Jim: Hi, Bob!

Bob: Hello, Jim! What are you doing now?

Jim: I am writing an email on the computer. What about you?

Bob: I am writing a postcard. I want to send it to Steven. He is in Canada now.

Jim: May I see your postcard?

Bob: Sure! Here you are.

Jim: It is very beautiful. It has a picture of the Great Wall on it.

Bob: Steven likes the Great Wall very much.

Jim: Oh, I want to buy a postcard for my friend Betty. She likes the Palace Museum. How much is your postcard?

Bob: It is three yuan. Let's go to the shop to buy some postcards. After we write them, we can send them at the post office.

Jim: Okay. Let's go!

    My name is Lulu. I'm ten. I have a new schoolbag. It's big and heavy. I have many books in it. A Chinese book, a maths book, an English book and six storybooks. There is a red pencil box in it. My schoolbag is black and white. How nice it is!

    Today is August 17 th. The sun is shining. The wind blows gently. It is very hot. The Lis are at the beach on holiday. Look, Peter is swimming in the sea. He swims very fast. His lather shouts to him: "Don't swim too far. The sea is very deep." Peter's sister Jenny doesn't like to swim in the sea. She is collecting shells on the beach. She has a lot of shells in her bag. There is a little boy beside Jenny. Fie is eating a banana. Then he puts the peel on the sand. "Hey, boy. Don't throw the rubbish on the sand. It's dirty." Jenny says. The boy's face turns red.

    A man lives in a big house. He likes his house, but he hates(讨厌)the mice in it. One day, he buys a big cat from the market(市场) to eat the mice. After a few days, the cat kills(杀)many mice. This time, the mice become very worried. They decide to do something to save their lives, so all the mice come together to discuss(讨论)it. They have many plans, but none of them is good and useful.

    At last, a young mouse stands up and says: “I'll show you what we can do. We can put a bell around the cat's neck. Then if the cat comes we can run away, because we can hear the bell ring.” All the mice agree and say it's a good idea. Then an old mouse stands up and asks, “The point(重点)is which of us will tie(系)the bell to the cat's neck?” No one says anything because no one dares(敢)to do it.

Jim: I'm going away for a long time.

Bob: I'm sorry to hear that. Where are you going?

Jim: America. My father has a new job there.

Bob: That is good news for your father. It's bad news for me.

Jim: Me too.

Bob: Are you going to a new school?

Jim: Yes. I'm going to a new primary school. I'll be in Grade 4.

Bob: Will you write to me?

Jim: Yes, I will.

Bob: I will miss you!

Jim: Me too. Take care.

Americans think much about time. From children they learn to value (珍惜) time. As children they are taught to be on time to go to school, to work and to do everything. When they are having a good time, they say that time flies. When a person is dying (垂死的), they say he is living on borrowed time.

Time is money. Time is knowledge (知识). Time is everything in America. A working American has to work hard for eight hours a day or forty hours a week. This is the working time. In his spare (空闲的) time, he also works hard for more money. Even on Saturday or Sunday he also works hard as usual. In the street you can not see that a man walks slowly. They walk very fast. In fact, they are running. They love time because time can bring them money and a lot of things. But sometimes they also hate time, because they feel that they have become servants (仆人) of the clock.