Carol studies at Roosevelt High School. She is having a hard time passing exams. She has no interest in her homework, so she seldom finishes it on time.

     But there is one lesson she is doing well in. It is history. Carol always hands in her history homework on time. She respects the history teacher Mr Aragon. Carol feels that Mr Aragon treats her more than just a student. She feels other teachers look down on her.

      Carol's mother Maria told Mr Aragon that Carol wasn't doing well in her other lessons. Mr Aragon was surprised to learn that. "She is such a smart girl," he told Maria. Mr Aragon told Maria that he would talk to her daughter.

Carol felt embarrassed when Mr Aragon talked to her about the problems she was having in other lessons. But later Carol understood that Mr Aragon just wanted to help her. Mr Aragon and Carol had a discussion about what she could do to improve her marks in other lessons. They made a list of ways to help her to complete her homework on time, including setting a timetable for homework, cutting down some boring after-school activities, and having a friend help her with the homework. Carol decided to try these ways out to see which one would work best for her.

A Play: Four Butterflies

Characters: Red Butterfly (RB), Green Butterfly (GB), Green Tree (GT), Rose (R), Grandpa Sun (GS)

    Look! There are four butterflies in the garden. One is red, one is yellow, one is green, and the other one is white. They play games and dance together every day, and they are very happy. One day, it's fine. Four butterflies are playing a game in the garden. Suddenly it is full of dark clouds and it begins to rain hard.

1) GB: Oh, it's raining hard. Green Tree is over there. She can

help us.

GB: Green Tree, our wings are wet. Please let us stay under your leaves.

GT: Green Butterfly, I like you. We have the same color. You can come in, but the other three butterflies must go away.

GB: No, thank you. We are good friends. We love each other and must stay together.

RB: Rose is over there. She can help us.

2) RB: Rose, our wings are wet. Please let us stay under your leaves.

R: Red Butterfly, I like you. We have the same color. You can come in, but the other three butterflies must go away.

RB: No, thank you. We are good friends. We love each other and must stay together.

3) GS: What good friends they are! This is a real friendship. I must help them.

    The sun drives the clouds away and asks the rain to stop. Soon the sun gives off bright light and dries up their wings.

4) Four butterflies: Oh, the sun comes out. Our wings are dry. Let's play and dance again.

    Mike is 13 years old, and he is interested in collecting stamps. He began to collect stamps when he was 8 years old. He spends all his pocket money on stamps. Sometimes his parents send him stamps when he does well in his study. Therefore, Mike collects a lot of stamps. He often shows his stamps to his friends and his neighbours (邻居). He usually goes to his mail box (信箱) to get letters after school. He wants the stamps from them. One day, Mike went to the mail box to get letters. But there were no letters in his box. He found a letter in the box next to his. The letter is to Mrs Green. There was a beautiful stamp on the letter. So he got off the stamp carefully and hurried home. After he went home, he was afraid that Mrs Green would know he got her stamp. On the morning of the next day, Mike put the stamp back to Mrs Green's box and then went to school. When he came back from school, he met Mrs Green. She smiled to Mike. Mike smiled, too.

My name is Eric Black. Black is my 1 name. I'm from New York. Now, I 2 in Beijing with my parents. I study in the International Language（语言）School and learn 3 in it. Every day, I get up 4 at 6:10, because I need to go to school by bus. I can't 5 Chinese very well so I study very hard. Sometimes it is 6 for my classmates to understand me.

I make some friends at school. Li Ming is my new friend. His English is good. He often helps me learn Chinese. He is 7 . He usually goes to school on foot because it's good for his 8 . After school, we 9 many topics（话题）, like weather, sports and food. I'm a member of the Music Club. I like 10 Chinese songs. And Li Ming is in ping-pong club.

We have great fun at school!