The best way of learning a language is using it．The best way of learning English is talking in English as much as possible．Sometimes you’ll get your words mixed up(混合)and people will not understand you．Sometimes people will say things too quickly and you can’ t understand them．But if you keep your sense of humor(幽默感)，you can always have a good laugh at the mistakes you make．Don’ t be unhappy if people seem to be laughing at your mistakes．It’ s better for people to laugh at your mistakes than to be angry with you, because they don’ t understand what you are saying．The most important thing for learning English is, “Don’ t be afraid of making mistakes because everyone makes mistakes．”

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　　Once upon a time there was a monster．He was very ugly)(丑陋的)，and had no friends．No one wanted to talk to him．Even other monsters thought he was ugly．

　　He lived alone and was very unhappy because he was so lonely．

　　“I wish I had a friend．” he said to himself every day．“One friend would be enough．Someone to talk to．”

　　“Dear Editor．” he wrote．“ I am an ugly monster．How can I find a friend?”

　　“Dear Monster．” the Editor replied “ Advertise(登广告)for a friend in this magazine．”

　　The monster wrote an advertisement(广告)．

　　“Monster wants a friend, male or female．I have two heads, four arms, six legs and three tails．I have one blue eye, one green eye and one brown eye．Smoke comes out of my noses．But I am really a kind monster and will be a good friend to someone．If you would like to meet me, please stand outside Blake’s Store at 6 p.m．on Friday, May 22nd．Write to me at Box 45．Everybody’s Magazine．”

　　A few days later he went to the magazine．

　　“Do you have any letters for Box 45?” he asked．

　　The Editor looked in Box 45．

　　“Yes, there is one．” she said, and gave it to him．

　　The monster opened the letter, and read, “Dear Monster, I think a person’s character(品行)is more important than his appearance．I will wait outside Blake’s Store on Friday．Please carry a flower so that I will recognize you．Yours sincerely, Miss Alice Thwaite．”

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阅读理解

The train I was traveling on was already half an hour late．I had to arrive in Vienna at 7∶15 to catch it．He advised me to get off two stops before Vienna station and take a taxi．When the time came, the conductor even helped me with my bags．He wished me good luck as I jumped off．And a few minutes later, I was racing towards the centre of the city in a taxi．It was almost 7∶25 when we stopped outside the station．I paid the driver quickly, took hold of my bags quickly and hurried inside．“Pairs train” was all I had time to say to the official I saw．You can guess how I feel when he pointed to a man that the train was just moving out of the station．

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Emily Urich 18 years old Canada

　　A lot of teens aren’t responsible(有责任感的)，and that’s where I’m different．Not just about school but everyday things like being able to pay my own credit card(信用卡)bills on time．

　　The first time I got a cartoon book was on my third birthday．From then on, I fell in deep love with it．And can you guess how many cartoon books I’ve read?I don’t really know the exact number．But I have three full boxes of them under my bed．I also like drawing cartoons and wish to be an art teacher in a school．

　　Joe Miller 16 year’s old America

　　I’m proud of doing things my own way．So whether somebody wants me to do something or whatever it is, I feel like they’re all other people’s thoughts, not really mine．But like others, I love reading, too．When I first took skiing lessons, I found it exciting．For ski racing, there’s no question I’m better shape than most guys(小伙子)．I think it’s fun．I mean, it is a challenge(挑战)．It’s where I picked up the idea of needing a challenge always in my life．In order to improve my skiing skills, I have read many books and magazines about it．No doubt it’s my dream to win gold medals in the Olympic Games．

　　An Oi 15 years old China

　　I’m different because I prefer to drop out of the world to create my own world．I’d like to build a house on a mountain．And I choose to live without electricity, a telephone, or even indoor plumbing(室内卫生设备)．I have many hobbies such as traveling, reading, writing and spending time with children．I love children because they are smart and creative．They always have many strange ideas．It makes me excited．I want to do something for Hope Project and become a country school teacher．

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阅读理解

　　Little Tommy Was doing very badly in math．His parents had tried everything－tutors(家庭教师)，cards, special learning centers－in short, everything they could think of．Finally they took Tommy to catholic(天主教的)school．

