Dear Auntie Em，
Great news! Mrs. Mumford just told me I had been chosen as one of the school （61） （student） to visit the University of Cape Town in South Africa this summer! She said the program （62） （design） for some of the brighter teenagers to experience a different culture．（63） a good chance!
The only problem is：mom and dad （64） （simple） won't let me go．They said it was dangerous for me，a girl，（65） （travel） alone．But my guess is that they think it too expensive．I kept telling （66） （they） I had been on a plane alone to visit you in Texas before．They needn't worry about me（67） this trip would be almost the same as that one．（68） ．They just won't listen!
Will you help，Auntie Em？It will be （69） very important experience to my personal growth．
Love，（and love you even （70） （much） if you manage to make mom & dad agree with me．
）
At 7 am，we got on the state﹣of﹣the﹣art Fuxing Hao train at Shanghai Railway Station.We stored our（1） （背包）and found our seats.Unlike other trains which start with a shake and much（2） （噪音），this train felt so smooth that if you were not looking out of windows，you could（3） （几乎不）tell we were moving.Yet，within minutes，we were passing over the rails at speeds of more than 350 kilometers an hour.
Soon，the towns of（4） （东部的）China were rushing by.I saw my wife smiling and（5） （指向）to a coin she had balanced on the table.She took another coin and balanced it next to the first，and then another，until she had a（6） （行）of coins.They stood there on the table for more than 20 minutes before one finally fell over.
After that，we（7） （两个都）went back to reading and enjoying the beauty outside.We felt quite（8） （放松的）.Then，before we knew it，we heard the announcement that we were arriving in Beijing.For 1，318 kilometers，we（9） （花费）only 4 hours and 38 minutes.Thanks to high speed trains，we can travel in China much more conveniently.No（10） （疑惑），they will also bring the people of the country closer together，and in time bring about deep social changes，the full nature of which no one can fully guess.
A bookstore in Kaohsiung got international attention after CNN reported on the unusual decoration （装饰）in it.The store，Wuguan Books，is known as（1） "experimental bookstore" because of the dark lighting used to show the books on sale，Wuguan Books
（2） （lie）at Pier﹣2 Culture Center，which is full（3） special cafes and exhibits.The bookstore is almost（4） （complete）dark，except for the shelves （书架）of books.There are over 400 shelves of books in the store，with many（5） （light）placed around books.It appears as if books themselves are lighting up the darkness.
The bookstore（6） （create）by Chu Chih﹣kung not long ago，with the purpose of increasing people's senses when（7） read books.Su Yu﹣shan，the
（8） （ manage）of the store，says the environment can help people learn to do "soul （灵魂）reading" by（9） （provide）a private experience with each book that draws one's attention.（10） it might not be for everyone，Wuguan Books creates a very different kind of environment from most bookstores.
Trees play an important role in our environment.For a start，they make air（1） （更干净的）for us to breathe.The older a tree is，the more important it is to us.Why not look at ancient trees（2） （仔 细地）around you and find out more？
For the past （3） （十五）years，a charity called the Woodland Trust has been recording ancient trees in the country.It has created a database （数据库）about these tree.
Since the database was set up，the Woodland Trust has（4） （添加）over 180，000 trees，but it believes there are many more to be found.It's hoped that all（5） （成员）of the public will help to locate them ﹣ including you.
You can take an（6） （积极 的）part in the Woodland Trust's project.Perhaps when you next go for a walk with your family，you can examine the trees you pass to see
（7） （它的）age.If you find one that you think could be very old，record（8） （确切地）where it is using an online map.If you want to record the tree，you should take a photo.Don't（9） （忘记）to make sure you are allowed to examine it closely if the tree isn't on public land.
"Ancient trees are as much a part of our heritage （遗产）as works of（10） （艺术），"explains Jeremy Evans of the Woodland Trust. "But they don't get the same protection.The good news is，you don't have to be a tree expert to take part".
They eat wild animals，plants，berries，nuts，and insects.They hunt with bows and arrows.There are lots of dangerous snakes and spiders.It's one of southern Africa's
（1） （hot） places，and there is often no water.Then they have to get water from plant（2） they are ill，there are no hospitals.The people have to get medicine from plants too.
They are the San，（3） last people living in the Kalahari.The San people have another name-"bush people".（4） （they） lifestyle is very simple，but they know more about animals and plants than most people do.The San people live in small groups of 25﹣ 50.They live in huts-little "houses".These houses（5） （make）of wood and grass.There are no schools for the children.Children learn from the older people in the group.There are lots of things they have to learn so that they can live（6） a dangerous place like the Kalahari.In the evenings，the group of people often sit around a fire and tell stories.
The Kalahari is a big area of bushland in the southern Africa.It（7） （have）two parts.There is less rain in the southern part than in the northern part，（8） the south is drier.There are fewer plants and animals there，and it's more difficult for people
（9） （live）.But when it rains at the end of the summer，the land becomes greener and more beautiful.For a few weeks，there are（10） （million）of little flowers and even butterflies!
Edgar Snow（1905-1972）was an American reporter.He is best known for his books and（1） （文章）on Communism in China and the Chinese Communist revolution.
Snow came to China in 1928.He spent over 10 years（2） （旅行）widely in China and trying to understand its people.At the same time，he tried to show what he learned to the rest of the world.
For（3） （例子），Red Star Over China，which came out in the1930s，is known as the first book that introduced China's revolution to the west.In it，Snow（4） （收集）firsthand information on the Long March，as well as on the work and lifestyle of members of the Communist Party of China in Shaanxi Province.
Many Westerners were introduced to the Party through his book.Norman Bethune，a
（5） （加拿大的）doctor，came to China after reading Snow's book.He worked
（6） （努力地）to save the lives of Chinese soldiers during World War I.
"When the（7） （整个的）world had forgotten us，Snow came to see us and told the world what had happened.We will remember Snow's great help to China forever，" Chairman Mao said during an（8） （采访）with a German reporter in 1938.
Snow's spirit is still needed now，as well as in the（9） （将来），according to People's Daily. "No writer has spoken more（10） （强烈地）about Sino﹣US relations than Edgar Snow.And no matter the era，people around the world always need some sort of link，"the paper said.
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