Unit 1
A
A letter from a penfriend
Middle Street
Walker
Newcastle
NE6 4BY
England
UK
12 October
Dear Li Jie
Hi! Your name and address are in Penfriends magazine. I would like do be your penfriend. My
name is Simon. My Chinese name is Li Peichun. I am twelve years old. How old are you? I am
163 cm tall. I have short black hair and brown eyes. My hobby is playing chess.
I live with my parents in the UK. They are from Beijing. My parents own a Chinese restaurant in
Newcastle. We live in a house near our restaurant. I can speak Chinese, but I cannot write it very
well. I have a brother. His name is Edwin. He is 23. He works as an accountant in London. How
many people are there in your family? What do they do?
I am in Year 7 at Walker School. It is near my house, and I can walk to school. I like my school.
The teachers are very friendly. I am keen on sports. I enjoy playing rugby and badminton in winter,
and tennis in summer. My best subject at school is maths. I want to be an engineer.
Here is a photo of myself and some school friends. I am in the middle. Li Jie, please tell me all
about yourself.
Best wishes
Simon
B2 My school friends
Dear Kelly
Do you like this photo of me with my school friends? I am in glasses. Can you see me? On the
right is Sally. She is my best friend at school. She is always happy to help everyone. On the left is
Li Jie. I play table tennis with her every afternoon.
The boys stand behind us. Sun Fei wears glasses too. He is a painter. His paintings are very
beautiful. He is also a basketball player on the school team. Our school team often wins the Middle School Championship in the city. Wang Gang is a very good swimmer. He practices every
morning and night. He wants to be one of the best swimmers in the world. He is the boy next to
Chen Yu. Chen Yu is the tallest boy in the class. He is good at tennis. His favourite tennis player is
Roger Federer. Li Ming is the boy on the right. He is not very good at sports but he is very
friendly to everyone around him. We all like him a lot.
Unit 2
A A day in the life of… P 18
WHIZZ-KID CHENG NA
Cheng Na, 15, is one of the top students in Guangzhou. She writes computer games and all of her
family work in her business. She is still at school!
6 a.m.
I get up at six o’clock, wash and put on my school uniform. I have breakfast with my parents.
Every morning we discuss business at breakfast.
7:30 a.m.
Every day, my driver drives me to school in my own car. I sometimes make phone calls to clients
on the way to school.
8 a.m.
I start school. I enjoy seeing my school friends. I usually get A grades in all my subjects.
12:30 p.m.
About twice a week my driver picks me up from school. I go and have lunch with a client. Then I
come back to school.
4:15 p.m.
After school usually go to a club
. On Fridays we have Computer Club meetings. On Mondays and
Thursdays I play basketball. Once a week I have piano lessons. I do my homework for an hour or
two before dinner.
7 p.m.
I always have dinner with my parents. We discuss our business. Then I go to my office and
continue working on my games. I usually go to bed at 11 p.m.
B Zhen Hui’s daily life P19
Zhen Hui studies at a middle school in Guangzhou. Every day, she wakes up at six o’clock in the
morning. She quickly brushes her teeth and washes her face. Then she reads English for half an
hour. She has breakfast at seven o’clock. She usually has two pieces of bread and a glass of milk.
After breakfast, Zhen Hui goes to school. She lives near school and always walks there. she
usually gets to school at eight o’clock, and usually has six lessons. Zhen Hui loves English very
much, and always gets an A. She usually gets a B in her other subjects.
After school, Zhen Hui usually walks home at four o’clock in the afternoon. Her favourite sport is
table tennis. She plays table tennis with her classmates at school once a week.
Zhen Hui often has an early dinner. She begins to do her homework at six o’clock and completes it
in one or two hours. She usually goes to bed at nine o’clock.
Unit 3
A Dealing with trouble P 34
Friday, 28 September
Today my father and I waited for the ferry. Suddenly, two women and a man began arguing. The
man held out a bag and showed it to the women. There was nothing in it.
Everyone looked at the three people. My father went up and asked one of the women, “Is
something wrong?”
