Dreams may be more important than sleep. Some people don't need much sleep. But we all need to dream, scientists say.

    Dreams take up about one quarter of our sleeping time. People have several dreams each night. Dreams are like short films. They are usually in color. Some dreams are like old films. They come to us over and over again. That may be because the dreamer is worrying about something. Dreaming may be a way of trying to find an answer.

    Some people get new ideas about their work from dreams. They could have been thinking about their work all day. These thoughts can carry over into dream. Sometimes we wake up with a good feeling from a dream. But often we can't remember the dream.

    Dreams can disappear quickly from memory. Too much dreaming can be harmful. The more we sleep, the longer we dream. The mind is hard at working when we dream. That is why we may have a long sleep and still wake up tired.

    What do you think the future will be like? Here are some answers from some students.

    Mary: Everyone will have a computer at home. There will also be many machines in the future. Then people will work only two or three days in a week.

    Jack: The weather in the future will be very hot. People can't live on the earth. They will have to look for (寻找) another planet to live on.

    Linda: I think the life in the future will be nice. There will be a lot of flowers and trees. And cities will look like parks.

    Henry: Every family will have a family doctor, so people will be seldom ill (很少生病) They will live to 120 years old.

Mrs. Baylor has a pet parrot. The bird is smart and it's learning (学习) to talk these days.

This morning, Mrs Baylor goes shopping and leaves (留) the parrot at home. There is something wrong with her sink (水槽) and Mrs. Baylor forgets a plumber(水管工) will come to fix it.

KNOCK(敲门声) KNOCK "Who is it? " the parrot calls.

"It's the plumber." the man says. He waits, but no one comes to the door. 

KNOCK KNOCK "Who is it? " the parrot calls.

"It's the plumber!" the man says. But still, no one opens the door.

KNOCK KNOCK "Who is it? " the parrot calls.

The man lets out a shout (吼叫), "IT'S THE PLUMBER! " This time, he shouts so loud that he loses his breath (呼吸)and falls down (倒下).

Just then, Mrs. Baylor comes back and she just finds a man on the ground.

"Oh, my dear!" she says, "Who is this?" And the parrot shouts, "IT'S THE PLUMBER!" 

Parents often find children watch cartoons for at least three to four hours a day. Studies show that kids start watching cartoons on TV at an early age of six months, and by the time they reach the age of two or three, they become fans of cartoons and they would like to spend much time on them. Is it good for kids to watch cartoons?

Parents often see this as a problem because most of the kids are too crazy about watching cartoons. Parents think if kids spend too much time on cartoons, they won't do well at school.

Some people think it's good to watch cartoons. They help the working parents the most because parents can do a lot of work when their kids watch cartoons on TV.

When children watch educational cartoons, they get to learn things. Cartoons also help to improve children's language skills. Educational cartoons help children try different languages. Kids can learn English well with the help of those cartoon programs. At the same time, some kids can learn about the friendship and teamwork from the cartoons. It is good for them to get on well with their friends and classmates.

So sometimes it is meaningless to stop kids from watching cartoons, but parents should make sure that their kids are watching the right things.

Today is Jenny's grandma's birthday.

Jenny is making a birthday card for her. She is using paper and crayons(蜡笔) to make the card. She is putting a picture of Grandma and herself on the front. And her family are writing something for Grandma in the card.

My sister and I are very different.When people meet us both, they are always surprised to learn that we are sisters. This is because we don't look like each other, we have different personalities（性格），and our lifestyles are different.

Do you resemble your brother or sister? My sister and I don't resemble each other at all.I am tall, but she is very short. I have short dark brown hair and green eyes.She has long blonde hair and blue eyes. I am strong, but she is not. I have big hands and feet; her feet and hands are very small.

When we were kids, she was thin, but I was heavy.Now we're both heavy.

We also have opposite personalities.She is always stressed out. I am calmer and more out—going.She is very worried about what other people think and say about her, but I really don't care. When she has a problem, she just worries about it, but when I have a problem, I try to fix（解决）it.She easily gets angry， especially with our mother. But I—am more patient.

Our lifestyles are very different. I love old things and hardly ever go shopping.But she goes shopping twice or more a week. I have cats.She has a dog. I read.She watches TV.