When you look at the sky at night, the moon looks bigger than the stars. Actually, the moon is much smaller than the stars and the sun. It's much smaller than the earth. But the moon is much closer to us than any star. That is why it looks so big. If you hold a coin close to your eye, it looks big. If you look at it across the moon, it looks small.

The moon moves around the earth. It makes one trip in about four weeks. The moon looks flat to us. But it is a round ball, like the earth.

People once thought the moon had fire on it. They thought the fire made it bright. Now we know the moon is like a mirror. It gets its light from the sun.

Our sunlight comes from the sun, too. What is the sun? The sun is a star. The stars we can see have their own light. There are many big stars we cannot see. Their light had burned out. Others are still bright, but they are so far away that we cannot see them. The sun looks bigger and much brighter than other stars because it is the nearest of all stars. The sun and the other stars we see are very hot, but the air around us saves us from the heat of the sun.

  The sun gives us light and warmth. It makes plants grow and turns leaves green. It makes life possible on our earth. It is a life giving star.

Teeth are very important for our health. They will be our lifelong friends. So we should learn to protect them at a very young age. Here are some tips:

First, we should eat right.

* Don't eat too much candy or drink too much cola, or our teeth will go bad easily.

* Have more cheese, milk and yogurt to make teeth strong.

* Eat more vegetables and fruits to help clean teeth.

Second, we should keep these numbers in mind.

* 2/Day    Brash yore teeth at least twice a day: in the morning and before bedtime.

* 2-3Minutes Brush for at least two to three minutes every time.

* 3 Months Get a new toothbrush every three months.

* 6 Months Go to the dentist every six months for a check-up.

We spend hours, days and years of our lives in school. Imagine(想象) you could design(设计) your dream school, what would it be like? What would you be doing? We wanted to find out what teenagers around the world thought. Here is what they said:

Richard from the USA: My dream school would have a big swimming pool and two soccer fields. It would also have a cinema, a gym and a shopping centre. My school has none of these, and I think there should be more pleasant things for students to do while they are studying.

Sonia from Italy: I’d like a room where we can relax and play computer games. I’d also like to have a music room. I think there should be a place for everyone to go and relax after class.

Wu from Beijing: I think it would be great to have another day off (休息日) every week, besides the weekend. If that day was a Friday or a Monday, we would have a long weekend every week. What fun! I also think school should start later, at about 10 o’clock, and finish earlier.

Hannah from Australia: In my dream school, I think the teachers should give us more freedom(自由) and choice about how we study and what we study. I also think it’s not necessary for us to wear school uniforms every day. I really don’t like wearing it. 

Piggy banks have been around for a long time, but did you ever wonder why people liked to make their banks in the shape of a pig?

Pigs have nothing to do with money. They don’t store food like a camel or a squirrel. So how did we end up using a pig as the style of a bank? Believe it or not, it happened by mistake.

During the fifteenth century, metal was very expensive. Dishes and pots were made of a type of inexpensive orange clay called pygg, which was pronounced just like pig. At this time, there weren’t banks like we have today, so people would store their money at home.

When people had extra coins to save, they would place them in clay jars or pots. Since the type of clay was called pygg, people called the jars pygg banks. Over time this evolved （发展）into piggy banks.

After a few hundred years, people forgot that the word pygg referred to the clay the banks were made from. The English language was also changing and the word pig was more commonly used. So in the nineteenth century, when English potters began to make piggy banks, they thought their customers were asking for banks in the shape of pigs, not banks made from pygg.

Today piggy banks are made from all kinds of materials, and they also come in a variety of shapes and animals. But the term piggy bank is still used.

①materials     ②price    ③colour      ④shapes

What is your zodiac (生肖) animal? According to the Chinese lunar calendar (农历), 12 animals mark 12 different years. It is the basis of the Chinese zodiac. Nowadays, Chinese zodiac animals have worldwide fame and are increasingly popular among western people.

The zodiac is an important part of Chinese culture. People believe that the characteristics (特点) of a zodiac animal influence the personality of every person born in that year. For example, people born in the Year of the Tiger are considered powerful and brave.

 Zodiac animals also have some social functions. When people think it is not proper to ask: “How old are you”, they may change their question to “What is your zodiac animal?” With this question, you can figure out roughly which year someone was born and the person’s age.

 Zodiac animals are not special to China. Many countries share a similar zodiac culture with China. For example, in the Japanese zodiac, a wild boar (野猪) takes the place of a pig and the Vietnamese (越南的) zodiac has a cat instead of a rabbit.

 But have you ever wondered how these 12 animals were chosen to represent each year? According to legend, the Jade Emperor (玉皇大帝) invited all the animals to join him for Chinese New Year. Only 12 animals went to see him. As a reward he named a year after each one in the order they arrived. The ox would have been the first to arrive, but the rat sat on his back and jumped off just before they arrived to come in first place.

