Once upon a time, there was an old woman who lived in a small house. She planted a lot of beautiful tulips (郁金香) in her garden.

    One night, the sounds of sweet singing and of babies laughing woke her up. She looked out of the window. The sounds seemed to come from the tulips, but she could see nothing.

    The next morning she walked among her flowers, but there were no signs of anyone having been there the night before.

    On the following night she was again wakened (弄醒) by the sounds of sweet singing and babies laughing. She got out of bed and walked softly into her garden. The old woman looked closely and she noticed that a fairy (精灵) mother was singing softly, and that in each tulip-cup was a little fairy baby, laughing and playing.

    The old woman went back to her house quietly. From then on, she never picked a tulip. She didn't allow her neighbours to pick the flowers, either. When the old woman died, all the tulips disappeared overnight. But her grave (坟墓) looked beautiful, because the fairies sang above it and kept it green.

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

    There are many magic（神奇的) things in the world of animals. Please look at the followings：

    Republic of Kenya is a country in Africa, with a population of about 48,000,000. Nairobi is the capital of Kenya, Kiswahili and English are its official languages, and it also has many local languages. Kenya covers 582, 646 square kilometres. It has a warm and humid tropical climate on its Indian Ocean coastline. On Kenya's land, fruit, vegetables, coffee, tea, corns and wheat are the main agricultural produce. The people in Kenya like cross country running, road running, soccer, boxing and so on. Kenya won several medals during the Beijing Olympics, six gold, four silver and four bronze, making it Africa's most successful nation in the 2008 Olympics

Republic of Kenya

Capital: {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

Size: {#blank#}2{#/blank#}km²

Official languages: Kiswahili, {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

population: {#blank#}4{#/blank#}million

Sports: cross country running, {#blank#}5{#/blank#} soccer, boxing

    Paper cutting is a traditional art in China, which has been making its way along the route of the long history of paper. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} It once became one of the main forms of arts, and was popular with the people of that time; even in royal families, ladies were also judged by the ability at paper cutting. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} The themes of their works usually include everything in people's daily life from dumb things to the surroundings. Familiarity makes them understand the real spirit of the art.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Once they are owned by a master of papercut, they will become so supernatural that the papercuts beyond imagination flow out of his/her hands. Another tool for paper cutting is carving knives which are necessary to improve a sharpened effect or to make a good job.

    No doubt that arts come from life and serve life. The bright colors of red, green or light blue papercuts provide a merry atmosphere. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} And people like to decorate their windows and doors using colorful papercuts. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Shanxi window papercuts are simple and bold; papercuts from Hebei Province are bright in color; papercuts in southern provinces are good and fine.

{#blank#}1{#/blank#} ⑴The first thing to remember is that when a friend invites you over, you need to arrive on time. If your friend tells you to come "around 3:00", that means you can turn up a little bit after 3:00. But usually it is a good idea to arrive at the right time.

{#blank#}2{#/blank#} ⑵Often it is also nice to bring something to your friend's house. This could be a box of chocolate for you two to share, or maybe a movie that you can watch together. You can also bring some flowers. A little gift is a nice way to show your friend that you are excited to be at his house.

{#blank#}3{#/blank#} ⑶When you visit your friend's house, you may also meet his parents. You should tell them who you are and they may tell you their names, and then they may tell you to call them by their first names. Another way to show respect is to call them Madam or Sir.

{#blank#}4{#/blank#} ⑷As we all know, students should learn how to get on well with others. But in what ways? First of all, we should respect others. Everyone has their own way to do things, so we should understand each other. Besides, it is important for us to communicate with each other. What's more, we should be kind to others and offer necessary help to those who are in trouble.

{#blank#}5{#/blank#} ⑸Everybody has his parents. But not everybody gets on well with his parents. Well, first, we should respect our parents because they bring us up and care for us all the time. Second, we are supposed to do some housework at home. We should help clean the room, cook meals and so on. Third, we should care for them, have a talk with them about their work.