Harbin is a great city in China. It’s in the northeast of China. It’s famous for its cold winter. People call it “the Ice City”.

Every year, millions of people from all over the world visit Harbin. They come to see the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival. The festival usually begins in January. During the festival, visitors can enjoy the beautiful Ice and Snow World. They can see many kinds of ice and snow sculptures (雕塑). They can go skating and skiing too. If you like ice and snow, you will love Harbin.

Harbin is over 800 years old. Tourists can see many traditional (传统的) buildings in the city. They can also see many nice European style (欧洲风格) buildings in Central Street. People call Harbin “the Eastern Moscow(东方莫斯科)”.

Mr Brown got up late this morning. He was going to be late for work. It was raining hard and the streets were wet. He drove so fast that he didn’t see the red lights. He couldn’t stop his car and hit a car. An old man got out of the car and called out angrily, “What are you doing? How can you drive so fast?”

“I’m sorry, sir,” said Mr Brown, “I didn’t see the lights turn red.” Then he brought out a bottle of wine and gave it to the old man.

“It’s cold today, sir,” said Mr Brown, “Please drink a little, and then you’ll get warm.”

The old man drank some wine and became happy. He said, “I’m feeling much better now. Why don’t you drink any?”

“I can’t drink anything now, sir,” answered Mr Brown, “I’m waiting for the policeman. Only drunkards (酒鬼；醉鬼) cause accidents, you know!”

Mr Johnson lives in a town. He works in a museum. There are a lot of wonderful old things in it. He likes his work and often goes to work on time.

One day he left his office at twelve. He went to eat something. As soon as he went out of the gate, he met an old friend. They hadn’t seen each other for about five years. They were very happy. His friend asked him to drink. He agreed with him, and they went into a restaurant. There they drank a lot. Then his friend said, “Perhaps you’ve drunk too much. Let me help you get to your office.” “No, no,” said Mr Johnson. “My office is only two minutes’ walk. I can go there by myself.”

When his friend left, it was hard for him to stand. He was afraid to be late and stopped a taxi. When he got on, the driver asked, “Where are you going, sir?”

“To Park Street.”

“Oh! Sorry, sit,” the driver said in a hurry, “It’s just the Park Street.”

“OK!” Mr Johnson said and got off. He brought out some money and threw it to the driver. He shouted, “But don’t drive so fast next time!”

Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf, a cartoon film based on a popular Chinese cartoon TV series, won the hearts of children in China.

The Chinese cartoon began to show in public on 16th January, 2009 (the first day of the winter holiday for Chinese primary school students). The children seemed to go straight to the cinema.

Two weeks after its release (首次上映), the cartoon film got a box-office income (票房收入) of 68 million yuan more than that of Madagascar 2 (《马达加斯加2》), which was released in China on January 1, 2009.

“I think it is more interesting than Madagascar 2,” said 8-year-old Wang Lu who saw both Chinese and American cartoon films.

However some parents didn’t enjoy Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf so much. “It’s so childish that I almost fell asleep in the cinema,” Wang Lu’s father said.

But primary school children’s great interest has brought the great box office. Parents join their children in the cinema—buying two or three tickets to keep them company (陪伴).

Catherine is my good friend. She is from the US. She lived in Chicago when she was a little girl. After she grew up, she moved to Cuangzhou. She has blonde (金黄色的) hair and big green eyes. There are four people in her family. Her father is an engineer and her mother stays at home to take care of them. Catherine has a brother. He is a primary school student.

Catherine speaks English, and she can speak Chinese too. We often talk about our favourite books and movies. We know about each other very well. Every Friday, we go to the singing club together. We both like singing very much. After having the singing class, her mother often sends me back home. Sometimes, she can even stay overnight (过夜) at my home. We are like twin sisters.

Once there was a boy named Jimmy. He drew many beautiful interesting pictures, and many people bought his pictures. They thought this boy would be famous when he grew up, and then they were going to sell these pictures for a lot of money.

Jimmy’s pictures were different from other people’s because be drew on half of the paper, and the other half was always empty. “That’s very clever,” everyone said, “His drawing is special!”

One day somebody asked him, “Jimmy, why do you draw on the bottom (底部) half of your pictures, but not on the top half?”

“Because I’m short,” Jimmy said, “And my brushes can’t reach very hight.”

Some people think that all wild animals are dangerous. But in fact, very few of them will attack a man if he leaves them alone. If you meet a lion or an elephant, I guess you will run away. But even a lion will avoid (躲避) a man if it is not very hungry. Lions and tigers only kill and eat men when they have grown too old and too weak to catch their usual food, such as deer and other small animals. If you see a wild elephant, perhaps you will be frightened. However, elephants usually run away at once if you don’t attack them. Some animals get very frightened if they smell a man. Some stand and look at him for a moment before they run away. Some take no notice at all but walk away quietly in another direction. Wild animals only attack people when they are afraid that people want to harm (伤害) their babies, or when the hunters shoot at them and make them angry.

Mr Brown and his wife lived in a small house near London with their child. Mr Brown came back from his work very late. His wife and the child were asleep. He usually opened the front door of his house with his key quietly. But one night when he came home late, he lost his key. So when he reached his home, he rang the bell, but nothing happened. At last he had a good idea. He began to speak like a small child. “Mother!” he said, “I want to go to the toilet!” At once Mrs Brown woke up. Then he spoke to her, and she opened the door for him.

Americans with small families own a car. If both parents are working, they usually have two cars. If the family is big, they will buy a van (面包车).

Americans call vans “motor homes”. A motor home is always used for holidays. When a family is travelling to the mountains or to the seaside, they can live in their motor home for a few days or weeks. All the members of a big family can enjoy a happy trip because they are travelling together. That is why motor homes become popular. In America, there is a lot of parking for motor homes.

Mr Black and his wife had a third child last year. So they bought (买) a van. They put things on the sixth and the seventh seats, because a family of five must carry many suitcases (旅行箱) when they travel.

In England, nobody under the age of eighteen can drink in a bar (酒吧). Mr Green often went to a bar near his house, but he never took his son, Tom, because Tom was too young. After Tom had his eighteenth birthday party, Mr Green took Tom to his usual bar for the first time. There was one light at the end of the bar. They drank for an hour, and then Mr Green said to his son, “Now, Tom, I want to give you a lesson. You must be careful not to drink too much. How do you know when you have had enough? Well, let me tell you. Can you see those two lights at the end of the bar? If they seem to become four, you have had enough and should go home.”