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　　It was Sunday and the heavy storm had lasted all night．The morning after the storm was beautiful：blue skies, warm air and a calm sea．My father realized it was a good day for fishing and invited my sister and me to go with him．I was only 14 and fishing had never been my thing, but I decided to go all the same．I'm so glad I did．

　　Being on the boat, we found there was something meters away．When moving nearer, we saw it was a mother whale with her baby．We couldn't believe it－there aren't any whales along the coast．The storm must have driven them there, where the sea water was so dirty that nothing could live in it．

　　The little baby whale－actually as big as our boat－was stuck and could not move．The mother went down into the water and came up suddenly, making big waves．“She's trying to help her baby, but on the wrong side,” my father said．At this point, my father moved our boat to the other side and, heading the boat towards the baby whale, pushed it gently．With our several gentle pushes the baby whale turned over and disappeared under water．Then it swam up right beside its mum．They made great efforts to swim towards the deep sea but failed and started heading in the wrong direction．We hurried up to the whales and tried to lead them to the sea．Slowly, they let us lead them, and give us a trusting look with those huge eyes．Before they swam into the deep sea, the mum gave us a wave with her tail and off they swam into the deep sea．

　　In the excitement it had felt like only a few minutes, but we had been with those wonderful animals for almost an hour and a half．That was the simple and lasting beauty of the day．Today, I still look back to that golden day at sea and feel very happy．

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　　It is said that another acre(英畝)of the world's forest will be destroyed forever．Why is this happening? There are two reasons－land and wood．In many countries the trees have been cut down because the land was needed for animals or crops．In other parts of the world the trees are cut down because their wood is wanted．This wood is used by local people for firewood or it is used for building．But many people don't know that in most places the trees won't be replaced．The soil in the forests is very thin, but it is protected by the trees．When the trees are cut down, the soil is washed away by the rain or blown away by the wind．Soon nothing can be grown on it．The forest becomes a desert．Then more land will be needed, and more trees will be cut down．

　　When the forest is destroyed, it isn't only the trees that are lost－the homes of millions of animals and plants are destroyed, too．All kinds of animals are in danger －fish，reptiles, birds, mammals, insects, and shellfish－as well as thousands of plants．

　　Who is to blame for this? The answer is simple：all of us．There are just too many people in the world．The world's population is now six billion．Of course, it's very easy to blame the local people．We don't cut down trees．They do．But the products are bought by people like you and me－wood houses, beds, tables, chairs, paper… Why are the forests being destroyed? Just look around．You are probably using it right now．

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　　There is a saying that the British like a nice cup of tea in the morning and a nice cup of tea at night．And at half past seven, their idea of heaven is a nice cup of tea．They like a nice cup of tea with their dinner and at their tea time．There is a lot to be said about a nice cup of tea before they go to bed．

　　Sometimes it seems that no one likes tea as much as the British do．But in fact, tea is liked in countries around the world．In China and Japan tea was first used as a kind of medicine, many years later, people there drank tea as a beverage(飲料)．

　　People in the world like to drink different kinds of tea, green tea, black tea or milk tea as some people call it．They are served in different ways and people like drinking them, because they know that drinking tea is good for health．

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In this E-book package, we have four e-books．

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　　In China, people talk about “Shuxiang”, which is very interesting．For example, 2006 is a “dog year”, and when a baby is born in this year, we say he or she is a little dog．Shuxiang usually brings people good luck．There are 12 animals below．

　　social, having rich feelings, friendly but complaining

　　hard, ordered, but keeping old

　　brave, confident, but careless

　　peaceful, having a good manner, a business head but cold emotion

　　active, outgoing, popular but selfish

　　fascinating(迷人的), thoughtful, but doubtful

　　active, self-confident, wise but proud and angry

　　kind, helpful, elegant but sad

　　wide, clever, warm, unsatisfied but slick(圓滑的)

　　confident, helpful, happy, but dressy

　　realistic, loyal(忠誠的), practical

　　hard, honest, simple, lucky but careless

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　　The size and shape(外形)of your ears show your character(性格)more than any other part of the face．Other parts of the face change shapes as we get older, but ears do not change their shapes．They only change in size．

　　Reading people's character from their ears is a very old science．In the past people thought that a person's ears with colour was dangerous．They also thought that the shape of the ears showed if a person was musical or not．Today, too, many people believe that the size and shape of the ears help you know if a person is musical．

　　Ears are all different, and each different thing has a meaning．Next time you look at a person, see if his or her ears are large, medium-size, or small．Look at the lobes(耳垂)．Do they stick to the face? Ears that are always red mean that a person may get angry easily．Ears that are always cold and nearly white colour mean that a person has a nervous(神經(jīng)質(zhì))character．

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　　What is the sky(天空)? Where is it? How high is it? What lies above it? These questions are hard to answer, aren't they?

　　Is the sky blue? The sky has no color．We know that there is air around the world．When planes fly, they need air to lift their wings(翼)．Planes cannot fly very high because when they go high, the air gets thinner．If we go up about 1,200 kilometers from the earth, we find there is no air．

　　Perhaps(也許)we can answer some of our questions now．The sky is space(空間)．In this space there is only the sun, the moon and all the stars．

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One day an old man is selling a big elephant．A young man comes to the elephant and begins to look at it slowly．The old man goes up to him and says in his ear, “ Don't say anything about the elephant before I sell it．Then I will give you twenty dollars．” “All right,” says the young man．After the old man sells the elephant, he gives the young man twenty dollars and says, “Now, can you tell me how you found the elephant's bad ears?” “I didn't find the bad ears,” says the young man．“ Then why are you looking at the elephant slowly?” asks the old man．The young man answers, “Because I have never seen an elephant before, and I want to know what it looks like．”

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It's 9∶00 in the evening．The family are at home．Jim's father sits in a chair．He's watching TV(看電視)．His mother stands near the window．She feeds(喂)the birds－Polly．Polly says, “Thanks! Thanks!” Where is Jim? Oh, he's behind the door．Kate is looking for(找)him．They play games in Kate's room．

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　　Young people and older people don't always agree．They sometimes have different ideas about living, working and playing．But in one special programme in New York State, adults and teenagers live together in a friendly way．

　　Each summer 200 teenagers and 50 adults live together for eight weeks as members of a special work group．Everyone works several hours each day．They do so not just to keep busy but to find meaning and enjoyment in work．Some teenagers work in the woods or on the farms near the village．Some learn to make things like tables and chairs and build houses．The adults teach them these skills．

　　There are several free hours each day．Weekends are free, too．During the free hours some of the teenagers learn photo taking or painting．Others sit around and talk or sing．Each teenager chooses his own way to spend his free time．

　　When people live together, rules are necessary．In this programme the teenagers and the adults make the rules together．If someone breaks a rule, the problem goes before the whole group．They talk about it and ask, “Why did it happen? What should we do about it?”

　　One of the teenagers has this to say about his experience, “You stop thinking only about yourself; you learn to think about the group．”

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