The word“day” has two meanings. When we talk about the number of days in a year,  we are using “day” to mean 24 hours. But when we talk about day and night,  we are using“day” to mean the time between sunrise and sunset. Since the earth looks like a ball,  the sun can shine on only half of it at a time. Always one half of the earth is having day and the other half night. A place is moved from day into night and from night into day over and over by the spinning（旋转）of the earth. At the equator（赤道）day and night are sometimes the same length（长度）. They are each twelve hours long. The sun rises at 6 o'clock in the morning and sets at 6 o'clock in the evening. For six months the North Pole is tilted（倾斜）toward the sun. In those months the Northern Hemisphere（半球）gets more hours of sunlight than the Southern Hemisphere. Days are longer than nights. South of the equator nights are longer than days. For the other six months the North Pole is tilted away from the sun. Then the Southern Hemisphere gets more sunlight. Days are longer than nights. North of the equator nights are longer than days. Winter is the season of long nights. Summer is the season of long days.

    Although I'm not in my childhood, I still prefer reading fairy tales(童话).They often make me think of some special experiences and feelings. This summer I've reviewed The Little Prince. It was first published in 1943.It's a world­famous fairy tale written by the French author Antoine.

    "I", the narrator(讲述者) of the story, is a pilot. His plane has something wrong and lands in the Sahara. The little prince lives on a small planet, and he grows a flower called ROSE there. One day they have a quarrel(争吵), so the little prince runs away. On his all­ alone journey, he meets different kinds of people. From these people he gets a conclusion(结论) that grown­ups are strange. And with the help of the man he meets, he descends in the Sahara. This book moves me a lot. It is not only a fairy tale for children and teenagers, but also for grown­ups.

    The first Chinese actor captured the hearts of many Chinese in the USA. He read a letter by Zhuge Liang (181-234) to the emperor of Shuhan during three Kingdoms(220-280)period in the new season of Growling Remand Roaring Dragon（《虎啸龙吟》）

    The letter has been read by so many students. We would never have thought that the text written in old Chinese could be so beautifully read in another language. As a result, foreigners begin to show interest in Rommance of the Kindoms translated by C. H. Brewitt-tailor and Robert E. Hegel

    Earlier in November, 1 979, pupils in England were able to watch a new TV programme called Monkey. Most of them were hearing the story for the first time. However, the story of the Mokey King isn't new to Chinese Children in the traditional Chinese book Journey to the West

    As soon as the TV programme came out more than 30 years ago, western children became interested in reading this story because the clever Monkey King keeps fighting to help the weak and never gives up

    Chinese scholars should do a better job of introducing Chinese literature to the rest of the world. At the same time, we could encourage western schools to try something different.

    Reading international literature is an effective way of understanding other people in the world. And the more we understand each other, the more beautiful the world will be.

    A city without cars would be very strange, right? But Venice is such a city.

    Venice is in the northeast of Italy. It wasn't built on land, like Beijing or Shanghai, but on more than 110 islands. Seawater is everywhere around the city.

    Even so, travel isn't difficult. The waterways have always been the best ways to get around. There are 117 waterways and more than 400 bridges that can guide you where you want to go. People in Venice move from place to place by boat. They like to enjoy the scenery and cool summer nights while taking boat trips. They can talk to other people as they go along.

    Venice grew out of small islands in saltwater lakes when some Italians escaped from a war more than 1,500 years ago, and built homes there.

    Water makes the city special, but it is also a big problem.

    Once, people used too much underground water. This made the city get lower little by little. Now the city has gone down by 23 centimeters. Another problem is the rising seawater. The temperature has risen over the years. This has made the ice of the Arctic Ocean (北冰洋) melt (融化).

    Every year, high waters hit the city in autumn and winter. When a lot of water comes, more than half of the city is underwater.

    Scientists are trying different ways to stop the city from getting even lower.