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　　In the US, the most popular way to welcome the new year is with a big party．Some parties are at private homes．But in recent years, it has become more and more common for Americans to go to a hotel or eating-place on the night of December 31st．There, they can eat a big dinner, drink champagne, and dance to orchestra music．

　　Most New Year’s parties are usually noisy．People shout and sing．And often, guests blow on small noisemakers when the new year arrives at midnight．This tradition of noise making is believed to start centuries ago．People thought that loud sounds would drive away the bad spirits of the old year．

　　The biggest, noisiest New Year’s party in the US takes place in Times Square in New York．Thousands of people gather(聚集)there．Some of them ring bells and set fireworks．Others blow whistles of car horns(喇叭)．And at twelve o’clock, they begin to cheer as an electric sign in the shape of a red apple lights up on top of a tall building．

　　The Times Square celebration includes another well-known American tradition．Since 1929, the band of musician Guy Lombardo has given a concert on New Year’s Eve．Guy Lombardo died in 1977．But, Bill Lombardo, has kept the tradition alive with a band concert at a New York city hotel．When the crowds in Times Square start cheering the arrival of the new year, television cameras show the band playing the song Auld Lang Syne．

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　　Hi! I’m Harry．Life used to be kind of difficult for me．The muscles(肌肉)in my arms and legs are weak．I have to be in a wheelchair all day．I can’t use my legs at all, and I’m not too great with my hands．If I drop something it stays dropped until someone picks it up for me．I can’t open doors or switch lights on and off．Carrying everything I need for school is a problem too．

　　Now things are easier．I have a helping hand．Pete is a golden dog that has been trained to help kids like me．Pete was at dog training school for two years to learn how to do different tasks．I had to be trained too．I had to learn how to give Pete instructions and how to take care of him．

　　When Pete is working he doesn’t play around．My friends know they are not to pet him or call him when he is working．He can pull my wheelchair and pick up things I drop．Pete carries my books and lunch on his back．He pushes the button on the school lift and opens some kinds of doors．He even knows how to switch lights on．

　　But best of all, Pete is here when I need a friend．

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　　We talk every day．When we have good news, we like to share it with our good friends and when something terrible happens, we make it known to others soon．But can you imagine that a tree can talk and share hews too? Of course, no tree moves lips and says words just as people do．Strange as it may sound, though, some trees do manage to communicate with each other．

　　Willow(柳樹)trees are the best-known of these trees．When insects(昆蟲)begin nibbling(叮咬)a willow tree, the tree sends out a special smell at once．This smell tells the other willows that harmful insects are coming near．All of them quickly make a chemical(化學(xué)物質(zhì))in their leaves．This chemical is bad to the insects．The insects do not like it and they fly away soon．In this way, the willow trees protect themselves from the insects．

　　The next time when you take a walk in the woods, maybe the trees are “talking” to each other quietly．And when someone says that trees cannot “talk”, please tell them that even trees give messages to each other, too．

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　　People love oranges．They are sweet and juicy．They are in sections so it’s easy to eat them．Some oranges don’t have any seeds．Some have a thick skin and some have a thin skin．

　　The orange tree is very beautiful．It has a lot of shiny green leaves．The small white flowers smell very sweet．An orange tree has flowers and fruits at the same time．

　　There were orange trees forty hundred years ago．The oranges were very small, not like the ones today．The earliest orange trees probably came from China．Many different kinds of oranges are raised there today．

　　Farmers in other parts of Asia and the Middle East learned to raise oranges from the Chinese．Then they taught Europeans．The Spanish planted orange trees in the New World(North and South America)and took them to Florida first．

　　“Orange” is both a fruit and a color．The color of oranges is so beautiful that in English we use the name of the fruit for its color．

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　　One day when some government officials were rebuilding a house, they found a mouse hole in a corner and used smoke to make the mice inside the hole come out．A while later they saw mice running out, one after another，but they saw two mice didn’t run away immediately．It seemed that one was trying to bite(咬)the tail of the other．

　　Everyone was puzzled, so they came nearer to take a look．They realized that one of the two mice was blind, and the other was trying to allow the blind mouse to bite his tail in order to pull the blind one with him to run away．

　　During the meal time, they started to talk about the two mice．One serious American said, “I think the relationship between those two mice was that of king and guard．”

　　A smart Frenchman said, “I think the relationship between them was that of husband and wife．”

　　A Japanese said, “I think the relationship between them was that of mother and son．”

　　At that moment, one Chinese asked, “Why did those two mice have a certain relationship?”

