Joe was an old man. The 75-year-old lived very happily in a village and had a beautiful family. Joe had four grandchildren, and they visited him during their holidays.

During one vacation, Joe was preparing his home for the kids: cleaning and buying their favorite foods. After he finished working, he realized he lost his favorite watch. The watch was a gift from his wife when their first child was born. Joe loved the watch very much, especially after his wife's death. He was very upset about losing it.

    Once his grandchildren came, they promised him they would find the watch.

    One granddaughter asked: "Grandpa, do you remember when you saw the watch last before it went missing?"

    "I guess when I was cleaning the barn(谷仓)!" Joe replied.

    The children looked for more than two hours with Joe, but they could not find it. The kids were now also sad, but they tried to comfort(安慰) their grandfather.

    One grandson went back to the barn to search again. Joe asked why he was going there a second time. But the little boy just asked the others not to follow him and to remain silent.

    He was there for about fifteen minutes and then rushed to his grandfather. He found the watch and happily gave it to Joe.

    Joe was surprised and asked how he was able to find it. The little boy replied: "I sat there without making a noise, and the barn was so silent. After a few minutes, I heard the ‘tick, tick' sound and found the watch."

    Joe hugged and thanked the little boy.

    “Reading makes a full man,” novels written by famous writers help us to know more about our history, culture and many other things.

    Jane Austen was one of the most well-known women writers of the world. She was born in England in 1775. Jane liked reading and writing. She wrote a number of famous novels in her life. Among them, Pride and Prejudice written in 1779 was the most popular.

    Ernest Hemingway, an outstanding American writer and reporter, was born in 1899. His life experience had a great influence on his writing style. Hemingway lived in France and Italy between the 1920s and 1950s. Most of his books such as The Sun Also Rises were written at that time. He won the Nobel Prize in 1954 mainly because of the novel The Old Man and the Sea.

    My name is Lucy. I am now in China. I am a student of No. 4 Middle School. There are some clubs in our school. They are an English club, an art club, a music club, a ball game club, a swimming club, a chess club and a computer club. There is a "Show Yourselves (你们自己)!" Festival in our school. On that day, students from different clubs show their talents in difficult ways (用不同的方式). They can sing English songs and draw. They can play the guitar, the violin, the piano and drums. They can also play chess and show us their swimming skills (技巧). They like this festival very much. I join the art club. I draw many nice pictures for the festival. That makes me very happy.

    Calabash brothers(葫芦娃兄弟) live in the Calabash Mountain with their grandfather. They are all very brave. They wear different clothes. The red calabash is the other six brothers 'elder brother. He is powerful. His body can be bigger or smaller. But he doesn't have his own ideas. The orange calabash has enhanced hearing and sight. He can see and hear far places clearly. The yellow calabash's body is very strong. Nothing can injure(伤害)him, but he is arrogant(傲慢的). The green calabash is the god of fire. He can eat fire and make fire. The cyan(青色的) calabash can drink water and make flood. The blue calabash is the cleverest of all. Nobody can find him when he makes himself invisible. And the purple calabash has a magic gourd(葫芦). The gourd can absorb(吸收) everything.

    One day a pangolin(穿山甲) broke the cave and two monsters came out.

    They were Monster Scorpion(蝎子精) and Monster Snake. The calabash brothers must fight with them and save the world. Unluckily, their grandfather who helped them beat the monster, was killed by the monsters finally.

    There was a man who had a big garden. He planted many fruit trees. Now he wanted to pick up the fruits and sell them to make money for his family.

    One day, when he picked fruits with his son, he saw a stranger sitting in a tree and picking the fruits. He shouted," "What are you doing in my tree? For a whole year I have taken care of these trees. You have no right to take the fruits, so come down at once!"

    The stranger in the tree answered, "This is the garden of God and I am the servant(佣人) of God, so I have the right to pick these fruits. "

    The gardener was very surprised at this answer. He called his son and said," Go to bring a rope(绳子) and get this man down from the tree," His son brought the rope and the gardener asked him to tie(绑) the stranger in the tree. The stranger began to shout, "You have no right to do this."

    The gardener answered, "This is the rope of God and I am also the servant of God, so I have the right to tie you." The stranger thought for a while and then said, "I am sorry for taking the fruits. This is your garden and I shouldn't pick the fruits. Please set me free."

    The gardener smiled and said," Since you have realized your mistake, I will set you free, but remember that God has given all his servants rights and every person's right is in his own hands."

Kate is an English girl, but she is in China with her parents. She is a middle school student in Shanghai now. Let's ask her some questions and see how she answers them.

◆What do you eat for breakfast?

I have milk and eggs. They are my favorite food for breakfast. I think they are healthy. I don't like bread.

◆Do you eat lunch at school?

Yes. I eat chicken and rice at school. Sometimes I eat salad for lunch. I don't like eating hamburgers. They are not good for my health.

◆What fruit do you like?

I like bananas, apples and strawberries very much. I eat fruit every day. Fruit is important to our health.

◆Do you play sports every day?

Sure, I do. I play basketball with my friends every day. I think it's interesting and relaxing. Sometimes I play volleyball, but it's difficult for me.