Music is an important part in our life. We may feel boring without music. Today when you go to stores, stations, restaurants and other places, do you notice music playing at any of these places? The answer must be “Yes”. And you might even hear music in an office or on a farm.

    I like many kinds of music. Classical music is great. Rock music is fast. Light music is relaxing. But I like folk music best. It sounds very beautiful. It can bring me into the dream land. It can make me relax and forget all the problems. It makes me learn better and helps me to be more active. It is true that I learn better when I am relaxed.

Music can also influence(影响) people's behavior(行为). Classical music makes people feel rich(富裕). When a restaurant plays classical music, people spend more money on food and drinks. When the restaurant plays modern music, people spend less money. Without music, people spend even less. Restaurants can make more money in this way.

    In the 1920s, the airlines were just beginning. It was unusual for people to travel by air because it was expensive and dangerous. In those days, there were no flight attendants (服务生) to look after the passengers. Young men, or “stewards” helped the passengers onto the airplane and carried the passengers' bags but they did not provide food and drinks. But then in 1930, a woman called Ellen Church invented the “stewardess”.

    Ellen Church was born in 1904 on a farm in Iowa. She was a different child. She didn't want to work on a farm or marry a farmer. She wanted a more adventurous (冒险的) life. Ellen studied to be a nurse at the University of Minnesota and then got a job in a hospital. For the next few years she stayed at the hospital and at the same time took flying lessons and got her pilot's license.

    Ellen was 25 years old when she first got in touch with BAT (Boeing Air Transport). She loved flying but she understood that airlines were a man's world. Though women like Emelia Earheart were becoming famous, she realized it was impossible for a woman to have a career as a pilot. But she had another idea. Most people were afraid of flying because flying was still not a very safe way to travel. There were often delays (延误), many crashes and the bad weather made many passengers sick. Ellen thought nurses could take care of passengers during flights and BAT agreed.

    The young woman from Iowa and seven other nurses became the first air stewardesses.

    At first pilots were unhappy because they did not want stewardesses on airplanes, but passengers loved the stewardesses. In 1940 there were around 1000 of them working for different airlines. The early “stewardesses” had to be under twenty-five-year-old, single and slim. When a woman joined an airline, she had to promise not to get married or have children. It was a hard job and not well paid. They worked long hours and was paid $1 an hour.

    In the 1970s, stewardesses were unhappy in their job and airlines had to make some changes. Since the 1970s, “stewardesses” have been called flight attendants. They are well paid and work fewer hours than in the past.

    As we know, elephants are very cute animals, and many people like them very much. But do you hear of an elephant that can draw?

    Shanti is an elephant and she is good at drawing very much. Somebody has actually paid 2,000 dollars for a painting done by her.

    Shanti has painted 12 paintings so far but now she refuses to paint more. The director of the Prague gallery came up with entirely(完全地) improbably reason why she stops drawing.

    The director said, "She starred as an elephant named Bimbo in a movie. She is a very famous artist in it. Now she is in some sort of depression(抑郁). We will just have to wait for her next wave of creativity."

    Shanti does a good thing. Shanti's paintings bring money which helps elephants in Sri Lanka.

    There are two girls in Mr. Whites family. They're Tina and Anna. They are twin (双胞胎) sisters. Each of them has a long face and a small mouth. But Tina is a little heavy and she has short curly hair. Anna is thin and she has long straight hair.

    They are in the same school and the same class. Their math teacher Grace likes them very much. Are there any differences between them? Yes. Tina likes to talk with her classmates, but Anna is kind of shy. Tina's favorite subject is science, but Anna likes history best. Tina is good at drawing and Anna is good at dancing. Their dreams are different, too. Tina wants to be an artist, but Anna wants to be a teacher.

    Both (两个) of them study hard to make their dreams come true.

    Mr. and Mrs. Brown are from America. They are now teaching English in Zhengzhou. Their son Jack is with them. Jack speaks English. They want him to learn some Chinese. Jack is in Grade Three in a Chinese school. He plays with Chinese children every day. He listens to Chinese, speaks(讲) Chinese, reads books in Chinese and writes in Chinese. He is doing well in his Chinese.