　　Suddenly, they looked back at the Chinese．The American, the Frenchman and the Japanese who had spoken earlier all lowered(低下)their heads in shame, and didn’t answer．

　　In fact, the great love is not built on friendship or blood relationship．Instead, it is based on no relationship．

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　　Many years ago, I lived in a building in a large city．The building next door was only a few feet away from mine．There was a woman who lived there, whom I had never met, yet I could see her seated by her window each afternoon．

　　After several months had gone by, I began to notice that her window was dirty．Everything was unclear through the dirty window．I would say to myself, “I wonder why that woman doesn’t wash her window．It really looks terrible．”

　　One morning I cleaned my room, including washing the window on the inside．

　　Late in the afternoon when I finished the cleaning, I sat down by the window with a cup of coffee for a rest．What a surprise! Across the way, the woman sitting by her window was clearly seen．Her window was clean!

　　Then it dawned on me．I had been criticizing(批評)her dirty window, but all the time I was watching hers through my own dirty window．

　　That was quite an important lesson for me．Since then, whenever I wanted to judge(判斷)someone, I asked myself first, “Am I looking at him through my own dirty window?” Then I try to clean the window of my own world so that I may see the world about me more clearly．

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　　In the United States, parents usually encourage their children to develop their potential(潛能)．They pay attention to what their kids can do, not what they can’t．As a result, US boys and girls hope to be actors, athletes and doctors; many even want to become presidents when they grow up．

　　US parents often encourage their children to take part in all kinds of activities at school．They believe that joining in these activities can make their children mature(成熟)．Schoolwork is important, but they think that social skills are important as well．

　　But things in China are different．Chinese parents often tell their children to study hard and pass exams．They think that, for a student, staying away from schoolbooks means wasting time．This puts a lot of pressure on Chinese students, so leaders in China’s education department have called for less homework at the lower grades．Only healthy kids can become healthy adults．

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　　Michael Jackson is one of the world’s best singers．Michael Jackson was born in the middle west of the city of Gary, Indiana, in 1958．He began singing with his four brothers．They called the group “The Jackson Five”．The group became very popular after appearing on a television program．They started singing in 1965, and became popular soon．In 1970 the group made their first record with the name of “I Want You Back”．It was very popular．One of their hit records was “Never Say Goodbye”．

　　Michael was good at dancing as well as singing, for example, his dance moves and moon walking．He was asked to act in a film in 1978 for the first time, and in the same year he made a record on his own, which sold eight million copies all over the world．

　　Michael nearly didn’t go out because he was too famous．Once his fans went off in a faint(暈倒)when they saw him at the concert．No one can do it by now．He lived in a large house and kept lots of animals．He never ate meat．He often raised money for Charity．This made him win the Guinness World Records(吉尼斯世界記錄)in 2006．He died on June 25th, 2009, but he would live in our heart forever．

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　　Paris is the capital of France．Its subway is also very special．You can enjoy its culture when you are in this city．First you can see many people reading books in the subway．Whenever they are in the subway or at the station, there is always a book in the hand．

　　The subway station in Paris is not big, but each of them has its special facts．Some stations look like ships．Some stations have clothes, caps and shoes．And every station has a big advertisement picture．But many of them are for selling clothes and cosmetics(化妝品)．

　　You can meet some beggars(乞丐)in the subway．But the beggars in the Paris subway are also very special．They often play the violin or guitar in the train．They don’t feel shy at all．Instead they think it is natural．After playing, they will go around the train and ask you to give them some money．

　　If you want to learn more about Paris, go to the subway and enjoy its culture by yourself．

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