Most of us have ever imagined the life on a desert island. We sometimes imagine a desert island to be a sort of paradise(天堂) where the sun always shines. Life there is simple and good. Ripe fruit falls from the trees and you are free to sit around without any work. This is really a beautiful picture, isn't it? However, the other side of the picture is quite the opposite. Life on a desert island is awful. You either starve to death or live like Robinson Crusoe, waiting for a boat which never comes.

    Perhaps there is some truth in both these pictures, but few of us have had the chance to find out. We can only experience it in the story like the following.

    Many years ago, two men spent five days on a coral island and they wished that they could stay there longer. They were driving a badly damaged boat from the Virgin Islands to Miami to have it repaired. During the journey, their boat began to sink(下沉). They quickly put food, matches, and cans of beer into a rubber dinghy(救生筏) and rowed for a few miles across the Caribbean until they arrived at a tiny coral island.

    There were hardly any trees on the island and there was no water, but this did not seem to be a problem. The men collected rainwater in the rubber dinghy. As they had brought a gun with them, they had plenty to eat. They caught lobster and fish every day, and they thought they lived just like a king. Five days later, a tank passed by and saved them. However, they felt sorry that they had to leave.

A group of people in my city spend their free time cleaning up the countryside. They look after the places such as fields, rivers and forests. Before my last birthday, I was not to join them because I was too young, I have to be at least thirteen years old. and now I am.

    On the first Sunday of every month we spend hours making the countryside a good place for animals, Often people are the cause of the problems. They find a great place of a picnic. But they do not take their rubbish home with them, The rubbish looks ugly and it not good for wild animals.

    However, nature also sometimes makes life difficult for some animals, Last Sunday, we spent all afternoon clearing overgrown(杂草丛生的)plants from a river. Now the water is flowing freely again. The fish can swim along without anything in their way.

    Some of our work does not bring changes so quickly. New trees will take several years to grow before they are big and strong. Birds can build homes on them then, but it is nice to know that we are trying to help.

Wang Ming and Leo are two students of Shenzhen. Last summer holiday they went to Beijing from Shenzhen by bike. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} They took a map, enough food, water and some medicine with them. The journey was hard, but they felt happy.

They didn't have much money with them. They went through many cities and villages during the travelling. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} When they were tired, they stayed in the farmers' houses. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} They never stayed in a hotel. When it was rainy, they stopped for a while and went on with their travelling.

{#blank#}4{#/blank#} They visited a lot of places of interest(名胜古迹) in Beijing, such as the Great Wall, the Palace Museum and Tian' anmen Square. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} At last, they had to return to Shenzhen by train because the new term began in September.

A. They had a fun time in Beijing for ten days.

B. On August 20, they got to Beijing successfully.

C. They spent nearly two months on the bicycle travelling.

D. Sometimes they stayed on the street overnight.

E. When they were hungry, they had cheap meals.

F. They will never do this again.

The Dragon Boat Festival is on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar. It was on 10th June in 2024. How does this festival come about?

Qu Yuan is a great poet of the State of Chu. He loves his country and people very much. And he gives many good ideas to his king. But the king doesn't listen to him. At last, the State of Qin conquers(战胜) Chu. Qu Yuan feels very sad. He jumps into the Miluo River in Hunan on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. The people of Chu also love Qu Yuan very much. From then on, people always show their love for Qu Yuan on that day. 

The dragon boat race is a very important part of the Dragon Boat Festival. Usually, a dragon boat is 20 to 30 metres long. And 20 to 30 people sit on each boat. To win the race, people in different groups row(划) their dragon- like boats as fast as they can. It's very exciting to watch!

People also eat zongzi on that day. Most people buy zongzi from shops but some old people like to make zongzi by themselves. They use bamboo leaves to wrap(包) rice and thread(线) to tie it. They also wrap other food in the leaves. People in different places have different tastes. In the south of China, most people like eating meat zongzi. In the north of China, people often put some sweet food in zongzi. 

Wormwood(艾草) is a kind of plant people use on the Dragon Boat Festival. People say it can help them keep healthy if they use it to clean their bodies. They also think wormwood can stop bad things from going into their houses, so people put wormwood on their doors. 

On October 1st, the first day of China's National Day holiday, a wonderful new movie called A Tapestry of A Legendary Land (《只此青绿》) was shown in the cinemas. This film is a special mix of dance and movie magic!

The story is based on a famous dance poem drama (舞蹈诗剧). It tells us about Wang Ximeng, a painter from the Northern Song Dynasty (90-1127). He was a talent and loved mountains and rivers. When he was only 18, he tried to finish the famous A Panorama of Rivers and Mountains (《千里江山图》).

The movie brings Wang Ximeng's short life to audiences, showing him as a young and smart person. We can learn about his story through the eyes of actors. And there is a special character called "Green" in this film. Green represents (代表) the mountains and rivers in the painting.

The dance poem drama first started in Beijing in 2021 and was performed almost 600 times. It is more and more popular in China even around the world. Chinese culture is ready to shine on the world stage.