D

    Mike Myers is a teacher at Chauncey Rose High School in Terre Haute, Indiana. Last year, he taught his students about the world's rain forests. They learned that rain forests are important because the plants and animals of the rain forest give us food, wood, and medicine.

    Destruction of the world's rain forests is a serious problem. Unluckily, rain forests are disappearing at a rate of 80 acres per minute! As part of a class project, Myers' students bought three acres of rain forest in Central America. They paid $25 per acre. The students hope that the land they bought will be protected and not destroyed. The students became so interested in rain forests that they decided to get a closer look at a real rain forest.

    So last June, Myers and four of his students took a boat ride down a river. They saw alligators and crocodiles. In the middle of the week, a guide took Myers and his students into the rain forest. "The monkeys were not happy that we were in their forest. They broke small branches off the trees and threw them at us," one of the students said. "It was a great learning experience for all of us," said Myers.

    Each student chose something specific about Costa Rica to study involving the plants, animals, food, and culture. During the last few days the group had time to do fun activities. They went whitewater rafting and horseback riding, and visited Costa Rica's active volcano.

    Myers hopes to make the trip every year with a different group of kids.

B

    John is an American boy. His family is in China now. John likes chocolates (巧克力) very much. But his mother doesn't give him any. They are not good for him, she thinks. But John has a very nice grandfather. The old man loves him very much, and sometimes he buys John some chocolates. Then his mother lets John eat them. She wants to make the old man happy. One Sunday evening John says in his room, "Please, God. Make them give me a big box of chocolates tomorrow. It's my birthday." His mother says, "God can't hear you, my boy." "I know, but my grandfather is in the next room. He can hear."

It's seven forty in the morning. Some students are coming intothe 1 . The other students are in the classroom. Look! A girl is2 the windows and wants to let fresh(新鲜的) air in. A boy is3 jokes and two girls are laughing(大笑). Lily is listening to4 and she likes singing and dancing. Two girls are5 books.

Miss Liu is their teacher and she6 them English. Nowshe is standing behind the teacher's desk. She is writing7 theblackboard. Sue and Lily are wearing8 new dresses today. Ann is cleaning the floor. Mike is helping her. They all look9 although(尽管) they are kind of tired.10 are Bill and Jim doing? Oh, dear! They're still playing basketball on the playground.

Eric was standing in front of a large grey house in the countryside. He had just been dropped off by his mum, who left after telling him that he was going to spend the next twelve days there with no TV, no mobile phone and — worse of all — no computer.

Suddenly, a man appeared at the entrance of the house. When he saw Eric, he went up to him immediately. 'You must be Eric. Welcome to the camp,' said the man confidently. 'I'm Tony, the camp leader, but you will call me "Sir". Now tell me why you're here.'

Eric quickly replied, 'My mum made me come!' When Tony looked at him angrily and did not say anything, Eric realized his mistake and added, 'Sir!'

'And do you know why your mother sent you here?' asked Tony.

'She thinks I spend too much time online. Sir,' answered Eric. 'It's not just her opinion — it's the truth! Look at you — pale, unfit, and definitely not getting enough sleep. You're here because you think the virtual world is much better than the real world. But you're wrong! The real world has much more to offer. At the camp, you're going to go hiking, rowing, rock-climbing and stay outdoors most of the time,' promised Tony.

Eric's heart sank.

'But it's not going to be all fun and games,' Tony continued. 'We have rules here. If you break them, you'll get punished. But you won't simply get detention (课后留校), and you can forget about suspension (停学) — you'll never be sent home early! Instead, you'll clean the toilets, wash the dishes or do an extra hour of exercise!'

'Oh Mum,' sighed Eric. 'What have you got me into?'

I'm Mary. I've decided to improve my German in the new term. Perhaps some of my advice can help you with your own language learning.

Speak more

 On my way to work or in the supermarket,I try to describe my surroundings(环境) in my head or out loud to remind myself of vocabulary and useful phrases.

Join social groups

 Last term I joined a rock band and learned lots of new vocabulary about music. This term I will join a badminton club and a German conversation group to give myself more chances to practice speaking with people who have common interests.

Change the language settings(设置) on my mobile phone

 To encourage myself to think in German, I changed my mobile phone into German. Every time I send an e-mail, I discover new words.

Watch more films

 It's a good idea to watch familiar (熟悉的) films dubbed (配音) into German. All the voices are strange, but as I already know the story, I can follow what the characters are saying. I don't have to worry about missing anything.

Laugh at myself

I've learned from my first term that I'm very good at making mistakes. There was a time when I went shopping for a scarf and kept using the German word for"sheep". This term, instead of feeling stupid, I will laugh at my silly mistakes and try again.