Some things can carry messages, for example, a sign at the bus stop helps you to know which bus to take. Signs on the door tell you where to go in or out. Have you ever noticed that there are a lot of signs around you and that you receive messages from them all the time?

    People can communicate on many other ways. An artist can use his drawing to tell about beautiful mountains, about the blue sea and many other things. Books are written to tell you about all the wonderful things in the world and also about people and their ideas.

    Books, magazines, TVs, radios and films all help us to communicate with others. They all help us to know what is going on in the world and what other people are thinking about.

    I have a good friend in my class. His name is Jim. He is from England. He is in China with his parents. He likes China. He likes Chinese food very much. He has breakfast at home. He eats an egg. bread and milk for breakfast. He doesn't like fish. He has lunch at home. The lunch in his school is delicious. He can have different kinds of food for lunch. He eats rice, meat and vegetables. Sometimes he has noodles and dumplings. He has supper at home with his friends. Sometimes he goes out to eat with his friends. He has meat , vegetables and fruit for dinner.

    Why should students play sports? Some people think that students play sports in order to get exercise. Others think it can help students have fun. But that is not enough.

    If students play sports, they can get more than healthy bodies. Why? Here are three more reasons.

    Students who play sports do better in school. Some people think that doing exercise will take up students' study time. But a recent study has shown that students who play sports get better scores in school than those who don't. Exercise gets students to learn, remember things and concentrate better.

    Students who play sports develop their teamwork spirits and learn problem-solving skills. When they are working together with others to win games and reach goals, they're learning how to be successful in practice. And these skills will be useful to them for study or their future work.

    Playing sports can also improve confidence. Students who play sports feel better about themselves. When they know they can improve and reach their goals by practicing, it builds their confidence. And sports can also help them communicate with others actively and make new friends.

    In the 13th century, the famous Italian traveler, Marco Polo, traveled a long way to China. During his stay in China, he saw many wonderful things. One of the things he discovered was that the Chinese used paper money. In Western countries, people did not use paper money until the 15th century. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}.

    A Chinese man called Cai Lun invented paper almost 2,000years ago. He made it from wood. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} He then put these pieces of paper together and made them into a book.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} We use a lot of paper every day. If we keep on wasting so much paper, there will not be any trees left on the earth. Every day, people throw away about 2,800 tons of paper. It takes 17 trees to make one ton of paper. This means that we are cutting nearly 48,000 trees every day.

    Since it takes more than 10 years for a tree to grow, we must start using less paper now. If we don't, we will not have enough time to grow more trees to take the place of those we use for paper.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} We can use both sides of every piece of paper, especially when we are making notes. We can choose drinks in bottles instead of those in paper packets. We can also use cotton handkerchiefs and not paper ones. When we go shopping, we can use fewer paper bags. If the shop assistant does give us a paper bag, we can save it and reuse it later.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} If we all think carefully, we can help protect trees. But we should do it now, before it is too late.

    The Old Man and the Sea is a short novel written by the American author Ernest Hemingway in 1951 in Cuba. It tells the story of a fight between an aging fisherman and a giant marlin (枪鱼). The novel opens with the fisherman, Santiago, who has gone 84 days without catching a fish. He is so unlucky that his young apprentice (徒弟), Manolin, hasn't been allowed by his parents to sail with the old man. On the 85th day, Santiago sets out by himself, far onto the Gulf Stream. He sets his lines and by noon, a big marlin takes his bait (鱼饵). After three days' struggle with the fish, Santiago manages to tie the marlin to the side of his boat. While Santiago sails back to the shore, sharks are attracted to the blood left by the marlin in the water. Though Santiago makes a great effort, they have almost eaten up the marlin. Santiago knows that he is defeated (打败) and tells the sharks of how they have killed his dreams. Once home, he is so tired that he goes straight to bed and falls into a deep sleep. Manolin feels much worried. The next day he brings him newspapers and coffee. When the old man wakes, they promise to fish together once again. The old man doesn't feel well and also coughs up blood a few times towards the end of the story. Readers think that the story is about man's fight against the natural world. In the story, Santiago and the marlin show similar qualities of pride, honour, and bravery, and both have to obey the same natural law—they must kill or be killed.

    The novel has received so much praise and is considered to be one of Hemingway's most famous works. It was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1953 and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954.