The Biggest Tree

    Do you know the biggest tree in the world? Its name is “General Sherman”. General Sherman is growing on the slopes (斜坡) of the Rocky Mountains in the United States. General Sherman is about 1100cm across and about 3500cm round, this will give you an idea of General Sherman's size. General Sherman is also very tall. It is over 8000cm high. It began as a tiny seed (小种籽) many years ago. It has been growing since about 2000 BC (公元前). It has been growing for almost 4,000 years and it's still growing! General Sherman is as old as the Pyramids (金字塔). It may live for another 2000 years.

—Hi, Jack. This is Jim. I'm in New York.

—In New York? What are you doing there?

—I'm on vacation (度假).

—What's the weather like in New York?

—It's cold and rainy.

—Are you having a good time?

—No, I'm having a terrible time. The weather is terrible here.

—I'm sorry to hear that.

    My name is Mike. I'm ten years old. I study at Willow Primary School. My favourite day is Monday. We have PE and art, and we have potatoes for lunch. Potatoes are my favourite food. My favourite teacher is Mr Liu. He's our art teacher. He is tall. He's very kind.

    Look, this is my family. There are five people. There is one man. He is my father. He is a teacher. There is one woman. She is my mother. She is a doctor. There is one boy. He is my brother. He is going to be a policeman. There are two girls. They are my sister and me. I'm going to be a pilot. My sister is going to be a nurse.

My name's Lucy. Welcome to my home. This is my bedroom. The bed is near the window. I like toys, so I have many toys on it. And I have a red and white schoolbag. Look. It's on the table near my computer. There are four people in my family. My father is a doctor. He is very tall and friendly. My mother is a teacher. She has big eyes and long black hair. I have a little sister. Her name is Lily. She is cute and thin. She likes candies very much. Oh, it's time for dinner. I'd like some vegetables and chicken. How about my little sister? She would like 'some noodles.

Do you know the Dragon Boat Festal? It's on May the fifth. It's a traditional festival in China. And the Dragon Boat festival is in memory of a Chinese poet, QuYuan. People in China usually have a big meal with family on the Dragon Boat Festival. And they usually eat rice dumplings. Rice dumpling is also called Zongzi. It is a kind of rice dumpling wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves. In the past people threw rice dumplings into the river to feed the fish so that they would not eat QuYuan's body. Dragon boat racing is the most exciting activity during the Dragon Boat Festival. Children all enjoy watching the Dragon boat racing very much. A dragon boat looks like a dragon, and is painted in red, white, yellow or black. A dragon boat is 20 to 40 meters long and need twenty people to row. The Dragon Boat Festival is very interesting.