Mexico’s neighbours are the United States on the north and Guatemala and Belize to the south．Mexico is about one quarter of the United States．Mexico has more than ninety million people．The language of Mexico is Spanish．This makes Mexico the world’s largest Spanish-speaking country．

　　Mexico City is the capital and largest city of Mexico．The city is also very high．It is 7349 feet high(2240 metres)．This makes it one of the highest capital cities in the world．The population(人口)of Iexico City grows bigger every day．About thirty million people live there．It has more people than any other city in the world, even more than Tokyo．

　　Mexico also has its specialities(特点)．Many of the foods we eat started in Mexico．Foods like beans, maize, avocados, tomatoes, peanuts, chili peppers, vanilla, and chocolate come from Mexico．Mexico is also famous for its cactus(仙人掌)plants．Mexico has more kinds of cactus than any other country．

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Boys and girls love to watch TV．Some children spend six hours a day in school and four to six hours a day in front of a TV set．Some children even watch TV for eight or more hours on Saturday．TV programmes are like books or films．A child can learn bad things from some of them and good things from others．Some programmes help children to know the news from other part of the world．Some programmes show people and places from other countries or other times in history．With TV a child doesn’t need to go to the zoo to see animals or to the sea to see a ship．Boys and girls can see a film, a play or a basketball match at home．Some programmes can teach children how to cook or how to use tools．It’s interesting to watch TV, but it is also interesting to read a book or to visit friends．

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　　PEOPLE have been gardeners in Britain for hundreds of years．They love to put on their old clothes and get their hands dirty in the back garden on a Sunday afternoon．

　　Most people in Britain have small gardens at the backs of their houses and sometimes at the fronts of them too．Even a person living in a tower block(高层建筑) will have a window box for a few flowers．

　　British gardens are not like Chinese ones．A garden in Britain will mostly be made up of a lawn(草坪)．Along the sides of the lawn will be flowerbeds where people grow roses, daffodils(水仙)and tulips．There will also be bushes and small trees．People keep their gardens very carefully．They mow(割)the grass every week．As soon as they see a weed(野草)，they take it out．

　　They work very hard in their gardens, but they like to enjoy them too．In the summertime, when the weather is warm, they like to sit in them and eat their lunches or read newspapers．Young children make mud pies(泥团)in them and get very dirty．The older ones use the lawn to play football on．Sometimes the grown-ups even join in!

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　　Young people and older people don’t always agree．They sometimes have different ideas about living, working and playing．But in one special programme in New York State, adults and teenagers live together in a friendly way．

　　Each summer 200 teenagers and 50 adults live together for eight weeks as members of a special work group．Everyone works several hours each day．They do so not just to keep busy but to find meaning and enjoyment in work．Some teenagers work in the woods or on the farms near the village．Some learn to make things like tables and chairs and build houses．The adults teach them these skills．

　　There are several free hours each day．Weekends are free, too．During the free hours some of the teenagers learn phototaking or painting．Others sit around and talk or sing．Each teenager chooses his own way to spend his free time．

　　When people live together, rules are necessary．In this programme the teenagers and the adults make the rules together．If someone breaks a rule, the problem goes before the whole group．They talk about it and ask, “Why did it happen?What should we do about it?”

　　One of the teenagers has this to say about his experience, “You stop thinking only about yourself, You learn to think about the group．”

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　　Some people think only school children do not agree with their parents, however, it is not true．

　　Communication is a problem for parents and children of all ages．If it's hard for you to communicate with your parents, don't worry about it．Here are some advice for you to bridge the generation gap(消除代沟)．

　　Don't argue with your parents．Don't get to your parents when you are angry．Your parents probably won't consider your ideas if you are shouting at them．And you can't express yourself well if you are angry．Go someplace to cool off．Make sure you understand why you are unhappy．Then think about what you want to say to your parents．If you don't think you can speak to them at the moment, try writing a letter．

　　Try to reach a compromise(和解)．Perhaps you and your parents disagree on something．You can keep your disagreement and try your best to accept each other．Michael's mother didn't agree with him about buying a motorcycle．They argued over it．But they finally came to a compromise．Michael bought the motorcycle, but only drove it on certain days．

　　Of course, your parents might refuse to compromise on something．In these situations, it is especially important to show love and respect(尊敬)to them．Showing respect will keep your relationship strong．

　　Talk about your values．The values of your parents are probably different from those of your own．Tell your parents what you care about, and why．Understanding your values might help them see your purposes in life．

　　A good relationship with your parents can make you a better and happier person．Please have a try!

