March 24^th

    This morning, we had a school trip to the Dashan Collection House, a building of two floors． It is open from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm． We took the school bus and arrived at 9:00． When we entered the collection house, our eyes were caught by a collection of old photos of the town on the walls of the front hall． Those photos told us something about the history of the town． And then in the Art Room, we saw many pictures of the countryside． The colors of the flowers and trees are rich and bright． All at once, I lost myself in the beauty of nature．

    Then we went upstairs． On the left, there were over one hundred different clocks． The oldest clock was already more than two hundred years old． To my surprise, the clocks all worked well and they could tell the right time． It was then ten o'clock, and some clocks produced different beautiful sounds． It seemed to be a concert． How amazing!

    On the right there was also a stone collection． The stones were from all over the country． They were in different sizes, colors and shapes． Some looked like different kinds of animals． I really liked one stone that looked like a little monkey． It looked very nice．

    The collections there were wonderful． So they stayed there until 11:30 in the morning． I had a great time and really liked the school trip．

    The Smiths live at 87 King Street. In the morning, Mr. Smith goes to work and the children go to school. Their father takes them to school every day. Mrs. Smith stays at home every day. She does the housework. She always eats her lunch at noon. In the afternoon, she usually sees her friends. They often drink tea together. In the evening, the children come home from school. They arrive home early. Mr. Smith comes home from work. He arrives home late. At night, the children always do their homework, then they go to bed. Mr. Smith usually reads his newspaper, but sometimes he and his wife watch television.

    Look at the tower! Nothing is wrong with your eyes. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} As the name says, the Leaning （倾斜的）Tower of Pisa leans. It is in Pisa, a city in Italy.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} In 1173, people in Pisa began to build the tower. In 1178, when the tower was just three storeys（层）tall, it began to lean. There were wars in Pisa at the time. So the construction（建造）of the tower stopped for years. After about 200 years, in 1370, people finished the construction.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} It is 55.86 meters tall.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} There are many opinions. One goes like this: The tower is very tall and heavy, but the ground is made of soft sand and clay. When the ground sinks, the tower leans.

    Did you know these? The tower was first the bell tower to a large church.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}Each bell stands for a musical note（音符）. From 1990 to 2001, the tower was closed to visitors. Workers repaired it. The tower may stand for another 200 years.

阅读短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。

A.The tower has eight storeys.

B.There are seven bells in it.

C.There is something wrong with the tower.

D.Why does it lean?

E.Let's know about its history

    What will the life be like in the future? I think that our life will be easier in the future. (A)We will have robots and they will help us do the boring jobs. And we (B)needn't do things like washing dishes and making the beds. I hope that doctors (C)can keep us alive for a long time. I hope that when I am 80 years old, there will be something and it will keep me alive for another 80 years. (D)我将会活到160岁。

(T=Tony B=Betty)

T: Hello! Are you Betty?

B: Yes, I am. What's your name, please?

T: My name is Tony. I'm in Class 3, Grade 8. I'm in Row 15.

B: I'm in Class 1, Grade 7. I'm in Row 2. Can you tell me your telephone number?

T: Yes. My telephone number is 5605688. And what's your telephone number?

B: Oh, it's 3839833. I'm thirteen. And how old are you?

T: I'm fourteen.

    Hello, boys and girls. My name is Tony Smith. I'm twelve years old and I'm from London, England. It's a big and busy city. My favourite colour is green and it's the colour of trees. Swimming is my favourite sport. In summer, I often swim with my friends. I have a pen friend. His name is Jim Brown and he'.s eleven years old. He's from New York, America. Yellow is his favourite colour and he likes playing basketball very much.

Some information about Tony and Jim