Happy New Years!

　　Today is March 17^th．About two and a half months ago, I said“Happy New Year!”to many of my friends．About fifty days ago, I said the same thing to some other friends．In about four days, I’ll say the same wishes to yet another group of friends．I’ll do the same thing in July and also in September．“How can that be?”you might ask(if you ‘re from Western Europe or the Americas)．“Everyone knows that New Year’s Day is in Januare!”

　　In fact, the date of New Year’s Day depends on the calendar(日历)－and I have friends who use one or more of five different calendars to keep track of at least part of their lives：

　　●January 1^st：New Year’s Day on the Western/international calendar

　　●In January or February(in 2006, January 29 th)：New Year’s Day on the Chinese calendar(China, Korea, and a few other places)

　　●March 21^st：New Year’s Day on the traditional Persian(波斯)calendar

　　●Mid-July(usually the 16 th)：New Year’s Day on the Isamic(穆斯林)calendar

　　●September：New Year’s Day on most Eastern Orthodox Church(东正教)calendars(Central and Eastern Europe)and, usually, on the Jewish calendar

　　And these are just the New Year’s Days that I know about!As a matter of fact, there are probably even more!

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　　It was two months before Christmas, when nine-year-old Almie Rose told her father and me that she wanted a new bike, Her Barbi bike was just too old, and it needed repairing as well．

　　As Christmas came nearer, her dream for a bike seemed to disappear, so we thought, for she didn’t mention it again．We were busy buying some beautiful story books, a doll house, a holiday dress and toys．Then much to our surprise, on December 24, she said she really wanted a bike more than anything else．

　　Now we didn’t know what to do．It was just too late．We were busy with Christmas dinner and packing children’s presents, parents’presents, a brother’s present and friends’presents till midnight．So there was no time to take to buy the “right bike”for our little girl．Thinking that we were parents who would make their child unhappy, we felt ashamed and sad．

　　Suddenly my husband had an idea．“What if I make a little bike out of clay(泥土)and write a note that she could trade in(交换)the model bike for a real one?”So he spent the next five hours carefully working with clay to make a small bike．

　　On Christmas morning, we were so excited for Almie Rose to open the little box with the beautiful red and white clay bike and the note, She opened and read the note loudly．She looked at me and Ron and said,“So, does this mean I can trade in this bike for a real one?”Smiling, I said,“Yes．”Almie Rose had tears in her eyes when she replied,“I would never trade in this beautiful bike that Daddy made me．I prefer to keep it rather than get a real bike．”At that moment, we would have moved the God to buy her every bike on the earth．

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　　One day Nasreddin borrowed a pot(罐)from his neighbour Ali．The next day he brought it back with another little pot inside．“That’s not mine,”said Ali．“Yes, it is．”said Nasreddin．“While your pot was staying with me, it had a baby．”

　　Some time later Nasreddin asked Ali to lend him a pot again．Ali agreed, hoping that he would once again receive two pots in return．However, days passed and Nasreddin had still not returned the pot．Finally Ali lost patience and went to ask for it．“I am sorry,”said Nasreddin．“I can’t give you back your pot, since it has died．”“Died!”cried Ali,“How can a pot die?”“Well,”said Nasreddin,“you believed me when I told you that your pot had had a baby．”

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　　TV commentary(实况报道，现场解说), Today our program is about the 2008 Olympic mascots(吉祥物)－Beibei, Jingjing, Huan-huan, Yingying, and Nini．If you put their names together, they say "Beijing welcomes you!" in Chinese, They are symbols for the Games．They carry within themselves Chinese People's best wishes for the success of the Games．Here, let's learn about them one by one．

　　HUANHUAN The child of fire stands for(代表)the red Olympic ring(环)．He is in the centre, the big brother of the five．He carries the Olympic spirit(精神)．He is the most warm-hearted and outgoing of the five．He can do well in all ball games．

　　YINGYING The antelope(藏羚)stands for the yellow Olympic ring．Yingying is smart and moves quickly．Like all antelopes, he is strong in track and field events(田径比赛)．The antelope is one of the first animals put under protection(保护)in China．Choosing the antelope shows(表明)that China wants a Green Olympics．

　　Do you want to know more about the other three mascots?Please come back after the four short advertisements．

