1、Module 1When I arrived, it was early morning and it was raining. I got out of the car, went through a gate and walked along a path. In the east, the sky was becoming light. I knew it was there, but there was nothing to see.After about a mile, a stranger appeared in front of me. “Am I going the right
2、 way?” I asked. He knew where I was going. “Yes,” he replied. “youll get there in five minutes.” Finally, I came to some rocks and stopped. I looked over them, but it was silent and there was no sign of it.Suddenly, the clouds cleared and the rain stopped. The sun rose behind me and beyond the rocks
3、. I saw that the ground fell away and down to a river, far below me. I was looking across the Grand Canyon, one of the wonders of the natural world.I looked down to the Colorado River, from here a silver stream nearly one mile below me. If you put the two tallest buildings in the world on top of the
4、 each other at the bottom of the canyon, they still wouldnt reach the top. Then I looked across to the other side of the canyon. How far is it? Its about fifteen miles, maybe more. Finally, I looked to my left and to my right, and on both sides the canyon went far away, about 277 miles long. The Gra
5、nd Canyon is not just big. Its huge!I remained by the canyon for about half an hour, and I asked myself, “Is the Grand Canyon the greatest wonder anywhere in the natural world?” I certainly know the answer. But what do you think?Module 2Thanksgiving is an American festival. People give thanks for th
6、eir food. Its celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November and its a time for a special dinner among family and friends.Weve celebrated the festival since the first pioneers from England arrived in America by ship in the seventeenth century. While they were crossing the Atlantic, many people died,
7、and after they landed, their first winter was worse than any English winter. The local people, the Native Americans, taught the pioneers how to grow corn, catch fish and keep cows, sheep and hens. The following year they celebrated together by eating a dinner of the new food.We still celebrate Thank
8、sgiving today with a traditional dinner. The kitchen is the most crowded room in our house because we all help to prepare the food there. We lay the table, then before we begin dinner, my father gives praise for the food, so we remember where the festival comes from. We usually eat too much, but its
9、 only once a year! We often listen to speeches and tell stories after dinner as well. When its all over everyone helps wash the dishes.The festival is a very busy time for travel when friends and families come together to celebrate. After we finish the Thanksgiving Day festival, there are plenty of
10、other things to see and do. We live in New York City, and we go to watch the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade, along with thousands of people as it goes along several streets and finishes at the famous Macys Store. Thanksgiving is also the start of the Christmas season, and we start shopping for presen
11、ts. Football is also important at Thanksgiving, with many teams playing games. Like many Americans, we usually watch the games on television and enjoy ourselves very much.Module 3My hero Dr Norman BethuneNorman Bethune is one of Chinas most famous heroes. He was Canadian, but he spent his life in Ch
12、ina, living with the Chinese, helping them and dying for them.Norman Bethune was born in 1890. He became a doctor in 1916, and he went to Spain in 1936 to treat the wounded forces during the war there. He soon realized that many people were dying because they did not get to hospital quickly enough.
