try some interesting things during the summer holidays. The boy doesn't like talking and he has no friends at school.

⑤{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Susan sings well. Her dream is to be a pop singer. Now she needs to get more practice to make it come true.

A. How will you spend your summer holidays, boys and girls? Why not play soccer on the beach, ride a bike to the farm or try something different from those at school? lots of fun and new friends are waiting for you. Call Summer Club at 3940-8821.

B. Town Cinema has the most comfortable seats and the biggest screens. Students can buy tickets for less than five dollars on weekdays.

C. Green Clothes Store is very popular in our city. Although clothes there are a little expensive, you can always find your favorite at any time.

D. Are you interested in music? Come and take classes at Molly Music School. Some famous singers will be your teachers. Maybe you will be a good singer in the near future.

E. Yummy restaurant has lots of delicious food at good prices. we have clean, nice and quiet rooms. It is the best place to enjoy the food with your family or friends.

F. Old Sam's Bookstore is newly opened. Many picture books are on sale and there is free ice-cream for children under ten.

    Last Friday, we had a school sports meet. The weather wash t fine in the morning but in the afternoon it was sunny. It was an exciting sports meet. We all had a good time.

    I'm Wang Ting. I'm from Class 1. Grade 7. Wang Lin is my classmate. He won the boys'400-meter race. Li Tang won the high jump. Liu Gang won the first in the long jump. Class 1, Grade 9 won the boys' relay race. Class 6. Grade 8 won the girls' relay race. I also took part in the sports meet. But I was only the last one to pass the finish line in the girls' 100-race. I will practice running every day. I'm sure I can do better next time.

Information Card