“He stole my purse,” said the woman. “We were in the bookshop and three young men were
behind us. Then I couldn’t find my purse. The other two men ran away, and we followed this man
here.”
Then the gates opened. The man hurried aboard, and the two women went after him.
“Wait,” said my father. “Let’s take the next ferry.” Then he hurried to an ice cream shop, picked up
the phone and quickly called 110.
“I want to report a theft. A man stole a purse from a woman. He has a green shirt and a blue bag.
He’s on the No. 3 Ferry now. It left a few minutes ago. Please meet it on the other side of the
river.”
We took the next ferry. When we got off, we saw six policemen standing around the man. He was
in handcuffs.
“Well done, Dad,” I said. “You are so great!”
B There was no easy answer P 35
When Chen Yu woke up, it was already six o’clock. “Oh no!” he said. Last night he stayed up late
to work on his science project, but he did not complete it. It was due today. Chen Yu was worried.
The science teacher was sure to be anger with him.
Chen Yu put on his clothes quickly and ran out of the door. It was very cold outside. He rode his
bike quickly and ran out of the
door.
“What should I do?” thought Chen Yu. “I want to help her but I do not have time. I have to
complete the project before school.”
“She should not walk around on her own in this cold weather without her walking sick,” thought
Chen Yu, but he felt guilty not to stop and help her.
Suddenly, he had an idea. He rode quickly to the telephone booth on the side of the road and
called an ambulance. Five minutes later, an ambulance picked up Mrs. Li, and Chen Yu got on his
bike and happily rode to school.
Unit 4
A My life’s work—— studying stars P 50
When I was about eight, I got a book about stars. That was the beginning of my life’s work. When
I was young, I did not use to have much money. I could not buy expensive things, but I had my
eyes. I used to go outside every night to look at the stars.
There are billions of stars in the sky—but you can only see about 3,000 with your won eyes.
Get a map of the stars and begin to find your way through the sky. in different seasons, you can
see different group of stars. The shapes of these groups never change. It is easy to learn the name
of each group. When you know these, you many start to look at the stars inside each group. Not all
stars are the same. Some are big, and some are small. Some look white, some look red and some
look blue.
Sometimes, you may see a star move. However, if you see it move from one group to another, then
it is not a star but a planet. You are able to see Venus and Jupiter easily. They are both very bright.
It is easy to see Mars, too. It looks red. You will soon begin to learn more easy to see Mars, too. It
looks red. You will soon begin to learn more and more about the stars. Then you will want to find
out even more about them.
B Taking photographs P 51
A photographer can have a very interesting life. Norman Parkinson was a famous English
photographer. He liked travelling to interesting places and taking photographs. It was his hobby as
well as his job.
Taking photographs is a favorite hobby of many people all over the world. It can help us
remember things. We all love to take photographs of each other, especially when we travel to new
places. We also like to have a photograph of everybody in the group together. When we want to be
in the picture, we need to ask someone to take the photograph for us.
Having photographs is important because people and places always change. It is very sad, for
example, if children cannot look at photographs of their parents or grandparents. What did
Grandfather look like? Where did he use to live? If we do not have photographs, children may not
know the answers to these questions. Photographs help us know and understand our history.
This picture is more than fifty years old. Guangzhou later held the Chinese Export Commodities
Fair in this building. Do you think the old pict
ure helps us remember life if the past?