Popular music in America is what every student likes. Students carry small radios with earphones and listen to music before class, and at lunch. Students with cars buy large speakers and play the music loudly as they drive on the street.

Adult drivers listen to music on the car radio as they drive to work. They also listen to the news about sports, the weather, and the life of American people. Most of the radio programs are music.

Pop or popular music singers make much money. They make a CD or tape which radio stations use in many places. Once the popular singer is heard all over the country, young people buy his or her tapes. Some of the money from these tapes comes to the singer. Wherever the singer goes, all the young people want to meet him or her. Now the singer has become a national star.

There are other kinds of music that are important to Americans. One is called folk（民间）music. It tells stories about the common life of Americans. Another is called western or country music. This was started by cowboys who would sing at night to the cows they were watching. Today, any music about country life and the love between a country boy and his girl is called western or country music.

Much meaning can be carried clearly, with our eyes, so it is often   (1)  that eyes can speak.

Do you have such kind of   (2)  ? In a bus you may look at a stranger but not too long. And if he   (3)  that he is being looked at, he may feel uncomfortable. The same in daily life. If you are looked at for more than necessary, you will look at yourself up and down, to see if there is

  (4)  wrong with you. If nothing goes wrong, you will feel   (5)  toward the person who is looking at you that way. Eyes do speak, right?

      Looking too long at someone may seem to be impolite. But sometimes things are different. If a man looks at a woman for more than 10 seconds, it may mean that he wishes to attract her attention, to make her understand that he   (6)  her. When two people are in a conversation, the speaker will only look at the listener from time to time,   (7)  make sure that the listener does pay attention to   (8)  he or she is saying. Lovers will enjoy looking at each other or being

looked at for a long time, to show something that   (9)  cannot express.

      Clearly, eye contact should be done according to the   (10)  between two people and the place where you stay.

“I sometimes get up at three or four in the morning and I surf the net.”

“I often check my e-mail forty times a day.”

“I often spend more than three hours during one time on the net.”

“I spend more time in chat rooms than with my ‘real-life’ friends.”

Do you know any people like these? They are part of a new addiction(瘾) called Internet addiction. Internet addicts spend at least thirty to forty hours online every week. The use of the Internet can be an addiction like drug(毒品) use. People lose control of the time they spend on the Internet

For example, one college student was missing for several days. His friends were worried, and they called the police. The police found the student in the computer lab，he was surfing the net for several days straight.

Studies show that about 6 to 10% of Internet users become addicted. And people worry about the teens because the Internet is changing the playing field for some of them. They spend more time in cyberspace（网络空间）than in the real world of friends and family.

Is “surfing the net” a hobby or an addiction for you? You may have a problem if you have these symptoms:

●You do not go to important family activities or you do not do school work because you like to spend hours on the Internet.

●You can’t wait for your next online time.

●You plan to spend a short time online, but then you spend several hours.

●You go out with your friends less and less.

Have you learned about table manners in China？Here I will introduce some.

It is a traditional __  (1)  __ for Chinese people to eat with chopsticks. Each person at table will have a pair of chopsticks，and there is also an extra pair which is for__  (2)  __ use.

You should remember that you're __  (3)  __ to let the elders in the family sit and eat first. If they don't start，everyone else shouldn't start，either. And then you should make a __  (4)  __ to them.

While eating，it is impolite to eat with a loud __  (5)  __ ．And you'd better not speak while food is still in your __  (6)  __ ．Do not only eat one dish even if that is your favorite.

    People usually go out of their way to cook delicious food to make you __  (7)  __  at home，but when they say，“The dishes aren't delicious. I__  (8)  __  you don't mind，”you must not say，“Yeah，that's true，but I don't mind.”__  (9)  __ ，it is a typical word which can show one of the Chinese qualities—__  (10)  __ ．You should answer，“Really？I don't think so. It is the best taste of any dish that is new to me.”

Most of people watch the weather report on TV to get their newest weather information. So the weather report becomes one of the most popular TV programs.

Now, most TV stations play soft music pieces to relax their audience (观众). Th e weather report words are getting close to our real life. And there are some warm reminds (提醒) for people to travel. They are really great pros(优点). So most people think they are fantastic improvements.

“In the old days, there were lots of advertisements (广告) during the weather report. It seemed advertisements are the most important part.” an old man said. “And we could see no people but advertisements. ” added another old woman.

“When I listened to the weather report, I was afraid to see the advertisements. T hose colorful advertisements always made me crazy. So I never watched weather report on TV.” said a young man.

Now the audience enjoy their favorite songs and enjoy the warm reminds while listening to the weather report. Audience can have more fun with weather report and at the same time with the advertisements, too. That’s a wonderful idea.