Nowadays people are making themselves beautiful in Korean ways.

     “Thank goodness you have double eyelids(双眼皮). Your parents will save a lot of money.” said a family friend when I was five years old. Double eyelids, which almost all the white people have, are rare among Northeast Asians. Only 25% of South Koreans are born with double eyelids.

      I never quite understood how having double eyelids saved my parents money until this summer. When I came back to Seoul, everywhere I noticed cosmetic surgery clinics(整形诊所) and advertisements with South Korean women—tall, thin, with milky skin, long legs, nice big eyes and perfect noses. I found that South Korean beauty meant looking as “white” as possible.

      Cosmetic surgery has a kind of magical attraction(吸引) to women — the promise of beauty. Women are often sure that suffering is necessary and worthy in order to be beautiful. This suffering is not for nothing. It is believed that beauty leads to attracting a better-looking partner, which then leads to a better-looking child and a better life.

      Appearance is starting to be more important in work places. People with good appearance can have more chances .For example, my 29-year-old brother, who is slim and very tall, gets more job chances than his best friend, who is short and heavy, though both of them came from the same college, had the same good marks in their studies. In fact, many South Koreans believe that physical beauty equals happiness

    Last month some thieves stole a valuable teapot from a museum in Hong Kong. They took the teapot to America, but the American police found it. The museum sent Mr. Chan, a member of the museum staff, to collect the teapot. On the plane back to Hong Kong, he noticed two men. They were watching him closely. "Perhaps they're going to steal the teapot again. I must think of a plan,” he thought.

    Mr Chan's daughter, Amy, met him at Hong Kong Afimor. Mr Chan NS was carrying two boxes. He gave his daughter the pink box and said to her in a low voice, "Take this gift box home with great care." He walked away with the brown one. The two men followed him.

    Amy opened the box at home. She was expecting a pair of sports shoes, but she just found an old teapot. "This is not a very interesting gift," said Amy, a bit disappointed." That's all right. Let's make some tea in it," said her mother. Then they found a note in the teapot. It said, "Dear Amy, __ Love Dad.”

    The two men kidnapped(绑架)Mr. Chan on his way to the museum. They opened his box and found a pair of sports shoes inside."Wheres the teapot?” the two thieves shouted at the top of their voice with red faces." How dare you cheat us? We saw you give your daughter a box at the airport. Come with us! We're going to search your home, one of them said。

    When the thieves entered Mr. Chan's flat, it was dark and quiet. All of a sudden, the door closed and the lights went on. The police were waiting inside.

    Amy and her mother came out of the bedroom with the teapot. "That teapot is very valuable, said Mr. Chan. "A long time ago it belonged to an emperor. He drank tea from it."

    “We were going to drink tea from it, too, "said Amy, laughing.

    Young people like pop music but not many of them like classical music. In fact, classical music is very pleasing to your ears. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Some classical pieces are so good that you will still love it after a long time.

    The main musical instruments in classical music are the violin and piano. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} It is small but a musician can play it very loudly or softly. The piano is also a great musical instrument. It is very big and heavy. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} The violin or piano can be played with all the other musical instruments.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Don't think that there are no singers in classical music. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Their voices are as beautiful as the sound of a musical instrument. The next time you hear a piano or violin playing, close your eyes and listen if it is the most beautiful sound in the world.

A.We call this kind of music a violin or piano concerto.

B.In fact, singers of classical music can sing very high notes.

C.Its sound has the widest range among all musical instruments.

D.You need to listen to a piece of classical music a few times before you fall in love with it.

E.The violin is called the "King of Musical Instruments" because its sound is very beautiful.

Dear Gina,

    How is everything with you？I miss you very much. I arrived in Xi'an three months ago. At first I felt very sad. I had no friends. I could speak little Chinese, and I didn't know what to do. I felt very lonely at that time. But my Chinese teacher helped me. He is very nice and friendly. He not only gave me many suggestions about how to learn Chinese, but also helped me a lot in my life. Now, I live happily. On weekends, I often go to some villages with my classmates to do some farm work. Sometimes we help the poor students there. We give them books and play with them. Now I'm so happy. As my teacher says, “Happiness is in your heart, but you need to find it.”

    Please give my best wishes to your parents!

Yours,

Mona

    Nick is a student from California. He weighs 147 pounds (about 67kg). But do you know what he used to be like? Six months ago, he weighed about 202 pounds (91kg). How did he lose all that weight in only half a year?

    "One day, I was surprised to find that I weighed about 202 pounds," Nick said. "I thought I had to do something."

    Nick is from a boxing(拳击) family. His father and two elder brothers are all professional boxers. So he decided to start boxing. He began with simple exercises. Then he started running. "I don't like running," he said. "But I really wanted to be thin and strong at that time, so I had no choice but to keep on."

    Months later, Nick joined a boxing club in his city. He is always the first kid to begin exercising, and the last to leave the club. His coach(教练), James White said, "Nick is more hard-working than any other boy in the club. I'm very happy to see him lose the pounds so quickly."

    Nick is very happy with his weight now. There is a family photo in his room from 18 months ago. "Each time I look at the photo, I laugh at myself. I was so big then." Nick said. "I look thinner and stronger now."