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The War(战争)of the Worlds

　　Mars(火星)is the fourth planet(星球)from the sun．It is small and red and cold．No one believes anything lives there－until the first spaceship(宇宙飞船)lands on the earth．

　　At first, people are eager(急切的)to welcome the alien visitors．But then they find out the scary truth：The Martians(火星人)have come to conquer(征服)the planet!They' re very smart, and they have terrifying machines(机器)．Is the earth ready for "The War of the Worlds"?Read this book to find out．The ending will surprise you．

　　This is a very popular science-fiction(科幻)story written by British writer H．G．Wells．The action is tense and exciting．The story moves quickly．Though the book is set in(以……为背景)

　　England in 1898, today's readers will still have much in common with this book．

　　Other easy books in "Bullseye Step into Classics"series(系列)also can take you on a great reading trip!Look for books such as"Little Women"assd"The Time Machine"．Read them all!It' s great for beginners in English．

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生词：pipe管子；notice注意；attract吸引；mate配偶，伴侣；hide躲藏；enemy敌人(pl．enemies)

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生词：woods树林，森林；female雌性的，母的；reward奖赏，报酬，报偿

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　　Get ready, China．The world is coming!Every day lots of foreigners come here as business people or tourists．And even more people will come in 2008 for the Beijing Olympics．When they come to China, we should do something to help them enjoy themselves and like China and the Chinese people．But there are some things they may not like：

　　1．Traffic problems　Cars park on sidewalks(人行道)．Bus drivers drive so fast that they make people who are trying to cross the street afraid．

　　2．Queue jumping　At the post office, or even at McDonald’s, people push to the front of a line instead of waiting．

　　3．Bumping　Too many people are crowded onto buses and trains．This makes people feel terrible, and it is not safe, either．On a bus in North America, people try to make themselves smaller and they’ll say“Excuse me”or“Sorry” if they knock into someone．In China, people make themselves bigger with no “Sorry” or “Excuse me”．

　　4．Littering　I notice this everywhere．Some people throw rubbish onto the ground even when there is a rubbish bin(箱)right next to them．

　　Most Chinese people are just as unhappy with these kinds of things as I am．And, certainly, the government(政府)has known the problems and is trying to do something about them．

　　China is on her way!

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　　Dear Editor(编辑),

　　After I finish my homework, I often go online and chat with my friends．Sometimes I play Internet games．But my parents hate to see me playing games on the computer．Maybe they have heard too much news about how QQ and Internet games harm(伤害)children．Once I went to a net bar(网吧)to play games after school．But after that I told my parents that I was playing basketball at school．I said so because I didn’t want to make them unhappy．I feel bad about it．However, I need to rest for a while by playing computer games after studying for a long time．I really want my parents to understand that．Do foreign parents do the same to their children?Please help me．

　　Li Ping, Nantong

　　Dear Li Ping,

　　I think it’s not strange for parents to keep their children away from anything bad．Foreign parents will do the same as your parents!They may not let their children watch TV for too long a time, or like your parents, they don’t want their children to play computer games．

　　Talk to your parents and be honest(诚实)to them, I think．Tell them what you are doing and why you are doing so to make them understand you．It’s never good to do things behind your parents’ backs．They aren’t fools as you think sometimes!Our parents seem to know what is the best for us．Remember：to be honest is the best way．

Good luck,

Rebecca

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　　Going to a friend’s house is very exciting．You may spend time with a friend and get to see where he lives．So remember to be polite．

　　The first thing to remember is that when a friend invites you over, you need to arrive on time．If your friend tells you to come“around 3∶00”, that means you can turn up a little bit after 3∶00．But usually it is a good idea to arrive at the right time．

　　Often it is also nice to bring something to your friend’s house．This could be a box of chocolates for you two to share, or maybe a movie that you can watch together．You can also bring some flowers．A little gift is a nice way to show your friend that you are excited to be at his house．

　　How to greet(问候)

　　When you visit your friend’s house, you may also meet his parents．You should tell them who you are and they may tell you their names．As a child, I went to visit my friend Paul．I called his parents by their first names John and Mary．But now I know it is more polite to call them Mr．or Mrs．Smith．This will show them more respect(尊重)and then they may tell you to call them by their first names．Another way to show respect is to call them Madam or Sir．

　　It is a cool thing to visit a friend’s house．Be polite to your friend and your friend’s parents, and you will be invited again!

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