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.

    Clothes are traditionally made of natural materials, such as cotton, leather and wool. They are all from plants or animals, but that doesn't mean they're friendly to the earth. For example, farmers have to use a lot of chemicals to grow cotton plants.

    Scientists are now looking for new ways to make clothing materials. They hope the new materials are both comfortable and good for the earth. Scientists have worked out how to make materials out of cornhusks (谷壳), chicken feathers and rice straws.

    "They used to be useless things. We always have a problem of how to deal with them," Yang, a scientist says. "Now, we can turn them into beautiful materials. Chicken feathers are better than other things. They have small air pockets like honeycombs. That means it will be very warm if you use them to make a jacket or sweater, and I think more and more people will like to buy these kinds of clothes."

    Traffic rules help to keep order on the road. They also help to keep people s{#blank#}1{#/blank#}. The pedestrian (行人) has as many rules to f{#blank#}2{#/blank#} as the driver of a car. You should walk on the sidewalk (人行道) or at the side of the road. Always look {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (careful) before you walk across the street.

    If you like riding {#blank#}4{#/blank#} bike, don't ride in the middle of the road or run through red traffic lights. When you ride a bike w{#blank#}5{#/blank#} a friend, don't look around or talk.

    If you drive a car, you should s{#blank#}6{#/blank#} down at the traffic lights. You must always wear a seat belt (安全带), Without belts b{#blank#}7{#/blank#} the driver and the passengers may be badly hurt in a sudden accident.

    You may not need to take a bus, but look out if you have to travel in one. Get on or get off a bus only when it comes to a s{#blank#}8{#/blank#}. When it is full, don't try to get inside, o{#blank#}9{#/blank#} you may fall off.

    Traffic rules are also {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (call) Road Safety rules. The maxim (格言) for all road users is "Thinking about others".

    Did you spend much time lying on the comfortable sofa at home during the summer vacation? How often did you do sports this summer? People across the world need to get moving, according to a new study by the World Health Organization (世界卫生组织).

    5% of adults do not get enough exercise, according to the study. This number hasn't changed from 2001. Because of this, about 1.4 billion people are close to deadly diseases (疾病) such as heart disease and cancer (癌症).

    People should do at least 2 and a half hours of "moderate intensity (中等强度)" exercise each week, such as dancing or swimming. They can also do 75 minutes of "vigorous intensity (高强度)" exercise, such as running or playing soccer, according to the WHO.

    As for how to exercise more, experts says that we don't have to go to the gym (健身房) every time For example, we can go up and down stairs (楼梯) a lot instead of taking the lift. If we can't go to a dancing class each week, standing on one leg for 30 seconds a day is very good too.

    The study also found that women are less active than men, 32% of women hardly ever take exercise, compared to (比较) 23% of men. Women spend more time at home taking care of children and doing housework.

    But unlike that in most other countries, men are less active than women in China, with 16.6% of men and 12% of women not getting enough exercise.

    The Duanwu Festival in China, also called Dragon Boat Festival, is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month every year according to the Chinese lunar calendar. For thousands of years, this festival has been marked by people's eating Zongzi and racing dragon boats. (A) To hold the dragon boat races is in memory of Qu Yuan. He was one of the greatest poets in ancient China.

    Qu Yuan was born in Zigui of Hubei Province over 2,200 years ago. Qu Yuan was an honest minister (大臣) of the State of Chu during the Warring States Period (475—22l BC) . He was upright, patriotic (爱国的) and wise. (B) 屈原想给自己的祖国带来和平并让它变得更强大。But the country was in the hands of bad officials, he could do nothing to change it. (C) He was very discouraged. At last, Qu Yuan ended his life by throwing himself into the Miluo River. It is said that people tried to save him by jumping into the river. But it was too late and all their efforts were in vain. Also, they were so sad and they threw rice into the water to feed Qu Yuan's spirit.

    Now we read his poem Li Sao which is filled with deep love for his country. We can see the dragon boat races and have a kind of Chinese food named Zongzi to eat during the Dragon boat Festival.

Here is a part from Maria's diaries(日记) about her vacation.

The 3^rd Day: Yesterday we arrived in London in the rain. We went to some big shops.

The 4^th Day: We came to Paris. The day was cloudy and the food wasn't good. We liked the shops here, but the things were dear.

The 5^th Day: We arrived in Rome in the hot weather. We had lunch in a small restaurant, and the food was delicious. We visited some shops. They were all wonderful.

The 6^th Day: We went to New York and the things in the shops were all dear. But we liked the warm weather there.

The 7^th Day: Today we visited New York City. The weather was fine. We'll go back home tomorrow after a week's vacation.