Before the day I stepped into junior high school, I had always thought that as long as I could read, speak, and listen well, English will be a "no problem" 1 for me, and that English grammar was a piece of cake. My father 2 to tell me the importance of grammar but I just wouldn't listen. I didn't understand what's so important about the whole "grammar" thing.

    This misunderstanding didn't last long. Something unexpected happened. It was only 3that day, and I would never forget that day. I was just a young and seventh grader when our English teacher 4 to give us a quiz on English grammar. We had to fill in blanks. After I read the sentence in question number one, different kinds of answers which I thought were possible came into my mind. All of them seemed right and made sense to me, but there was only one 5 answer to it, but I didn't know which one exactly. I was shocked, but I said to myself "never mind", and went on to question number two. Unexpectedly, the same trouble that just happened, appeared right in front of me again, and it just kept happening again and again until I heard our teacher say 6"Time's up." I had to turn in my answer sheet 7 so many unsure answers on it.

    I was really sad about the whole thing. And since then, I've 8 that in English, writing grammar is quite different from spoken grammar. My father had been trying to tell me the important role grammar plays in learning English. Well, it's 9 too late to learn anything, including ENGLISH! So, I started to work on my grammar skills, and thanks to that bad 10, I really learned a lot from it! Now, I'm still on my journey of learning grammar, and I am enjoying it.

Has your mother or grandmother ever made embroidered (刺绣的)clothes for you? In the past, Chinese people often embroidered on hats, shoes and dresses. Some girls would even embroider on a sachet (香囊)as a gift for their lovers.

Shu embroidery comes from Sichuan. It is said that Shu embroidery is the old lest kind of embroidery in China. People began to make it during the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD).They sold it to other countries such as ancient Rome.

Shu embroidery takes time. It might take as long as a whole day to finish just 10 cm. Embroidery workers need to divide each silk thread (丝线) into more than 10 or over 30 smaller threads. Each smaller thread is thinner than a human hair.

Meng Dezhi, who used to work at the Chengdu Shu Embroidery Factory，has been making Shu embroidery for over 40 years. She loves this form of art and wants more people to try it, so she gives lessons in universities. She said. "Although the work is hard, Shu embroidery stands for thousands of years of Sichuan culture. It is a symbol of Chinese culture as well."

There are many ways to enjoy learning English.

One of my students likes telling stories very much. I often ask him to tell a story in English before we have the English class. Can you guess what happens? Learning English is not hard

for him. He tries to remember a lot of English stories and tells them in English. We enjoy his English stories very much. If we don't under-stand him, he will translate(翻译) the stories into Chinese for us. Later he learns English well. We also learn a lot from his stories.

Another student has big problems with listening. She enjoys listening to songs. I offer her a lot of English songs without(没有) words. She wants to learn one of them. I advise her to write down the words one by one when she listens to the English song. She says she has never tried this way before. It is really helpful and her listening has been improved.

The two students have different experience of learning English.

If you go to the forest with friends, always stay with them. 1 you don't, you may get lost. If you really get lost, this is what you 2 do: sit down and stay where you are. Don't try to 3 your friends—let them find you by staying in one place. 

There is 4 way to help your friends or other nearby people to find you. Give them a signal（信号）by shouting or whistling,（吹口哨）three times. Stop. Then shout or whistle 5 times again. Any signal given three times is a call for 6 .

Keep up the shouting or whistling 7 three times together. When people 8 you, they will know that you are not just making noise for 9 . They will let you know that they have heard your signal. They will give two shouts, two whistles or two gun shots（枪声）. When someone gives a signal, it is 10 to a call for help. 

 The Pleasanton Partnerships in Education Foundation (PPIE), an organization in America, was started in 1987 to raise money for local schools. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(最近), it hosted a running event for the community. To date, it has raised $1 million for the school district.

" We have {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(多于)3,000 runners, volunteers and spectators, said Mindy Louie, the manager for PPIE. This year's event had races of two miles, five kilometers and {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (十) kilometers. The BURN Youth Development(B. Y. D.),a{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(当地的) runners' group, joined in it as well.

" The B. Y. D. was born in 2020 to help keep kids positive in life," explained Jerry Wu, its{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(领导者) and coach. The B. Y. D. has since grown to include more than 100 young {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(成员) and 30 of them ran in this year's PPIE event." Watching them running makes me{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(微笑) every time," said Jerry Wu.

 So far, Jerry Wu has {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (教) students valuable running skills for about three years. Eighth grader Ollie Gu is one of his excellent students. He completed the race in 40 minutes and 46 seconds and {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(赢) first place in the 12-15 age group.

" What an {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(有教育意义的) race!" Ollie said."I'm looking forward to it next year."

American students have colourful school days. They usually get up at 7：00 a．m. from Monday to Friday. After breakfast they go to school by yellow school bus. They get to school at about half past eight. Students have seven classes in junior high school, four in the morning and three in the afternoon. 

Their classes are English writing, maths, history, science, PE, music and art.

At noon, students have lunch at school. They usually have some chicken and vegetables. They don't have a short break. They go back to continue having classes after lunch until three o'clock. After school, they do sport, like playing basketball or football with their friends.

Then they go home.Students usually watch TV before dinner. They have dinner at six in the evening. After that, they do their homework in their rooms. Sometimes they talk with their parents.

On the weekend, students don't have to get up early in the morning. 

They may get up at 9 or 10 o'clock. On Saturdays, they often go shopping or go to their grandparents' homes. And on Sundays, they go to a museum with their parents in the morning and have a big lunch at noon.