Today is Sunday. Mr. Smith drives the car to the zoo with his family. They want to see animals. They get to the zoo at 9:00 in the morning.

    They see smart elephants, cute pandas and many other animals. Mrs. Smith's favorite animals are elephants. They are very friendly and they have long noses (鼻子). The elephants from Thailand can draw very well. They're one of Thailand's symbols. Look at the small panda. He looks unhappy. He can't find his mother. The visitors(游客) can see the animals, but they can't give them food. Too much food isn't good for them.

    Welcome to the zoo and play with them.

    Smiling is the best way of making friends.

    When I was thirteen 1 old, my father found a job in the city. So my family moved there. I also came to a/an2school near where we live. My old school was far away. At first, I did not know anyone in my class. I was very lonely 3I was afraid to make friends with my classmates. I 4talk to anyone about my problem, and I didn't want my parents to 5me.

    Then one day, something good happened. I was sitting at my desk 6as usual while my classmates were talking happily with each other. At that moment,7 came into the classroom. I only knew he was my classmate but didn't know what his name was. He passed me and then turned back. He looked 8me and, without a word, smiled. Suddenly, I felt happy, lively and warm. That smile changed my school life. I started to talk with the other classmates and make friends. Day by day, I became 9to everyone in my class.

    10the smile, I have moved on to a new life. Now, I believe that the world is what you think it is. So smile at the world and it will smile back.

My daughter and I were driving from Los Angeles to Dallas.We were running low on gas（汽油）somewhere in New Mexico and hoped to meet a gas station soon.

But that didn't happen and we realized we were not going to make it to the next town.So my daughter made up a sign that said， "Low on gas.Can you help me？" and held it outside her window，hoping a driver in the next lane（车道）would notice it and stop.

There weren't too many cars passing by us at that time.It was a desolate stretch of the road and about3：30 p.m.on a weekday.A truck was driving along in the neighboring lane ahead of us.We caught up with it in the hope that the driver would notice the sign.An elderly gentleman was driving it and after an expression of confusion（困惑） on his face，he seemed to have noticed the sign and slowed down to pull over.We pulled over right behind him.

He was friendly and was willing to help us.At first he thought we didn't have enough money to buy gas，so he offered to buy us gas at the next town Roswell that was about 10 miles' away!

When we explained our trouble，he said he was a factory worker and was returning home from work.His factory was about 10 minutes away and they had gas there，so if we could give him 20 minutes，get a can of gas and fill up our car for us.We could not believe our good luck!

We were filled with thanks for the kindness of strangers such as this person when we waited for him to return.Sure enough，he was back with the can.He refused to take payment for the gas.Tears came down，as did our warm thanks.

①Celebrating the New Year happens in every country. But each country has its own way of celebrating it. 

②Chinese people celebrate the New Year twice(两次). One is on 1st January and the other is in January or February. People have many activities to celebrate the New Year, like watching lion dances or having a family dinner. 

③People in Thailand(泰国) celebrate it by pouring(泼) water on friends and visitors. They think this will bring much rain in the next growing season. Their New Year is usually in April or May. It is very hot at that time of a year in Thailand. 

④In Switzerland(瑞士), people often sing in the ice and snow world to celebrate the New Year. In parts of Switzerland, people celebrate it by dressing up to walk from farmhouse to farmhouse. They jump up and down to make the cow bells ring. They hope this will sweep away the bad luck of the old year. 

⑤People all over the world have a great time on New Year's Day. 

If you've ever seen elephant seals(象海豹) lying on a beach, you might think all they do is sleep. But now scientists have discovered that when elephant seals are in the ocean, they hardly sleep at all. They just sleep for about two hours a day. 

Even though elephant seals are large animals, they have to be careful in the ocean. Near the surface(水面), predators like sharks and orca s are a danger. So elephant seals spend most of their time diving(潜水) deep underwater, looking for food. Usually, they will dive for about 30 minutes, then come up for air for just a couple of minutes before diving again. 

Scientists have wondered how elephant seals can sleep while they're at sea, since they are almost diving all the time. Animals like dolphins and sea lions have a special way. One half of their brain can sleep, while the other stays awake. But elephant seals are like humans- both halves of the brain need to go to sleep at the same time. So how do they sleep? 

To find out, a scientist named Jessica Kendall- Bar did a research. She created a special cap that could record the elephant seals' brain activity. The cap also collected information on the elephant seals' heart rates, how their bodies were moving, and how deep they were. Dr. Kendall- 

Bar and her team put the caps on thirteen young female elephant seals. 

The scientists learned that elephant seals steep in short times while they are diving. They only sleep for about 10 minutes at a time. They wake up in time to go up for more air. The scientists found that elephant seals only sleep for about two hours a day when they're in the ocean. That means that the rest they get once they return to land is very important, which helps them have energy again. Back on land they sleep for about 10.8 hours a day 

The researchers hope that their work will help to protect the places where elephant seals sleep when they're on land. 

Changsha is a beautiful city. Here is a beautiful photo of a library in Changsha. Its name is Zhijian Bookstore on JianXiang Road. It is very clean and tidy. The books are everywhere. You can see lots of books on the bookcases. You can find books about stories, art, animals and so on. There is a sofa on the first floor. The sofa is next to a large window. You can read books on the sofa. On the second floor, you can see some interesting paintings.

There is a beautiful café in Zhijiang Bookstore. Many students likes reading books with their family and friends here. They can also eat delicious food and drink coffee here. Li Ming is one of them. His favorite book is Harry Potter. He says, "Books are useful. They can help us know the world (世界)."

What a nice bookstore! Do you want to visit it?