Do you like chocolate? Maybe most people do．A box of it can be a great gift．Buy one for a friend and give it as a surprise．See how happy that person gets．

　　Say you just got a box of chocolate．Which piece do you pick first? A man has studied people’s choices．He says they tell something about the person．Did you choose a round piece? You are a person who likes to party．Did you choose an oval(橢圓形的)shape? You are a person who likes to make things．Picking a square shape shows something else．The person is honest and truthful．You can depend on him or her．

　　What kind of chocolate do you pick? Maybe you like milk chocolate．This shows you have warm feelings about the past．Dark chocolate means something else．A person who chooses it looks toward the future．What about white chocolate? Would you choose it? If so, you may find it hard to make up your mind．Some people like chocolate with nuts(果仁)．These are people who like to help others．

　　Do you believe these ideas? Can candy tell all these things? It doesn’t really matter．There is one sure thing about eaters of chocolate．They eat it because they like it．

　　In America, when people say “man’s best friend”, they don’t mean another person．Instead, they are talking about a lovely animal－dog! These words show the friendship between people and animals．Dogs and other pets can give happiness to people’s lives．Some people think of their pets as their children．A few even leave all their money to their pets when they die!

　　Animals can help people, too．Dogs can be taught to be the “eyes” for a blind person or “ears” for a deaf person．Scientists have found that pets help people live longer! They make people happier, too．Because of that, animals are brought into hospitals for “visits”．

　　Americans hold “Be Kind to Animals Week” in the first week of May．Pet shows are held during the week．Even if you don’t live in America, you can do this, too．How? First, think about how animals make your life richer．If you have a pet, take more time this week to play with it．Remember to give it delicious food．Also, be sure to keep your pet from those unwanted babies．

　　If you don’t have a pet, be kind to animals around you．For example, if you see a dog on the street, don’t kick it or throw things at it．Instead, just leave it alone, or better yet, make friends with it．If others around you do bad things to an animal, try to stop them．As people, we must protect animals who can’t speak for themselves．

　　A professor from New York University once went to a remote area to do some science research．One day, he ate something wrong and became sick, but it was too far to go back to the city．“I have to see a doctor．” he said to a local．“How can I be sure of getting a good one?”

　　“It’s easy,” was the reply, “Every time a doctor loses a patient, it’s our law that he must fly a balloon above his office．”

　　So he began his search．One doctor flew 20 balloons, another 30．Then the professor found an office that was flying only five, and went in．

　　“You have to wait．．I’ve been very busy,” the young doctor told him．“I started my business only yesterday．”

　　On Christmas Eve－the night before Christmas Day－children all over Britain put a stocking at the end of their beds before they go to sleep．Their parents usually tell them that Father Christmas will come during the night．

　　Father Christmas is very kind and hearted．He gets to the top of each house and climbs down the chimney into the fireplace．He fills each of the stockings with Christmas presents．

　　Of course, Father Christmas isn't real．In Jim and Kate's house, "Father Christmas" is really Mr．Green．Mr．Green doesn't climb down the chimney．He waits until the children are asleep．Then he quietly goes into their bedrooms and fills their stockings with small presents．When they were very young, Mr．Green sometimes wore a red coat．But he doesn't do that now．The children are no longer young, and they know who "Father Christmas" really is．But they still put their stockings at the end of their beds．

閱讀理解

Every year there is a Spring Festival in China．Usually it is in January or February．In 2011, it is on February 3rd．But in 2012, it is on January 23rd．It is the most important festival in China．So before it comes, everyone has to prepare(準(zhǔn)備)things．They buy pork, beef, chicken, fruit and many other things, and they often make a special kind of food called “dumplings”．It means “come together”．On that day before the festival, parents buy new clothes for their children．On the Festival Eve, all the family members come back to their hometown．This is a happy moment．They sing, dance and play all kinds of games．Others get the dinner ready．When they enjoy the meal, they give each other the best wishes for the coming year．Children usually get some Lucky Money(壓歲錢)．At 12∶00, people let off fireworks to welcome the coming of the Spring Festival．All the people, rich or poor, old or young, are the happiest at this time．

