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On Thanksgiving Day, about 88 percent Americans eat turkey. But one lucky turkey not only will not be eaten but also will become famous. Every year, turkey farmers present turkeys to the US president. But instead of eating this turkey, the president gives it a "pardon". The turkey is flown to Florida for a thanksgiving parade . Then it lives on the farm for the rest of its life. Turkeys come from America and have been part of American culture for centuries. Benjamin Franklin even wanted the turkey to be America's national bird. Turkeys that are kept on farms are large, awkward birds that can not fly. But wild turkeys are quite fast. They can fly at speed up to 88 kilometers per hour. They can also run at 40 kilometers per hour. Turkeys don't have ears. They hear by using the growth of beaks . But their hearing is about five times better than human's hearing. Turkeys are such interesting birds. No wonder Benjamin Franklin wanted them to be American national birds.

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The moon looks bigger than the stars at night. But in fact, it is smaller than any other stars. The moon looks big to us, because it is closer to us than any stars. The moon goes around the earth. It makes one trip about four weeks. The moon is a round ball and looks beautiful. Now people know quite a lot about the moon. There is no air or water on the moon, so there are not any trees or animals, or people on it. The moon gets its light from the sun, but some places on the moon are quite dark. It's very hot on the moon during the day, but it's very cold at night.

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It's Saturday morning and Tony's sitting at the kitchen table, staring into space and playing with a piece of bread. He's not even hungry. Is he ill? No, but he does have a problem. He has nothing to do and there's just one reason: the Internet is down and Tony has nothing to do. When he woke up this morning, Tony was feeling great. He jumped out of bed full of plans for the weekend ahead. It would be a weekend like any other--a great weekend. But that was before he turned on his computer and wasn't able to go online. No Internet changed everything. Just as Tony is wondering how he can possibly have a normal weekend without the Internet, his mum walks into the kitchen. "Is everything OK?" she asks. "No, mum, everything is definitely not OK," her sad son replies. "I can't go online and I have homework to finish." His mum laughs, "The word program is still working, so what's the problem?" What's the problem? Tony can't believe his own mother isn't able to see how serious the problem really is. To start with, he still needs to do research for his homework. He knows his mum will tell him to go to the library but he hates the library. It's so dark and uncomfortable. And forget homework--what about the rest of his weekend! Every weekend, he goes online to email friends. Then he reads the news to catch up on what's happening in the world. He plays a few online games and finishes the weekend off with an online chess game with his cousin Helen. The wonderful weekend-online! Now it's Saturday morning and he's not going to have access to the Internet for two whole days.

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The famous fat and lazy cat Garfield is coming to China. In this American movie, Garfield acts with real actors. He makes trouble and dances like a star. He will make you laugh a lot. Drawn by American Cartoonist Jim Davis since 1978, Garfield has fans all over the world. He likes eating, sleeping and watching TV. He hates doing exercise! "I'm lazy and fat. But I'm proud of it," he says. Garfield always sits in front of the TV eating lasagna( ),his favourite dish. Sometimes, he's rude to his owner Jon Arbuckle. One day, Jon brings Odie, a homeless dog, into his home. Odie is cute. He gets all Jon's love. This turns Garfield's world upside down. Garfield wants the dog out of the house, and his life. One night, he kicks Odie out of the house. But later Garfield finds that Odie had been kidnapped by a TV star! The man wants to use the dog in his shows. Garfield feels sorry for Odie. He sees he has done something wrong. He wants to make up for it. So Garfield gets off his favourite chair to try to save his friend.

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Jerry Baldwin was 63 years old. He was manager of a pizza restaurant in America. He lived in an apartment about one mile north of the restaurant. He walked to and from the work. When it was rainy, he took the bus. Jerry loved gangster movies. When a new one came out, he would go to the theatre and watch the new movie three or four times. Jerry would also buy videos at Barney's Video Store. Jerry had a home collection of over 1,000 gangster videos. Old ones, new ones, color, black and white, English, Spanish, Japanese - he loved them all. He could tell you the names, the directors, the stars and all the details of the movies. And then he would invite you to his place to watch a gangster film some time. He was a nice man. Jerry finally decided that he would like to own a gun, just like the gangster. So he saved money for some months. Then he went to a gun store and bought a used revolver for $ 300. While there, he also bought a lot of bullets . The following Saturday morning, he went to the gun club for only ten minutes when the accident happened. The gun went off, and the bullet went into Jerry's right knee.

