When you are learning a language, listening, speaking and writing are important, but reading can also be very helpful. When you read, you can not only learn some new words, but also learn how to use them. When you read a passage, it gives you a good example for writing. Here are some good reading tips.

    Firstly, try to read at the right level (水平). Read something that you can understand. If it is too hard for you, it is not interesting.

    Secondly, try to understand the new words. If there are four or five new words on a page, don't use a dictionary. Instead, try to guess their meanings as you read. Mark (作标记) them with a pencil. Then look them up in a dictionary when you finish reading, and write them in your own vocabulary book. Try to remember them.

    Thirdly, try to read for a short time once a day. Fifteen minutes or half an hour every day is better than two hours every Sunday. For example, you can read before you go to bed, or after you get up or at lunchtime.

    Lastly, read something that interests you. Choose a newspaper, a book or a magazine about a subject that you like. It will be easy enough for you to understand.

    How do you get to school? Do you walk or ride a bike? Do you go by bus or by train? For many students, it is easy to get to school. But for the students in one small village in China, it is difficult. There is a very big river between their school and the village. There is no bridge and the river runs too quickly for boats. So these students go on a ropeway to cross the river to school.

    One 11-year-old boy, Liangliang, crosses the river every school day. But he is not afraid. "I love to play with my classmates. And I love my teacher. He is like a father to me."

    Many of the students and villagers never leave the village. It is their dream to have a bridge. Can their dream come true?

    Need a reason to be happy? Then you will be happy to know that March 20th is the International Day of happiness.

    The united Nations set up the International Day of happiness in 2012 to remind us that happiness is a basic human goal and right.

    It was celebrated for the first time in 2013. On that day, we celebrated hundreds of "Happy Heroes" – those who did so much to bring happiness to others. They helped the homeless to live a comfortable life and the poor kids to go to school.

    The 2014 Day of Happiness actions asked people to share pictures of making them happy. People all over the world showed their favourite pictures on the Internet. "It's exciting to see so many people sharing photos of what makes them happy." Joe, a senior high school students from Canada said. The 2015 Day of happiness actions gave attention on relationships. Modern society is leaving more and more people felling lonely. On that day, thousands of people all around the world reached out to make new connections with others. They visited their neighbours, gave calls to the doctors they didn't know very well, drove the strangers to station for free…

    The theme of the 2019 Day of Happiness is "Happier Together". It encourages people worldwide to focus on what we have in common, rather than what divides us.

    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!