（一）TV： a Blessing or a Curse

Nowadays television plays such an important role in pepoples life that watching TV has become part of peoples life in many families. Is TV a blessing or a curse？ Obviously， television， like anything else， has more than one face.

As is known to us， television presents a vivid and colorful world for people. Through TV， people can learn what is happening across the world and are better informed of the latest development in science and technology. TV broadens peoples scope of knowledge. In this sense， TV is a blessing. However， television can also be harmful. The rays sent out from TV screen are harmful to people. Furthermore， attacted by their favourite programmes， many people tend to watch TV too often or for a long time. And as aresult， their studies， and work may be neglected. Especially， if children stay up too late at night watching TV， they will feel sleepy in class the next day， and thus they will fall behind in their studies.

（二）To Make a Home Sweet

Goe the said “He is the happiest， being king or peasant， who find peace in his home”. It is true. Home is the warmest place in the world. Home is the harbor. No matter where you are， you would like to be back home in the end. Home is the place which we often need to build. In order to create a kind of warm and intimate atmosphere. As a member of the family， it is not right to demand perfection in each other. The proper way is to cultivate flexibility， patience， and sense ofhumour. Parents can be more open-minded and trust their children， and the children should understand their parentspains. If we have spare time after supper， we may often communicate with each other and talk about what happened in the daytime. This type of great importance because it often helps to deepen the feelings between the parents and children. If we do so， I believe our home will always be sweet.

（三）A Letter for Help

A Letter for HelpDear Uncle， How are you？ Next week an English speaking contest will be held in the city. A classmate of mine and I will take part in it on behalf of my school. I am excited but also mervous， because it is a good chance to improve my English. But I have no experience. Although I have been preparing for the contest， I am still not confident. As an expert in English， what would you advise me to prepare for the contest？ I plan to pay a visit to you this Saturday morning. I wonder whether you will be free then. If not， could you tell me the time that is convenient for you？ I am eager to get your instruction. I will appreciate any of your help.

Your niece，

Yang Mei

（四）A Letter to Haiqing

A Letter to HaiqingDear Haiqing， I am very sorry to learn that you are unhappy now. But I dont think you should be unhappy. I know that your iamily is not rich. So your parents cant afford to buy you something of famous brands， which makes you unhappy. But they have sent you to school so that you can receive good education and have abreght future. This is not easy for your parents. So you should think about your parents. Dont ask for something that is out of your parentsreach. Dont be vain-glorious. I also thind you should put your heart into study. Read more books and then you can get a lot from reading. Without the famous brand competition you will become happy. I hope I can help you out of unhappiness. Wish you happy.

Yours，

Huang Ping

（五）Winter holiday

Spring Festival is coming， I am very happy. On this winter holiday， I went to visit my grandparents with my parents. My grandmother is very zeal. Our dinner is very delicious. After the dinner， the people gave me money in red envelopes. I am very happy in this family with my grandparents.

Sometimes， we go to climb the mountains. The mountain is very high. Look！ There is a clean river near the mountain. And there are some beautiful flowers， grass and big trees. Some trees are orange trees， the others are banana trees. Oh， I am very tired but interesting.

I am very happy on this holiday because I like Spring Festival very much. What about you？

（六）My younger brother

I have a younger brother. His name is Yin Chenyue. He is 12 years old. His birthdayis December 15th. He has a pair of big eyes. He usually gets up at around 6：30 am. His favourite subject is math. Its difficult but interesting. Last class he always play ping-pong ball. Becauce he likes playing sports very much. I love him. We are good friends. I hope everybody likes him.

（七）Our School Library

This is our school library. Its open from 8：30 to 11：30 in the morning and from 1：30 to 4：30 in the afternoon. Its not very large. It has only three assistants and about two thousand books. The assistants are friendly and the books are interesting. So we often come here after class. From the library， you can borrow two books at a time， and keep them for two weeks. In its readingroom， there are tables and chairs. There you can do your homework or read the magazines.

（八）My Summer Holiday

Summer holiday is from July to August. Its a long time for me to do all kinds of things. I like visiting some places of interest. And I like travelling by train. It takes me too much time， but it saves money. Sometimes I stay at home and do my homework， sometimes I help my parents do some house work. When my parents are free， we often go to the park or the zoo， and we have a good time there. I have a good summer holiday.

（九）On Building a Paper Factory

A British company wants to build a paper factory in our city. But opinions are different on that issue. Some agree that we should build the paper factory. Ifwe do so， many new jobs can be created tbr local people， which will surely push the development of the citys economy. Whats more， the factory will bring in modern ideas of management and new machines， including equipment for protecting the environment. On the other hand， others insist on not having it built in the city， They are worrying about the pollution most. They believe that the factory will produce noises which will disturb peoples peaceful life. Besides， poisonous gas from the thctory will dirty the air we breathe. The river will also be polluted by the waste water from the factory.

（十） Do We Need Space Exploration

Man has been fascinated by outer space for thousands of years， It has been almost over forty years since mans first landing on the moon. Now， some people believe that space exploration is a sheer waste of time and money. They point out the thct that it cost billions of dollars to cant on the space research， but a little infrmation was brought back. In addition， the time and money spent on space exploration is too much to calculate.

However， every coin has two sides. There are still a majority of other people who believe that space exploration has more advantages. And I agree with those people. Many new products， such as weather and communication satellites， are also products of space programs， and they have benefitted people all over the world. And whats more. scientific knowledge about outer space has been acquired by the mankind.

We benefited a lot from space exploration. We believed that it will bring more benefits in the future， which perhaps we can not even imagine now. Space exploration is a challenge to human beings. Thats why several nations try hard to carry out space exploration continuously.

国王的兄弟

A poor man， presenting himself before the King of Spain， asked his charity， telling him that he was his brother. The king desiring to know how he claimed kindred to him. The poor fellow replied， “We all have one common father and mother—Adam and Eve.” Upon which the king gave him a little copper piece of money. The poor man said， “Is it possible that your Majesty should give no more than this to your brother？” “Away， away， ” replies the king， “if all the brothers you have in the world give you as much as I have done， youll be richer than I am.”

一個穷汉去见西班牙国王，说自己是他的兄弟，求他施恩周济。国王想知道他何以攀认亲戚。穷汉回答说，“我们有共同的祖先——亚当和夏娃。”听了这话，国王就给了他一个小铜子儿。于是穷人叫屈说：“难道您国王陛下就给兄弟这么一点点钱吗？”

“走开，快走，”国王回答，“如果世界上你所有的兄弟们都像我这样给你一个铜板，你就比我还有钱了。”