Travel can teach kids more than a textbook. Travelling with kids is good for them. They can find new interests. Travel makes information alive for kids, and makes it much more exciting than studying textbooks or doing experiments in the laboratory. While travelling, they learn how to deal with new situations, and communicate with other people. They learn patience, because sometimes it takes a long time to get to some exciting or interesting places.

    I've been travelling since I was seven years old. For me, to stop travelling would be like taking something away from my soul（灵魂）. I can't live without travelling. Some people think it's hard to travel after having kids. But in my opinion, when people become parents, it doesn't mean they can't travel any more. My children have been travelling since they were three weeks old.

    Bringing a new life into the world comes with many responsibilities（责任）and I'd love to be a good mother. One of my duties is to educate my children. I'm so thankful that my parents took me on family trips when I was young. I've learned that the outside world is more colorful than the little one I was living in. Of course, I want to pass these travel experiences on to my children.

    I value the memories I have travelling with my children. I'm sure they will always remember them in their lives.

Dear Miss Wang,   

    We would like to recommend Andy as 1 new monitor（班长）. We think he is good enough to be suitable（合适的） for the position(职位).

    Let me 2 you a story about Andy. It is a secret in our class. So 3 else knows about it. The following is the story.

    It was Sunday that day. Andy was 4 the way home. But he forgot to 5 his homework home. He went back to 6. At the 7 crossing, he met an old man. The old man wanted to go to the hospital because his son was ill. But he didn't know the way. Andy went to the man and 8 the man. After Andy knew 9 the man would go, he decided 10 him. Andy asked the man to follow him. They came to the second crossing, the third crossing, and then they turned right. They 11 along the street. When they got to Suguo Supermarket, they went across the street. The People's Hospital was opposite（在……的对面） the supermarket. The man's son was very 12 when he saw his father. The man's son was a 13 in Andy's school. He taught Chinese. He thanked Andy for his help. The old man and his son looked forward to 14 Andy again. Andy was very happy and went to the school for his homework. After that, he went back home. Andy got home late, so he told his parents about the thing he did. His parents were happy that Andy did so.

    Andy is good at all his lessons and he can plan everything well. He can make our class better. I am sure he can be a good 15. Please write back soon.

                                                        Yours,

                                                     Wang Hua

    “Thank you” is one of the first few phrases(短语） that our English teacher taught us when we began to learn English. Each time we receive help from others, we say “Thank you”. We may say it many times a day. It seems that “Thank you” is very popular among us Chinese students. But is it as popular in the UK?

    The answer is “no”. According to a recent survey （最近的报告）in the Daily Telegraph newspaper, “Thank you” is only the 20^th most popular way of expressing gratitude（感激） in the UK.

    The survey shows that British people like “Cheers” most to express their thanks. For example, when friends invite each other for a drink after a game, a smile and a “Cheers” may be the best way to say “thanks”.

    You may often hear the word spoken between two good friends. “Great”, “nice one” and “all right” are also popular informal（不正式的） ways of showing gratitude among friends in the UK.

    Of course, there are some formal ways to say “thanks” among British people. For example, when a stranger is especially helpful, they may say “brilliant” or “much appreciated” to express their gratitude.

    By the way, how do British people usually answer “thank you”? They like to say： “ You're welcome.”, “No problem” or “Sure”.

    Since you have many more ways to show your thanks, next time you want to say “thank you”, why not try one of these new British phrases?

    Marco Polo was born in Italy in 1254. When he was 17, he travelled along the Silk Road with his father, who wanted to trade with the Chinese. Finally, they arrived in Beijing. They were guests at the Emperor's Palace Marco was very clever and could speak four languages. The Emperor was impressed by him and they became friends. He asked Marco to serve in his court (宫殿) and sent him to do many important jobs all over the country.

    Marco was amazed by how beautiful China was. He was impressed by Beijing and the Emperor's Palace, especial the Summer Palace which was described as "The greatest palace that I've ever seen". The walls were covered with gold and silver and the hall was so big that it could easily hold 6,000 people for dinner.

    Marco was also attracted (吸引) by the inventions and developments in China which couldn't be found in Europe at that time. Marco was surprised to see Chinese people using paper money in the markets. In Europe, people paid for goods(货物) with gold and silver. He could not understand how people paid for food and valuable things with paper! He was also puzzled by the black stones people used to burn to produce heat. The black stones were coal, but Marco had never seen coal before!

    After he served the Emperor for 17 years, in 1291, Marco returned to Italy. He was a very wealthy man then. A writer wrote down all the stories that Marco told him in a book called The Description of the World, which became one of the best-selling books in Europe.

    People enjoyed the book, but many of them thought that Marcos stories about China were too fantastic to be true. However, Marco always stood by his tales. Just before he died, aged 70, Marco was asked the question, “Was it all true?” And this was his answer, “I have only told a half what I saw!”

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    I used the new machine to wash the clothes. Everything worked well, but I found one of my husband's socks missing. I looked everywhere for it, but I couldn't find it anywhere.

    The next morning I got ready for school as usual. When the bell rang, the students came in. We began the class. When I turned round to write on the black-board, the class broke out a roar! They laughed and laughed. They laughed so much that I was afraid that the headmaster would be in to see this. I asked the class to stop, but the more I asked, the more they laughed. I decided to go on with my lessons and I wrote on the blackboard. When I did this, they roared even more.

    At last the teacher who had the room next to mine came in to see what had happened. When he came in, he started to laugh, too.

    "Oh, dear!" I said. "Will someone please tell me what is so interesting?"

    "God," said the teacher, "You have a brown sock on the back of your skirt!"

    So that's how I found my husbands missing sock.

    ①它是世界上最流行的歌曲。It has been sung hundreds of millions of times each year. It has been heard in outer space, at baseball stadiums, in movies and in domiciles(住处) from the White House to the remotest (最遥远的) backwoods shack (棚屋) in Mississippi. It has been wired to millions of music boxes, greeting cards, watches, toys, games and other products. And it is the only song in the English language to make people of all ages smile and sing along. ②The song, of course, is "Happy Birthday to You."

    This amazing song began its life in 1893. Written by two sisters from Kentucky, Mildred and Patty Hill, it was originally (起初) named "Good Morning to All", and intended as a classroom greeting from teachers to students.

    Good morning to you.

    Good morning to you.

    Good morning, dear children.

    Good morning to all.

    To this day, no one knows for sure who wrote the new words to Hill's melody (旋律)，or exactly when it happened. "Happy Birthday to You" first appeared in a songbook in 1924. The words were presented as the second stanza (节) to "Good Morning to You".