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Each year, up to six young inventors, grade K-12, in America can receive the nation's most excellent young inventors' honor, "The Thomas Edison Innovation Award ," for their invention ideas. They can receive the following honors: * Thomas Edison Innovation Award, "The Tommy", a handmade trophy * US$1,000--US$ 5,000 in prize money * All-expenses-paid trip for the inventor and one parent to the ceremony. * Chances in the future to connect with universities and industries to further the inventors' ideas * A place in history! The inventors' names and ideas can be preserved at the National Museum of Education

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In northern China winter is long and cold, lasting from December through March. You can often see snow. Summer lasts from May through the end of August. The best time to visit northern China is spring and autumn. The days are warm but the nights are cool. Winters in central China feel colder than they look. You will seldom see snow. Winters are short, lasting from January to the end of March. Summers are long hot and humid, lasting from April through September/October. In spring flowers are blooming and the tree's leaves turn green so there is an air of freshness. However, autumn usually sees clearer skies, and it rains a little. It is very wet in the south and high temperatures last for a long time. Winter from January to March, is short but can feel very cold. But it doesn't snow. Summer through September is the rainy season where temperatures and humidity reach highs. In autumn the heat and humidity weather stops. There is always a chance of rain.

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February 11th is the birthday of the most famous American inventor,Thomas Alva Edison.Edison was born in 1847.He was not a good student when he was a young boy.His teacher said he was one of the most dumb headed students .He did badly in many subjects and left school after only three months.So his mother took him home and taught him herself.Edison didn't like school at all,but he loved science.He liked to ask questions. One day his father found him sitting on some eggs.His father asked him why.The boy didn't answer.He asked his father instead,"Why can't I hatch chickens,but hens can?" Edison invented 1328 things in his life,and these things made our lives more comfortable and the world more beautiful.People will never forget him.

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Do you think hard work can make anything possible? If you don't, you may want to read the book We Can Do written by Moshe Kai Cavalin. It might change your mind. Moshe Kai Cavalin is a 14-year-old American boy. He is about to graduate from UCLA (University of California at Los Angeles) this year. Before that, he had already gotten a degree from East Los Angeles Community College in 2009. Recently, Cavalin published the book We Can Do. In this book, he talks about how to achieve things we want, by keeping yourself focused and trying your best to do everything. He says this doesn't need genius , just hard work. Cavalin says being called a genius "has always bothered me... People need to know they don't have to be geniuses; they just need to work hard and they can achieve anything. If I can reach the stars, others can reach the Milky Way(,)." The idea of writing a book came from a teacher named Richard Avila at his first college. Cavalin says Avila inspired him to write a book to explain how he succeeded, so he could inspire other people. It took Cavalin four years to finish the book. Because his mother is Chinese, she wanted to publish the book in Chinese. So Cavalin translated the book into Chinese by himself. The book did well in Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia.

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People like to give gifts to others on _ days. Do you know how to choose gifts? You should choose gifts that your family or friends like. Different gifts are for different people. For example, boys often like to play with robots ,toy guns and balls. And girls may like something lovely, like flowers, dolls and beautiful clothes. Of course, you don't need to choose something expensive. Your feeling is much more important than money. There is a Chinese saying, " _

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It is easy for us to tell who our family members are, but do plants recognize their own family? Some do, scientists say, according to a report by Science News in early 2010. Guillermo P. Murphy and Susan Dudley are two plant scientists from McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada. They did a few experiments with Jewelweeds, a kind of flower that grows in wet, shady spots. They found that the flowers seem to know their own flower family. In their experiments, Murphy and Dudley planted jewelweeds in pots with either _ or strangers. When jewelweeds were planted in pots with strangers, the plants started to grow more leaves than if they had been planted alone. This response suggests that plants are competing with strangers for sunlight, since a plant with more leaves can receive more light and make more food. Jewelweeds usually grow in the shade, where sunlight is not enough. When jewelweed seedlings were planted with siblings, they grew a few more branches than they usually would if they were alone - but they did not start growing lots of extra leaves. This behavior suggests the plants are more likely to share resources, rather than compete. According to the Science News report, Jewelweeds are not the first plants that plant scientists have studied for family recognition. In 2007, Dudley and her team studied the Great Lakes sea rocket, a plant that grows on the beach - where it may be hard to get fresh water. In that experiment, the scientists found that when sea rockets were planted with siblings, they tolerated each other. But when they were planted with strangers, the sea rockets reacted by working extra hard to grow lots of roots. Dudley says this just because sea rockets, on the beach, get plenty of sun but struggle for water - so when they're threatened, they compete for water. Jewelweeds have plenty of water but have to compete for sunshine, so they grow more leaves.

