Last weekend John went camping with his parents and his sister, Mary. They took a tent, sleeping bags, water and food. They arrived at the campsite at about three on Saturday afternoon. First they went cycling along thelake for more than two hours. When it was getting dark, they returned and began to enjoy their dinner. Everything tasted delicious.

    Soon it was time to put up the tent. John helped Dad pull the tent out of the bag. Then, they found there were no poles (杆子) to hold it up.

    "Oh," cried John. "I forgot to bring the poles. What could we do?"

    Dad looked up at the sky. There were many stars in the sky. The night was clear and the air was warm.

    "It's OK," Dad said. "We don't even need a tent." He put the sleeping bags on the ground.

    They slept well that night. The sun was shining on them when they woke up the next morning.

    "It is my best camping trip," said John.

Hi, Daming,

    You ask me about how to improve（提高） your English listening. Here are some advice(建议). I hope they can help you.

    Relax(放松) yourself.

    Before you start listening to something, don't get excited or nervous（紧张的）.You need to relax．This will help you with your listening.

    Listen carefully to the first sentence.

    The first sentence tells a lot about the whole passage．For example，if，at the beginning，you hear “Our reporter says…”,you know you will hear a piece of news，not a children's story, or a science report.

    Think when you're listening.

    When you're listening, try to do some thinking．For example, you can think of the following questions: When, where and how? What does the speaker want to tell us? In this way, you may understand the passage better.

    Listen to important facts.

    It's important for you to remember some important facts. For example, if the passage is a science report, you should try to remember its findings, and how the scientists get their results. This is also very helpful to your listening．

Yours,

Tom

Tips for Writing Better Articles

    Many of us don't spend a lot of time improving our writing skills. This can be a problem when we hand in our articles. Good writing skills will help us improve our grades and benefit us later in life.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Make good word choices. When we're not sure which word is the right one for a sentence, look it up in a dictionary. Many of us choose words in a hurry and don't take the time to decide if they're proper.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Check facts. If we want people to believe what we write, we must make sure our facts are true. We should use dependable facts.

    Rewrite. A common problem is that we don't like to rewrite. In fact rewriting is the best way to find out and correct some mistakes, like grammar and spelling mistakes.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} though it takes more time and more work.

    Read aloud. Sometimes it's easier to find problem with spelling, word usage, and grammar when we read aloud. Reading aloud helps us not only find out our problems but also develop our writing.

     {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Preparing a list is necessary for writing a good article. Such a list includes: Is there a proper title? Have we explained every point? Are all the parts of the article included? This can help us to make sure that we have covered everything.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} But with a few simple steps, we can improve our writing skills and learn how to write better articles.

Ashley was outspoken, fashionable, and the "Queen Bee" in my school.

I looked up to her and idolized her. I listened to the music 1 listened to, wore the clothes she wore. I even took art class 2 I had really wanted to take theater. I finally fitted in her group.

One day, I walked out of my last class a few minutes earlier to 3 for our group at the dining hall. Concentrating on my homework, I didn't notice they had sat down 4 me. Before I could turn back to say a word, I realized what they were talking about.

I listened 5 . "She's such a loser," one girl said.

Another girl added, "Ashley, she always follows you, trying to 6 you."

"I wish she would leave us alone. We were in the same summer school and now she thinks we're best friends." The once familiar voice sounded so cold and 7 .

I was mortified. My hands were shaking. I couldn't help crying sadly. I felt heart-broken for the very first time. How did this happen? I thought we were 8 .

I ran home. My mother just held me while I sobbed for hours. The 9 she gave was so simple, and I had heard it a million times. "Just be yourself and people will like you for 10 you are." This time it became so 11 . Then and there I decided to find myself back. That was exactly what I did.

Over the next month, I went through a lot of 12 . I bought new clothes that I wanted to wear. I no longer went to 13 class with them, and took theater. I began making new friends. I developed my own opinions and never again followed the crowd.

I had a (an) 14 school year. When I look back, I think it was the year when I discovered the person I was going to be. Despite the pain I felt that day, it was a 15 they had given me. I will never forget about it!