Men have always wondered about the earth they live on and about the ①_____ above them.

    When early men looked at the night sky, they asked themselves a lot of questions. They looked at the moon, and wondered what this strange bright object in the sky was. They did not understand why it changed its shape from night to night. They looked at the stars and planets. They also wondered why some of them changed their positions, while others did not.

    ②他们也思考地球的形状。 Most early people believed the earth was flat.

    ③In different parts of the world, there were different ideas about the universe. The ancient Greeks were the first people to study the universe(宇宙) more scientifically. In the sixth century BC Pythagoras put forward the idea that the world was round. However, he could not explain why people at the bottom of the world did not fall off.

    It was not until the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries that scientists found the answers to some important questions. ④With the help of Galileo's telescope, people could see the sky more clearly, and find the positions of the stars and planets. Finally in 1665, Isaac Newton explained to the world what gravity (重力) was and people at last understood why they did not fall off the earth.

Dear Wendy

    Thanks for your letter. Now I'll tell you about myself.

    My name is Kitty. I am 12. My birthday is on October 12^th. I am from America. I'm in Class 3, Grade 7. We learn Chinese at our school. Our Chinese teacher's name is Wang Hao.

    Here are some of my friends. Jimmy is tall and he has black hair. He is good at playing basketball. He is in the Basketball Club. May is short and she wears glasses and a yellow dress. She likes English very much and is good at speaking English. Sally is a black girl. She has short hair. She likes swimming. She swims best in the swimming team.

    I like music. I'm a boy with glasses. Write to me soon and tell me about your friend.

Yours

Kitty

Last June, when my mother told me she had planned a four-day visit to Dubai with me, I was very excited. Tourists from all over the world come to see the sights in this amazing city and experience its culture.

On our first day, we visited the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. It is 828 metres high and it holds several records. After that we visited the Arabian Desert. The next day, we visited the Palm Jumeirah, the world's largest man-made island. The island is made from all natural materials (材料) because the Prince of Dubai wanted to give it a more natural look. The island itself looks like a palm tree from above, with one main strip(条) of land and 16 strips, 8 on each side. They all come from the middle, and make the island appear like a palm tree.

Dubai is home to the world's largest shopping centre. So on the third day, after a short boat ride away from our hotel, my mother and I spent the whole day shopping there. We returned home in the afternoon the next day. It was a fantastic trip.

It was an unusual(不寻常) day for the Jacksons. The children usually go to school by car1 today they walked to school.2 mother , Mrs Jackson, usually cooks a meal at home in the morning, but this morning she 3 lots of things in the supermarket.What about Mr.Jackson？He usually drinks tea and reads 4 interesting book in the afternoon, but this afternoon he made some 5 for the whole family. They were delicious. The children usually do their homework 6 6 in the evening but this evening they had a party in the garden.The Grandpa sang songs 7 children. He sang very 8 .The children met new friends,9 games and had 10 presents.They had a nice party and enjoy themselves.

I am Sandy Brown. Tony, Mary and I are in the same class. They are brother and sister but they don't like the same food.

 Mary doesn't want to be fat. So, for breakfast, she only has an egg and a cup of milk. For lunch, she has some vegetables and rice with her friends. For dinner, she likes fruit salad. She likes ice- cream and hamburgers, but she doesn't eat them. She thinks they can make her fat.

 What about Tony? He likes sports very much and he plays volleyball well. He always has a big breakfast: two eggs, some milk and salad. For lunch, he likes chicken, a hamburger and some rice. After school, he plays volleyball with his classmates. So he is hungry in the evening. He likes some vegetables, two hamburgers and some fruit for dinner.