A horse fair is an interesting place. There were young horses from the country, little Welsh ponies and many beautiful horses too. But there were also a lot of poor, thin horses, tired from hard work. I was very sad to see them.

    At the horse fair there was a man with a gentle voice and kind grey eyes. He offered 23 pounds for me, but they refused. Then a man with a very loud voice came. I was afraid he was going to buy me, but he walked off. Then the grey-eyed man came back again and said:

    "I'll give 24 for him."

    "Done," said the salesman. "He's a quality horse and if you want him for cab (出租马车) work, he's a bargain."

Half an hour later we set off for London, along country roads, until we came to that great city. There were streets to the right, and streets to the left. We went into one of the small streets, and then into a very narrow street, with small, old houses.

    My owner stopped at a house. The door opened, and a woman, a little girl and boy, came out.

    "Is he gentle, father?"

    "Yes, Dolly, as gentle as a kitten; you can pat him."

    Dolly, the little girl, patted my shoulder without fear. It felt so good! They led me into a comfortable, clean stable, and after a delicious meal I lay down to sleep, thinking "I'm going to very happy here".

    My new owner's name was Jerry. His wife was called Polly and they had two children, Harry and Dolly. The next morning they came to see me. I loved it when they patted me and spoke in gentle voices.

    "Let's call him 'Jack', after the old horse, shall we, Harry?" said Dolly.

    "Yes, let's," said Harry.

    The first week of my life as Jack, the London cab horse was very hard. The noise and the people and the traffic on the streets scared me. But Jerry was a very good driver, and that helped a lot Jerry soon found that I was ready to work hard and do my best, and he didn't whip (鞭打) me.

    He kept us very clean, and gave us as much food as we wanted. But the best thing was that we had Sundays off.

Do you know Roma people? They were called Gypsies (吉普赛人) by Europeans because they thought they came from Egypt (a country in Africa). About a thousand years ago, the Roma people left their homeland. They are known as nomads because for hundreds of years many of them have lived in large groups that travel from place to place. They have no real homeland.

Today, the Roma are now living all over the world. They have kept their language and many customs. For example, it's important for Roma to marry other Roma. It's also a custom for parents to choose the person their children will marry. Roma people get married when they are young, sometimes even as young as 14.

Romany is the language of the Roma people, which was written down only recently. Because the Roma are nomadic and have moved all over the world, their language has developed in many different ways. It is sometimes hard for Roma in one part of the world to communicate with Roma from another part.

Roma music is famous all over the world because many Roma throughout history have been musicians. Their music has influenced many other kinds of music, like classical and jazz.

Roma don't usually assimilate (同化) into host countries. Over many centuries, governments have forbidden them to marry each other, travel or wear their traditional bright clothes. They have their gold taken away from them—treasures from their parents and grandparents. They have been taken as slaves (奴隶), and have been forced to change their names.

 But today, the Roma are finding ways to live in peace with others while keeping the treasures of their culture. "There's a will within us to continue to live as a people." says George Kaslov, whose family arrived in New York from Russia a hundred years ago. "All the other ethnic (种族) groups who came to America assimilate gradually with time going; they lose their customs and language. But not the Roma. We hold out."

Do you think everyone enjoys their weekends？Old Henry {#blank#}1{#/blank#}（do） not. 

Last month，he {#blank#}2{#/blank#} （go） for a walk with Wangwang，his cute dog. It was a nice day and Old Henry was happy. He{#blank#}3{#/blank#}（sit） on a bench and watched Wangwang play with a {#blank#}4{#/blank#}（friend）black cat. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}（year） before，when Wangwang was young， {#blank#}6{#/blank#} （he） wife was also there. They always walked on the weekend. 

Then it was time {#blank#}7{#/blank#}（go） home. Old Henry {#blank#}8{#/blank#}（look） for his dog. "Wangwang! " But Wangwang wasn't there. 

Now Old Henry is very sad. He {#blank#}9{#/blank#}（have） no dog and no family. He doesn't want to do {#blank#}10{#/blank#}（something）. 

After the winter vacation, I had to move to a new city with my parents. On the first day to my new school, it was cold and 1 . I was walking alone slowly 2 worrying about something in my new school. It was early and there weren't many people on the road. 3 , a girl who was riding a bike in the snow fell down. She was 4 hard to stand up but fell again. 5 thinking, I went over to help her quickly. She said "thank you" with a 6 and then left. Her smile warmed me a lot. 

After I got to school, the teacher led me to the classroom and 7 me to the class. Then he asked me to 8 down beside a girl. I felt so 9 that I didn't dare (敢) to look at her. Soon the first class, English, started. Their textbooks were 10 from those in my old school. As I was 11 what to do, an English book appeared in front of me. "Let's 12 it," the girl beside me said. "Hi, I'm Carrie." I looked up. To 13 surprise, it was the girl I helped this morning. From 14 on, we became good friends. 

From that I learned: to help 15 is actually to help ourselves!

A:Welcome to the English club. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

B:Of course.

A: {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

B:No.It's too hard to understand spoken English.

A: {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Do you learn English in that way? 

B:Yes,I do.It helps to write English every day.

A:Do you talk with friends in English?

B:Yes, I do. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

A: {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

B:I read English words aloud (大声地) every day.

My name is Wang Lin and my English name is Linda. I am 13 years old and I 1 No. 1Middle School of my city. I usually 2 at 7 a. m. in the morning. I have breakfast at home, but I have 3 at school. My school is close to my home, so I have to go to school4

We have eight classes every day. I 5 all the classes, because my teachers can make the classes interesting. My  favourite6 is English, so I go to the English Corner every week. After class, I always 7 with my friends. We play basketball, volleyball, table tennis and so on. 

I 8 my home at about 5:30 in the afternoon. When my parents prepare our dinner, I usually practise playing 9 guitar to have some fun. I also love to read some books 10 sleep. I usually go to bed at about 9:30 p. m.