Life（生活）was different in my grandpa's hometown many years ago.

    In the past, people cooked on a fire. They didn't have TVs or radios. There were no buses. They had to live in small houses. They didn't have enough food.

    Now, there are lots of buses and cars in Grandpa's hometown. They live in big houses or buildings. They cook with natural gas（天然气）and have lots of food. They can use mobile phones（手机）. They even have computers and use the Internet.

    It's Jimmy's birthday and he is 9 years old. He gets a lot of presents from his family and one of them is a big drum (鼓). His grandfather buys it for him.

    Jimmy likes it very much. He plays with it every day and he often makes a terrible noise (令人讨厌的声音). His father works in the day and Jimmy is in bed when he gets home in the evening. So his father doesn't hear the noise.

    But Mrs Black doesn't like the noise, so one morning she takes a knife and goes to Jimmy's room when he hits his drum. She says to him, “Hello! Jimmy. Do you know there is something very nice in your drum? Here is a knife. Please open the drum and let's find it.”

    Orville Wright and Wilbur Wright are brothers. Their job is to mend bicycles. In their spare time, they like inventing things. One day, they are watching some birds flying in the sky .They want to fly in the sky, too. They think they should invent a flying machine, so they can fly in the sky too. But it's a hard work to invent a flying machine. They work very hard. First, they watch how the birds fly. Next, they draw a picture of a flying machine. Then they build the machine, it is heavy and ugly, the machine can't fly to the sky. So they work again and make it lighter. Finally, they make the first plane in the world, though the plane only flies in the sky for twelve seconds.

    Do you like stories? I want to tell you a true story. It happened to a friend of mine a year ago.

    While my friend, Bill was reading in bed, two thieves climbed into his kitchen. After they had entered the kitchen, they went into the dining-room. It was very dark, so they turned on the torch. Suddenly, they heard a voice behind them, "what's up? What's up?" someone called. The thieves dropped the torch and ran away as quickly as they could.

    Bill heard the noise and came downstairs quickly. He turned on the light, but he couldn't see anyone. The thieves had already gone.

    But Bill's parrot, Henry, was still there. "What's up?" Henry called. "Nothing, Henry," Bill said and smiled, "go back to sleep."

{#blank#}1{#/blank#}They went into the dining-room.

{#blank#}2{#/blank#}Bill was reading in bed.

{#blank#}3{#/blank#}Two thieve climbed into his kitchen.

{#blank#}4{#/blank#}The thieves dropped the torch and ran away as quickly as they could.

{#blank#}5{#/blank#}Suddenly, they heard a voice behind them. "What's up? What's up?" someone called.

{#blank#}6{#/blank#}They turned on the torch.

    Sally is twelve years old. She comes from the US. Now she studies in a primary school in Chengdu. She can speak English and a little Chinese. She has a good friend named Judy. Judy is one year younger than Sally. Judy is from Australia. She can speak Chinese well. So she often helps Sally with Chinese.

    They have different hobbies. Judy likes playing the violin, but Sally doesn't like playing any instruments. She doesn't like music at all. She likes reading novels. Harry Potter is her favourite novel. She would like to read it again.

    There are four seasons in a year. Which (哪一个) season do you like? I like summer. Summer is very hot, but I can eat a lot of fruits. I like eating watermelons very much. In summer, I can swim in the sea. My parents(父母), my sister and I often go to the beach. We are very happy.