Simon has read Amy's article about ORBIS in the school newsletter and has become very interested. He finds another article about the history of ORBIS. Read it with him.

　In the past, eye doctors and nurses in poor countries could not study outside their own countries because they could not afford to traveland pay for their school fees. Dr David Paton was a famous eyedoctor in America. He knew that more than 60 per cent of blind people are in poor countries. It is important to train eye doctors and nurses in these poor countries to cure their patients. So in the mid-1970s, he set up ORBIS.

　United Airlines donated a DC-8 plane to ORBIS. There was newmedical equipment inside the plane. It is not an ordinary hospital.It is a flying eye hospital. The plane started to fly to different poor countries in 1982. The eye doctors and nurses on the plane taught the local doctors new skills and knowledge.They also did operations together to cure patients with eye problems in poor countries.

　In 1992, three generous people donated more money to ORBlS. With their donations, ORBIS bought a new plane, DC-1O. The inside of the plane is twice the size of DC-8. Its first trip was to go to Beijing,China in 1994.

　A lot of people suffer from blindness. The ORBIS doctors found that 80per cent of blindness in poor countries can be cured or prevented. So it also carries out special programmes to teach people how to preventeye problems.

　To blind people, ORBIS brings new hope and light. Over the past 30 years, ORBIS has successfully helped 130,000 people around the world. TO those who can see, ORBIS is something we can be proud of .

Simon wants to write a report about ORBIS. He is checking his notes before writing his report. Write a T if the sentence is true. Write an F if it is false.

(1) ORBIS often files to poor countries.　________

(2) Dr Paton set up ORBIS.　　　　　　　　________

(3) ORBIS is an ordinary hospital.　　　________

(4) ORBIS only gives out medicine. It does not do operations ________

(5) DC-10's first trip was to Shanghai.　________

(6) Blindness cannot be prevented.　________

(7) ORBIS also has programmes to help prevent eye problems.________

　　Shirley Temple was born on 23 April 1928 at 9:00 in the evening. She was not only the most popular and famous American child star but also a diplomat(外交官).

　Shirley began dancing at Mrs Meglin's Dance Studio in Los Angeles when she was 3 years old. It was there that she was seen by two producers. The year was 1931, and they were making a series of short films called Baby Burlesks. Shirley was chosen as the star and was paid $10 a day. Shirley acted in a number of films after the Baby Burlesks. She became famous for her role in Bright Eyes, for which she won a special Oscar. It was a great success, and Shirley's dancing and acting attracted everyone. This marked the beginning of her brilliant career to become the biggest little star in the world. Fans loved her as she was bright, lovely and cheerful in her films. Shirley's other unforgettable films include: Curly Top, The Little Colonel(上校), Heidi and The Little Princess. Temple retired from film acting when she was 21. She went on to some other achievements beyond the film industry. Later, she became the United States Ambassador(大使)to the Republic of Ghana(1974-1976)and Czechoslovakia(1989-1992).

While Daniel is organizing a marathon walk, he finds an article about the New York City Marathon in a magazine. He is reading it with great interest. Read it with him.

  The first New York City Marathon was held on 13th September 1970 in New York. Fred Lebow organized it with only US$1,000. It was a very small event in the city at that time. The race only took place in Central Park. 127 runners joined the marathon and 55 of them finished the course.

  More and more people took part in the marathon. Finally, in 1976, the course was changed. Instead of running in Central Park, the participants had to run in the whole city. The winner that year was Bill Rodgers. He finished the course in 2 hours 10 minutes and set the world record.

  In 1978, more than 9,000 runners joined the marathon. The New York City Marathon then became the world's largest marathon. People from all over the world came to join the race.

In 1979, prize money was given to the winners for the first time.

In 1984, Mercedes-Benz sponsored the race and both the male and

female winners got a car each from the company.

  The 1990 race was for Mr Lebow. He was suffering from brain cancer at that time. In 1992, Mr Lebow ran in the marathon for the first time to celebrate his 60th birthday. He died of brain cancer two years later in 1994.

  The New York City Marathon is a challenge to all runners in the world. Some people run for fund-raising. Some families run together. Some companies send their workers to run the marathon to promote team spirit. It might be a tough course but all participants try their best. That is the true spirit of sports.

Daniel tells Amy about the New York City Marathon but he has got some of the information wrong. Write a T if the sentence is true. Write an F if it is false.

Kitty is writing to Ricky about a mini-concert she is organizing at school. Read the e-mail.

Dear Ricky

　Thank you for your help. Our charity show was really a big success. Because of this success, our school decided to organize another event this June. I felt very glad that the Grade 8 students chose me as their representative.

　We have decided to organize a mini-concert, which aims to raise money for a charity. There are many things to do before the show. We have to decide the fees for the tickets and to collect donations from people who come to the concert. I am responsible for doing several duties. The representatives from the upper grades do more things. I have to design and give out leaflets to people and ask for their support. We hope that they will give some donations for our show. I also have to call the flower shop to send in flowers and arrange them in the theatre.

　We have a singing group in each grade and they will sing the most popular songs in our mini-concert. The host of the show is the captain of out school football team. Everyone has shown a lot of support for our show. I am sure the show will be a big success.

　The mini-concert is so meaningful. It is also fun. I hope you can come that night. I can buy a ticket for you. I hope to hear from you soon.

Love

Kitty

Kitty told Amy about the mini-concert. Amy is telling Shirley about it but she forgets some of the details. Write a T if the sentence is true. Write an F if it is false.

Sandy wanted to know more about natural disasters. She read a passage about a tornado on the Internet and wrote some sentences. However, she made some mistakes. Write a T if the sentence is true. Write an F if it is false.

Something terrible happened on the morning of 24th April. It was something that no one ever thought could take place in this city.

Down from the sky came a dark funnel-bike cloud. It reached to the ground. This was a tornado?---a wind that goes round and round, sometimes as fast as five hundred miles an hour.It picked up everything in its path:trees, cars, and even houses. On and on it moved, right through a part of the city where many people lived.

It happened so fast that no one knew what to do. Many people lay hurt inside destroyed buildings. Fires burned, telephone wires fell and roads were blocked.

Amy's grandparents live in Canada. They are visiting Amy now. Amy's grandpa cries when he reads about the Taiwan earthquake. His brother was at the San Francisco earthquake in 1906. He is telling Amy about it.

My parents lived in a small village in China. A long time ago, everyone in the village was talking about ‘the Gold Mountain’--San Francisco. My uncle told my father that he wanted to move to America. In 1904, my father gave him some money and he went on a ship to America with my brother.

 　My uncle and my brother started working as factory workers in San Francisco. Life was not easy but America was their dream. Then one day, a terrible thing happened. It was an early morning in April 1906. They were still sleeping at home. My uncle felt slight shaking but he did not get up at once as San Francisco had small earthquakes every summer. After a few seconds, a powerful earthquake happened. The windows cracked. He woke my brother up. Then they ran out of their flat.

    My uncle said everyone in the building was frightened and screamed. Everyone was running out of the building. Some people were shouting ‘Calm down!’ but no one listened. Soon, my uncle was in the street. He looked beside him but he could not find my brother. He tried to get back into the building but everyone was getting out.

Seven hundred people died in the earthquake. I know my brother was one of them. He was trapped inside the building. When I lie awake in bed, I always think about him. He did not survive the earthquake.

Amy wants to write an article about the San Francisco earthquake for the school newsletter. Read what she thinks. Write a T if the sentence is true. Write an F if it is false.