I'm John. I'm in Grade Eight a{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Rocky Mountain High School. Every M{#blank#}2{#/blank#}. I go to the Buddy Club. In the club, older students help new students learn more about the school. My friend Sam is in the {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (ten) grade. He often listens {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (careful) to my problems. He always offers {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (I) some help. He is a hero in my heart.

    We have different {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (class) every day. On Friday afternoon, our school ends {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (early) than usual. My friends {#blank#}8{#/blank#} I often go to the Science Club together. Twice {#blank#}9{#/blank#} week, we write robot programmes after school. We love making things, so we practice hard each time. Our team {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (win) two competitions last term. We were very happy.

    The Congo River(刚果河) is a famous river in Africa. The Congo River gets its {#blank#}1{#/blank#} from the Kingdom of Kongo. It is an {#blank#}2{#/blank#} country on the left bank(河岸) of the river.

    The Congo River is the {#blank#}3{#/blank#} largest river in Africa and the {#blank#}4{#/blank#} river in the world.This river runs for about 2920 miles {#blank#}5{#/blank#} going into the Atlantic Ocean.  The river runs {#blank#}6{#/blank#} several African countries. Because the Congo River runs around the equator(赤道), the water in this river is usually {#blank#}7{#/blank#}.That is different from the water in any other {#blank#}8{#/blank#}.

    As we all know, there is a large {#blank#}9{#/blank#} in Africa,but there are many forests along the river.Many plants and animals{#blank#}10{#/blank#} along the river. It's very important to Africans.

Dear Dennis,

    We just want to say thank you for having us before we caught the plane last week. It was a nice evening, and we enjoyed {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Pete and Sarah. With your help we were able to get to the airport with plenty of time. We often tried to get an {#blank#}2{#/blank#} flight than usual, but it wasn't possible.

    We had {#blank#}3{#/blank#} holiday in Spain. We just loved driving {#blank#}4{#/blank#} the countryside, and we often {#blank#}5{#/blank#} to walk round a mountain village. We met {#blank#}6{#/blank#} friends, Bill and Sue, and they invited us to have a meal with them. They wanted us to stay with them, {#blank#}7{#/blank#} we couldn't, as we had already booked two {#blank#}8{#/blank#} in a hotel.

    The weather was nice. There {#blank#}9{#/blank#} so much beautiful sunshine all the time we were there. Leaving Spain was very sad. It made me want to cry.

    Anyway, we're looking forward to hearing from you, and hope to see you {#blank#}10{#/blank#}. Let me know if you're ever in the area. You must call in.

Yours,

Ray

    Do you have a pen friend? Do you still remember the time {#blank#}1{#/blank#}you began to write to each other? Are you still writing to each other now? Let's read a  {#blank#}2{#/blank#}of a pair of pen friends.

    Audrey Sims and Norma Frati are pen friends. Sims is from Australia, and Frati is from America. They {#blank#}3{#/blank#}to write to each other over 70 years ago, because their teachers {#blank#}4{#/blank#}them to write a letter as part of a pen friend program in school. They wrote more than 3,000 {#blank#}5{#/blank#}in the past years, {#blank#}6{#/blank#}Sims and her friend Frati had never met each other until 2013. Sims was 83 years old and Frati was 87. Last year Sims came to America to visit her old pen friend for the {#blank#}7{#/blank#}time.

    “I think we are {#blank#}8{#/blank#}to each other. We're both married and divorced(离婚)and married again, and it's almost the same,” said Sims. {#blank#}9{#/blank#}Sims and Frati love flowers and they planned to visit some gardens together in America. And the two women said that when Sims went back to {#blank#}10{#/blank#}, they would keep on writing.

“Made in China” in the USA

    If you go to another country， what kinds of things would you buy? Would you buy a camera in Japan， some beautiful clothes in F{#blank#}1{#/blank#} ， or a watch in Switzerland? No matter what you may buy， you might probably think those products(产品) were m{#blank#}2{#/blank#} in those countries. However， you could be w{#blank#}3{#/blank#} . Kang Jian is a 17-year-old student from Shanghai. Last year he went to visit his aunt and uncle in San Francisco. He f{#blank#}4{#/blank#} it interesting that so many products in the local shops were made in China. “I wanted to buy a toy car for my cousin， but even t{#blank#}5{#/blank#} most of the toys had American brands（品牌）， they were made in China.”

    Toys are not the o{#blank#}6{#/blank#} things made in China. “I wanted to buy a pair of basketball shoes，” he explains. “But I had to visit five or six stores b{#blank#}7{#/blank#} finding a pair made in America!” He realized that Americans can hardly a{#blank#}8{#/blank#} buying products made in China. “In fact，” he continues， “there are so many things made in China — footballs， handbags， pet food， mobile phones. E{#blank#}9{#/blank#} American flags are made in China!”

    Kang Jian thinks it's great that China is so good at p{#blank#}10{#/blank#} these everyday things. However， he wishes that in the future China will also get better at making high-technology products that people can buy in all parts of the world.

    We all know that a good night's rest helps us stay healthy. After we sleep for 7 or 8 hours in bed and {#blank#}1{#/blank#} up next morning, our mind is better prepared to memorize and learn something.

    But what about getting a rest during the middle of the day?

    Scientists say, “Short periods of sleep, napping (小睡), may help learning and memory. Napping can help young children learn better. It can {#blank#}2{#/blank#}  help older people remember longer.”

    Take China as an example. Chinese people are used to napping after lunch.

    Recently researchers made a survey among nearly 3,000 Chinese people over 65 years old. The researchers asked them {#blank#}3{#/blank#} they napped and for how long. They found that about 60 percent of them took a nap and they napped for 60 to 90 minutes. The research shows that napping for about an hour is the best.

    However, these are the findings for those  {#blank#}4{#/blank#} the age of 65. Doctors say that napping for about an hour may be too  {#blank#}5{#/blank#} for young and healthy people. And they believe that half an hour is enough to {#blank#}6{#/blank#} young and healthy people from feeling tired. By doing so, {#blank#}7{#/blank#} will help them stay awake.

    Doctors also say, “If you have trouble falling asleep at {#blank#}8{#/blank#} , take a daytime nap for less than 45 minutes and don't nap after 3 p.m. in the afternoon.