Mark and Betty are brother and sister. They love to play on the1. They think it's very2to play there. They go to the beach by3every weekend. They live far away from the beach, so their father usually4about two hours driving them there.

    Last Sunday their father was very5and couldn't send them to the beach. Mark and Betty6very bored at home. They thought they must solve (解决) the7quickly.

    Then Mark came up with an idea and said to his father, "I have a good8, Dad. We can live near the beach. Then Betty and I can go there every day, and you don't need to drive us there."

    His father looked at him up and down and smiled, "Sounds really good. But the houses near the beach are very9. I must work hard to buy a10. Then you can go to the beach every day."

    Red, green, blue, black and white are basic(基本的) colours.

    The world is colourful(多彩的). The sea is blue. The grass is green. Most countries in the world like green because it's a symbol(象征) of life(生命)，but people from England and Japan don't like it. Red is a popular(流行的) colour in China, but in Thailand(泰国)，it is bad to write names in red ink(墨水). It means someone is dead(死亡的). In Australia, people think the black cat can bring them good luck, but in America, people think the white cat is a lucky cat.

    Imagine you are taking a walk on the beautiful beach. Just then, your feet step over something and you hear a crack (噼啪声) —an empty plastic bottle. Things like this are happening more often because of sea rubbish.

    Studies show that 80% of all the waste is from the land. The waste is mainly plastics (塑料制品) which are really hard to degrade (降解). So the rubbish will remain there for a long time. Some of the pollution is caused accidentally. For example, about 10,000 product-filled boxes are lost at sea every year from business ships. Sometimes people just throw things into the water from boats or land. Many large rubbish areas are formed in the North Pacific Ocean.

    Thankfully, the situation isn't ignored (忽视). Groups like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are taking action to help clean the sea. Since 2006,76 projects have cleared out 3,814 metric tons (公吨) of rubbish from the sea. Methods of rubbish cleaning include using machines to remove (移除) the waste away from the surface of sea water. Besides, special nets are set by the mouths of rivers to stop the rubbish before it reaches the sea. If everyone does his part, sea rubbish seems like a problem that can be solved.

Carol has three sisters. All of them are very beautiful. Sometimes she feels very bad because she doesn't look like them at all. She is short and heavy and she doesn't have big eyes or beautiful hair.

As young girls, her sisters often go to parties on weekends but Carol always stays at home—reading books and doing the homework. She says it's her dream to go to university(大学).

Ten years later, Carol grows up. All her sisters get married(结婚) at a young age and don't live a happy life. But Carol is now a teacher in a university and she spends most of her free time taking trips. Every day her life is colorful.

Well, you see it won't matter if you are not beautiful but you must study hard all the time. That may be the only way if you want to make your dream come true.

Look at the picture! You can {#blank#}1{#/blank#} some school things(学习用品) in it, some {#blank#}2{#/blank#} and pencils, two erasers and two dictionaries. The blue eraser is {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. Itˈs big. The green eraser is Lucyˈs. She is my good {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. We are in the same(相同的) school. This is my English dictionary. What {#blank#}5{#/blank#} the Chinese {#blank#}6{#/blank#}? Oh, itˈs Lucyˈs. My English {#blank#}7{#/blank#} is Mr. Brown. {#blank#}8{#/blank#} first name is Bill. He is a good teacher. We thank him(他) {#blank#}9{#/blank#} his {#blank#}10{#/blank#}.

In the eyes of many foreigners, Chinese are the best hosts and the worst guests in the world. They're not really bad guests but because the guest-host relationship in China is much different than in some Western countries it appears they are not nice guests. And Western guests sometimes look rude in the eyes of Chinese guests.  

　　In China guests are almost like gods. Whenever I enter a Chinese person's home there is always fruit on the table for me and someone is quick to bring me a cup of tea or water. In the West generally the guest is not a god. Acting according to the host's way of doing things is usual behaviour for a guest. 

　　My wife's mother is a very kind elderly Chinese lady who doesn't smoke. When I see some of her guests smoking in her house, as a non-smoker I feel unhappy. Usually I want to stop them directly but I must realize that she must not do that. In most North America homes if you are a guest and the hosts are not smokers, you should not smoke in their house. At the very least you could ask "Is it OK if I smoke?" But don't be surprised if they say "No, you can't smoke." In our culture if you smoke in their home you are a bad guest, but if they don't allow you to smoke in their house they are not a rude guest.

　　Guests in China also have special habits. Some Western people may not adapt to these habits very soon. Thankfully my wife is Chinese so whenever we visit a Chinese family she tells me to buy them a gift. However giving a gift to a host is not always necessary in my country. So if you invite international guests to your home don't be too surprised if they don't bring you a gift. 

　　In China you probably won't need to change the guest-host relationship very much because you will probably only be the host and Chinese are naturally very good hosts. If Western hosts invite you to their house, try not to be too surprised if their style of treating you is not what you have expected.