13、Dr Bethune developed new ways of taking care of the sick, and invented special medical tools to use outside hospitals and close to the fighting so that doctors could treat the wounded more quickly. His discoveries saved many lives.In 1938 he came to China to treat the wounded in the mountains north
14、of Yanan. At the time, there were few doctors, so he had to work very hard on his own. His experience of treating people in Spain was useful in China, and he opened hospitals for local people as well. He also developed training courses for doctors and nurses, and wrote books so that doctors could le
15、arn about how he treated the sick.Dr Bethune worked very hard without resting or taking care of himself. Once, he worked for sixty-nine hours without stopping and managed to save 112 lives. Then, one day, he cut his finger during an operation, but he continued his work. In the end, he died of his wo
16、und.Dr Bethunes work with the Chinese soldiers made him a hero in China. There are many books and films about him, and he is still remembered in both Canada and China.Module 4Imagine this situation: Your parents go away on business, but you have to stay at home alone. Will life be as easy as when yo
17、ur parents are around? Will you manage at home alone?When Zheng Chenyus parents left her alone, she was worried. “Although I often go shopping with my mother, I didnt know what to buy or what to do with it.” The fifteen-year-old girl said that she knew hardly anything about cooking.“I can fill an em
18、pty stomach with tomato and egg soup, and make a cup of tea though thats all. I think many of my classmates are the same. We teenagers dont know how to look after ourselves,” said Zheng. “Im so careless that I always forget something important. Two weeks ago I burnt the soup while I was watching tel
19、evision. And then I dropped the bowl.Although Zheng believes that basic life skills such as cooking and washing clothes are especially important, she doesnt think young people get enough practice.“As soon as we leave home, well learn to cook, but at the moment, were so lazy that our parents do almos
20、t everything for us.” she said.For most teenagers, their main task is to do their homework. They dont learn any life skills until they go to college.However, Sima Yige doesnt agree. His parents are going away next week.“I think Ill be all right. I wont just eat sandwiches or fruit. I know how to coo
21、k some dishes, although theyre quite simple,” the thirteen-year-old boy said. In his opinion, many young people depend too much on their parents, and there is much more to learn than cooking, like tidying up your room or even getting dressed”.For most school children, its no holiday when their paren
22、ts are away. Its more like real life in the future!Module 5Welcome to the most friendly museum in London. In most museums, theres no shouting and no running, and you mustnt touch anything. But the Science Museum is different its noisy! People talk about what they can see and do here, and there are s
23、ome very noisy machines as well. If you want answers to all your questions about science, this is the right place for you.On the ground floor is the Launchpad. This is my favourite room because there are lots of physics experiments. For example, if you want to fill a bag with sand, you have to contr
24、ol a kind of truck on wheels and move it into the correct place. You can also find out how we travel into space and back again.Upstairs is the Human and Nature Room. There you can compare the speed of different animals with your own. When you hear a noise you push a key. If you arent fast enough, th
25、e lion catches you! Im faster than all my friends, but the lion still catches me.I also like to visit the other rooms on the second and third floors. You can learn about communication, environment as well as maths, physics and chemistry. For example, you can find out how X-ray let you see inside you
26、r body. And in one room they even explain how they dig coal from the ground and use it to create energy.The Science Museum is interesting for people of all ages, as long as you follow the rules. You cannot take photos, but if you want postcards, you can buy them in the shop. The museum is free to en
27、ter, so you go in for a few minutes or stay all day. Its open every day from 10 am to 6 pm. So if you ever go to London, make sure you visit the Science Museum. Its my favourite museum in the whole world.Module 6Dear Diana,Last week, my friend David came round with a new computer game and asked to p
28、lay it on my fathers computer. I was worried, because I should ask my father before I use his computer. He uses it for his work and I can only use it for my homework. The reason is that he thinks itll go wrong if I play games on it.Well, while my dad was out, we decided to try out Davids game. We co
29、pied it to the computer, and at the end of the game, we took it off. However, when I started the computer again to check if everything was OK, some of my dads records were missing.Then, when my dad used the computer last night, he was really angry. He could no longer find the records anywhere! They
30、were very important ones.I didnt tell him about the computer game because I didnt want him to be angry with me. Should I tell him about the computer game? Should I play to repair it?Yours,SteveDear Steve,Oh dear! Youve made two mistakes. Its bad enough that you used your dads computer when he told y
31、ou no to. You should never do that. But its even worse that you didnt tell him about it. If you tell him the truth now, hell be angry with you, but at least youll show how honest you are.Then you should pay the bill to repair it. But you shouldnt use your pocket moneyafter all, your parents gave you
