Susan is 14 years old and she is an American girl. She is one of my best friends. She is interested in Chinese and good at it. Every summer she travels with her parents. She believes（相信） that traveling is an important part in her life. She likes London best because it is both clean and beautiful. She knows that China is a large country with lots of interesting places. This July, her family are coming to China. I am very happy to know that they will first come to my city. They will stay here for three days. I will take them to visit the city. Then they will fly to Beijing. I am sure they will have a nice time in China.

    April Fool's Day is on April 1^st. People can play a trick on (开……的玩笑) others on that day. It's very popular in England and the USA. Mother's Day is on the second Sunday in May. It's a day to thank mothers. On that day, mothers usually get flowers and cards from their children. Fathers and children do housework on that day, so mothers can have a good rest. Thanksgiving Day is on the fourth Thursday in November in America. On that day, family members all get together to have a big dinner. Christmas Day comes on December 25^th. It's the most important festival in a year. Father Christmas sends presents to children.

    Friends are very important in everyone's life because friends are always there when we need them. It's great to have many friends, and I can't think about my life without my friends.

    My best friend is Lisa. When I first met her, I was five. She is one year older than me. Now she is in the same class with me, in the 8th grade. She is tall and quite thin. She has long curly blond hair and blue eyes. Lisa and I like doing a lot of things together and talking about different things. She always helps me with my math and I sometimes help her with her English and history, I had to do a report(报告)on science once, but I didn't understand(理解) what the teacher said. The next day, I read it in front of the class. But the teacher told me that my report was wrong and my classmates laughed at me. I felt very bad about myself. Lisa was the only one who didn't laugh at me. She tried to be nicer than anybody else and made me happy.

    Lisa is friendly and everybody loves her. I am happy to have a friend like her.

Information Card

    In the USA, there are many kinds of restaurants.

    Fast food restaurant are very famous. You can find McDonald's and Kentucky Fried Chicken in many countries around the world. You look at a menu(菜单) on the counter(柜台), and say what you'd like to eat. You pay the person who brings food to you. You take your food and sit down or take it away. There's no need to leave a tip(小费).

    In a coffee shop, you sit at the counter or at a table. You don't wait for the waitress to show you where to sit. She usually brings you coffee when you sit down. You tell her what you'd like to eat and she brings it to you. You pay the cashier(收银员) as you leave.

    In a family restaurant, the waitress shows you where you can sit. Often the waitress tells you her name, but you don't need to tell her yours. If you can't finish eating everything, your waitress gives you a doggy bag to take the rest of food home. You should add (增加) fifteen per cent(百分比） to the bill(账单) as a tip.

    In top class restaurants, you had better order before you come, and you need to arrive on time. The waiter shows you where to sit. If you have wine there, he may ask you to taste it. You can only refuse it if it tastes bad. When you get your Bill, check it and then add fifteen to twenty per cent to it as a tip for the waiter.

It's early in the morningand the alarm clock has already rung several time. You have to pull yourselfout of bed and rush to school because you're afraid of being late for school.

As a school student, this is probably a commonexperience for you. But thanks to new rules, students in Zhejiang andHeilongjiang provinces can now stay in bed longer than before.

On Feb 23, the Zhejiang Department of Educationannounced (宣布) a new rule that asksprimary schools to start school later. According to the rule, start times couldbe different among different grades, with students in Grade 1 and 2 starting noearlier than 8:30 am.

A similar guideline (指导方针) was announced by the education department in HeilongjiangProvince on Feb 24. Students from all primary and junior high schools in theprovince have been required (要求) to arrive at school noearlier than 8 am.

According to a 2016 study by the ZhejiangDepartment of Education, half students in Grade 4 slept nine hours or more anight, while the enough sleep time for primary students in 10 hours.

"I welcome the new rule so much. It is sucha wonderful rule that gives my son enough time for breakfast, which isnecessary for his health and growth", a mother named Xu Li said. She isfrom Hangzhou and his son is in Grade 1. These changes have received muchpraise as they make students get enough sleep and enough time for breakfast.

Pushing back school times isn't unique (唯一的) to China. In the United States, schools in at least 21 statesbegan to start school later in 2017, as studies have shown that later schoolstart times could be good for students' development.