Nancy is reading an email from her American friend Jack. She is very happy to get the email. Jack writes about his school and his weekend. Jack's school is not very big, but it's beautiful. There are two buildings, two gardens and a playground.Their classrooms are big and clean. Jack likes his school very much.

    Jack doesn't go to school on the weekend. He often gets up at six on Saturdays and Sundays. Heruns in the park for half an hour. Then he eats breakfast. At eight, he beginsto do his homework. He has lunch with his family at home. In the afternoon, hehelps his mother do housework. Sometimes he plays computer games with his classmateson the Internet. In the evening, he listens to music or reads books.  He really has a good time on the weekend.

    Sam is a four year old boy. He lives in the USA with his father and mother. His father works in a hospital. He goes there by subway. He can read books on it. His mother is a worker in a factory. She often walks to work. They usually do some shopping on Sundays for the next week. But this Sunday they are going to the park to have a picnic because it is Sam's birthday.

    Look, Sam has many birthday gifts(礼物). One of them is a nice drum. He likes music. Of course Sam likes the drum very much. He makes a noise with it all day. His parents don't mind. They are happy. But one of the neighbours(邻居)doesn't like the noise. One day, she brings a knife and says to Sam, “Sam, do you know, there's a very nice gift in your drum. Here's a knife. Open the drum and let's find it. ”“OK!”Sam answers.

    Hello. I'm a little girl. My name is Lin Lin. I'm three. I'm thin. My eyes are black and white. They are big. My ears are pink. They are small. Look at my mouth. It's big. I like cakes and biscuits. I can draw a picture and open the door. I can count to ten. But I can't write or read.

    Hans Christian Andersen （1805﹣1875）was the most famous writer in Denmark. His stories have attracted many young readers around the world.

Andersen's father was a poor shoe-maker. As he was very young, Hans was spoilt by his parents and his grandmother. But when he was 11years old, his father died and the boy had to leave school. His mother made a living by washing clothes, while Hans spent a great deal of time making theatre toys and puppets. He reads as many books as he could.

    Andersen published his first tale in 1835, and continued writing until he died. Andersen's words are simple and humor. The stories became popular in the early 1840's, and made Andersen famous more and more. Among the best known of his fairy tales are The Ugly Duckling, The Emperor's New Clothes, A Little Match Girl and so on.

    The USA is the fourth largest country in the world. It's smaller than Russia, Canada and China. Washington DC is its capital, but it is a quiet city, New York is the biggest city in America and it's one of the biggest cities in the world. It is in the east of the USA and at the mouth of the Hudson River（哈德逊河）. A large part of the city is on Manhattan Island（曼哈顿岛）, a big island in the river. New York has a larger population（人口）than Washington DC. In New York, we can see the famous statue，the Statue of Liberty（自由女神像）.

Amy: Today is Sunday. Let's go to the nature park.

Mike: Great! Is there a forest in the park?

Amy: Yes, there is. There is a lake, too. There are many boats on the lake.

Mike: Are there many birds in the forest?

Amy: Yes, there are. And there are many plants in the forest.

Mike: Yeah! Let's go.