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Today Newtown is a very clean place. But many years ago, there were millions of rats in Newtown. They attacked the cats and dogs. Sometimes a lot of them knocked down a man or woman walking home at night. The rats were very big in size and they hurt many people. The government ordered everybody to kill rats. Most people were lazy, so they did not kill many. Then the government decided to pay some money for each dead rat. That made the people very happy. They killed thousands of rats every day. A government officer put all the dead rats in a big pile . Sometimes a man brought hundreds in one day. After two weeks there were not many rats in the city, but people still brought many rats to the government office. The government officer thought that people were stealing dead rats from the pile. He ordered his men to dig a deep hole and put the rats in it. Soon there were no more rats, and the government did not pay any more money.

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John and Sam were friends. They opened a small shop in a small village. One day, they sold out of all their wine , so they drove to the city to buy some. On their way home, the wind was strong and it was getting colder and colder. Both John and Sam wanted to drink some wine to keep warm, but they had a rule. They couldn't drink any wine because they had to sell it. According to the rule, if some-body wanted to drink some wine, he had to pay the other twice the price. John was a clever man. He took out ten cents and gave it to Sam. He said, "Here is ten cents. Would you please sell me some of your wine?" Sam was a businessman , so he said, "You give me money, so of course I will sell some to you." Then he passed John a cup of wine. After drinking the wine, John felt warm soon, but Sam was still cold. Then he took out the ten cents that John just gave to him and said to John, "Here is ten cents. Please sell me some of your wine." John agreed. Sam drank some wine and also felt much warmer. But after some time, they both felt cold again, so they kept buying wine from each other with the same ten cents. Soon they drank up all of the wine. "How could so much wine only cost ten cents?" the two friends asked each other.

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New changes have taken place in Paris in recent years. Paris used to be among Europe's busiest cities. Traffic jams could be seen all the time. But now there is a new 2.5 kilometre-long car-free area inside the city. The Louvre attracts world tourists. People visit there not just for the art works, but also enjoy the roof of the building which is like a flying carpet. The world's most beautiful city is now even more beautiful. Lijiang River National Park, China. Lijiang River is in Guilin. It is well-known for its clear water, limestone and green hills. The hills have beautiful names depending on different shapes, such as "Elephant Trunk". These attract many Chinese poets and artists. The best way to enjoy Lijing River is to take an 83 km boat trip from Guilin to Yangshuo in summer. Zurich, Switzerland What do you think Zurich is famous for? Great banks? Yes. People can find many Swiss banks and foreign banks here. But the city is of great interest to many people for another reason. Zurich hosts Europe's largest street party each year. Its Street Parade has overtaken London's Notting Hill Carival. What's hot in the city in 2014? In August, Zurich will host the European Athletic Championships. This gives tourists a chance to see the world's top athletes making new records. Adelaide, Australia Many people may know Sydney or Melbourne. They are big cities in Australia. But Adelaide wins people's hearts with great festivals and tasty food. Adelaide Fringe Festival is the largest art festival in Australia. Every February and March, people celebrate with outdoor art works, dance performances and live music. Adelaide has many kinds of foreign foods. British fish and chips, Italian pizza and German pork can be found in most restaurants.

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We often talk about the weather. If we want to know about the weather. We can turn on the radio and listen to the weather report . We can also turn on the TV and watch the Weather Show. And we can ask other people in two different ways, "What's the weather like today?" or "How is the weather today?" Sometimes you can call at 121 for the weather. When it's cold, we _ and need to wear warm clothes and scarves. When it's raining, we need raincoats or umbrellas. When it's hot, we need a cool place and want a cold drink.

