Dear Linda,

    My best friend Lily always hangs out with a girl who used to bully(欺凌) her. And she doesn't seem to want to be around me any more.

Lisa

Dear Lisa,

    It's normal for friendships to change, and it's possible that the girl has changed over time. Instead of worrying about that, pay more attention to how your own friendship is changing. Hanging out with your friend mifht help to improve your friendship.

Dear Linda,

    I often argue with my mom about my after-school hobbies. Sometimes she starts it. Sometimes I do. Anyway, I feel unhappy after arguing. What should I do?

Mike

Dear Mike,

    Find a right time to talk to your mom. Tell her that you're unhappy after arguing with her and that you'd like to work out a way to avoid arguments.

Dear Linda,

    I always dream dream of becoming a writer. But when I go back to reading a story I've written, it sounds boring and I don't want to finish it. Should I keep trying to write?

Nick

Dear Nick,

    Every writer has been where you are--a place where nothing he writes sounds right. However, you should go on writing as much as you can. The more you practice, the better you'll get. Also, keep reading can help you learn a lot about writing.

Information Card

    Whenever the sun dropped and the blue sky came up, my father and I used to climb the mountain near my house. Walking together, my father and I used to have a lot of conversations through which I learned lessons from his experiences. He always told me, "You should have goals(目标） like climbing the mountain." Without the mountain-climbing that we both enjoyed ，we couldn't have enough time to spend together because my father was very busy. I really got a lot from mountain-climbing. It gave me time to talk with my father and to be in deep thought as well as develop my patience (耐力).

    Once we climbed a very high mountain. It was so challenging for me because I was only ten years old. During the first few hours of climbing. I enjoyed the flowers and trees, and the birds' singing, but as time passed, I got a pain in both of my legs. I wanted to quit climbing. In fact, I hated it at that mountain, but my father said to me, "You can always see a beautiful sky at the top of the mountain, but you can't see it before you reach the top. ①Only there at the top, can you see all of the nice things, just like in life."

    At that time, ②我太小以至于不能理解他的话。But later after that, I got new hope and confidence. I found myself standing at the top of the mountain. And there, I could see the whole of the sky, which was as clear as crystal (水晶).

    Sport is very popular in England. In other words lots of English people like the idea of sport A lot watch sport on TV. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} On the whole English people prefer to be fat rather than thin.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Football is played on Saturday afternoon in most towns and the supporters (支持者) of a certain team will travel from one end of the country to the other to see their teams play. There are four divisions(级别)of the football league. Not surprisingly the best teams are in the first division. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} You have to be a good supporter to watch the fourth division football!

    Many other sports are also played in England, such as golf, in which you try to knock a ball into a hole; basketball, in which you try to get a ball through a net; tennis, in which you try to hit a ball so that your opponent(对手) can not hit it. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} 

    Actually(其实), that is not quite true. Athletics(田径) isn't played with a ball; nor horseracing ( 赛马 ). {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

The Amazing Spider Man

    Spider Man is a hero. People got to know the hero through the Spider Man movie series.

    Now, a new Spider Man movie is coming to our eyes. It has a new name called The Amazing Spider Man. A new director called Marc Webbis directed the movie and a new actor, Andrew Garfield, played Spider Man.

    The Amazing Spider Man is also about the story of Peter Parker, a high school student. His parents left him when he was a boy, and he was raised by his Uncle Ben and Aunt May. Like most teenagers, Peter is trying to figure out who he is and how he got to be the person he is today.

    As Peter finds a briefcase that belonged to his father, he begins to find out why his parents disappeared. The discovery of his father's secret will shape his destiny(命运)of becoming “Spider Man.”Peter will make his choices to use his powers and become a hero.

    Unlike the former one, the new movie focuses on Spider Man developing his abilities in high school, as well as discovering the mystery(秘密)of his parents, or at least what happened to his father.

    The movie is going to come out on July 3, 2012 in 3D.

    The People's Bank of China will come out the fifth edition(版本)of the renminbi (RMB) from August 30, 2019. These banknotes(纸币)will have brighter colors and new security features(防伪特征).

    We've been using banknotes for around 1,000 years. Back in the Northern Song Dynasty, Chinese people made the worlds earliest paper money to replace(代替) metal coins. These banknotes were called jiaozi.

    Paper money is cheaper to make and easier to carry. These advantages made it more popular than other forms of money. But now, in the digital (数码的)age, paper money seems to be disappearing for the same reason.

    China seems to be heading towards becoming a cashless(不用现金的) society. From supermarkets to street stores, people pay by using the We Chat Wallet and Alipay apps on their mobile phones. Sweden is even closer to a future without paper money. Many Swedish banks no longer even have cash on hand.

    But there are worries about creating cashless societies. Some say it is unfair to the poor and people without much education. It's not easy for them to open bank accounts( 账户)or deal with mobile phones. And if all of your money is" digital, it may not be safe enough.

    Is paper money going away? Although paper money is used less than electronic payment (电子支付) in some countries, it won' t disappear at once in most parts of the world.

    One day, when Sunee reached her house, she saw a brown package(包裹). She ran inside the house with her package and showed it to her grandmother. Sunee opened the package. As she did, she noticed there was Thai writing on the box. This package had come from her aunt in Thailand.

    Inside the box, Sunee saw something uncommon. It was a red silk umbrella. She had never seen anything like it! Next to the umbrella she found a silk purse (钱包).They were both beautiful.

    "Shipping a package overseas used to take a lot of time," said Grandmother. "Packages traveled by train and ship. It could take many months to get a package from across the ocean. How long did your package take to arrive?"

    Sunee and her grandmother looked at the postmark (邮戳). It showed that the package had been sent eight days ago. "That's fast!" said Sunee.

    Her grandmother agreed. "We have resources (资源)now that we didn't have years ago. Now, packages are flown across the ocean. Because airplanes travel so fast, packages arrive very quickly. Now our economy (经济)depends on fast delivery (快递)!"