My holiday is coming. Yesterday I asked my friends about the best way to travel in the USA. They said the best way was to go by bus and told me the reasons.

To fly, of course, is the fastest way, but you can't see anything during your stay in the air but the blue sky and white clouds. So it’s not very interesting to you. And the cost is very high.

To travel by train is relaxing because you can walk and buy food and drinks on it. You can also see cities and the countryside through the windows. But sometimes it’s crowded on the train. And it's hard to buy train tickets during holidays.

To travel by bus is easy, cheap and convenient, though not so fast as travelling by plane or so comfortable as by train, you can find buses almost in every city, big or small. That makes travel easy.

I took their advice. So I decided to take a bus to the south coast for an interesting trip.

A squirrel(松鼠)that was nearly killed nine years ago continues to visit the family that saved, raised and later sent her into the wild.

In October 2009, a four-week-old squirrel was almost killed by an owl(猫头鹰). Luckily, a wildlife rescue group saved her and left her in the care of Brantley Harrison and her family in South Carolina. The Harrisons often look after wild animals and later send them back into the wild.

The Harrisons named her Bella. With three other squirrels, Bella stayed in Brantley’s care until spring. During her stay Bella acted similarly to the other squirrels. In April 2010, the squirrels were sent back into the wild. Bella, however, wasn’t ready to leave her human family. Within days of being released, she started visiting them, looking for treats. Brantley said that the other squirrels also came back over the first few days, but within a week they stopped coming by and began to avoid people.

“Bella usually sits at the front door, waiting for someone to notice her. She comes almost day,” said Brantley. Her husband John often brings Bella nuts as she is usually waiting by the door for him. Actually Bella has become a member of the family.

For nine years, she continues to visit them. Brantley said, “If Bella can teach at least one person to care for all living things, no matter how big or how small, then we have done what we have set out to.”

How funny would it be to see memes(表情包)in textbooks? Some students from Chengdu No. 7 High School have made it come true.

The students wrote a set of creative textbooks that includes five subjects —Chinese, English, maths, chemistry and physics. They share their notes to help students prepare for High School Entrance Exams in this way. Funny memes can be seen almost everywhere in their textbooks.

Each textbook has its own style, too. The English textbook introduces films and TV series. The chemistry textbook has wuxia characters. There is a boy named Shangguan Huaxue in the book. He meets a girl and they learn chemistry together. It also has wuxia-style notes.

Yan Zuhuai, a top student at Chengdu No. 7 High School, is the textbooks’ editor-in-chief(主编). He got the idea to create the books in June, 2017. “Many students wanted me to share my notes with them. When I saw people sharing bikes, I thought I could share knowledge, too.” Yan said.

But after putting all of his notes together, he found them boring. Realizing that his classmates enjoyed online novels and memes, he decided to add those things to his notes. He wrote guidelines for each textbook and invited 13 students to join him in creating them.

The final versions(版本) of the textbooks came out at the end of December. Many publishing houses have shown an interest in them.

How to build self-confidence

These tips could help anyone who is trying to build self-confidence（自信）. Remember to always love yourself and love others as you love yourself. Try not to be so hard on yourself or others.

Choose to deal with those who can lift you up. Talk to and hang out with friends and family. Make new friends with those who love you and really care about you.
16． Choose your friends carefully. Be careful of people who may make you feel bad or unhappy about yourself.

Get to know yourself, What are your values, your beliefs, your morals（道德观）, your wants, your needs and your tastes?
17．

18． You can not be perfect, you can only be the best you can be. No one in this world is perfect, so don’t blame（指责） yourself for making a mistake or not being perfect. Also, stop comparing yourself to others.
19．

Be kind to others and do nice things for them. This will help to build your self-confidence.
20． You will realize that by making other people happy, you yourself will also become happy with your life and yourself.

Steven lost an arm after a traffic accident years ago. On that day，he was ___ down by a car badly. His left arm bone was smashed（撞碎）. “I can't feel my hand！”Steven kept shouting ____ he woke up in the hospital. It was the only way he could think of to stop the things from getting ____，though it was no use at all. That was really the hardest time for him.

Life still went on. Steven ___ the next two years in the hospital. At first，he couldn't even tie his shoes，open a bottle of water or cut his fingernails（指甲）by himself. Later he knew he had to face all the ___. With the support of his wife，he began to ____ all kinds of activities. ___ he began dreaming of a better life and decided to learn to play the violin. Steven knew ___ about playing the violin and there was no one to ask for help. Therefore（因此），he made ___ progress，Then he met Lam，an amateur（业余的）____. Steven became Lam's first student. Then Steven kept practicing playing the violin ____ the help of Lam. Sometimes he also played ____ When he played on the street，what people offered was not sympathy（同情心）_____admiration.

Steven says playing the violin does not make life _____ for him，and he has to face new challenges every day. However，he won't ____. And he will never stop trying different new things in his life.

Reading is important in our daily life. But have you ever thought what we read
36．, information or skills? How do we feel when we read, excited or upset? We read word by word aloud and think about them. Is that enough? I think reading is more than
37． (pronounce) or thinking about words.

38． (recent)The Reader, a very popular TV program, is staged (上演) in the form of Reading. It’s a
39． (nation) reading program. Dong Qing works
40．both a hostess and a producer. The Reader hopes to tell us
41． the world is like and it takes us to see the beautiful world by reading. The show has invited some influential(有影响力的) guests who have rich experiences and touching stories, like Ni Ping, Wang Yuan from TFboys and Yao Chen.

“Reading touches people’s hearts” is the slogan(口号) of The Reader. What it wants
42． (show) isn’t reading skills but real feelings. They are what touches the audience(观众)most. “I have long thought about working on a program related to(与……有关)the human spirit. So far The Reader
43． (become) a turning point in my career in hosting and the program has brought me quite a huge challenge.” said Dong.

The Reader is of great
44． (important) to the audience and Chinese culture. It also tells us if we understand what we are reading, we will know what reading really is and we’ll become better
45．.

I will study in a high school soon. Everything is new to me. I hope your school is big and

假如你是李平，报名参加了今年荆门市举办的迎新春长跑。请你根据以下提示及要求，向某英语报社的编辑写一封电子邮件，谈谈你的参加经历及感受。

In order to build up our bodies, a Greeting New-Spring long-distance race was held in Jingmen. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Best wishes!

Li Ping