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The young turtle has been swimming for three months now in the same warm shallow bay, dreaming of calm water and plenty of food. But as the days begin to shorten and the night comes earlier and earlier, the water grows colder. It drops to fifty degrees Fahrenheit . Swimming is harder. Its heartbeat slows--and almost stops. The young turtle is in danger of losing its life. Ten days before Thanksgiving, Max Nolan, a ten-year-old boy, and his mother begin their _ . The Nolans are among volunteers who walk Cape Cod's beaches during November and December to search for turtles who are often cold and trapped and seem dead--turtles whose lives they may be able to save. Max and his mother and the other volunteers do an important job. All sea turtles are threatened or endangered. Among them Kemp's ridleys are the most endangered. Right now on our planet there are fewer than eight thousand Kemp's ridley turtles left. Max is far in front of his mother when he sees a turtle washed up by the surf. He runs up to it and shouts to his mom, "Got one!" The turtle is cold. Its eyes are open, but the turtle is not moving at all. It might be dead or still alive. Max remembers the instructions given to all the volunteers. He picks up the turtle, which weighs about five pounds, and moves it above the high-tide mark to keep it from washing out to sea. Then he runs to find seaweed to protect it from the wind. He finds a stick to mark where it is, and next, he and his mother go to the nearest telephone and call the sea-turtle hot line for help.

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John is six years old. He can read and write well. But he can't tell the time. His mother, Mrs Brown teaches him many times, but he still can't tell. He would say "breakfast time" "lunchtime" and "teatime" instead of saying eight o'clock, twelve o'clock and four o'clock in the afternoon. His mother doesn't know how to help him One day, John's aunt, Mary, comes to see his mother. His mother tells her about that. His aunt says, "Let me help you. I think I can help him." When John comes home after school, Mary begins to teach him. "Can you _ , John?" she asks. "Yes. One, two, three, four..." John says. "That's fine. Now I put the long hand on twelve and the short hand on one-that is one o'clock If I put the short hand on two, what is the time?" "Two o'clock " "Good. And on three?" "Three o'clock. " Then it is four o'clock in the afternoon, and John's aunt asks him, "What time is it now, John?" "Teatime, Aunt, and I am very hungry ," John looks at the clock and answers.

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Sharks frighten most of us, but Daniel Weaver, a shark scientist, swims with them for a living! We asked him some questions about this unusual job. So Daniel, what's it like to be a shark scientist? Well, it's a great job. I often travel to faraway places like South Africa and Fiji to study sharks. On the other hand, a shark scientist sometimes does boring desk work, such as writing reports. Also, shark scientists don't usually get paid a lot. What qualities do you need to become a shark scientist? Shark scientists need to be wise and strong. They enjoy working outdoors and they have to be cool and patient . They also have to be quite brave! So do you think it's a dangerous job? Well, sharks have up to 15 rows of sharp teeth. However, sharks hardly attack humans. There are over 350 kinds of sharks in the world and only about 10 are dangerous to us. In fact, dogs kill more people every year than sharks! Humans kill over 12 million sharks a year for food and sport! How do you become a shark scientist? A shark scientist usually studies _ or _ at university. It's also good to get some work experience in an aquarium . In my opinion, I have the best job in the world!

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Presents For Children's Day Charles M. Schulz was born in 1922 in Minneapolis, the only child of a housewife and a barber. His interest in comics was encouraged by his father, who loved the funny pages. Charles M. Schulz sold seventeen cartoons to the Saturday Evening Post from 1948 to 1950 and Li'l Folks to the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Peanuts debuted on October 2, 1950, and ran without interruption for the next fifty years. Charles M. Schulz died in 2000. *IT'S A DOG'S LIFE SNOOPY It's a Dog's Life, Snoopy brings all your familiar friends together for great times and fun. *IT'S A BIG WORLD CHARLIE BROWN Charlie Brown faces some of life's little challenges with the help of Snoopy, Lucy, Peppermint Patty, Linus, and the rest of the gang in It's a Big World, Charlie Brown. *PEANUTS 2000 The last one is the special edition Peanuts 2000, which includes all the last year's Peanuts comic strip and Charles M. Schulz's famous farewell strip. Come and visit our website at www.ballantinebooks.com or come to Ballantine Bookshop, you'll have a big surprise.

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The train I was traveling on was already half an hour late. I had to arrive in Vienna at 7:15 to catch it. He advised me to get off two stops before Vienna station and take a taxi. When the time came, the conductor even helped me with my bags. He wished me good luck as I jumped off. And a few minutes later, I was racing towards the centre of the city in a taxi. It was almost 7:25 when we stopped outside the station. I paid the driver quickly, took hold of my bags quickly and hurried inside. "Pairs train" was all I had time to say to the official I saw. You can guess how I feel when he pointed to a man that the train was just moving out of the station.

