Sally Ride was born in California in 1951. She was the first American woman to travel into space. She loved to play tennis and wanted to be a tennis player when she was young. But after three months' professional(专业的) training, she changed her mind. She went to Stanford University and started to study science. She studied stars and planets. She did researches at the university and got her PhD in astrophysics(天体物理学博士学位) after several years' hard work.

 In 1977, she took a test to become an astronaut. And then she was picked up from over 8,000 people. In order to realise her dream of going into space, she had to get different kinds of special and difficult training. She learned how to fly a plane, how to jump out of a plane as well as how to operate(操作)special machines

 Sally and four other astronauts flew a spaceship called Challenger on Jun. 18, 1983. She became the first American woman to travel into space. Later, she taught at the University of California. Then she wrote seven books on space for children, encouraging children to study science. Unfortunately, she died in 2012.

D

    Mike Myers is a teacher at Chauncey Rose High School in Terre Haute, Indiana. Last year, he taught his students about the world's rain forests. They learned that rain forests are important because the plants and animals of the rain forest give us food, wood, and medicine.

    Destruction of the world's rain forests is a serious problem. Unluckily, rain forests are disappearing at a rate of 80 acres per minute! As part of a class project, Myers' students bought three acres of rain forest in Central America. They paid $25 per acre. The students hope that the land they bought will be protected and not destroyed. The students became so interested in rain forests that they decided to get a closer look at a real rain forest.

    So last June, Myers and four of his students took a boat ride down a river. They saw alligators and crocodiles. In the middle of the week, a guide took Myers and his students into the rain forest. "The monkeys were not happy that we were in their forest. They broke small branches off the trees and threw them at us," one of the students said. "It was a great learning experience for all of us," said Myers.

    Each student chose something specific about Costa Rica to study involving the plants, animals, food, and culture. During the last few days the group had time to do fun activities. They went whitewater rafting and horseback riding, and visited Costa Rica's active volcano.

    Myers hopes to make the trip every year with a different group of kids.

A

    My name is Peter. I was born in Paris. When I was three, my family moved to London. We stayed there for one year then my dad had to move to New York. We spent about two years there. I moved to Shanghai last May and I like the new country very much.

    I study at an international school in Shanghai. There are people from nearly all parts of the world. I like my school very much and I can learn many things. I love learning Chinese and keep practising it with my classmates. After school, my favourite sport is football. I like drawing and painting, too.

    Shanghai has four seasons and I like spring best here, because I can go out in the evening and play with my friends. In my hometown, the summers are hotter than Shanghai but the winters are not so cold as t hey are here.

    Shanghai is like a small world where all kinds of people and food can be seen. I like being part of it and I am very happy to stay here.

    Our new neighbours are the Browns. They have two children, a boy and a girl. The boy is Jack and the girl is Alice. Jack is 11, and he is one year older than me. Alice and my sister Nancy are 8 years old.

    At weekends, Nancy and I like to go to play with Alice and Jack. Both Jack and I really enjoy playing computer games. Sometimes the girls join us, but the games they enjoy are different from the ones we like.

    There is a big park near our house. Sometimes, when the weather is fine, the four of us will go for bike rides there. We often stop at the huge playground to have some fun. Jack and I like to play basketball, but the girls prefer to sing and dance.

    Our families often have dinner together. On some days, they come over to our house and on other days, we go over to theirs. Mr Brown and his wife cook really well.

    Nancy and I are very glad to have the Browns next door. It's great to have friends living so near.

    Jim gets up very early and he finds some changes in his house. He looks around carefully and he sees that:

    The big tree is on the right side of the house, but now it's on the left.

    There is a dog house in the corner of the yard, but now it's gone. Where is the dog house?

    The green clock in his bedroom changes into a yellow one.

    "Mom! Mom! An alien(外星人)changes our house!" Jim runs to his mom and says. Mom is cleaning the living room. She's not surprised(惊讶的)at all. "Oh, it's your dad. He thinks our house is too boring and he wants to have some changes. What do you think of the changes? Do you like them?"