It is never too early, or too late, to encourage a child to read. With the chill(寒冷) of winter upon us, the following is a list of wonderful stories with winter and or snow themes.
Waiting for Winter
It was written by Sebastian Meschenmoser. A little squirrel(松鼠), who has never seen snow, is determined that he will not miss it this year. He gets the help of his good friends, a bear and a hedgehog, trying to stay awake until they can all see the first snowfall of winter. This book is a wonderful story to read aloud to young children or for older children to read by themselves.
The Snowy Day
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats is a short read, but since its first publication it has been loved by millions. It tells about a beautiful story about the magic and possibility of the first snowfall of winter, which appeals to young and older children.
The Polar Express
Popularized by the 2004 Warner Brothers all-digital film, The Polar Express was first published in 1985. The hero of this story is a boy who is given the opportunity to receive a gift from Santa himself. A magical train appears outside his bedroom window, taking him away on a fantastic journey to the North Pole.
Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree
It was written by Robert E. Barry. Mr Willowby orders a lovely new Christmas tree, and when it is delivered to his home he finds it far too tall. He has the top of the tree cut off in order to make it just the right height. This book follows the treetop on its journe y through the forest, where it brings the joy of the holidays for some woodland creatures. This book teaches us a valuable lesson about the joy of giving, and happiness that it can bring to the hearts of recipients(接受者).
From: terri @ wombat. Com. Au
To: (happylizijun) @ yaboo. com. cn
Subject: My school
Hi, Li Zijun,
Thanks very much for your email. I really enjoyed reading it. I think we have a lot in common. I wonder if our school life is similar too.
I go to a big high school in Sydney called Maylands High School. There are about 1000 students and 80 or so teachers. My class has 25 students in it, which is normal for a Year 11 class. In the junior school there are about 30 students in a class.
In the senior high school we have lots of subjects to choose from, like maths, physics, chemistry, biology, history, German, law, geography, software design, graphic arts and media studies. (Different schools sometime have different optional subjects.) English is a must for everyone and we have to do least three other subjects in Year 11 and 12. At the end of Year 12 we sit for a public exam called the High School Certificate.
As well as school subjects, most of us do other activities at school such as playing a sport, singing in the choir or playing in the school band. We can also belong to clubs, such as the drama club, the chess club and the debating society.
We have a lot of homework to do in senior school to prepare for our exam, so unless I have basketball practice, I usually go straight home and start studying. I arrive home about 4 pm, make myself a snack and work till 6. Then I help the family to make dinner and we all eat together. I'm usually back in my room studying by 8 pm. I stop at about 10 o'clock and watch TV or read a book for half an hour to relax. On Saturdays, I usually go out with my family or with friends and I sleep in till late on Sunday morning. Then it's back to the books on Sunday afternoon.
How about you? What's your school life like? Do you have a lot of homework? What do you do to relax when you're not studying? I'm looking forward to finding out.
Your Australian friend
Terrie
Memorandum（备忘录） To: Members of all departments From: Annette Derringer Subject: Year-end party Date: November 26 |
This is just a quick note to let you all know the arrangements for next month's year-end party. As you know, the party will be held at the Green Vale Country Club, which we have reserved between 6:00 pm and 10:00 pm on the evening of December 21st. 1 have received replies from almost all of you confirming attendance, but if you have not let me know yet, please do so in the next day or two. Tickets for all employees have been covered by the company. The manager of Green Vale has asked me to explain one or two things to those of you who have not been there before. Basically, there is enough parking space for only 100 vehicles, so he would like to ask those of you planning to drive to try car pool（拼车）as much as possible. Also, the number of lockers available is small, so guests should try to keep belongings to a ,minimum. Thanks in advance, Annette |
To: Annette Derringer aderringer@belway.com From: Kype Berwick Subject: Year-end party Date: November 28 |
Annette, I will be able to attend the year-end party at the Green Vale Country Club on December 21st although I do not think I will be able to arrive before 7:30. I was wondering if it would also be possible to bring a couple of guests. I know it is a bit of a last-minute request, but my brother and his wife are planning to visit us at that time, and they would love to see the Green Vale. If it is not a problem, then could you let me know how much I should pay for their tickets? Also, assuming this is OK, we are planning to drive down in a single car to reduce the need for paring and also to allow us to keep our belongings in the ear. I will have a couple of days off before the party, and I will not be in my office December 17th, so could you get back to me before then? Thanks a lot, Kyle |
Tom goes everywhere with Catherine Green, a 54-year-old secretary. He moves around her office at work and goes shopping with her. "Most people don't seem to mind Tom," says Catherine, who thinks he is wonderful. "He's my fourth child," she says. She may think of him and treat him that way as her son, buying his food, paying his health bills and his taxes, but in fact Tom is a dog.
