An old man died and left his son a lot of money. But the son was a foolish young man, and he quickly spent all the money, so that soon he had nothing left. Of course, when that happened, all his friends left him. When he was quite poor and alone, he went to see Mr. Smith, who was a kind, clever old man and often helped people when they had troubles.

    "My money has ran out and my friends have gone," said the young man. "What will happen to me?

"Don't worry, young man," answered Mr Smith. "Everything will soon be all right again. Wait, and you will soon feel much happier. "

    The young man was very glad. "Am I going to get rich again then?" he asked Mr. Smith.

    "No, I didn't mean that," said the old man. "I meant that you would soon get used to being poor and to having no friends. "

    Summervacation is coming. The Parkers are taking a1 to Sanya. How will2 go there? They have3 ideas. The son Dale says, "Let's take the4.Taking a journey by train is really relaxing. We5enjoythe beautiful scenery (风景) from the window." Thedaughter Alice says, "But the train station is far from our6. If we go there by train, we have to7 early. So let's drive a car." "8?" asks Dale. "Because we can9 atany time we want," answers Alice. "But I think taking a journey bycar is10.What about taking a bus?" asks Dale. "Oh, I don't like that. Thereare always11 people on the bus, and it12 a long time," says Alice. Then they go toask for their13ideas.Mr. Parker wants to take the plane because it's the fastest (最快的)way. He says that they shouldn't spend too much time on the way,14they won't have much time to visit thecity. But Mrs. Parker wants to go by ship, because it is cheap (便宜的) andthey can save some15.Which do you think is the best way?

Hello! I am Alan Miller. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} I study in Beijing now. And my father lives with me.  {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. He is an English teacher. He is good to his students, and his students like him, too.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}. My father and I found a school bag in the school library this morning. A watch,a pencil box and a dictionary are in it. The pencil box is green. The watch is black. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} It's red.Is it yours? {#blank#}5{#/blank#}.If you can't find us in the library, you can Email us at Miller @gfimail.com.

A farmer had four lambs (羊羔). One was black, and the other three were white. The black lamb was friendly to the others. But the white lambs often laughed at (嘲笑) him. They thought he was ugly . Also, the farmer did not like him. He gave bad food to the black lamb.

One winter morning, the four lambs went out to eat grass. They went far away from home. In the afternoon, it began to snow. It was such a heavy snow that the ground (地面) became white soon. They couldn't find their way home.

When the farmer found that the lambs were not at home, he went out to look for them. There was snow everywhere . So it was difficult for him to find his lambs. Suddenly（突然）, he saw something black. He went to it. Oh, it was his black lamb! And the white lambs were there, too. The farmer was very excited. He said happily, "Because of the black lamb, I can find you!"

Fan Zhaoyi is a hotel owner at "Snow Town". In the past，most people there {#blank#}1{#/blank#}（make） a living by cutting down trees. But it was difficult to take the wood out of the farm because the snow was too heavy. The snow season at the farm can last up to seven {#blank#}2{#/blank#} （month） a year. Many workers had to find other jobs {#blank#}3{#/blank#}（slow）. 

"At that time，these workers {#blank#}4{#/blank#}（encourage） to work in the tourism area，but many people were afraid to try. Few families were brave enough {#blank#}5{#/blank#}（provide） hotels，but I was a brave one. " Fan said. 

He turned out to be right. The high mountains，thick forest and proper temperature make snow there{#blank#}6{#/blank#} special that more and more visitors go to visit the farm. 

"I prepared four rooms in {#blank#}7{#/blank#}first year and started to make money later，" Fan said. His success also encouraged other people. The "Snow Town" has also been trying {#blank#}8{#/blank#} （it） best to provide better service for the tourists. It is going to make itself one of {#blank#}9{#/blank#}（popular） places for visitors. 

Last year，the winter tourist season at the "Snow Town" began，and 100，000 tickets were pre﹣sold. The white snow and red lanterns have won the hearts {#blank#}10{#/blank#}thousands of tourists from all over the world. 

 Thanks to China's 144-hour visa-free transit policy (过境免签政策),  34-year-old Julia went back to Guangzhou last month. She visited Guangzhou10 years ago.

 From December 5 to 17, 2024, Julia traveled from Russia to Asia to spend the winter holiday. Her first stop was Guangzhou. After Julia and her friends arrived in Guangzhou, they had their first surprise: the Guangzhou subway app (应用程序).     ▲     She had to look at maps to find out her way. "The app is really helpful. It's so easy to travel by subway here," said Julia. "We don't need to worry about getting lost. There are always friendly workers ready to help, though they don't speak much English."

 When Julia walked on Shangxiajiu Street at night, she was surprised by how modern the city was. "I feel like being in the future. We can see all the high buildings and electric (电动的) cars everywhere," she said. Ten years ago, there were much fewer high buildings or cars on the road.

"I feel very safe, though it is late at night," said Julia, "It was wonderful to go out at night!" So she spent lots of time trying different kinds of night market food. How delicious!

 Julia had great fun in Guangzhou. Now she is planning her next trip to visit other Chinese cities. "I' ll get to experience more of this beautiful country soon!"