Have you read any books by Washington Irving？Now I will tell you a story written by him. The name of the story is Rip Van Winkle, and it is also the name of the hero in this story. There are three characters in this story, Rip Van Winkle and his wife, Dame Van Winkle and their dog, Woof. Dame Van Winkle is a sharp-tongued (说话尖酸的、刻薄的) woman. Both Rip Van Winkle and the dog are terrified of her, even of her voice.

        There is a scene that can describe how Rip Van Winkle and his dog feel in front of Dame Van Winkle:

          Rip had just one way of replying to his wife's talk:  he only put his head back on his shoulders, looked up toward heaven, and said nothing. . . True, in the woods, Woof was as brave as an honorable dog should be， but as soon as Woof entered the house, his head bent low, his tail lay on the ground or curled between his legs. He went around the house with a guilty look, watching Dame Van Winkle out of the corner of his eyes, ready to run from the room at the slightest sign of her displeasure.

       This was the time when England ruled America. One day, Rip Van Winkle went into the mountain with his dog for an escape of his wife. He drank something given by some strangers and fell asleep. That was 20 years! His wife died and America got freedom from England, and I think that's what the story wants to tell us:  both the poor man's independence and nation's independence.

         Why does Irving's story attract people?  Because he wrote so vividly（生动地）. That sets me thinking:  How he observed things so carefully?  If you read through this story, you can't help smiling or laughing from time to time!

    Potato chips are Americans' favorite snacks(零食). Where do potato chips come from? In 1853 a native(本土) American named George Crum made the first potato chips. Crum was a chide(头目) in an expensive restaurant in Saratogasprings， New York. One day， a customer(顾客) did not like the French fries. He said they were too thick(厚的). So Crum made more， this time thinner. The customer still didn't like them. Crum got unhappy. He decided to make the customer angry. So he cut the potatoes， very thin. The customer loved them.

    Other people wanted Crum's  potato chips. Now， there was a new food on the menu— Saratoga chips. Soon Crum opened his own restaurant and made his special chips.

    It took a long time to make potato chips. People peeled the potatoes by hand. Then in 1920，the automatic(自动的) potato peeler changed everything. Now it was faster and easier to make potato chips. Now potato chips were not a specialty. They were a popular snack food， but only in the north.

    A salesman named Herman Lay wanted to sell potato chips in the south. He sold potato chips in bags. His business grew. Today， Americans eat a lot of potato chips every day.

    Every year， thousands of people get hurt（受伤） or die（死亡） when they are crossing the road{#blank#}1{#/blank#}.

    Old people often get hurt or die because they can't see or hear very well. Children usually meet with accident（事故） because of their carelessness（粗心）{#blank#}2{#/blank#}.

    How can we lessen(减少)traffic accidents? All of us must follow the traffic rules. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} I they drive too fast, it will be very difficult to stop the car in a very short time. For the walkers, it's very important to be careful when they are walking on the road. So when we walk across the road we must try0 walk along the pavements（人行道）{#blank#}4{#/blank#}Look left first, next look right, and then look left again, When we are sure that the road is clear, we can cross it, The right way to cross the road is to walk quickly. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} If people run across the road, they may fall down.

    We should try to help children, old people or blind people to cross the road, and never play in the street.

    The summer solstice(夏至), around June 21, is the longest day of the year in the northern half of the world. On that day, the sun is the highest in the sky, so the earth gets the most hours of light. People in many countries celebrate that day in a holiday called Midsummer.

    Different countries celebrate Midsummer in different ways. In towns in Sweden, people put up a Midsummer Pole(仲夏柱) made of wood covered with flowers. They dance and sing around it. After wards, they eat fish, new potatoes and strawberries. That night, young people pick seven different flowers and put them under their pillows(枕头) when they sleep to dream about the person they will marry.

    In Finland, people go out to the country and build huge fires to celebrate Midsummer. In the past, people believed that the fires drove away bad luck. Now, they're a reason to get together with friends for a big party all night. Because Finland is so far north, the sky is light most of the night on Midsummer. Many Finnish people start their summer vacations on that day.

    In some parts of Spain, people have big parties and enjoy fireworks(烟花) on the beaches at night to celebrate Midsummer. Some people believe that plant medicines work the best if they are made on Midsummer, so women go out to collect the plants that night. Some people put the plants in water and then wash their faces with the water for good health. And of course there are special foods: fish, potatoes and corn bread.

    People in different countries speak different languages. But is there a lanuage that can be understood by everyone in the world ? Emojis might be the first truly universal (通用的) language.

    Emojis are a kind of special language. Pictures are used to put meaning across, A group called the Unicode Consortium is in charge of choosing official (官方的) emojis. It has added new emojis every year since 2014. These new emojis do not come out of nowhere. They come from what people think about, like and care about.

    Emojis can be used to represent (代表) different groups of people. In 2015, emoji faces with different skin tones (肤色) were added. In 2016, different jobs were added, such as doctor, police officer and painter along with female versions of these jobs, This year, emojis of disabled people were added, including emojis of blind people and people in wheel chairs.

    But there is also more to emojis. They can also refer to pop culture and new cultural trends. New emojis in 2019 have included several animals, such as sloths (树懒) and flamingos (火烈鸟). These animals are not very common, but are known to many people. For example, sloths have become popular thanks to the 2016 film Zootopia (《疯狂动物城》). Many fashion designers have included flamingos in their designs in recent years. This animal makes people feel like they're on a tropical (热带) vacation.

    It seems that emojis are a mirror of the world we live in. It will be interesting to see how they change and grow in the years to come.

    Hello, everyone. I have something important to tell you. There will be an open English class in the school hall next Monday. Mark, our new foreign English teacher, will give us the lesson. He is from Australia. He will talk about how to study English. All the other English teachers will be there. We should remember the following things. Keep the hall clean. Get everything ready before the class. It lasts forty-five minutes. Arrive there before 8: 30 am. Listen to the teacher carefully. Put up your hand when you want to speak. Be polite to all the teachers.