I was small for my age. I was shy and sometimes it was hard for me to make friends with others. However, learning came fairly (相当地) easy for me. I was the best in most of my classes, but PE class was my nightmare (噩梦) and made me feel that I was not as good as the others. Miss Forsythe was our PE teacher. She was young and energetic. Everyone liked her. She said that we all had to come to her classes. No one could hide from Miss Forsythe!

    One day she told me that she wanted me to play a game with another girl in a PE show. I was rather worried that I wouldn't do a good job as she explained her idea, but she was excited. With her encouragement, I had no choice but to agree.

    It was a "boy meets girl" game. I played the boy and my classmate, Margaret Ann. played the girl. We were dressed in evening clothes and danced around the floor. According to Miss Forsythe. I had to pick up Margaret Ann when we finished the dance. Since I was not strong enough to pick the tallest girl up, it was she who picked me up. I suddenly felt ten feet tall! It was a huge success and everybody applauded (鼓掌) for our excellent performance. What a wonderful ending! Afterwards. I smiled confidently. Miss Forsythe's understanding and willingness to create a place for me in her show (which certainly did not need me) gave me some much needed confidence. She was and always will be my favorite teacher.

    Air pollution influences our health in many ways. No air means death. Though we can't see it, there is air around us. Air is everywhere and it gives a life to every living things. But bad air makes people ill. In the city, there are a great many people and there are too many cars running on the road. The cars send out bad gases (气体). There are many factories too. From the chimneys (烟卤) of these factories, we get the smoke usually in black colour. Every day we breathe it in and out. This makes us feel sick. When people talk about air pollution, they are usually thinking about outdoor air pollution. But a lot of air pollution comes from indoor activities such as smoking and cooking. Indoor air pollution can hurt people's eyes, noses and throats. So air pollution, both indoor and outdoor, can also lead to lung cancer (肺癌) and heart disease.

    Everyone should help fight against pollution. In order to keep us healthy, we have to go out to the countryside to breathe more fresh air. Or we can climb up hills to get more fresh air.

Hello, I am Mary. I live in Chengdu. It's sunny and cool in my city now. I'm studying at home. My parents are shopping. What's the weather like in your city? And what are you doing?

David was a truck driver. Recently he was thought to be a great man.

Last Monday, he was driving along the road with his son and his friend. Suddenly he saw a car hit another truck (卡车) and catch fire. The accident was just in front of his truck. Without thinking, he stopped his truck, found a fire extinguish er (灭火器) and ran towards the broken car. But other car drivers still sat in their cars. David began to fight the fire. His action encouraged his friend. He also came and gave David a hand. Later, David's son and four other men came to help. Another five men pulled the car driver and her granddaughter, a three-year-old girl, out of the car successfully. They were all safe except that the driver's leg was hurt.

When people talked about David's brave action, David said, " I didn't think too much then. I just did what other people would do in that situation. When I first got out of the truck,I wished they wouldn't be dead. When I saw they were alive, it was really great!"

If you like sun and heat, summer may be the best time to visit Italy(意大利). During summer time in Italy, you can enjoy lots of bright sunshine, visit one of its many beaches,join in a summer festival, go to outdoor concerts and plays, and have more hours of daylight for adventures.

Summer is the hot tourist season in Italy. The rich cultures and food make it a famous place for people to spend their holidays. However, keep in mind that Italian cities can be very hot in summer and summer temperatures (气温) in Italy, especially in the south, can rise above 37.78 for days in a row. The weather is generally dry but central and northern Italy can be humid and afternoon thunderstorms(雷雨) are usual. To run away from the hot weather, visitors can go to the beaches or mountains —be sure to check Italy Travel Weather before you begin packing for your trip.

The traditional Chinese lunar calendar divides the year into 24 solar terms. Grain Rain（谷雨）, at the last term in spring, generally starts on April 20th and ends on May 4th.

Grain Rain comes from an old saying, "Rain brings up the growth of hundreds of grain", which shows that this period of rainfall is very important for the growth of crops. Here's something that you may not know about the Grain Rain.

Seasonal characteristics

When the Grain Rain ends, the summer starts And the temperature rises much higher than it does in March, With dry soil and heavy winds, sandstorms may happen more often.

Customs in southern China

There is an old custom in southern China that people drink tea on the day of Grain Rain. Spring tea during Grain Rain is good for the eyes.

Traditions in northern China

People in northern China have the tradition to cat the vegetable toona sinensis（香椿） during Grain Rain. An old Chinese saying goes "toona sinensis before the rain is just like silk". The vegetable is good for the stomach and skin.

Grain Rain Festival

The Grain Rain Festival is celebrated by fishing villagers in northern China. Grain Rain marks the start of the fisherman's first voyage（航行） of the year. The custom dates back to（追溯到） more than 2000 years ago.