Nowadays, phone calls and messages help us make regular contact (联系) with others. It means that we seldom write letters now. But a TV show, Letter Alive (《见字如面》), is bringing back this old habit.

Letters Alive invites famous actors and actresses, but there are not funny jokes or different competitions. Instead, it’s just one person walking up to a microphone and reading a letter.

The letters were written by people from different times in history. For example, in one episode (集), they read a letter written by famous writer Xiao Hong to her younger brother in 1941. The letter shows that Xiao Hong missed her brother so much and had great hopes for his future.

“Every letter opens another world for us,” according to Guan Zhangwen, the director of the TV show. “It seems that we can experience the real lives and feeling of the writers.” Since its first episode on Dec 5, Letter Alive has been widely praised. Many audiences (观众) said that it has provided a breath of fresh air to today’s TV shows.

Besides Letter Alive, some other cultural TV shows have also been well received by Chinese audiences. They include Chinese Poetry Conference, a traditional Chinese poetry competition and the Readers, a program that invites people to read poems and articles they like or wrote. It suggests that cultural values and true feelings are becoming our interest.

SpongeBob Squarepants is a cartoon（卡通）star everywhere in the US. All kids like this square yellow sea sponge（海绵）named SpongeBob. He is happy, free and always wears（穿）a pair of little brown pants. He lives（居住）in a pineapple under the sea. He works in Mr. Krab’s fast food restaurant（饭店）and he loves his job as a cook. SpongeBob has two hobbies（爱好）. He likes to blow bubbles（吹泡泡）and catch jellyfish because they are beautiful. Besides, he likes helping everyone around him. Let’s meet his friends together.

Gary

He is SpongeBob’s pet snail（蜗牛）. He can speak, but only one word “Meow”. It means he wants food.

Patrick Star

This pink starfish likes to watch TV, but hates taking a bath（洗澡）. He is SpongeBob’s best friend.

Squidward

He thinks he is a great artist, because he likes to play lovely music.

Mr. Krab

He is SpongeBob’s boss of the restaurant and he likes nothing but money.

SpongeBob brings a lot of happiness to families around the world. Sadly, its creator（创造者）Stephen Hillenburg died on November 26^th .We’ll always remember（怀念）this biology teacher and his deep love for the sea. Goodbye to SpongeBob and his friends. RIP Stephen Hillenburg.