Mike must get up before half past six on weekdays, but he cannot get up so early in the morning. He often gets up at a quarter or ten minutes to seven and forgets things before he goes to school. So he often buys school things in a shop on his way to school. The shop opens early in the morning. It opens at half past six every morning. It sells cheap things, but they are something not very good. Mike often says, “I'm not going to that shop. The things in the shop are not dear, but they aren't good enough.” But he cannot get up early and he cannot remember to put away his school things before going to bed and to take all the things in the school bag! He has to go to that shop often.

    The Chinese New Year is a very important holiday for the Chinese people. It falls on a different date each year and lasts 15 days. Days before the New Year, every family is busy giving its house a thorough cleaning. ~They decorate the doors and windows with paper-cuts and put lanterns around their houses. On the Eve, all the family members come together to have a big dinner. It is a feast. After dinner, it is time for the whole family to sit up for the night. They play card games or watch TV programs. Next morning, people all dress in their best clothes. Children greet their parents or grandparents and get their gifts of money in red envelops. Then the family start out to say greetings from door to door.

    Hello, I'm Sarah. Welcome to our school. This is the teachers' office. That's my lunch room. There are forty - seven students in our class. The lunch room is on the first floor. The library is on the second floor. We have a music room. We play on the playground. I like our school.

    Tina loves singing and dancing, so on weekends she usually goes to a dancing club. In the summer, she often goes to the park. Sometimes she has a picnic with her family. In the winter, she usually goes skating. She is very good at skating.

    Tina also does chores on weekends. She also helps her mother cook dinner on Saturday. She sometimes helps her father clean his car. She thinks that's fun! She also has to clean her room. That's not fun!

    Sometimes Tina, Ted and their parents go out together. They go to a museum or art gallery, and then they go to eat pizza. This weekend Tina is going to sing with Bill. Bill is going to teach her to singing a Chinese song.

To: liyun@penfriend. com

From: alice@ penfriend. com

Dear Li Yun,

    I am happy to be your pen friend. I live in Australia. I have a twin sister Ann. We look the same, but we don't like the same things. I like swimming, diving and riding my bike, but Ann likes drawing pictures and making kites. I like sports, but she likes art. I like beef and coffee, but she likes fruit and milk. Tell me something about you. What's your hobby?

Yours,

Alice

My name is Eve. I'm in Class One, Grade Three. I'm good at drawing. My sister is Lily. She is six. She likes dancing. Mum buys a new dress for her. The dress is red. She likes it very much.