Kate is a new student. She is twelve. She is from America. She can speak English very well and she can speak a little Chinese. She is in Nanjing. Her parents are doctors. Kate is studying in a school near her home. She has some classes from Monday to Friday. On Saturdays and Sundays, she often plays games with her Chinese friends. She loves China and her Chinese friends.

    The Spring Festival is my favourite festival. It's also called the Chinese New Year. Before the Spring Festival, I always send presents and cards to my friends. At the Spring Festival I play games with them. And we often go shopping together. I like the Spring Festival because it's very interesting.

    John's family was very poor. He had three brothers and four sisters. Their parents loved them very much. When he finished middle school, he got a special present from his father. "Many friends got new clothes. Someone got cars as presents, John said. "I ran home and asked my father what present could get. Father got something out of his pocket. Then he gave it to me. It was a coin!"

    "I felt very sad." Father said to me, "Buy a newspaper with the coin, read it carefully and find a job for yourself. Go to the world. The world is yours now." I always think it was a joke. I was unhappy for a long time. Many years later, after I became the manager of a big computer company, I understand my father. My friends got just clothes or even cars. I got the world. It was the best present.