Leo was a small fast boy. He often saw the other1play tennis in the park. And he wanted to learn to play tennis from them, but they wouldn't like to. They thought it would2too long to teach him.

    Leo felt3. One day, Leo decided to borrow（借）a tennis racket and a tennis ball from the park manager（经理）, Ben. Ben said to Leo, "It's going to be4to play tennis by yourself.

    Let me help you learn." "Wow, that would be great!" said Leo happily.

    That afternoon, Leo learned5to play tennis from Ben. Johnny, Joe and Roger watched and6that Leo was learning the game, and he was really good7it. Johnny wanted to have a match with Leo. He thought he would surely win（获胜）the match.

    The next day, Johnny and Leo had their big match. The other boys were all shouting for Johnny.

    Leo was a little worried8he told himself he could do it. He tried to play as Ben taught him.

    In the end, Leo won.

    After that day, many boys wanted to play tennis with Leo. But Leo didn't really want to play with9. Leo felt they weren't true friends.

    Leo10forgot Ben and how nice he was to him. They still get together to play tennis.

Welcome to Happy Ocean Park Opening

    In 1834, the clock tower in London was burned down（烧毁）.

    People planned to build a new clock which would be the biggest and the best in the world. So the clock had to be big and keep very goodtime. Several years later the tower was finished. The people put the big clock in the tower, and made it ring out for the first time on July 11, 1859.

    In order to give the big clock a good name, people held a meeting.

    Someone wanted to call it the Queen of Bells, and someone thought Victoria was good. At last, a man named Benjamin Hall stood up. He was a big man. Before he started to speak, someone shouted, "Why not call it Big Ben?" Everyone laughed and agreed with him.

    From then on, Big Ben became its name. They even send bottles of oil to help keep Big Ben running. Big Ben is not only a clock but also a dear friend of people.

    Do you know what couch-potato means? Well, in America, the word is now often used. The American couch-potato becomes maybe even a part of American tradition. You see, in America, many people often spend their free time sitting on a couch（沙发）watching TV. As there are many programs to choose, the TV can be quite interesting and very addictive（上瘾的）. One may sit and watch TV for hour and hour without stop. They do nothing else but watch TV. These people are called couch-potatoes.

    In America, when one watches TV, he is most often sitting on a couch. While watching TV, most of these people look so frozen that they almost look dead. Everyone is sitting still（安静地） with eyes looking right into the same black box. Also because these people are addictive to TV, they don't exercise and usually get very fat. So in many ways, they look like real potatoes. Well, because they look so still and fat, and watch TV on a couch, they are all called couch-potatoes.

    Now you know what couch-potatoes means. The next time if you see someone watching TV too long, just say, "What a couch-potato!"

    When I was in primary school, I got into a big argument（争吵）with a boy in my class. I forgot what the argument was about, but I will never forget the lesson I learned that day.

    I thought that I was right and he was wrong – and he thought that I was wrong and he was right. The teacher decided to teach us a very important lesson.

    She brought us to the front of the class and asked him to stand on one side of her desk and me on the other. In the middle of her desk was a large, round ball. I could clearly see that it was black.

    She asked the boy what color the ball was. "White," he answered.

    I couldn't believe he said the ball was white, when it was obviously（明显地）black! Another argument started between us, this time about the color of the ball.

    The teacher told us to change places and then asked me what color the ball was. I answered:

    "White."

    It was a ball with two differently colored sides, and from his side it was white. Only from my side it was black.

    Sometimes we need to look at problems from the other person's view in order to（为了）truly understand his or her perspective（观点）.

Monday, July 15^th

    I arrived in Penang in Malaysia this morning with my family. It was sunny and hot, so my sister and I      （尝试）paragliding on the beach. I felt like I was a       （鸟）.

    It was so exciting! In the afternoon, we rode      （自行车）to Georgetown. There we saw the houses of the Chinese traders from 100 years ago. I      （想知道）what life was like in the past. I really enjoyed walking around the town.

Tuesday, July 16^th

    What a difference a day makes! My father and I      （决定）to go to Penang Hill today. We wanted to walk up to the      （顶部）, but the weather was terrible so we planned to take the train. We waited over an hour for the train because there were      （充满的）of people. When we finally arrived there, it was      （下雨）really hard. We didn't have an umbrella so we were w       and cold. And my father didn't bring       （足够的）money, so we only had one bowl of rice and some fish. It was a terrible day!

    A man was visiting a rich person's house. As he went along the road, he saw       box of apples at the side of the road. He said: "I do not want to eat those      (apple). The rich man will give       some nice food to eat." Then he took the apples and threw them away into the dust（尘土）. He went on and came to a river. The river got so high, and he could       get through it.

    He      (wait) for some time and then he said: "I cannot go       the rich man's house today, because I cannot get over the river."

    He      (start) to go home. He had eaten no food that day. He began to want something to eat       he was really hungry. He came to the apples, and he was happy      (take) them out of the dust and eat them.

          throw good things away. You may be happy to have them later.

Dear Li Yun，

    Long time no see! How is everything going? I miss you very much. I think you must be more beautiful now. Tell me what you look like now.

Yours,

Linda