阅读理解。

　　Jess really felt very happy．When he arrived at his seat in the classroom that morning, he found an invitation on his desk．It was from several of his classmates asking him to join them on a camping trip．This was the first time he was asked to join in an out-of-school activity．Why were they asking him now?Nobody seemed to like him．In fact, he had been so lonely that he drowned his feeling with food．As a result, he became much heavier than before, and this gave the kids something more to make fun of him．

　　Cindy, who was standing near Jess when he read the invitation, went out quickly to tell the others that the trick(恶作剧)had worked．Everyone was pleased that Jess thought that was true．But there was no camping trip．The whole thing was made up．

　　At first, Cindy thought it was fun．But later, when Jess told her that he was going to buy a sleeping bag with his savings(积蓄), Cindy had a second idea．She knew that Jess's family had little money, and she hated to see him spend his savings on something he would never use．Cindy also hated to tell Jess the truth．Her close friends would be angry with her．What could she do now?

阅读理解。

　　Britain's first eco-friendly(环保的)nightclub has opened in London．It is good for the environment and can be a lot of fun!

　　The party people dance on a special dance floor．The floor can produce the electricity for the club to play music．The more you dance, the more electricity can be produced．Such a dance floor could produce about 60％ of the building's electricity．

　　The entry fee(入场费)is ￡10, but people who go there by bike, by public transport or on foot can enter for free．The club is run by a very rich man, Andrew King．Mr．King is also running a new organization called Club Climate．It is working on climate(气候)change．He hopes to call on more young people to help to save the planet．

　　The club is a new thing for young people．It is also different from other“grown-up”charities．“There is no greater place than a club to reach out to young people,”said Mr．King．“Having a dance floor to produce electricity is a very exciting and interesting idea．”

　　Besides the floor, scientists say that some people have invented a new kind of clothing that can also produce electricity．When people wear the clothes, all their movements are changed into electricity．

阅读理解。

These are the messages Sandy got yesterday．

阅读理解。

　　Most American students have said goodbye to expensive fruits these days．Cheaper fruits like apples and oranges have taken their place．

　　“People are afraid to spend now,”said Linda Morrow, who has a shoe and handbag store．“They don't know what the future will bring．”

　　During the financial crisis(金融危机), some of the country's biggest banks have to be sold or closed．This has made lots of Americans afraid to buy expensive goods．

　　Samara Marino, a restaurant owner in Miami, has found everyone is ordering water instead of juice and more people are sharing meals．

　　Experts(专家)think it was because US banks lend money too easily．A lot of people and companies, who borrowed money, have found themselves, unable to pay it back．This left the banks, as well as the people who put their money in the banks, without money．Since the banks borrowed money between themselves and even from other countries, the whole world was in trouble．

　　This month the US government agreed on a ＄ 700 billion plan to try to save the financial market(市场)．But no one is sure whether it will help or not．Many counties promised to work together to find a way out of the money trouble．

阅读理解。

阅读理解。

　　When Sheila left home this morning, her mother advised her to bring an umbrella．She told Sheila that according to the weather report, there would be a thunderstorm(大雷雨)．Shelia looked at the clear sky and did not take her mother‘s advice．

　　While she was at the bus stop, the sky began to turn dark and soon there was a slight rain．By the time the bus arrived, it was raining very heavily．There were a few empty seats in the bus but they were all wet．So Sheila had to stand throughout the journey to school．It was also very stuffy(通风不良)in the bus as all the windows were closed．When the bus arrived at the bus stop outside her school, Shelia got down quickly．She had to walk a short distance from the bus stop to her school and Shelia knew that she would be drenched if she did that．However, she might be late for school if she waited for the rain to stop．Shelia regretted(后悔)not having taken her mother's advice．

　　Just then, her classmate Amy came along．She was carrying a big umbrella and offered to share it with Shelia．Shelia was very happy．

阅读理解。

　　One day the workers of a zoo called a meeting to discuss a problem．The kangaroos(袋鼠)were running out of their cage(笼子)．The workers decided that the cage was too low so they raised it from one meter to two meters．However, the next day the kangaroos were outside of their cage again．So they raised the cage a second time．

　　The next morning, to their surprise, the kangaroos were again loose(自由的)．They decided to raise the cage to a height of 10 meters．

　　Later a giraffe(长颈鹿), talking with some kangaroos, asked them,“Do you think they will go on raising your cage?”

　　“Hard to say,”said one kangaroo．“It all depends on whether they continue to forget to fasten(固定)the cage door．”

阅读理解

　　Anne and Joseph are talking about an interesting question．Why do some people change their names?There can be many reasons．Hanna changed her name to Anne because she thought it would be easier for people to remember．On the other hand, Joseph is thinking about changing his name to an unusual name because he wants to be different．

　　People have a lot of reasons for changing their names．Film stars, singers, sportsmen and some other famous people often change their names because they want names that are not ordinary, or that have special sound．They chose the“new name”for themselves instead of the name their parents gave them when they were born．

　　Some people have another reason for changing their names．They have moved to a new country and want to use a name that is usual there．For example, Li Kaiming changed his name to Ken Lee when he moved to the United States．He uses the name Ken at his job and at school．But with his family and Chinese friends, he uses Li Kaiming．For some people, using different names makes life easier in their new country．

　　In many countries, a woman changes her family name to her husband's after she gets married．But today, many women are keeping their own family names and not using their husband's．Sometimes, women use their own names in some situations(情况)and their husband's in other situations．And some use both their own names and their husband's．

阅读理解

　　Have you ever walked into a room and felt relaxed?It could be because the walls were painted blue, a calm and peaceful color．

　　Some colors make us feel calm and peaceful．Blue is one of these colors．Wearing blue clothes or sleeping in a blue room is good for our mind and body, because this color makes a good feeling．Blue is also the color of sadness, so you may say I'm feeling blue when you are feeling sad．White is another calm color．It makes you feel calm and peaceful．You should wear white colors if you are feeling stressed．White is also the color of purity．Many women like to be in white on their wedding day．

　　Some colors can make you feel warm．These colors can give you a happy feeling．People living in cold climates use warm colors in their homes like orange or yellow instead of white or blue．

　　Orange shows joy．It can bring you success and cheer you up when you are feeling sad．Yellow is the color of the sun, so it can remind you of a warm, sunny day．Yellow is also the color of wisdom．Some people prefer this color when they study for exams．For example, they may use yellow stationery(文具)．

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　　Dear Dad,

　　I'm writing this letter to you because it's too difficult to talk about it．I can't stop thinking about my uncle and how he died．In fact, I seriously want to ask you to stop smoking．I've looked up a lot of information about smoking and I've found out some disturbing(令人不安的)things．

　　You already know that smoking is bad for your breathing and can cause cancer．I've found out that it causes many other illnesses as well．Did you know that over 100,000 people die from smoking every year in Britain?It's the second biggest cause of death in the world．I don't want you to be one of these people．

　　When Mum asks you to smoke outside, you think she's just being difficult．Well, it's true that she doesn't like the smell of smoke in the house and on our clothes．It's not very pleasant．However, when you smoke, it's also bad for me and Mum．In other words, when we breathe in your smoke, it's like we're smoking ourselves．As a result, we can get diseases as well．Doctors are finding that more and more non-smokers are falling ill because of the effects of other people's smoking．

　　I know that it is very difficult to stop smoking but you mustn't give in(屈服)to it．Please see the doctor and ask him for help．We will do anything we can to help you．You must try to save your own life．You are important to us and we don't want to lose you．Who else can I ask to help me with my maths homework or fix my bike?Please don't smoke!

Your loving daughter,

Kate