Long long ago，the youngest daughter of Emperor Yan went boating on the Eastern Sea. At first she had a good time，but later on she was too tired to swim when a strong wind rose on the sea and turned her boat upside down. She was thus drowned, but her spirit turned into a beautiful bird crying sadly in the sound “Jingwei, Jingwei”.

    Because she wanted to see her beloved father again and hated the sea so much，she put some stones into the sea day after day, without a rest, in order to change the sea into the land. From this story comes the saying “The bird Jingwei trying to fill the sea”. The story was a little sad. But it tells us something important. When we do anything, we have to work hard. Learning English is difficult but if you study hard, you can learn it well.

ClothesDonation (捐赠) Box

    Have youever put your old clothes into the donation box in your neighborhood? If not,you can do it right now because the clothes donation is becoming a trend (趋势) in Urumqi.

    "Fromtime to time, my mother clears out the clothes which I no longer wear. Youknow, we teenagers are growing fast. I think it's a good way to helpothers." Lin Tao, a junior student says.

    "Ioften pick out some of my clothes which are out of style after going shopping.Then I put them into the donation box." Miss Li, a pretty young lady says.

    "Thatseems like a good idea. Some clothes in the box are quite new. People caneither wear them or usethem to make things such as handbags and pencilcases," Mrs Wang, an old woman says, "sometimes I also look throughthe box for some nice clothes."

    However,there are some problems along with the popularity of clothes donation.Recently, a UTV reporter from Focus on the City has made a survey. Here are theresults:

    Some boxesare full of clothes in a short time. There is no more room for people to giveaway clothes.

    Somepeople sell the clothes in the donation box for making money instead of wearingthem.

    Somecommunities set the boxes in unsuitable places. So there are few clothes in it.

    Manyclothes are too old and shabby (破烂的).

   "What's worse," one of the staff in a community added,"we quite often see people throw rubbish into the box when they pass by.We've tried to stop them several times but failed. It has been the most seriousproblem since we set the box."

    In orderto make the donation box work in an efficient (有效的) way, our government is taking action. Clothesdonation will be better-organized and it'll be more convenient for people inneed to take the clothes away.

Have you ever wondered what animals are thinking when you see them? Do you feel happy when you see a cute dog, but do they feel the same way? It's hard to tell what animals are thinking because they have no ability to speak like us.

Humans have many different feelings, but it's difficult to understand what animals are feeling. We might think we know our pets the best because we spend a lot of time with them. Some people have dogs as pets because they are friendly to us, even love us. But love could just be a human feeling. Professor Kim Bard did an experiment to test pets' feelings. It turns out that some dogs show the same feeling when their owner pretends (假装) to cry, but not with strangers. However, it's harder for cats to work out.

Other animals, like giraffes and whales, also experience great sadness when someone in their group dies. Nowadays, people are starting to consider their well-being more. In the UK, new legislation (立法) means all animals will be considered in law as sentient living things, even tiny insects. Research shows they can feel a degree of feelings, such as being happy, sad, angry, or frightened.

Dr Barbara J King says, "If we understand how deeply animals can feel feelings, do we really need zoos around the world? This is a question." Understanding animal feelings is important because it helps us treat them in a proper way.

Do you know what an e—friend is? You make a friend with him or her by sending e—mails. Having e—friends is good for you. You can tell them your family, problems and good things. They can teach you many things and help you get out of problems. Some of them may send you e—cards on your birthday.

If your e—friends come from English—speaking countries, they will help you learn English. Writing to them in English is good for your English learning. Some of them may invite you to their countries, and take you to visit their countries.

Where can you make e—friends? You can visit some websites. There are many boys and girls, and you can make friends with some of them.

Last summer, Sam went to a river to catch fish with his friends near his home. They had great fun walking in cool running water to catch the small silver fish.

Before going to the river, Sam found a bag first. As soon as he reached the river with his friends, they took off their shoes and socks and put their feet into the running water. It was so cool. Walking carefully, Sam looked for the right place where the fish shone. Often Sam fished with his friend and it was easier. But this time Sam fished by himself because he wanted to have a try. Taking two corners(角) of the bag, he stood in the water and slowly put the bag down to the river. Little by little, he put it down to the bottom(河底) . Then he waited, not making any sound, or moving a bit. When the fish went above the bag, Sam moved the bag up quickly and carefully. He got it. The bag was full of little silver fish.

But the greatest fun was not just in catching the fish, but also in letting them go back into the river to go on their natural lives. Sam put down the bag into the river, and the small fish swam off. Other children would also do the same and let the fish go away.