Dear Li Lei,

    How are things going? 

    Last week I went to Kunming with my family. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} The weather was nice and warm. We stayed in a nice hotel（宾馆）with a large yard. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} We went swimming a lot. That was interesting. We had meals in the hotel, too. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} We also ate a lot of fruits like bananas, pears and pineapples (菠萝).

    On Friday, we went to Shilin by bus. The mountains were very beautiful and I took lots of photos. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} The clothes in the shops were very nice! I liked them very much. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Mother told me not to buy any. And I was not happy. But I enjoyed the trip to Kunming.

    What about your trip?

    I hope all is well with you.

Yours,
Han Meimei

A. There was a swimming pool in the hotel.

B. I wanted to buy some.

C. The next day we went shopping.

D. I had a wonderful time there.

E. The food was delicious.

    There was a little boy whose name was Peter. He lived in a village close to the sea. The villagers built sea walls to keep sea water from the doors of the houses. But once the sea walls almost put the village in great danger.

    One day Peter was walking on his way back home along the sea wall when it began to rain. All of a sudden, he saw a hole in the wall, from which the sea water was running. Peter shouted for help because he know the hole meant that the sea was making its way through the sea wall, but no answer came. He realized he should do something else as quickly as possible, or the sea water could be pouring over the whole village. He started to rush towards his village. At the same time, the rain became heavier and heavier.

    It was getting dark, but Peter rushed on and on. He felt cold and hungry. In the rainstorm, he fell down over and over again. Many times he thought about giving up, but he fought on. He remembered his father's words, "Lots of strong men have made every effort to build the walls which can keep the village safe from danger. The sea walls are really important."

    Finally when the boy's father saw him, Peter had been black and blue all over. The boy told the villagers what had happened to the sea wall. They repaired it in time. "Thank God! He saved the village, "they praised Peter. All the villagers called him "Peter the Guard" from then on. Peter's parents were really proud of him!

Should mobile phones be allowed at school?

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Some mobile phones are more than just phones-they are being used as radios, cameras and MP4 players, and they are also used to send e-mails or surf the Internet. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    People have different ideas about whether students should use mobile phones at school or not, {#blank#}3{#/blank#} If their parents have something important to tell then, they can call their teachers for help. If someone's mobile phone rings during a Chinese class, he and his classmates can't concentrate on what the teacher is saying. Some parents also point out that their children often use their mobile phones to download(下载） unhealthy information from the Internet. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Other people believe that we can find some ways to use mobile phones to help students learn better in the classroom, since many of today's mobile phones are like mini computers. And children usually know more than adults about how to use new technology. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    What are your answers to the question?

    There are some very good things about open education. This way of teaching allows the students to develop their own interests in many subjects. Open education allows students to be responsible(负责) for their own education. Some students do badly in traditional classrooms. The open classroom may allow them to enjoy learning. Some students will be happier in an open education school. They will not have to worry about grades or rules. But many students will not do well in an open classroom.

    For some students, there are too few rules. These students will do little in school. They will not make good use of open education. Because open education is so different from traditional education, these students may have a problem of getting used to making so many choices. For many students it is important to have some rules in the classroom. They worry about the rules even when there are no rules. Even a few rules will help this kind of students. The last point about open education is that some traditional teachers do not like it. Many teachers do not believe in open education. Teachers who want to have an open classroom may have many problems at their school.

    You now know what open education is. Some of its good points and bad points have been explained. You may have your own opinion about open education. The writer thinks that open education is a good idea, but only in theory(理论). The writer believes that most students, but of course not all students, want some structure in their classes. They want and need to have some rules. In some cases, they must be made to study some subjects. Most of the students are pleased to find subjects they have to study interesting. They would not study those subjects if they did not have to.

Open Education

The Inside of the World

    When I was a very little boy, I was always asking questions.

    One day when I was walking with my nurse along the city street, I asked, "Jane, what's under the street?" "Oh, just dirt (尘土) ," she replied. "And what is under the dirt?" "Oh, more dirt," she replied.

   {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. So I asked again, "Well, what's under that?" "Oh, nothing-I don't know-why are you always asking so many questions?" she asked

    I knew there must be something under that. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. I also heard that Chinese lived on the other side of the world, head down. I wanted to find out if that was true.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}, down, down, down, till I came through on the other side, and then I would know. I was a very little boy, you see. With a small shovel (铁锹) , I started a hole in the back yard behind the grapevines (葡萄藤). No one knew what I was doing. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}.

    Then one evening my father asked, "What's that hole in the back yard?" {#blank#}5{#/blank#}.

He didn't laugh when I told him, but he asked me if I knew how far I would have to dig.

    I hadn't dug through the world, but I did know how far it was.