There was a time when New York City buildings were almost all the same height.

3.Today you can see buildings of different heights that seem to touch the sky. They are called skyscrapers(摩天大楼). They shape the famous New York City skyline.

 It started about 90 years ago. It began like a race. This wasn't a race down the street or around a track(跑道). It was a race for the sky. Who was racing? Buildings were.Their builders were actually racing to build the world's tallest skyscraper.

 The race started slowly.

 First came the Woolworth Building, in 1913. It rose 792 feet(英尺) on the southern side of the city. Then the race heated up.In1930, two skyscrapers were nearing completion. The Bank of Manhattan Building was finished first. It rose up to 927 feet into the sky. Builders were then putting a round roof（屋顶）on the top of the Chrysler Building. It rose up t0 925 feet. The Bank of Manhattan, two feet taller, seemed to be the winner.

 A few weeks later, New Yorkers saw a strange sight（景象）.  The day that the Chrysler Building was to be completed, workers raised a shiny metal, spire（尖顶）through the top of the building, adding 121 feet to the building's height! At l,048 feet,the Chrysler Building was now the world's tallest.

 But the race was not over.  A year later, in 1931, the Empire State Building became the new winner.4.At l,250 feet, it was the world's tallest building.

 In 1973, even that record was broken. Builders finished the World Trade Center. At 1,368 feet high, it rose above all other buildings in New York City.

 Time goes on. As technology improves, taller buildings are being built. The race is still on.

    You may love to see tigers at the zoo. But what if you had to stay with one on a boat on the open sea for over 200 days? Life of Pi《少年派的奇幻漂流》, the movie from American Chinese director(导演), Li An, tells an amazing story.

    Pi is a boy. He lives happily with his family in a beautiful Indian town. His father has a zoo, so Pi knows a lot about animals.

    But one day, his father decides to move to Canada. He will sell all his animals there. The family begin to sail on the Pacific with all the zoo animals. But a big storm(暴风雨) hits their ship at night. Finally, Pi finds the only Survivors(幸存者) are himself and a large tiger called Parker on an 8-meter boat.

    To keep himself alive, Pi has to keep feeding the tiger so that he does not get eaten. He tries to get on well with the tiger during a 227-day sail on the sea.

    The movie is from a Canadian writer Yann Martel's book of the same name. The book has sold 7 million copies world-wide. It discusses not only hope but also relationship(关系) between humans and nature.

    It took Li An four years to make the movie. He also used 3D for his first time. He hopes the movie will “make the people think”. Life of Pi opened in Chinese theaters on November 22, 2012.

    Mrs Burt was walking along a San Francisco street. Suddenly a man took her purse and ran. She was very angry. She had ten dollars, her bus pass, and the key to her house in her purse. Mrs Burt ran after the thief.

    The thief ran one block, two blocks, three blocks. The thief was a young man, so he could run fast. Mrs Burt was not a young woman-she was 73 years old-but she could run fast, too, Mrs Burt stayed right behind the thief.

    Mrs Burt was wearing two chopsticks in her hair. The chopsticks had sharp ends Mrs Burt took the chopsticks out of her hair. "Maybe I can stab(剩) the thief with these chopsticks." she thought. "Then he will drop my purse."

    The thief ran into an apartment building. Mrs Burt followed him. "Help! Stop him!" she shouted. "He has my purse!"

    Two police officers were walking near the apartment building. They heard Mrs Burt and ran to help her. One police officer stayed with Mrs Burt. The other police officer chased the thief.

    The police officer found the thief on the roof of the apartment building. The thief was looking in Mrs Burt's purse. When he saw the police officer, the thief dropped the purse and jumped off the building. The building was two story's high.

    A few minutes later the police officer caught the thief. He was hiding under a car.

    He couldn't run because he had broken his legs. The police took the thief to jail. The thief will stay in jail for a long time. But the thief was lucky. He was lucky that the police caught him. He was lucky that Mrs Burt didn't catch him!

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Hello, I'm Peter. I come from Japan. I can speak a little Englishand French(法语). But I can't speak Chinese. I get up at 6: 00 andgo to school at 7: 30 in the morning. I ride my bike to school everyday. I usually get to school at 7: 50. I like P. E. best at school. It isexciting. I don't like math. I think it is difficult and boring. I want tovisit China. I want to learn kung fu.

My name is Jill. I come from the USA. I'm 13 years old. I walkto school at 7: 40 a. m. and I get home at 5: 30 in the afternoon. Ihave lunch at school. I like music best. It is relaxing. I want to jointhe music club.

I'm Mark. I'm from the UK. I can speak English and a littleFrench, but I can't speak Japanese. I like art and I want to join the artclub. I also like math, because it is interesting and fun. I have a pen friend in China. His English name is Jack. I want to see him one day