Our dog Abbey died last month. My 4-year-old daughter Lucy missed her a lot and asked if we could write a letter to God to make sure he could look after Abbey well. I told Lucy that I thought we could, and she dictated(口述) these words:

    We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey and Lucy and addressed it to God/Heaven. Yesterday, we received a package addressed "To Lucy" with this note:

    Gail Mirabella works as a dog trainer for a circus (马戏团). She used to train her dogs to do tricks when she was a kid. Finally, her hobby turned into her job. Several days ago, she talked to Time Magazine reporter, Cameron Young, about her love for dogs.

    Reporter: Did you always want to be a dog trainer in a circus?

    Mirabella: When I was a little kid, I did my first dog show, a kid's dog show. And I took first place (第一名). From then on, I knew I wanted to work with dogs, but who would know I'd be in a circus?

    Reporter: Did you have any dogs growing up?

    Mirabella: Of course. I had a white dog when I was a little baby. Three years later, it died. And then we got two family dogs. On my fourteenth birthday, my uncle bought me a dog. It was a big dog.

    Reporter: How long does it take you to train a dog, one month, half a year or one year?

    Mirabella: That depends on the dog. I have thirteen dogs and I let them all play together, but I do a lot of special work with each dog. They know I am their owner because I do all the feeding.

    Reporter: If you aren't a dog trainer, what will you be?

    Mirabella: A dog. Just joking. I will probably still work with animals.

    Helen Keller lived in the U.S.A. She was a great woman.

    When Helen was a baby, she got very sick. After many weeks, the doctor said, “She is better, but now she can't see or can't hear.” Her mother and father were very sad.

    After a few years, things got worse. There was no way for Helen to speak with other people. She heard nothing. She saw nothing. She didn't understand anything.

    Then one day a teacher came to live with Helen and her family. The teacher helped Helen learn about words. Helen was a very bright child and soon she learned to spell her first word. When she was older, she went to college(大学).

Helen was very famous. She helped many blind(盲) and deaf(聋) people. She traveled around the world and helped many people.

    Helen was a very old woman when she died. The world remembers her today as a brave and wonderful person. She was blind and deaf, but she found a way to see and hear.

    Look at this. What's this in English, do you know? Ah, it's a photo. Who's that in the photo? It's Li Yan. Li Yan is my good friend. She is a beautiful girl. Who's that? The boy in black? It's Jim. He is an English boy. He is very cool. He is my friend, too. We are all in Class 3,Grade 7. I like Jim and Li Yan.

    Everyone has his own birthday. People in different countries celebrate their birthdays in different ways. Now here are four people from different countries. They will tell us how they celebrate their birthdays in their countries.

    Sandy comes from Madrid(马德里). She says happily," My 21st birthday is on Saturday, and I'm going to go out with some friends. To wish me a happy birthday, they are going to pull on my ear 21 times, once for each year. It's an old custom. Some people pull on the ear just once, but my friends are very traditional."

    Mr. and Mrs. Sato are from Tokyo. Mr. Sato is going to be 60 tomorrow. In Japan, the sixtieth birthday is called Kanreki(花甲)—it's the beginning of a new life. The color red is for a new life, so we always give something red for a sixtieth birthday.

    Liu Mei from Beijing feels very excited and tells us, "Tomorrow is my 16th birthday. It's a special birthday, so we're going to have a family party. Maybe I will get some lucky money from my relatives(亲戚). My mother is going to cook noodles for a long life.

    Phillip, from Paris, smiles to us," I'm going to be thirty next week, so I'm going to invite three very good friends out for dinner. In France, when you have a birthday, you often invite people out."

    How do you usually celebrate your birthday?

    Summer vacation is coming. The Parkers are taking a 1 to Sanya. How will 2 go there? They have 3 ideas. The son Dale says, "Let's take the4. Taking a journey by train is really relaxing. We5enjoy the beautiful scenery (风景) from the window." The daughter Alice says, "But the train station is far from our 6. If we go there by train, we have to 7 early. So let's drive a car." "8?" asks Dale. "Because we can 9 at any time we want," answers Alice. "But I think taking a journey by car is 10. What about taking a bus?" asks Dale. "Oh, I don't like that. There are always 11 people on the bus, and it 12 a long time," says Alice. Then they go to ask for their 13ideas. Mr. Parker wants to take the plane because it's the fastest (最快的) way. He says that they shouldn't spend too much time on the way, 14they won't have much time to visit the city. But Mrs. Parker wants to go by ship, because it is cheap (便宜的) and they can save some 15. Which do you think is the best way?