Mary is an American school girl. She is now in Beijing with her parents. Mary doesn't know Chinese, but she is studying Chinese. She often speaks Chinese to her Chinese friends. Sometimes they don't understand her because she can't speak Chinese well.

    It's Sunday morning, she goes out. She is walking in the street. She is going to the zoo to see elephants and monkeys, but she doesn't know how to get there. She asks a Chinese boy. The boy can't understand her. Then she takes out a pen and a piece of paper. She draws an elephant on it, and shows the picture to the boy. The boy understands now, and he shows Mary the way to the zoo. 

    Hello , I'm Lily . I'm from America . I live in New York . I know Beijing is very big and very famous . So I'm going to Beijing this winter holiday . I'm going to visit Tian'anmen Square and the Great Wall . I like Chinese food . I want to go to the Chinese restaurants . My parents are going there with me . We want to go by plane . I want you be my friend . Can you be my Chinese pen friend ?

Neighbours

    The Browns are the Smiths neighbours. Mr. Brown's name is John. But when his neighbours talk about him, they call him "Mr. Going-to-do". Do you know why? Mr. Brown always says he is going to do something, but he never does it.

    Every Saturday Mr. Brown goes to the Smiths back door and talks to Mr. Smith. He always says he is going to do something.

    "I'm going to clean my house today," he says, or "I'm going to wash my car tomorrow morning, and tomorrow evening I am going to the cinema with my wife." or "These trees in front of my house are too big. I'm going to cut them down next week or I'm going to have a picnic with my friends next week." But Mr. Smith knows his neighbour isn't going to do those things.

    Mr. Smith often says to his only child Dick, "Are you going to do something? Then do it. Don't be another 'Mr. Going-to-do. '"

Dear Jim,

    How are you in the US now? We are in China now. Sam and I are very happy. China is big and beautiful. People speak Chinese here. We love Beijing. There are many interesting places and lots of delicious food. I like Chinese food. I like dumplings very much. I can make dumplings now. It's funny. And I can use chopsticks, but Sam doesn't like them. It's very difficult for him to use them. I have two good friends. They're Daming and Lingling. They teach me Chinese. Now I can speak a little Chinese. Please write to me.

    Love from,

Amy

    Sam is a student. He has only four lessons every day, but he goes to school six days a week. The following is his school timetable (时间表).

Tony: Good morning, Sandy.

Sandy: Good morning, Tony.

Tony: What's your favourite food?

Sandy: Hamburgers.

Tony: Me too. Why do you like them?

Sandy: Because they're delicious.

Tony: What's your father's favourite food?

Sandy: He loves beef.

Tony: What about your mother?

Sandy: She loves salad.

Tony: What would you like to drink now?

Sandy: I'd like some orange juice.

Tony: Me too.