My name is Chen Lan. My home is in Gulangyu. Where is Gulangyu, do you know? It is in Xiamen. It is near the sea (海). Gulangyu is a small place(地方), but it is very nice and clean. There are no cars, buses or bikes. People only walk. So it is very quiet (安静的). My house is in the center of Gulangyu. Behind my house there is a big old tree. My grandfather tells me the tree is very old. There are many birds in the tree. We call it a "bird tree". My house is near the sea. The sea is big and blue. There are many fish in the sea.After school, I often go there and catch fish with my friends. It is very interesting. I like eating and catching fish.

    When people travel abroad(国外), they sometimes stay in the homes of the local people. This is a homestay.

    I am living with an old English couple, in the west of London. They have a clean four-bedroom house. This is a new house. It has two bathrooms and a garden with many beautiful flowers. I have a bedroom of my own.

    There are some shopping centres and a restaurant next to the house, and the house is close to an underground station. It takes about 30 minutes to take an underground to the centre of London.

    I think a homestay may be a good choice for you if it is your first time to visit abroad. The local people are friendly and ready to help. If you want to celebrate the holidays with them, you will get to know more about their culture and customs.

Mrs Lin: I have a 15-year-old daughter (女儿) named Mary. She is tall and slim with long hair and big eyes. She looks very beautiful. She can sing and dance very well. But she spends too much time on computer games. Sometimes she plays them without dinner. She does her homework quickly (很快地), but there are many mistakes (错误). She doesn't do well in her lessons now. When I talk to her, she doesn't listen to me! What shall I do?

Mrs Liu: My son Paul is a good boy. He studies hard and is good at all his lessons. But it's really difficult to stop my son from eating snacks. Between meals, he always eats some candy, cakes and ice cream. He is not very tall but looks very fat. I worry about his health. How can I help him?

Mrs Lee: My13-year-old boy, Jacky, is tall and thin. He is always a good student at school. But he doesn't exercise very often. He likes reading very much. He can read books in his bedroom for the whole day. He has few friends. I want him to go out to play with his classmates, but he often says, "I just want to read my books." What can I do?

    It is a fine Saturday morning. Bob and his family get up later than usual, because he isn't going to school and his father and mother aren't going to work. They are all staying at home, but they are not free. Each of them is doing a different thing.

    Bob's father is in the garage. He is washing his car. His mother is in the kitchen. She is busy preparing a good meal for the family. Sometimes, Bob helps his mum with the cooking, and sometimes he goes to the garage and watches his father wash his car. His elder brother, Jack, usually stays in his study till lunchtime. His two sisters are listening to some beautiful music while they're cleaning the house. His younger brother, Tom, is training his puppy. He is having a lot of fun. Around 12:30, the whole family is seated around the table enjoying a wonderful meal.

    I'm Frank. Today is December 24^th. It's my sister Sally's tenth birthday.

    In the morning, my parents take us to Lucky Clothes Store first{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Then we go to Green Bookstore{#blank#}2{#/blank#}. In another store, my father buys a basketball for her{#blank#}3{#/blank#}.

    In the afternoon, my parents have a birthday party for Sally at home {#blank#}4{#/blank#} . Nick gives Sally a new pencil box. Anna gives her a dictionary {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. We play games and eat fruit at the party. We are really happy today.