Everyone has his own birthday. People in different countries celebrate their birthdays in different ways. Now here are four people from different countries. They will tell us how they celebrate their birthdays in their countries.

    Sandy comes from Madrid(马德里). She says happily," My 21st birthday is on Saturday, and I'm going to go out with some friends. To wish me a happy birthday, they are going to pull on my ear 21 times, once for each year. It's an old custom. Some people pull on the ear just once, but my friends are very traditional."

    Mr. and Mrs. Sato are from Tokyo. Mr. Sato is going to be 60 tomorrow. In Japan, the sixtieth birthday is called Kanreki(花甲)—it's the beginning of a new life. The color red is for a new life, so we always give something red for a sixtieth birthday.

    Liu Mei from Beijing feels very excited and tells us, "Tomorrow is my 16th birthday. It's a special birthday, so we're going to have a family party. Maybe I will get some lucky money from my relatives(亲戚). My mother is going to cook noodles for a long life.

    Phillip, from Paris, smiles to us," I'm going to be thirty next week, so I'm going to invite three very good friends out for dinner. In France, when you have a birthday, you often invite people out."

    How do you usually celebrate your birthday?

As you walk down the street, an object falls from a tall building and {#blank#}1{#/blank#}you. Who should be responsible for this? Or maybe you try to help someone in danger, but you accidentally hurt the person. Will you get in trouble for this? China's Civil Code(《民法典》) will give you the  {#blank#}2{#/blank#}.

On May 28, the National People's Congress (全国人民代表大会) agreed China's first-ever Civil Code. With 1,260 articles, it is a collection of laws that is about personal issues, {#blank#}3{#/blank#}property (物权), marriage, family, personality rights, and inheritances (继承). It's like an encyclopedia (百科全书) for social life.

China does have laws that cover these issues. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} , all kinds of these laws are not unified. The Civil Code gathers them into one unified document and makes improvements. With the Civil Code, China hopes to set up a country under the rule of law with {#blank#}5{#/blank#} protection for civil rights.

One special thing about the code is the part about individual (个人的) rights. It's a major innovation (创新) to form the individual rights into one part alone. This part includes laws{#blank#}6{#/blank#} relate to one's body, health, name, image (肖像), and fame.

Some of the laws in this part deal with how new technology is{#blank#}7{#/blank#}.For example, people who use AI face swap (调换) tools to make videos may go against {#blank#}8{#/blank#} image rights. The laws also provide data protection rights relating to possible data leaks by tech companies.

As we know, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, there were several attempts to draft (起草) a civil code in 1954, 1962, 1979 and 2001. But the conditions {#blank#}9{#/blank#} not good enough. In 2015, China started to work on the present code and{#blank#}10{#/blank#} it after 5 years. This year, the code took effect on Jan. 1.

Emma was dreaming. In her dream, she was sitting on a train. A boy next to her asked her, "Excuse me, do you know {#blank#}1{#/blank#}the train will get to London?"Emma didn't have a watch so she didn't know how she {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(can) answer his question. She was about to ask her sister Annie when she heard someone waking her up. It was Annie.

"It's too late, Emma! Get up!" Then Emma had to get up.

Annie liked making plans. At the breakfast table, she asked Emma to write down what she {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(have to) do today. "The mouse problem is serious. Could you tell me {#blank#}4{#/blank#}You'll deal with(处理) it today?"

"Yes! Mousetraps(老鼠夹) can kill mice. So after breakfast I'll go and buy one,"answered Emma.

"Write it down," said Annie.

Emma took her pencil out of her pencil case, but she stopped. She forgot {#blank#}5{#/blank#}she could spell the word"mousetrap". She was sure that Annie would laugh at her. She wanted to know {#blank#}6{#/blank#}she put her dictionary last night.

"On the sofa? No,"Emma said to herself."In the bookcase?"

Annie was a little impatient. She asked Emma {#blank#}7{#/blank#}she didn't write down the word quickly.

Emma didn't hear {#blank#}8{#/blank#}Annie said. She couldn't stop yawning(打哈欠). From far away she could hear the boy say, "Your dictionary is next to your pillow (枕头)."Hearing that, Emma smiled.

A slow train in Southwest China with its own study room has drawn much attention. The train No. 5609/5610 runs between Chongqing and Xiushan county.

It is a public-welfare (公益的) "slow train". In some carriages (车厢), some desks and chairs next to the windows take the place of seats in order to turn the carriage into a "study carriage" for passengers in need.

The train No. 5609/5610 is not the only one of this kind. Other "slow trains" have become "study carriages", too, including No. 5619/5620 and 5633/5634. They run along the Chengdu-Kunming Railway. Students from nearby schools often take the trains between school and home. The trains are their "school buses" and they often use their travel time to finish homework. Many passengers also use their travel time to complete work.

On the train No. Z150, running between Guiyang and Beijing, a "book bar" carriage has been popular with college students. There are nearly 400 universities and colleges in the cities along the line, making the train the top choice for most students from those schools. Since 2015, the train's dining car has been open for free at night. It provides students with a lending library, free tea and other services. It's a relaxing place for the students to continue their studies.

Students should like vacations. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} last week, I asked some students what they did last summer vacation. Their answers surprised me a lot. Some said they just {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (stay) at home and played computer games all day. Some said they had many classes in summer school. And many students even said their vacation was {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(real) boring. The summer vacation this year is coming soon. Do you want to have a better one? Here {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (be) some tips(小建议) for you.

First, find out what you are interested in and join some clubs. Next, it's just right {#blank#}5{#/blank#} spending some time and money on some trips. Learn to be {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (friend)when you meet new friends.

If your parents take you to another country, try to learn a {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (two) language.Take some photos of the beautiful places along the way. Finally, remember to finish your homework on time{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(know) more about your new lessons in Grade Eight.

I am sure if you can use {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (you) time well and have a good plan, you will have{#blank#}10{#/blank#}wonderful summer vacation.

Cristina Zenato, a world-famous shark expert and diver(潜水员), was born in Italy and grew up in Africa until the age of 15. In 1994, she went on a vacation to Grand Bahama and fell in love with both diving and the island. So she decided to make Bahama her home and make diving her life.

Cristina learned to feed sharks when she was a child. In 1996, she became a shark feeder trainer. She created a course that educated divers about the beauty of sharks and the need to protect them and their environment. Through the "shark feeder course", she has created more shark lovers.

Cristina is talented in communicating with sharks. With just a touch on a shark's head and face, she can lead it into a state of sleep for 15 minutes. Cristina's special talent has been used to study shark behavior by scientists. It also helps to save sharks. Cristina still remembers clearly the first time she managed to take out a huge hook(吊钩) from a tiger shark's mouth. Up to now, she has taken out hundreds of hooks and fishing lines from shark mouths and skin without hurting them. Her work has saved many sharks from possible death.

Cristina has received many prizes and honors for her great work in shark research and protection. She also acted in several films including "Saving the Sharks" by the BBC. Until today, she continues to give speeches around the world.