When you are learning English, listening, speaking and writing are important, but reading can also be very helpful. When you read, you can not only learn some new words, but also you can learn how to use these English words. When you read, it gives you a good example for writing.

    Good reading tips:

    Try to read at the right level(水平). Read something that you can (more or less) understand. If you need to stop every three words to use a dictionary, it is not interesting.

    Try to increase the number of your new words. If there are four or five new words on a page, write them in your notebook. But you don't have to write them while you read. Instead, try to guess their meaning as you read: mark them with a pen. Then come back when you have finished reading to look them up in a dictionary and write them in your own vocabulary book. Then try to remember them.

    Try to read regularly. For example, read for a short time once a day. Fifteen minutes every day is better than two hours every Sunday. Fix(固定) a time to read and keep to it. You could read for fifteen minutes when you go to bed, or when you get up or at lunchtime.

    Read what interests you. Choose a book or a magazine about a subject that you like, because you are going to spend time and money reading it. So, choose an interesting book. You can also read newspapers. There are many English newspapers in China. For example, 21st Century Teens. It is easy enough for you to understand it. There is something interesting in it.

    Kwanzaa（宽扎节）is a celebration of African American history and culture. It begins on December 26th and continues until New Year's Day, January 1st.

    During the festival, a family member, usually the youngest child, lights candles in a special candle holder. Each night a candle is lit. Traditionally there are three green candles, three red candles and a central black candle. They represent the seven Kwanzaa principles （原则）. The principles are believed to play a big role in building strong, successful families, neighborhoods, etc. In the evenings, adults share stories and explain how to follow the seven principles in daily life. On the sixth day, which falls on New Year's Eve, family and friends get together to enjoy a large meal.

    Kyle, a third grader, wrote this about Kwanzaa, "When we celebrate Kwanzaa, we have many people at home, light the candles, and have a nice dinner. We learn the meaning of Kwanzaa and remember family members. We say something good about them. Last year, we remembered my grandmother. "

    In 1966, Dr. Karenga created Kwanzaa. He was studying the history of Africa at that time. Dr. Karenga wanted to create a holiday to bring African Americans together and celebrate their history and culture. He called the holiday" Kwanzaa". In fact, the name comes from an African language, and it means" first fruits of the harvest （收获季节）".

Every school day, we use schoolbags to carry all of our things to school. They are a big 1 of our lives. But have you 2 thought about the history of the schoolbag?

In the Han Dynasty (汉朝), students in old-style schools used bamboo boxes to 3 books to school. People think the bamboo boxes to be the 4 schoolbags. There were usually two or three layers (层) in the box. Kids put different things 5 books, brushes, ink stones and paper in the boxes.

Hundreds of years later, people developed a new kind of schoolbag 6 the budai. The budai was lighter than the bamboo box. People can carry it 7 . With the founding (成立) of the People's Republic of China, military rucksacks (军用帆布包) became popular. Many people carried them 8 they were in school. Ask your grandparents or parents 9 these bags. Maybe they can tell you about their 10 of carrying them when they were in school.

A new style of school bags 11 in recent years. Many of them have colorful and fashionable designs on them, such as pictures of cartoons or pop stars. And they are 12 comfortable to use. Some students pull wheeled bags filled with heavy textbooks and 13 carry backpacks.

Electronic (电子的) schoolbag are being used in many places now. Students don't 14 carry heavy schoolbag to school anymore.

Do you know what future schoolbags will be like? Let's 15 it.

A student is studying British English. He wonders: Can I have a talk with Americans?

Can they catch me? Learners of English often ask what are the differences between British English and American English? How important are these differences?

  Certainly, there are some differences between British English and American English. There are a few differences in grammar. For example, speakers of British English say" in hospital" and" Have you a pen?". Americans say" in the hospital" and" Do you have a pen?". Pronunciation(发音) is sometimes different. Americans usually sound the"r" in words like " car" and" farm". Some speakers of British English do not sound the"r" in these words. There are differences between British English and American English in spelling and vocabulary. For example," colour" and" honour" are British English spellings." Color" and" honor" are American English spellings.

 These differences are in grammar, pronunciation, spelling and vocabulary. However, they are not important. For the most part, British English and American English are the same language.

After a long and cold winter, spring is here! Trees turn green.  Flowers blossom (开花).  ____ People go outside and enjoy the good weather.  Are you still staying inside, playing with your phone or computer? It's time to go out and look for some funny things to do in springtime. 

Spring is a great time to see nature and get some exercise.  Hiking will help you do both.  You can take a long walk in the countryside or climb up a hill.  You may be tired, but it is good for your heart. 

What is the best spring activity to free your eyes and neck from phones or computers? Flying kites! On a sunny day with wind, it's exciting to see hundreds of kites flying in the sky.  If you want to see lots of colourful kites, you can go to Weifang in Shandong.  The city holds a famous kite festival on the third Saturday in April every year. 

Dear Mike,

My name is Li Hua.