1 Was taking photographs a hobby or a job for Norman Parkinosn?
2 Why do people all over the world like taking photographs?
3 What can you do if you ant to be in the picture yourself?
4 What does the fifty-year-old picture show us?
Unit 5
Unit5 ReadingA
DINOSAURS
Dinosaurs lived on Earth more than sixty millionyears beforehuman beings．They lived
everywhere．Some dinosaurs were as small as chickens．Others were as big as ten elephants．Some
dinosaurs could even fly．
Many dinosaurs were gentle and ate plants．Others were dangerous and ate meat．
Dinosaurs all died outsuddenly．Nobody knows the reason．However，people can learn about the
lives of dinosaurs from fossils of their skeletons，eggs and footprints．(See Earth History)
DISNEY，WALT
Disneyland is a famous park in the USA．Its founderwas Walt Disney (1901-1966)．He is famous
for his cartoon characters such asMickey Mouse，Donald Duck，Goofy and Snow White．
Disney was born in the USA．After leaving school，he sold newspapers and delivered letters．At
the same time，he studied art at night．Finally，he got a job drawing cartoons for films．
Sometimes a mouse sat on Walt's desk when he was at work．He drew the mouse and put it in a
cartoon．This became Disney's most famous cartoon character — Mickey Mouse．Mickey soon
became a star and Disney became rich and famous．(See Cartoons)
ReadingB
Jean Champollion (1790-1832) was very good at languages．He learnt twelve languages in his
life．When he was eighteen，he began teaching history at university．He was younger than many
of his students!
Jean was very interested in ancientEgypt and in 1821 he began to study the Rosetta Stone．A group
of soldiers found this stone at Rosetta when Jean was still a young boy．It was under the sand for
hundreds of years before they dug it up．There was a lot of strange writing on the stone．The
writing was in three languages．One of the languages was ancient Egyptian．No one could read it
at that time．But Jean worked out its secret．
Ancient Egyptian was not a language with letters and words like English．It was full of
signs．According to many experts，these signs showed things and ideas．Jean did not completely
agree．He thought that some of them showed sounds．He found fifteen signs of this kind in his
study of the Rosetta Stone．Today，it is possible to understand ancient Egyptian from 4，000 years
ago because of Jean's discovery．
MP B
Panda is the name of an Asian animal．A panda is a large，black and white bear-like animal．It lives
in bamboo forests in south-western China．
The giant panda has a chubby white body with black legs and shoulders．It has a large round
head，small black ears and a white face witha black patch around each eye．The panda grows from
1 met
re to 1.5 metres tall and has a short tail．An adult panda can weighup to 150 kilograms．Giant
pandas are like bears in shape and sizeand they walk in the same slow clumsy way．They also can
stand up on their hind legs，like bears．The female gives birth to one or two baby pandas once a
year．
A giant panda mainly eats bamboo shoots，but it eats other plants as well．A giant panda may eat
as much as 30 kilograms of bamboo a day． Giant pandas are rare and are protected by law in China．
Unit 6
A Nobody wins (part 1 ) P 82
Unit6
RedingA
Nobody wins (Part Ⅰ)
Captain King often tells his friends stories of his adventures．This is one of
them．Towardsevening，we landed on an unknown planet．Lam，our pilot，brought us down gently
in a valley．We left the ship and saw a cave．We went into the cave．It was someone's home and
everything inside was huge!
"Let's get out of here，" Peters，our navigator，said．"This is the home of a monster．"
"Maybe it's a friendlymonster，" I said．"We'll wait．"
Suddenly，a door opened and some animals jumped out．They looked like kangaroos．Behind
them was a huge monster．The kangaroos shouted，"Good night，Gork．" Then they jumped away．
Then Gork saw us．He gave a roar，"Aliens! Aliens in my cave．How did you get in here?"
I thought fast，and said quietly，"Good evening，Mr Gork．My name is Nobodyand..."
Gork roared again，"You're aliens and we kill all aliens in this valley．Tomorrow morning，you
are going to die! All of you．" Then he pressed a button on the wall．Steel bars rose suddenly
fromthe ground around us and closed overour heads．
"Well，Captain，" Lam asked，"why did you name yourself 'Nobody'?"
"I have a plan and 'Nobody' is part of it，" I replied．"You'll see．
"I turned to Gork and said，"We come in peace，Mr Gork．"
Gork said，"You come in peace，but tomorrow you'll be in pieces．"
Peters turned towards me，and his voice shook．"We're all going to die，sir．"
"No，we're not，" I said．"We're all going to live，Peters! Trust me!"
ReadingB
Kelly always wanted to be a scientist．She was interested in maths and physics．She hoped to
work in spaceone day．"I will discover something important in the future，" she often told herself．
Every evening，Kelly went out with her dog to look at the stars．One night，she saw a strange，
coloured lightmoving across the sky．
"It can't be a star，" she thought．"It's too bright．It must be a spaceship! I'm going to see it!"
