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Venus is close to Earth．It is the second planet from the Sun．Earth is the third planet from the Sun．Venus is similar to Earth in size and mass (质量).It is often described as Earth's“sister”.

    Scientists have been learning about Venus for a long time．First they looked at Venus through telescopes(望远镜)．But Venus is covered with thick(厚的)clouds．Scientists could not see Venus well through the clouds．So they made guesses about it．

    For a long time, scientists thought that Venus had water and plants．They thought Venus might have animals，too．But they didn't know for sure．

    Then scientists found a way to learn more about Venus．In the 1960s，they began sending probes (航天探测器) to Venus．The probes flew through the thick clouds．They took pictures of Venus up close．They found out many things ,too．The probes sent the pictures and things they found out back to the scientists．

    The scientists learned a lot from the probes．First they learned that most of their guesses were not right．And they learned that Venus is very hot．

    After that，scientists knew they could not send people to Venus．But they still wanted to know more about it．So they sent new probes．These new probes took great pictures of the planet．The pictures showed that Venus has plains(平原)and mountains! And in some ways，Venus looks like Earth．

    Hello! My name is Wendy. I live in the city. My family doesn't have a car, so I go to school on the bus. There are four people in my family. They are my parents, my brother and I. We live happily together.

    At school, I study very hard. I am very good at English. I often help my classmates with their Chinese and English. I enjoy learning.

    I am a quiet girl. I like reading and listening to light music. I have some friends. We always spend time together, they are very funny and friendly. I wish we can be friends forever.

A History of English…in Five Words

    In 1582, Richard Mulcaster, headmaster of a British school, wrote that the English would not go beyond their island. However, it didn't stay that way. Today, English is spoken all over the world.

    English is a colorful and diverse (多样的) language that long has picked up words from many other languages. Here are five words that show the English language's interesting history.

English

    English began in the language spoken by the early Germanic people in the fifth century AD. It is from them that the word “English” comes. First it is the Latin word Angli which means the people of Angul, where the Germanic people were from.

Beef

    Although roast beef is seen as a traditional English dish, the word “beef” was introduced from the French boeuf during the Middle Ages. It was one of a group of words, including pork and mutton, that were taken from the speech of the French who moved in Britain following the Norman Conquest (诺曼底登陆) of 1066. However, the farmers who kept these living things continued to call them by their old English names: cow, pig and sheep. This difference passes on till today.

Dictionary

    Dictionary is a borrowing from Latin dictornarius liber, “book of words”. It first appeared in English in the 6th century, along with a huge number of other words from Latin and Greek. The first English dictionary was written by Robert Cawdrey in 1604. Cawdrey focused only on the difficult words whose meanings would have caused problems for those not educated in Latin and Greek.

Tea

    Tea was brought into Britain early in the 17th century, becoming very popular by the 1650s. By the 18th century it had become a symbol（标志） of fashionable society and a best-selling of the coffee house culture.

    The word tea rises from the Chinese word cha. A love of tea is so ingrained (根深蒂固的) in British life that the expression “cup of tea” has come to stand for anything viewed positively. The saying “It's not my cup of tea.” means: I don't like it.

Emoji

    Emoji began developing in Japan in the 1990s for use by teenagers: the word “emoji” comes from the Japanese e “picture” + moji “letter”. Its successful acceptance in English has been helped by its similarity to words with the e-prefix (前缀) like e-mail. The Unicode Consortium's (统一码 联盟的) official lists emojis and their meanings, but users keep finding creative new ways to employ them. Emojis are just another example of the development and diversity of English.

    One of the biggest mistakes a person can make is to try not to make mistakes. As you make decisions in your life, you will very likely make some mistakes. But making mistakes is a big part of how you gain(获得) experience.

    A simple example. You do poorly on a test because you didn't study hard enough. One bad test is not the end of the world, but it can quickly teach you that if you don't study, you won't do well.

    Mistakes sometimes lead to arguments(争论) between people.  But if you learn to understand things from another person's point of view, you will be able to learn very quickly from the mistakes you make and the mistakes you think other people have made. You can turn mistakes into opportunities(机会) .

    For example, if you learn to understand others' feelings and problems, you will understand the people you work with much better instead of getting angry. And you will learn to talk about problems and be more patient with people you don't agree with—a friend, or a mate in your workroom or company.

    So next time you think you've made a mistake, stop and ask yourself what you've learned from it, and what you will do differently in the future.

    Show me the person in the room who has made a lot of mistakes, and I'll show you the person who has probably learned a lot.

    Hello, everyone! I will tell you something about my trip to the U.K.

    When I got to London Heathrow International Airport, I began my visit. First, I went to a senior high school. I was happy on the first night there because I lived with a kind family, the Whites. It was a big family. They were very friendly to me. They helped me do many things. When I wanted to write to my friends, they let me use their computer. When I lost my camera, they helped me look for it.

    After some days, I went to another two schools. I lived in the Smiths' house. There were four people in the family. I was surprised that the parents were from two countries.

    It was a nice trip and I was happy to be with the two families. They would be my friends forever.