Dear Grandma,

    How are you? I am very busy this month. (A)September 5th is my good friend Gina's birthday. I will go to her birthday party in the evening. On the eleventh, (B)我有一个英语测试. On September 17th, I have a baseball game. You know I love baseball. On the 24th, I have a school trip. On the 28th, I'll go to Mr. Cool's Clothes Store. The clothes there are on sale that day. I want to buy a pair of sports shoes and a T-shirt. The hats there are very nice. I will buy one ① ________ you. Oh, Grandma, I'm very sorry I can't go to see you ② ________ my parents this month. See you next month.

 Yours,

Eric

My little dream of book

    I have always wanted to write． {#blank#}1{#/blank#} When Harry Potter came out，I was so fascinated with it．In those books，every wonderful thing was created by ink on a page．

    The problem is that I am not a very good writer．Then I prepared a little black book and it looked very common． {#blank#}2{#/blank#} It started as somewhere to write down all of the interesting experiences．When an idea came into my head，I would write them down．Sometimes the first idea was not such a good one，but it might lead to better ideas．I wrote down 10 ideas，no matter how bad they are． {#blank#}3{#/blank#} ．After that I would develop it into a few pages．

    Now I bring the book everywhere with me． {#blank#}4{#/blank#} ．It is full of colorful thoughts or what the world is like．the world is full of strange things．Every day，there is something special and unusual just waiting to be discovered．

My book is amazing.1t lets me catch all of those small things and catch them before they can go away．So far I have written a great novel and some poems． {#blank#}5{#/blank#} ！For me，this book is more than just words on paper．It is my special wealth．

A. It is more important to me than my mobile phone.

B. I fell in love with writing when I started reading.

C. However, it was a little book of dreams.

D. I never thought I would write poems.

E. Then I picked the best three ideas and wrote a short story.

    Here is a story of a dog. It saved his owner, Audrey Stone, who was a lady and had poor vision (视力).

    Figo, an eight-year-old dog, is Audrey Stone's third service dog. "He protects me and loves me. We are friends," Stone said.

    On a Monday, Stone and Figo were on their way back from their "usual daily walk". When they prepared to cross a street, "I gave him the order to cross the street," Stone said.

    "I said, 'Forward.' And we were in the middle of the street and it happened so quickly, but people said he just jumped at the school bus and saved me," Stone said.

    The school bus was carrying two children to a learning center. Luckily they were not injured. Stone said she didn't remember much of the accident, but one image (画面) stayed with her: a wounded Figo staying by her side, holding up his wounded right paw (爪子).

    "I knew he was hurt," she continued. "I remember Figo standing there, looking at me, trying to get close to me, but he didn't know what to do. Because he knew I was hurt." Figo had an operation (手术) on his right front leg. Figo's vet (兽医) said his leg was getting better.

    Stone said she was sure of one thing, "I'd have been sad if he had got killed." But, she added, they both lived to tell the story.

Information Card

    Farming in the USA today is very different from that 100 years ago. In those days, farmers did not have many machines to help them. They had animals. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}This meant that farms were smaller than they are now. Farmers also worked in a different way in the past. In those days, farmers grew fruits and vegetables and kept cows, pigs and chickens to feed their families. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Farmers have a very special life in many ways. First of all, they can't leave the job at the end of the day. They live on the farm and there is always work to do. Second, a lot of farm work is outdoors, so the weather is very important for farmers. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} A lot of bad weather means farmers will lose money. Finally, farmers work with plants and animals. They understand nature better than other people do.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Spring is a time for planting. Farmers are busy getting the fields ready and then planting the seeds(种子). In summer, farmers must take good care of the plants. Some may need water. Other plants may have problems with insects or diseases. Then in fall, the fruits or plants are ready for picking. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Winter is a time for rest or for work on the farm machines.

A. Farm work changes with the seasons.

B. That is a very busy time for farmers.

C. But animals work slowly compared to machines.

D. It is also important for the success of their farms.

E. Today farmers grow things on the farms so they can sell them.

    A man came home from work late, tired and unhappy. He found his 5-year -old son waiting for him at the door.

    The boy asked, "Daddy, how much do you make every hour?" The father was angry at his son's question. When he said $20 an hour, the little boy asked him for $ 10. The father was even angrier because he thought the boy just wanted some money to buy a toy. So he didn't answer his son.

    The little boy quietly went to his room. After about an hour, the man calmed himself down (使....平静) and started to think: Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $ 10.

    "Maybe I was too hard on you just now, "the man went into his son's room and said." Here's the $ 10 you asked for."

    "Oh, thank you, Daddy!" The little boy said. Then he reached under his pillow (枕头), pulled out some crumpled (皱的) money and said, "Daddy, I have $20 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow, I really want to have supper with you."

    Canada is the second-largest country in the world, with almost 10 million square kilometres of landmass. Due to (由于) its size, it is divided into four different regions(地区).

    The Atlantic Provinces

    Fishing is the old industry in this region. Agricultural crops, such as fruit and potatoes, and forests, which produce paper and lumber(木材), form part of the industry. Traditionally depending on fishing and farming, they are developing other natural resources, such as oil and copper.

    Central Canada

    Ontario and Quebec form the industrial and manufacturing (制造业的) heart of Canada. They produce three quarters of Canada's goods. More than half of Canada's population lives in the cities in the southern part of Ontario and Quebec. Most of the people living in Quebec speak French.

    The West Coast

    The British Columbia Coast is Canada's western continental coastline (海 岸 线 ). Europeans settled (定 居 ) in British Columbia in the early 1800s. The railroad built by the government in the late 1800s made moving much easier. Thousands of Chinese came to British Columbia during this period to work on the railroad. British Columbia has the most valuable forest industry in Canada.

Salmon (鲑鱼) fishing is not only a popular sport, but also an important part of the industry. Pacific salmon are exported (出口) all over the world.

    The North

    The Yukon and the Northwest Territories (领土) cover a third of Canada. This huge region has a very small population. Most of the people are natives. There are several native languages, which are equal (平等的) in status (地位) to English and French. During the Gold Rush at the end of the 1800s, thousands of miners (矿工) came to make their fortune (财富). Mining is still an important industry in this region.