Earth is our home planet. It is the only planet known to have lots of liquid (液态的) water. Liquid water is necessary for life. 【小题1】

What does Earth look like?

From space, Earth looks like a blue marble (大理石) with white swirls (漩涡) and areas of brown, yellow, green and white. 【小题2】 The white swirls are clouds. The areas of brown, yellow and green are land. And the areas of white are ice and snow.

【小题3】

Today, with GPS, BDS and other satellites, scientists can compute Earth’s size and shape to within a centimeter. Pictures from space show Earth is round like the moon. Though some forces are making the planet change shape very slowly, but it is still round.

【小题4】

From June to August, the sun’s rays hit the Northern Hemisphere (半球) more directly than the Southern Hemisphere. The result is warm (summer) weather in the Northern Hemisphere and cold (winter) weather in the Southern Hemisphere.

What are Earth’s different parts?

Earth includes land, air, water and life. The land holds mountains, valleys and flat areas. The air is made up of different gases. The water includes oceans, lakes, rivers, streams, rain, snow and ice. 【小题5】

There are millions of kinds of life on Earth. Their sizes are from very tiny to very large.

It is the 22nd century and it is very popular to change people’s bodies.

Mr. Smith decided to change his body. He changed his big nose to a small one, and his old and gray hair to short and blond hair. He also bought new green eyes, new ears, new hands, new arms, new knees and new feet. Mrs. Smith was happy because Mr. Smith’s new feet didn’t smell as bad as his old feet.

However, something bad happened. One morning, Mr. Smith woke up and his new nose didn’t work. The next morning he couldn’t hear anything. Then his new blond hair went gray, and his new knees didn’t move. And finally he could see nothing with his green eyes.

It was really terrible. Mr. Smith wanted his old body back. However, he had to pay 100, 000 dollars for his old body.

It was expensive but Mr. Smith still got his own body back. He would never follow the fashion.

My son starts school today. It’s going to be strange and new to him for a while, and I hope you will be nice to him.

You see, until now, he has been the boss of his home. I have always been around to take care of him and make him feel better:

But now, things are going to be different. This morning, he is going to walk down the front steps himself, say goodbye and start a new journey that will be difficult and challenging.

It will require love and bravery to live his life in the world.

So, World, I hope you will take him by his young hand and teach him the things he will have to know. Give him quiet time to think about why there are birds in the sky and flowers on the green hill. Teach him that for every villain（恶棍）, there is a hero; that for every enemy, there is a friend. Teach him how wonderful reading can be. Teach him that it is better to fail than it is to cheat. Teach him to believe in himself, even if everyone tells him that he is wrong. Teach him gently, World, but don't protect him from everything. Facing difficult situations will make him strong.

This is a big order, World, but see what you can do.

Yours,

A worried mother