When we think of Christmas, we probably think of 1  , Christmas trees and Santa Claus. But behind all these things lies the true meaning of Christmas: the importance of sharing and giving love and joy to people around us. The story in A Christmas Carol is perhaps the best example of this.

A Christmas Carol is a famous short novel written by British writer Charles Dickens (1812-1870). It is about an old man 2 Scrooge who never laughs or smiles. He only thinks about himself and is3 to share things with others. He doesn't treat others nicely. He just cares about whether he can 4and he hates Christmas. One Christmas Eve, Scrooge sees the ghost of Jacob Marley, his dead business partner. Marley used to be just like Scrooge, so he was 5 after he died. He warns Scrooge to change his ways if he doesn't want to end up like him. He also tells Scrooge to expect 6 ghosts to visit him.

 That  7 , the ghosts visit Scrooge. First, the Ghost of Christmas Past takes him back to his childhood and reminds him  8  his happy days as a child. Then the second ghost, the Ghost of Christmas Present, takes him to see  9  others are spending Christmas this year. Everyone is happy, even poor people. The last one, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, takes him to the  10 . Scrooge sees that he is dead, but nobody cares. He is so  11 that he wakes up in his bed and finds out it is only the next morning — Christmas Day!

 Scrooge decides to change his life and   12 to be a kind person. He  13  celebrates Christmas with his relatives. He also gives gifts to people in need. He now treats   14  with kindness and warmth, spreading love and joy everywhere he goes. And that is the true   15 of Christmas!

    What do you often do for your father on Father's Day? Father Day has a very 1 history and it became a state festival in 1972 in America. Because some Americans thought that if we had a Mother's Day, we should also have a Father's Day.

    Father's Day is becoming very 2 in North America. People there do different kinds of things for their fathers on that day. And businessmen find it is a good way to make people buy presents for their fathers from their 3.

    Except(除…以外)America, very 4countries have a Father's Day, though some have a Children's Day, or a 5 day for boys or for boys and girls. More and more countries are having Mother's Day, 6 maybe Father's Day will become popular soon.

    Now what are people in North America doing on Father's Day? The newspapers, radios, and TV 7 children what they should do -buy, buy, buy Father's Day present for your father. They even want the wife to buy a Father's Day present not for her father but for her 8.

    The presents they buy for their dads are often not very9, as children don't have much money. But the important thing to remember about Father's Day is that American children can show their 10 to their fathers on that day.

    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.

    There are many beaches in Hong Kong. Some of the beaches are the best in the world. There are some toilets (厕所) , changing rooms (更衣室) and stores to buy food or drinks on most of the beaches. People like going to the beaches and have fun swimming. You can swim there without (没有) danger if you follow these rules：

    ◆Never swim alone (独自).

    ◆Don't stay in the water for a long time.

    ◆Never swim after a meal or when you feel hungry or tired.

Remember：A red flag (旗帜) means it is dangerous for anybody to go into the water. A blue flag means that it is dangerous for children.

    When the weather is hot, you go to a lake or an ocean. When you are near a lake or an Ocean, you feel cool. Why? The sun makes the earth hot, but it cannot make the water very hot. Although the air over the earth becomes hot, the air over the water is still cool. The hot air over the earth goes up. Then the cool air over the water moves in and takes the place of the hot air.

    Then you may ask, "Why is the ocean full of salt?" Scientists will say that the salt comes from the rocks. When the rocks get very hot or very cold, they crack (爆裂). Rain falls into the cracks. The rain then carries the salt into the earth and into the rivers. The rivers carry the salt into the ocean. And then you may doubt, "But the ocean does not get more salty every year. Scientists are not sure about the answer to this question.

    We know a lot about our world. But there are still many answers that we do not have, and we are curious about them.

    Dragon Boat Festival is a fun Chinese holiday. Usually, it's in June or July. Both children and adults（大人）like this holiday.

First, there are dragon boat races. Dragon boats are very long. They have bright colours, In each boat, there are many people rowing（划）. There's also somebody beating a drum（击鼓）. The winners（获胜者）of the races can get a lot of money.

During Dragon Boat Festival, people also eat a special kind of food-rice dumplings. To make these dumplings, people prepare（准备）many things. Then they can make different flavors of dumplings. Some are sweet（甜的），some are salty（咸的）. They all taste good. People give them to friends.

On the evening of the holiday, families have a big meal together. Dragon Boat Festival is a great time for everybody.