William Shakespeare is one of the greatest writers in English literature. His plays can be divided into three categories: histories, tragedies(悲剧) and comedies. Shakespeare wrote eighteen comedies, although two were lost. These comedies usually have happy endings and a light-hearted tone and style that are quite different from his tragedies.

    All of Shakespeare's comedies have five acts and the most important or exciting point always takes place in the third act. The hero does not appear until after other characters have talked about him. Shakespeare had some themes that he usually wrote about: the fight between good and bad, love's great effect on people, and the difference between first appearance and a person's true personality or face. Shakespeare also wrote his play in a certain style. For example, Shakespeare used words in such a clever and humorous way that they had more than one meaning. Some of the characters changed their appearances so that people didn't know who they were.

    Even though the tone is lighter in these plays. Comedies in Shakespeare's day were quite different from modern-day comedies because their purpose was not to make people laugh. Shakespeare's comedies are very emotional(有感染力的) and often include serious topics to think about.

    My name is Lisa Gibson. I am from America. I am 12 years old. And I am a student at No.2 Middle School in Beijing. Mrs. Wang is our Chinese teacher. My friend is also(也) a student here. Her name is Maria Smith. She is from England. She is 13 years old. Maria and I are new students in No.2 Middle School. We like our Chinese class.

    It's March, 2050. Frank and Mary Smith wake up in their comfortable house in the morning and turn on the bedroom computer to get the latest news. They get used to reading the Times over the years. The only difference is that they changed to electronic newspapers many years ago.

    After breakfast, as they watch the screen, Mary orders the household robot to make coffee for them. Frank is a computer engineer, working for several companies. He goes into the study to take part in a video conference with his partners around the world.

    Mary takes a quick look at the shopping channels at home before beginning the video phone to talk to her assistant. She also has a job and she is doing medical research.

    Frank and Mary have one daughter, Louise, who also has her own work station at home. She goes to school only one day a week, mainly to play with other students. Louise is studying Chinese at present. - Chinese has become an important language in the world.

    According to the family doctor, Louise will live to at least 130 years old. Her wish is to work for a few decades and then spend her time on music and painting.

    I started playing the piano when I was about eight or nine. But when I got to university, I stopped playing it. I just didn't have enough time and there were so many other things to do.

—Eliza

    When I was little, I thought I should play the guitar like my dad. But later I decided to try something else. I chose the violin. I want to be a musician when I grow up, but my dad says it's difficult to make a living from music. But I don't want to be a doctor like him. It's so boring.

—Robin

    Nobody likes living near someone like me because when I practice, I make a lot of noise! I''m sorry for that but I have to keep practicing. I have drum lessons every Wednesday and Saturday afternoon, and I practice the drums every evening. I love playing them and now I play in a fantastic band.

—Lisa

    I''ve played the guitar as long as I can remember. I used to play in a subway station to make some money. Now I keep on playing it when I'm free, but I work as a cook in a restaurant to make a living.

—Carmen

How do you usually decide where to go on vacation? Will you decide where to travel because of the local landmarks(地标)?{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Recently, a new way of travelling—food tourism has become popular.

Food tourism means that people travel to new places to try the local food.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} For example, you can try street food, visit food markets, or eat at local restaurants.And a survey found that 74% of Americans who have travelled in the last five years went for the food.The top four countries that Americans said they wanted to visit for the local food are Italy, France, Spain and Japan.

{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Another survey asked 2,000 people in Britain what their main reason was for choosing where to go on vacation.61% of people said the food and 41% of people said they would travel hundreds of kilometres to find the perfect meal.Some people even like to take part in the cooking themselves.46% of people said they had taken part in cooking lessons when travelling.

The survey also found that British people liked to try new and different foods when they were travelling.Nearly half of people believe that they are more adventurous(大胆的) with what they eat when they are away from home.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} The survey also found that Italy, Spain and France were the top three European countries that they'd like to choose.