閱讀理解

　　American schools begin in September after a long summer holiday．There are two terms in a school year; the first term is from September to January, and the second is from February to June．Most American children begin to go to school when they are five years old．Most students are seventeen or eighteen years old when they finish high school．

　　High school students take only four or five subjects each term．They usually go to the same classes every day, and they have homework for every class．After class, they do many interesting things．

　　After high school, many students go to college．They can go to a small one or a large one．They usually have to give a lot of money．So many college students work after class to get money for their studies．

閱讀理解

Aunt Jane’s birthday is coming．She will be 40 years old．Dad and Mum are going to take me to her house．We want to go there by train．Mum says we will leave on Friday evening, and come back on Sunday afternoon．The birthday party is on Saturday．I am going to give my dear Aunt Jane a card．I am making it now．I use my colour pencils to draw some nice flowers on the card, then I draw a small cat on it, too．Aunt Jane likes cats．The card is very nice．Dad says his sister will like it very much．

閱讀理解

There is a new park near Andy’s home．It’s fine today．Andy and his family are in the park now．On their left, there is a café．On their right, there is a big lake．There are many flowers and trees around the lake．There’s a small hill behind the lake．Near the lake, there are two signs．One says, “Don’t swim in the lake!” The other says, “No fishing!” But you can go boating on the lake．There is a beautiful garden in the middle of the park．There is green grass and beautiful flowers in it．There are some small shops between the lake and the garden．The park is so nice．Andy and his family like it very much．

閱讀理解。

　　Every morning, the newspaper chief editor(主編)holds a meeting with the reporters．They discuss the main events(事件)of the day．Reporters are then sent to cover the events．

　　As soon as the reporters know what to write about, they get down to work．They telephone people and fix a time for a face-to-face interview with them．Sometimes they do telephone interviews．Checking information is very important．They go to the newspaper’s own library to look up any information that they need．This is called “doing one’s homework”．

　　At the same time, the picture editor decides which photographs will be used for the next day’s paper．All the people who work on a newspaper must be able to work fast．Reporters have to stop working on one story and start working at once on the important new one．They must find out the new information as quickly as possible．Later in the day, everything is put together at the news desk．Reporters return, type(打字)their stories into the computer and hand them to the editor．

　　The chief editor decides which will be the most important story on the front page．Sometimes this will have to be changed if something more important happens late in the day．Other word editors read the stories which the reporters have written and make any necessary changes．

　　Finally, there is no more time left for adding new stories, and the time for printing(印刷)the newspaper has come．This is done on fast-moving printing(印刷)machines．The newspapers are then delivered(發(fā)送)by truck(卡車), plane or rail(鐵路)．Speed is important．People want to buy the latest newspaper; nobody wants to buy yesterday’s．

閱讀理解。

　　What’s the most important thing for you to have in your life?Somebody mentions(提到)hard-work, others suggest knowledge, love and luck．

　　If you arrange(排列)the 26 English letters alphabetically(按字母表的順序)and use numbers to represent(代表)each of them, for example, 1 for a, 2 for b, 3 for c…, you can change an English word into a number．So hard-work becomes 8＋1＋18＋4＋23＋15＋18＋11＝98．It means that 98 is its mark．(分?jǐn)?shù))Knowledge becomes 11＋14＋15＋23＋12＋5＋4＋7＋5＝96 while love becomes 12＋15＋22＋5＝54, and luck　becomes 12＋21＋3＋11＝47, a small mark．None of these words can give one a full mark．What about money or prayer(祈禱)?They can’t, either．

　　Then what else? Don’t be worried．You can always find an answer to a problem in your life, when you change your way of looking at things or doing things, or your attitude(態(tài)度)．Yes, attitude is the word．See for yourself：attitude：1＋20＋20＋9＋20＋21＋4＋5＝100, a full mark．

　　Different attitudes lead to different courses of life．Most time people hope for a better life．It is possible that one will have a change for the better after one has changed one’s attitude．

　　When you change your manner and became friendly towards others, you’ll meet more smiling faces towards you．In the same way, if you take a positive(積極地)attitude towards failure(失敗), you’ll find you can also get something though you lose something．