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　　One day, my wife and I went shopping．We took a car as we had a lot of things to buy．

　　My brother and his family were going to spend their weekend with us．We stopped the car in front of the shop．An hour later we came back to the car, each of us carried a lot of things．Then the trouble started－We couldn’t open the car door．

　　“Oh, dear,” said my wife．“What are we going to do?” “Let’s ask the policeman．” I said．The policeman was very kind and was very glad to do．A few minutes later he got the door open．Just at the moment, an angry man came up and shouted, “What are you doing with my car?”

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　　There are many wetlands in China and some of them have become the world’s important wetlands．The Chinese Yellow Sea Wetlands are among them．They are in Yancheng, Jiangsu Province．They are home for many different kinds of animals．The world’s largest Milu Deer Nature Reserve is there．More than 700 Milu deer live freely(自由的)there．There are not many red-crowned cranes in the world, but every winter you can see some in the Red-crowned Crane Nature Reserve in the Yellow Sea Wetlands．

　　The temperature in the wetlands is usually not too high or too low．There are a lot of rain and sunshine, too．They are really good places for wildlife．Providing food and home for some special kinds of animals is not the only reason(原因)why we need to protect wetlands．Wetlands are important because they also prevent flood．But some people want to change the wetlands to make more space for farms and less space for wildlife．

　　Luckily, more and more people are beginning to understand the importance of wetlands and wildlife．Every year, on February 2^nd, many activities are held to tell people more about wetlands．

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　　Chris Jones recently finished a very unusual journey．Our reporter Mary Owen met him at his home in south London and he told her all about the trip．

　　Reporter：What gave you the idea to travel around India on an elephant, Chris?

　　Chris：Well, it all started 2 years ago when I was planning a trip to India．I visited a photographic(摄影)exhibition of elephants and I realized that the only way to travel around India was on a elephant．

　　Reporter：What did you do next?

　　Chris：I flew to New Delhi and started looking for an elephant．I needed an elephant trained to carry people．I didn’t know anything about elephants．So I asked an expert(专家)for help．He taught me how to ride an elephant．He also helped me find an elephant．

　　Reporter：Can you tell me about the journey?

　　Chris：Well, I bought a female elephant called Tara for about ＄6000．We set off from New Delhi a week later．We were heading to Sonepur in northern India where there is a big elephant market and I could sell Tara easily．And what a ride!Elephants can travel at about 6 miles an hour and Sonepur was more than 1,200 km away．The journey took us 64 days!

　　Reporter：Did you have any problems on your journey?

　　Chris：Yes, a few．But nothing serious．On the third day, Tara hurt her foot．But that got better quickly．Also there was a lot of heavy rain during the first week and we got very wet!

　　Reporter：What happened when you reached Sonepur?

　　Chris：My plan was to sell Tara．But by now I was very fond of her．I couldn’t take her back to Britain and I didn’t want to sell her at the market．By chance(碰巧)，I met some people who wanted an elephant for their national park．I knew that Tara would be safe with them, so I gave her to them．I was very sad to say goodbye．

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　　In 1996, Subaru sailed alone across the pacific Ocean．Many other people did this before Subaru, but he was special．At age 14, he was the youngest person to sail across the Pacific by himself．

　　Subaru left Tokyo on July 22,1996．In the boat, he had food and water for a two-month trip．He also had a radio and other modern machines for sailing．

　　The beginning of the trip went very well．Subaru often talked to his parents by radio．He didn’t have any problems with his boat．Then, on August, 11 the engine(发动机)in his boat stopped．Suddenly, Subaru was without electricity(电)．This made it difficult to go on with his trip．Then, five days later, his radio stopped．Now he wasn’t able to communicate with anyone．And he was still 2,770 miles away from San Francisco．

　　By the end of August, many people believed that Subaru was lost．No one was able to communicate with him by radio．His parents expected him to arrive in San Francisco on September 3, but he didn’t．then, on September 13, Subaru sailed into San Francisco．After 55 days in his boat, his trip was finally over．

　　Many people believe that Subaru was too young to sail alone．They say that parents shouldn’t allow children to make such dangerous trips．However Subaru’s parents say that children should have such experiences．

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