Hi, Daming,

    You ask me about how to improve（提高） your English listening. Here are some advice(建议). I hope they can help you.

    Relax(放松) yourself.

    Before you start listening to something, don't get excited or nervous（紧张的）.You need to relax．This will help you with your listening.

    Listen carefully to the first sentence.

    The first sentence tells a lot about the whole passage．For example，if，at the beginning，you hear “Our reporter says…”,you know you will hear a piece of news，not a children's story, or a science report.

    Think when you're listening.

    When you're listening, try to do some thinking．For example, you can think of the following questions: When, where and how? What does the speaker want to tell us? In this way, you may understand the passage better.

    Listen to important facts.

    It's important for you to remember some important facts. For example, if the passage is a science report, you should try to remember its findings, and how the scientists get their results. This is also very helpful to your listening．

Yours,

Tom

    Every morning my father buys a newspaper on his way to work. Every day I open my books in class and start lessons. Every evening my mother looks through magazines at home. And every night, I look at the posters with photos of David Beckham and Yao Ming on my bedroom wall before I go to sleep. Can we imagine life without paper or print?

    Paper was first created about 2,000 years ago, and has been made from silk, cotton, bamboo, and, since the 19th century, from wood. People learned to write words on paper to make a book. But in those days, books could only be produced one at a time by hand. As a result, they were expensive and rare. And because there weren't many books, few people learned to read.

    Then printing was invented in China. The first printed books were made by putting ink on a wooden block and holding the paper against it. When printing was developed greatly at the beginning of the 11th century, books could be produced more quickly and cheaply. As a result, more people learned to read. After that, knowledge and ideas spread(传播) quickly, in a way that can be compared with the introduction of the Internet in the 20th century.

    But will books be needed in the future? Today information can be received online, downloaded from the Internet rather than found in books, and information can be kept on CD-ROMs or machines such as MP4 players. These machines are smaller and lighter than books so that they can be carried very easily.

    Computers are already used in classrooms, and newspapers and magazines can already be read online. So will books be replaced by computers one day? No, I don't think the Yao Ming poster on my bedroom wall will ever be replaced by a computer two metres high!

Teacher: So, how was your vacation, Karen?

Karen: It was great. I had a vacation with my friends in Hainan last winter. There were beautiful beaches and blue sea water. It was sunny and warm. We stayed there for a week. We went swimming every day. We played beach volleyball together. We ate seafood, too. We felt very relaxed.

Teacher: How about you, Brad?

Brad: I went to Beijing with my parents on vacation. The weather was fine and the trip was happy. We spent five days in Beijing. We visited Tian'anmen Square and the Palace Museum. We also went shopping. The shops were crowded. We ate in some Chinese restaurants, too. The food was cheap and delicious. The Chinese people were very friendly. We had great fun in Beijing.

    When I was a little child, I dreamed to be a rich man who could fly around the world and take the first class (头等舱) on the plane. After I grew up, when I first took the first class, I felt like part of the rich group. I was filled with a sense of pride when sitting with those important people.

    Once I was on the plane, I noticed that the stewardess (空姐) was working all the time to make sure that first class passengers felt comfortable. I thought she must love her job very much, because she gave everyone a big smile. When the stewardess walked past my seat, I looked up at her and said, "Thank you and I hope you have a great night." She stopped with a look of surprise on her face, and said, "Excuse me?" I said my words again. It seemed that I asked a question that she did not know how to answer.

    A little later, when I was getting off the plane, the stewardess said to me, "Thank you very much, sir." Then she said, "You are the only passenger who has thanked me or said anything nice to me all night." The pride of being part of rich group disappeared as soon as I heard these words. Then I came to understand that taking the first class didn't mean you were a real "first class" person.

    Four good friends Mouse, Crow, Turtle and Deer lived in the forest. Every day they met at the lake and told each other interesting stories.

    One day Deer did not come to the lake to drink water.

    The other three were worried.

    "I saw a hunter (猎人) in the forest this morning," said Crow. "I'm afraid Deer might be hurt."

    "Fly over the forest, Crow," said Mouse. "Please see if you can find our friend Deer."

    It took him a few minutes before Crow saw Deer caught in a trap (陷阱) made of ropes. He flew back right away to ask the other two for help. When they arrived, Mouse and Crow began to break the ropes. Turtle kept talking to Deer to help her feel better.

    Just then, the hunter came to check his trap. "Everyone, leave now," said Turtle.

    Deer at once ran away with Mouse. Turtle just lifted a foot up when the hunter got close.

    "My trap is empty," said the hunter. "But, a turtle is better than nothing. I will eat turtle soup tonight." The hunter picked Turtle up and started for home.

    "Now we all must help our friend Turtle," said Deer.

    Deer lay down on the way. She seemed dead. Crow flew and landed on Deer's head. The hunter saw Deer so he put Turtle down to get Deer. As soon as the hunter left Turtle, Mouse ran up and helped Turtle hide in the forest. Deer jumped up and ran off .The hunter went back to get Turtle, but he found him gone. "How scary! There is magic here," he said to himself in great fear. Then he rushed out of the forest and never came back again.

    There was magic in the forest that day. That magic was called friendship.

    A few days ago, I ran into a stranger as he passed by. I said sorry to him and he said, "Excuse me, too, I wasn't even watching for you." We were very polite this stranger and I. Then we went on our way after saying goodbye.

    Later in the kitchen at home, as I cooked our meal, my daughter Betty walked up to me, very quietly. When I turned around. I nearly knocked her down. "Get out of the way!" I shouted angrily. She ran away, crying.

    That night, when I lay in bed, my husband said to me, "You were so rude to Betty. Go and look around on the kitchen floor, and you'll find some flowers there. Betty brought those for you. She picked them herself - pink, yellow, and your favourite blue."

    When I heard this, I thought deeply: While meeting with a stranger, I was calm and polite; but with my daughter, I was not patient. I felt sad and tears began to fall.

    I quietly went to Betty's bed, "Wake up, my dear," I said, "Are these the flowers you picked for me?" She smiled, "I found them by the tree. I knew you'd like them, especially the blue." I said, "I am so sorry that I treated（对待）you that way today." And she whispered（悄声说）, "Mommy, that's okay - I still love you anyway." I kissed her and said, "I love you too and I do love the flowers."

    That day Betty gave me a lesson on how to get along with each other in the family. I spent much time on work before and didn't realize how important family life was. I decided to change myself in the future.