Listening to songs is a great way to learn English. Here are a few reasons.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. And when you are enjoying yourself, you learn without even realizing it. The best thing is that there are so many good songs in English and there are so many kinds of music, including pop, country, R&B, rock, soul and so on. Let David Bowie, Madonna, The Beatles, Alicia Keys...be your teachers!

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. Just take your MP3 player with your favorite tracks and press “play”. And you can listen to them whenever and whatever you want, so you can learn English while you're walking, driving, doing sports or relaxing on the sofa.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. While you're listening to songs, you are raising your awareness of language structures. And you're seeing how the structures are formed and used.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. And after singing along to the songs several times, all those phrases and expressions will become firmly fixed in your long-term memory. Then later you'll find that you use them naturally when you're speaking or writing.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. For example, the song American Pie is about the 1959 plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the The Big Bapper, which was an important event in US history.

    So, load up your MP3 player, put on your headphones and press “play”!

A. Learning English by listening to music is easy, too.

B. Songs can also teach you about history, culture and traditions.

C. Songs are full of useful language that you can use when you're speaking and writing.

D. Songs are good for developing your understanding of English grammar.

E. Listening to music is fun.

    There are four seasons in a year. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} My favourite season is winter.

    Many people think winter is a freezing season, but {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. I think winter is a beautiful season, especially when it snows. White snowflakes fly everywhere. The ground is covered in white and the snowflakes glisten in the sunshine.

    During winter, there are not only snowflakes, but also beautiful plum blossom. Plum blossoms in the cold winter. They represent a strong and unyielding spirit. I can learn from the plum blossoms and {#blank#}3{#/blank#}.

    Winter is also a season of reunion for Chinese people. People get together during Spring Festival. Whenever the Spring Festival comes, my parents and I will go back to our hometown. We will make many preparations for the Sprint; Festival. We often put couplets on the wall for good luck in the new year. On New Year's Eve, my family and I get together to have a big family dinner and {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. Finally, Spring Festival is not only a time for relaxation, but also a part of cultural traditions.

    In my opinion, winter has beautiful scenery that {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. It is the most beautiful season. I hope more people will like winter.

A. dumplings are a traditional dish for the New Year's Eve dinner.

B. makes it different from other seasons

C. watch the full moon

D. Each season has its own features.

E. never be afraid of any difficulties

F. I love it all the same

G. everyone will love

    The Beijing International Horticultural Exhibition（世界园艺博览会）,which is running from

    April 29 to Oct 7, will be attended by 110 countries and international organizations. It has 41 outdoor exhibition centers that will host about 2,500 activities. It is expected to draw around 16 million visitors from home and abroad.

    The theme of the expo is "Live Green, Live Better", aiming to introduce the world to a green, innovative（创新的）and harmonious（和谐的）China. Flowers and herbs from all over the world will be displayed at the expo.

    In addition, wildflowers will also be a highlight at the expo.

    It's the end of class. When the bell rings, students of a Foreign Languages School in Shenzhen quickly take out their mobile phones. They like to log on (登录) to their micro blogs to check the funny things that have happened in the last hour.

    Micro blogging has swept the country during the last few years. Recent surveys show that most students in middle schools have a micro blog, and some even update their blogs more than five times a day.

    "We learn many fresh and interesting things on micro blogs and they have become popular topics in class," said Liang Jianmin, 14, a student from Harbin No. 3 Middle School. "If you do not know about them, you are out.”

    It is also a great place for students to relax." My parents always ask me to study hard, and encourage me before exams, but actually it adds pressure," said Zhang Yazhe, 15, a student from a Foreign Languages School. "When I share these feelings on my micro blog, I get many replies from friends in the same situation, which makes me feel better."

    But parents are worried that micro blogging could be a waste of time. Some misleading messages may even be dangerous to kids.

    Shen Mingde, a professor, suggests parents not worry too much that kids are crazy about micro blogging. Instead， however, it can also become a window for parents to understand their children. "If parents can read their children's micro blogs, they'll know their thoughts, it can lead to better communication and solutions to problems," he said.

    He also gives some advice to kids.

    Don't micro blog for more than one hour a day.

    Never micro blog in class.

    Try to talk face to face with people from time to time.

    Be critical(批判性的). Not all the messages on the micro blog are true.