　　After the first day, little Tommy came home with a very serious look on his face．He didn’t kiss his mother hello．Instead, he went straight to his room and started studying．Books and papers were spread(铺开)out all over the room and little Tommy was hard at work．His mother was surprised．She called him down to dinner and as soon as he finished eating, he went back to his room without a word．In no time he was back hitting the books as hard as before．This went on for some time, day after day while the mother tried to understand what was happening．

　　Finally, little Tommy brought home his report card．He quietly put it on the table and went up to his room and hit the books．His mom looked at it and to her surprise, little Tommy got all A in math．She could no longer hold her curiosity(好奇心)．She went to his room and asked, “Son, what was it?Was it the nuns(修女)？”

　　Little Tommy looked at her and shook his head, “No．”

　　“Well then, ”she asked again．‘‘WHAT was it?”

　　Little Tommy looked at her and said, “Well, on the first day of school, when I saw that man nailed(钉)to the plus sign(加号)，I knew they weren’t joking．”

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Mrs．Jones lives near her school, and she always walks there in the morning．All her students in her class are very young．On a very cold and windy morning in October, Mrs．Jones walked to the school, the cold wind went into her eyes, and big tears began running out of them．She reached the school, opened the door and went into the hall．It was nice and warm there and Mrs．Jones was happy．But the small boy looked at her for a few seconds, put his arm around her and said kindly, “Don’t cry, Miss．School isn’t very bad．”

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　　Last Sunday the Whites went to the park．They got home very late．Father opened the front door and they both went into the house．It was very dark(黑暗的)，so mother turned on the light．On the way to their bedroom, mother said, “Listen, John!I can hear someone in the bedroom．” They stood quietly outside the bedroom door．They could hear some voices in the room．

　　“You’re right,” father said．“There are two men in it．They are talking．” Then he shouted, “Who is there?” But no one answered．Father opened the door quickly and turned on the light．The room was empty．Then father found something and laughed．The radio was still on!“I forgot to turn it off this morning．” Father said．

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阅读理解

　　A mother and her young son got into a bus in a small city and sat down．The bus conductor came to them for their money．The mother said, “I want one ticket to Oxford,” and gave her a shilling(先令)．

　　The conductor looked at the small boy for a few seconds and then said to him, “How old are you, young man?”

　　The mother began speaking, but the conductor stopped her, and the boy said, “I’m four years old at home, and two and a half in buses and trains．”

　　The mother took six pence(便士)out of her bag and gave the money to the conductor．The conductor gave her one and a half tickets．

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阅读理解

　　In Singapore, many middle school students spend a lot of their time on their studies．Good education is often regarded as a ticket to success in their future．So many of these students try their best to get a good mark in their examinations．They have a lot of homework every day and exams are a big headache．Sometimes some of them are even made to go to remedial(补习的)classes after school．

　　Schools run programmes outside school hours．The students can take part in sports and games, music and dance, hiking and rock-climbing, etc．They are also very active in community service(社区服务)．

　　In their spare time, most students like to listen to pop music．Hollywood blockbusters(大片)．Hong Kong and Singapore movies are very popular among them．They understand IT very well．Some of them also spend their free time surfing the Internet, e-mailing their friends, playing computer and video games．

　　They sometimes go to cafes, fast-food restaurants, shopping centers and big bookstores．

　　So, it looks like life as a middle school student in Singapore is not easy but it is rich and colorful．

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　　The word“day” has two meanings．When we talk about the number of days in a year, we are using “day” to mean 24 hours．But when we talk about day and night, we are using“day” to mean the time between sunrise and sunset．Since the earth looks like a ball, the sun can shine on only half of it at a time．Always one half of the earth is having day and the other half night．A place is moved from day into night and from night into day over and over by the spinning(旋转)of the earth．

　　At the equator(赤道)day and night are sometimes the same length．They are each twelve hours long．The sun rises at 6 o’clock in the morning and sets at 6 o’clock in the evening．For six months the North Pole is tilted(倾斜)toward the sun．In those months the Northern

　　Hemisphere(半球)gets more hours of sunlight than the Southern Hemisphere．

　　Days are longer than nights．South of the equator nights are longer than days．For the other six months the North Pole is tilted away from the sun．Then the Southern Hemisphere gets more sunlight．Days are longer than nights．North of the equator nights are longer than days．Winter is the season of long nights．Summer is the season of long days．

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