She walked quickly towards the light．
"The people in the spaceship will want to talk to me．Can they speak our language? Will I be
able to understand them? Are they lost?
The spaceship landed a few metres in front of Kelly and the door slowly opened．Suddenly，
Kelly's dog ran towards the spaceship．Kelly c
ried，"This can't be true!" Two huge dogs stood at
the door of the spaceship．The visitors from space were dogs! They said a few words to Kelly's
dog．Kelly's dog looked at Kelly and then turned and ran into the spaceship．Then the spaceship
was gone．
LanguageC
Listen，everyone．Here are the arrangements for the trip．We are going to
meettomorrow at 7:30 a．m．and take the bus to Fenghuang Mountain．Then we'll walk
to the campsite．We'll arrive there around 10:30 a．m．
We are going to return toour school on Sunday．We'll catch a bus back in the
evening．It will leavearound 6:15 p．m．and we'll be back home around 7:30 p．m．Any
question?
B Kelly’s visitors P 83
Unit 7
Unit7
ReadingA
Nobody wins (Part Ⅱ
ⅡⅡ
Ⅱ)
A1．After his dinner，Gork fell asleepon his bed right away．
"Listen，everyone，" I said．"Here's my plan．We'll use this small powerful laser torch to get out
of the cage．First，I'll melt the bars and then..."
Peters interruptedme，"I know，Captain．Then you'll use the torch to kill Gork．"
"No，" I said．"If we kill him，we won't be able to open the huge door．"
I melted the bars on the cage and we all got out of the cage．I went up to the bed，beside Gork's
head．I shouted，"Gork，this is Nobody!"
Gork woke up．I aimed the torch at his eye and the laser beam hitthe eye．
Gork roared，"My eye! I can't see!" The noise brought his kangaroo friends to his door．They
opened it，and asked，"What's wrong，Gork?"Gork shouted，"Nobody attacked me．Nobody hurt
my eye．"
The kangaroos laughed and said，"Nobody attacked you．You just had a bad dream! Let's go back
to bed．Good night，Gork．"
My crew and I secretly climbed into the huge kangaroos' pockets and they carried us out．
A few seconds later，we all jumped out to freedom．
"Then，what happened to Gork?" asked someone．
"Gork? I don't know．Maybe he's still in his cave and looking for Nobody．"
Everyone laughed．
ReadingB
In 1897，H G Wells wrote a science fiction book about spaceships coming to Earth．Its name was
The War of the Worlds．The book was still very popularin the 1930s．On 30 October，1938，a man
named Orson Welles put out a radio programmefrom the book．The programme was different from
the book in one important way：in the programme the actorstalked like reporters and it sounded
like a news report to the listeners．
The actors said，"Space people from the planet Mars are going to attack Earth．Huge things like
snakes will come out of spaceships and kill people and people's guns cannot hurt any of them．"
When people heard this，they were very afraid．Some even left their homes and tried to hide．
Orson Welles waited 40 minutes and later he told the listeners the truth．However，many listeners really believed the news r
eport．They were afraidat first and then they became angry．
In fact，30 October is the day before a famousholiday in the USA and some other countries．On
this holiday，people play jokes on other people．The holidayis Halloween．
MP A
David Vetter died before he was 13 years old．In his twelve years，he never touchedanother
person!
David Vetter was born with a strange disease．Everything made him sick．Food and water made
him sick．The air made him sick．Most things were not clean enoughfor him．Doctors had to put
David in a small plastic bubble and they had to clean everything before he touched it．
When David was small，the bubble was small．There was enough room in it for David and they
providedhim with many toys．When David grew bigger，his bubble grew bigger，too．There was
enough room in it for lots of toys and books．He even had a bicycle．His parents could not touch
their son but they could read to him and talk to him through the speaker outside the bubble．
Several scientists studied David's problem，but no one could help him．The plastic bubble made it
a safe place for David to live，sincethe air inside was cleaner and the water was purer than
outside．But it was like a prison．He never got to live a happy life．