{#blank#}1{#/blank#}Tim, from America, is travelling around the world. His last stop is to visit a tower where he can stay over the night.

{#blank#}2{#/blank#}Michael, a student of history, is ready to write a paper on old towers. He is going to visit one in Europe.

{#blank#}3{#/blank#}Gina, a teacher from Australia, likes shopping very much. She is thinking of buying different things for his students.

{#blank#}4{#/blank#}Sarah is a college student. She is on holiday in July and would like to visit the tallest tower of the five below.

{#blank#}5{#/blank#}Peter is interested in plants and animals. He is now looking for a tower where he can see fish and other water animals.

    Popular music in America is what every student likes. Students carry small radios with earphones and listen to music before class, after class and at lunchtime. Students with cars buy the large speaker and play the music loudly as they drive in the street.

    Adult(成年的) drivers listen to music on the car radio as they drive to work. They also listen to the news about sports, the weather and the life of American people. Most of the radio programs are music.

    Pop or popular music singers make much money. They make a CD or tape and radio stations use them in many places. Once the popular singer is heard all over the country, young people will buy his or her tape. Some of the money from these tapes comes to the singer. Wherever the singer goes, all the young people want to meet him or her. Now the singer has become a national star.

    There are other kinds of music that is important to Americans. One is called folk music. It tells stories about the common (普通的) life of Americans. Another is called Western or country music. It is about country life and the love between a country boy and his girlfriend. They are very popular among young people.

    Canada is a big country with a large area, but it has a small population. It lies in North America with oceans around it in three directions except in the south, where the United States is. The Great Lakes are between Canada and the United States. There are many lakes and islands in the coastal areas. Canadians care about the environment very much. The government and the people in Canada try their best to protect the environment. So in Canada, the air is fresh, the water is clean, and the sky is blue. Many tourists like to travel in Canada and live there for some time to relax themselves.

    The climate in Canada is different from area to area. It is wet in the west and east, but cold in the north and south. Canada is rich in natural resources, such as forests, fresh water, coal, oil, and so on. Farmland mainly lies in the south where farmers grow lots of corn and wheat. There are many big farms there. The farmers work hard so that the people in Canada can get enough good food for their daily life. Industry in this country is well developed and the transportation is very convenient. Living surroundings in Canada are the best in the world. Canadians enjoy themselves and live a happy life.

Information Card

    What a bad day today! Tom suddenly fell ill and was sent to hospital by my neighbors. The doctor said he has been suffering lung cancer and {#blank#}1{#/blank#}! Everybody was shocked and felt a pity for this good man.

    Tom, who is a famous writer about 40 years old, lives just next door. He is kind and warm-hearted and always ready to give a helping hand to others when in need, {#blank#}2{#/blank#}.

    He often came to my house to tell me how to write stories and encourage me with his own experience. He told me he was born in a poor family. As a little boy, he had a dream to become a famous writer. He overcame thousands of difficulties to have entered a university. After graduation, {#blank#}3{#/blank#}, and up till now, he is very famous around the country.

Unfortunately, when he was young, {#blank#}4{#/blank#} and became a heavy smoker, which has ended up as an invisible killer of his health.

    XBOX 360 Kinetic, RoboSapien, WiiParty, these are just a few of the modern toys sold in recent years. But some of the most popular toys are actually quite old.

Games have been around for thousands of years. In 4000 B. C, Babylonians played a board game that was similar to chess. Yo-yos made of stone were first used in ancient Greece around 1000 B C. And kites appeared in China around the same time.

    Another famous game is Scrabble. It was invented by an architect in the 1930s, but it didn't get popular until 1953 And since then, more than 100 million sets have been sold worldwide.

    As you can imagine, toys and games are a multi-billion-dollar industry. Mr. Potato Head, the first toy advertised on TV, grossed more than $4 million in its first year. Play-Doh made its inventor Joseph McVicker a millionaire by his 27th birthday, while Mattel sells 1. 5 million Barbie dolls each week (that's two dolls each second!).

    Some toys go out of fashion, but then become popular again, such as Rubik's Cube. Research says parents are increasingly choosing to buy toys they remember from their own childhood.

    These days, toys are not just for fun. RoboSapien is a remote-controlled robot that was launched in 2004. He can walk, turn around and do other poses. RoboSapien was designed by Mark Tilden, who once created robots for NASA space missions. He expected the toy to be used mostly by and scientists, but almost 2 million RoboSapiens have been sold worldwide since its launch as a toy?

    Fancy a game anyone?