My name is Bill Black. I am a student. My home is in America. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} My classmates are friendly to me. I love China.

    We study in a big classroom. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}The windows are bright. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}And we can see a big blackboard on the front wall. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} They are yellow. And what color are the doors? They are white. Can you see those red flowers on the teacher's desk? {#blank#}5{#/blank#}They're really beautiful!

    How important is music? When they are asked this question, students and parents usually answer that music is nice, but not very important. It is often considered only as entertainment, but not the first choice for education. This opinion is shortsighted. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Music tells us who we are. Music reflects the creators' thinking and values, as well as the social environment it came from. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} The jazz influence that George Gershwin and other musicians introduced into their music is obviously American because it came from American musical traditions.

    Music provides a kind of ability to know the world in a different way. Science explains how the sun rises and sets. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}We need every possible was to discover and response to our world.

    Music is a form of thought, as powerful as science. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Through the language we express our feelings, our discoveries, our ideas, our imagination and our hopes so that they can be shared with others. When we do not let our children receive good music education, we take away from them the meanings that music expresses. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Music does.

    So music education is much more necessary than people generally realize.

    I wish there would be a way to describe China in a simple word but that's impossible.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}In my English classes when the students were asked what they would do if they only had a few hours to live, most students told me they would spend their last few hours with their families and parents.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} I teach in Xiangyang, a beautiful city which the Hanjiang River goes across it and I live here better. The foods are cheaper than those in the US, so are clothing and articles(物品) of everyday us. People pay less for the public transportation, too.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} However, it is reported that still there are a few children who can't afford the expenses(费用) of schooling. But the government organized Project Hope many years ago. It creates conditions for the poor children to go back to school.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}I seldom saw the things mentioned of the creative(有创造力的) changes China has made. But the economic miracles(经济奇迹) have the big problems.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} To be honest, if I compare China with the US, my answer has always been the same: "We are not worse or better than each other; we are only different."

    I live in a large neighborhood. I have lived here since I was born. I have a lot of friends there. Mr. Chan is one of them. He is 85 years old. I enjoy visiting Mr. Chan because he tells me exciting stories about Hong Kong in the past. He also shows me old photos. Yesterday, I visited Mr. Chan after school. I asked him how long he had lived here. This is what he told me:

    "I have lived in the neighborhood since 1993. Before I moved here, I lived in a small village called Pak Mong on Lantau Island. There were many people living in the village when I was young. These years, there are only a few families left. Most families moved to the city for work. I left the village in 1993, when my son moved to the city.

Pak Mong is an old village. There are watchtowers (瞭望塔) around the village. In the old days, soldiers used to stand in the watchtowers and keep guard (站岗). Here is a photo of my school. I went to that school a very long time ago. The school has been closed since 1985.

    I enjoy going to the Kowloon Walled City Park, because it makes me think of my old village. I have visited the park three times since 2004. Would you and your family members like to go to the park with me next weekend?"