32、 that money. If you offer to do some jobs around the home, hell realise that youre very sorry.Oh, and next time, play football with David!Best wishes,Diana Module 7My favourite great book is The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. Tom lives with his aunt Polly in St Petersburg, Missouri, the US,
33、 and is a lively and clever boy.Tom is the hero of the story, but there are other important people in the book. His good friend Huck Finn lives outside the community, and everyone is afraid of him. Joe is another friend of Toms. Becky is a lovely girl with fair hair, and Injun Joe is the bad man of
34、the story.Tom has many adventures. In one part of the book, he runs away with his two friends, Huck Finn and Joe, to an island in the middle of the Mississippi River for several days. Another time, Tom goes with Huck to look for treasure. With Becky he gets lost in a dark place, and finally, they fi
35、nd a box full of money.My favourite part in the book is when everyone thinks Tom and Huck are dead. They decide to go to the church, and see their family and neighbours. They have come to remember them. Tom hides and watches for a time, and then suddenly he appears. At first everyone is surprised to
36、 see him, but then theyre just pleased to see him alive.The story is about growing up. It describes how strangers are seen in small towns of America. Finally, it talks about what its like to be free, law and order in society, and how bad people pay for their actions.Why do I think Tom Sawyer is a gr
37、eat book? Its as American as apple pie, and although Mark Twain wrote it in 1876, its still read and loved by people all over the world today. Its written in the everyday English of the southern states of America in the nineteenth century, and the dialogues sound especially real. Today its thought t
38、o be one of the greatest American stories. Go onread it! I know youll enjoy it too.Module 8For Liu Xiang, life as a sports hero began in 2004. First, he was invited to competitions around the world. Then he was chosen for the Chinese team at the Olympic Games.But Liu Xiang was not a success immediat
39、ely. He was born in Shanghai on 13th July, 1983 started training when he was very young. In Grade Four, he went to the Junior Sports School of Putuo District of Junior. Liu was encouraged at first to train for the high jump. Then, in 1998, Liu Xiangs ability in hurdling (running and jumping)was noti
40、ced by his coach Sun Haiping. A special programme was set up in 2001 to help young sportsmen and sportswomen. Liu Xiangs races were recorded, and he was compared with the worlds best sports stars. Sun Haiping used the information to change his training methods for Liu Xiang.In 2002 Liu Xiang won his
41、 first international 110 hurdles race in Switzerland, and in the same year, a gold at the Asia Games. Then, in 2004, Liu won the first Olympic gold for China and in the same time as the world record. It was also the first time an Olympic gold for running or hurdling was hung round the neck of a spor
42、tsperson from any Asian country. Later Liu Xiang went on to win competitions in Europe and the Middle East.Liu Xiang trained very hard. In fact he trained so hard that he hurt his foot. From 2008 on he suffered a lot from his foot problem and was often absent from competitions.Although no one is sur
43、e about his future in sport, Liu Xiang is a symbol of courage and success, and we continue to have great pride in him.Module 91 Every morning my father buys a newspaper on his way to work. Every day I open my books in class and start my lessons. Every evening my mother looks through magazines at hom
44、e. And every night I look at the photos of David Beckham and Yao Ming on my bedroom wall before I go to sleep. Can we imagine life without paper or print?2Paper was first created about 2,000 years ago in China and was made of silk, bamboo, grass and later, wood. People learnt to write words on paper
45、 to make a book. But in those days, books were only produced one at a time by hand. As a result, there werent many books, and they were expensive. So, few people learnt to read.3Then printing was invented in China. The first printed books were made by placing wood blocks against paper. An important
46、development in printing in the Western world took place in the fifteenth century. They found a way to produce books more quickly and cheaply. As a result, a trade in books developed, and more people learnt to read. Knowledge and ideas spread quickly, and we can compare this change to the introductio
47、n of the Internet in the twentieth century.4 But will books be needed in the future? Today information is found online more easily than in books and is kept on CD-ROMs or machines such as MP3 players. These machines are smaller and lighter than books so that they are very easy to carry.5 computers a
48、re already used in classrooms, and newspapers and magazines are already read online. So what direction will traditional printing take in the future? Will computers be used more than printed books and photos in the future? No, I can only afford a Yao Ming photo on my bedroom wall, not a computer scre
49、en two metres high!Module 10Dear Mum and Dad,Im writing this letter to you from the centre of Australia. At the moment were staying near Uluru. On the first day, we took a plane tour over the rock, and I was surprised at how big it was: 3.6 kilometres long and 348 metres high. During different periods of the day, the colours of the rock turn dark blue, purple, yellow and red. The Aborigines are the people that have lived in Australia from the earliest times, and their ancient stories describe the spirits that created the wor