Catherine and Tom live in Sweden, a country where everyone is expected to lead an orderly life according to rules laid down by the government, which also provides a high level of care for its people. This level of care costs money.
People in Sweden pay taxes on everything, so aren't surprised to find that owning a dog means yet more taxes. Some people are paying as much as 500 Swedish kronor in taxes a year for the right to keep their dog, money that is spent by the government on dog hospitals and sometimes medical treatment for a dog that falls ill. However, most such treatment is expensive, so owners often decide to offer health and even life premium for their dog.
In Sweden dog owners must pay for any damage their dog does. A Swedish Kennel Club official explains what this means: if your dog runs out on the road and gets hit by a passing car you, as the owner, have to pay for any damage done to the car, even if your dog has been killed in the accident.
The first time she saw Bryce Loski, she flipped. The first time he saw Juli Baker, he ran. For six years of living close by, they had played the same game of cat-and-mouse (Juli was the cat; Bryce was the unfortunate mouse).
For years Juli dreamed of one thing: her first kiss from the boy. Nothing else seemed to matter. But when Juli's favorite sycamore tree is threatened by developers, things begin to change. She begins to see things and places and people in a different light. Things, for years, she thought to be important, become things she can live without; and people she thought to be the center of her universe, become nothing more than a star in a faraway galaxy.
Things begin changing with Bryce also. It all begins with the eggs…which then cause a domino effect of changes with his relationships with his best friend, his father, the Bakers and, ultimately, Juli.
I had seen this book on the shelf at bookstores for years, but never bothered to pick it up because it looked to be another book from Jerry Spinelli (not exactly my favorite author in the world) and so, continually, I would walk past it without giving it a second glance. If by chance I had picked it up, I most likely would not have read it, since the summary on the back didn't seem too appealing. It wasn't until a couple of weeks ago that I heard about Flipped the movie. I read an interview with Callan McAuliffe (the actor who portrays Bryce) and thought that Flipped was a romance right up my alley; cute, innocent and as far from Jane Austin as you could get. After reading the interview and a summary of the movie, I found the plot-line to be somewhat appealing and a definite breath of fresh air opposed to the dark material I have been recently reading and writing. I found the book a few days later in a Goodwill bookstore and finished it in three days.
The story isn't what you would consider deep…it isn't shallow and pointless either…I guess you could say it's the perfect balance of life-lessons and innocence.
You read about Bryce and Juli (each from their own points of view) and how, throughout six years, their lives and views and opinions change and develop. Flipped is somewhat of a coming of age story about two kids learning to see life from the other's point of view and learning that growing up isn't about staying the same, but changing; changing likes and dislikes; changing friends and crushes and views on family.
Uniquely written, every other chapter showing the same scenes and events, only from the other's point of view, you see how the saying, “Two sides to every story,” is true. You are able to see both Juli and Bryce's reasons for doing what they do and saying what they say…not just what the other sees.
It will be interesting to see how this writing style comes into play in the movie. Overall I thought this story was incredibly cute and light-hearted, although it didn't entirely meet my expectations. Especially the ending. I felt as though it ended quite abruptly and that there was more story that needed to be told.
But even with that, after having taken a step back and taken my mind off of Flipped, I find the story has stuck with me and stayed in the back of my mind, making me highly anticipate seeing this book turned to a film. I understand why it has been so popular for almost two decades and am looking forward to seeing Flipped on the big screen soon.
go through
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A. 经历 B. 通过 C. 检查 D. 用完 |
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tolerate commitment turned down fortunately abandon harmonious garbage |
