I once believed that a friend is a friend all the way. Now I have changed my ideas about friendships.

    1). Friends of convenience(便利). They can be the people who live next door or the mothers of our children's closest friends. Friends of convenience are good indeed. They'll help us when we need it. They'll look after our cats when we go on holidays. But we don't ever get too close or tell too much. Between us, we'll talk about being overweight but not about being sad or disappointed(失望). However, people still find it necessary to make friends like this.

    2). Special-interest friends. These friendships aren't deeply personal or emotional(感情上的). They lie in some shared interests, so we may have an office friend, a tennis friend, or even a shopping friend.

    3). Historical friends. We all have a friend who knew us when…maybe we were back in the second grade of primary school, when our family lived in that two-room flat downtown. He or she was the first, the only friend we told our secrets to.

    The years have gone by, and we have gone different ways. But we're still a personal part of each other's past. We know how we looked before our teeth were straightened(矫正), and our getting together makes us think of an earlier part of ourselves, which is important and never lost.

    4). Cross-generational friends. These are friendships that from across generations(代). I have in my own life a precious(珍贵的) friend, a woman of 65, who is clever, who listens well, and who means not only an ideal mother to me but also the person I'd like to be when I grow up.

    Best friends, I believe, totally love and help each other.

    Hello, everyone! I'm Mike and I'm 12 years old. I live in Beijing with my parents. I'm looking forward to the weekend. All the students in our class are going to Tian'anmen Square to watch the flag- raising ceremony（升旗仪式） on Saturday morning .We're going to meet at five o'clock at the school gate. We're going there by underground(地铁). After watching the ceremony，we are going to visit the Railway museum（铁路博物馆）. I hope the weather is fine. In the afternoon we are going to watch a basketball match in the sports hall. In the evening we're going to watch a movie. On Sunday morning, I'm going to Beihai Park with my friends. We're going to take a walk in the park and collect litter there.

    What an interesting weekend!

Information Card

⑴{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Taking measures(措施)to use less water is something you can start doing right away. If you live in an area with a water shortage, this is even more important for the environment.

⑵{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Chemicals are used to wash our bodies, homes, cars and everything else, and end up in the water supply. Chemicals are doing real harm to water.

⑶{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Coal and natural gas are the most common sources of energy that can be turned into electricity. The burning of these things is a main cause in world air pollution. Reducing your reliance(依赖）on electricity is a great way to play a part in saving the planet.

⑷{#blank#}4{#/blank#} If you can drive and fly less often, you'll do a lot to help save the planet.

⑸{#blank#}5{#/blank#} You don't have to travel far to get what you need. Making smart choices about where your food, clothes and other products come from can help make a difference to the environment.

    It is interesting to visit another country, but there are some problems when we don't know the1very well. It may be difficult to talk with the people there. We may not know how to use the telephone in the country we are visiting. We may not know how to buy the things we need. In a2country we might not know where to eat or what to order in a3. It is not easy to decide how4to tip waiters or taxi drivers. When we need help, we might not know how to ask for help. It is not pleasant to have an experience5that. After a short time, however, we learn what to do and what to6, We learn to enjoy life in another country, and then we may be sorry to leave.

    Saving water is an important part of going green. As water becomes less and is polluted (污染的) more, conservation (保护) becomes more and more important. If people keep wasting water, more water needs to be treated and cleaned. This process (过程) needs quite a lot of money.

    As it is said above, cutting down on water usage is one of the most important things you can do for your local environment. That is why more green families are going blue by conserving and harvesting water.

    It may seem like a big concept (概念), but going blue starts with small changes. Something as simple as turning off the tap when you brush your teeth can save a lot of water. Wash your fruits and vegetables in a bowl instead of under a tap to save even more. Make sure that the taps are fully turned off every time you step away.

    Another way of reducing water usage is reducing your dependence on the main water supply. Rainwater harvesting can meet a lot of your home's water needs. Collecting rainwater is a great way to keep your garden green without running the sprinkler (洒水器).