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Fashion always keeps at least one eye on the future. Now scientists are lending a hand, developing tomorrow's super-powered clothing such as coats that can recharge your MP3 player and make you stronger. For example, electronics could get recharged in the future simply by plugging them into your outer wear, because Australian researchers are designing clothing that can collect energy from a person. The coats would include small things that change vibration energy from a person's movements into electricity. High-tech fabrics would carry this energy to batteries . "It will look like an ordinary(common)coat but have super energy," said Adam Best, an Australian head research scientist. " _ has important uses for soldiers in the field and could mean they no longer need to carry heavy batteries,'' Best added. "Above all, they'd be wearing the battery, not carrying it." Besides helping soldiers, these coats could also have common uses for common people, such as powering radios, mobile phones, MP3 players or medical things. Solar-powered handbags could do the same thing. Thanks to self-cleaning fabrics developed by scientists working for the U. S. Air Force, underwear and sports clothing could go weeks without washing. The general idea of clothes that never get dirty can be found in the 1951 film The Man in the White Suit. The new technology helps keep off water, oil and bacteria . High-tech fabrics could also help serve as protection. For example, future fabrics could lead to soft helmets that turn hard in an accident. Not all the possible fabrics of tomorrow are necessarily high-tech. For example, chicken feathers and other things of the farming industry could get changed into wool-like fabrics or cotton-like ones, helping use fewer fabrics made from oil. Scientific development is also creating wool that doesn't become bigger or smaller after washing. And future clothing could help soldiers shoulder heavy bags and help people walk. But not all electronic coats have such uses--some might serve as video game players with high technology and the latest fashion joined together perfectly. The world of fashion is set to be taken by high-tech clothing that works as you wear!

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Mr. Brown is a teacher. He is from New York, America. He would like to work in China because he likes our country. He thinks Chinese people are very friendly and he likes to live in China. He is happy to work in our school. He likes the school life here. He teaches English. There are 50 students in his class. Mr. Brown is kind. He and his students are good friends, too. Now some of Mr. Brown's students play sports on the playground . Bill and Mike play tennis. Tom and John play ping-pong. The other students play basketball. Mr. Brown is happy to play basketball with them. They have a good time. ,,.

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I am my mother's third girl. When I was born, the doctor gently explained to my mother that my left arm was missing, below the elbow(,). Then he gave her some advice, "Don't treat her any differently from other girls." And she did! There were five girls in our family and we all had to help out. Once when I was about seven, I came out of the kitchen, "Mum, I can't peel potatoes. I only have one hand." "You get back to peel potatoes, and don't ever use that as an excuse for anything again!" Of course I could peel potatoes--with my good hand and my other arm. "Jenny, if you try hard enough," she said, "you can do anything." Once in the second grade, our teacher had each of us race across the monkey bar . When it was my turn, I said no. some kids laughed. I went home crying. The next afternoon Mum took me back to the school playground. "Now, pull up with your right arm," she advised. She praised me when I made progress. I'll never forget when I was crossing the bar, the kids were standing there with their mouths open. It was the way with everything. Mum had the courage to face anything. and she taught me I could, too.

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It was a sunny night. Jim was having a drink with his friend. He drank too much, and he had to leave at half past eight because he had a ticket for a music festival, which would start at nine o'clock. It was half past an hour's walk from the pub to the theatre. Jim knew a _ that would only take ten minutes, but it meant crossing rails , and was dangerous. He took the shorter way, however, and when he reached the rails, he tripped and fell over. Then he fell asleep with his face down. After a while, a train came. When the driver saw a body lying on the track, he tried hard to stop the train. When it finally stopped, it was several meters before the body. The driver quickly got off and checked. Luckily, he found the man was still alive, but sleeping. Though the driver tried hard to wake him, Jim just kept sleeping. The driver took Jim to the hospital, where he woke up at last. When Jim was told what had happened, he decided to give up drinking. "I'm so lucky that I have a chance to turn my life around,' he said.

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In England people don't usually talk too much .You can go on a bus, or in a train, and everyone sits looking out of the window. Often they read .They read books and papers .But they don't talk much. When you meet English people, they often talk about one thing, the weather. So when you meet somebody in English, you can say, "Nice weather for the time of year!" "But it was a little cold yesterday, "somebody may answer . "But it got a bit warmer later!" you can say. Talk like this, and the English will think ,how friendly you are !

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Do you know that it is your own immune system working against the virus that makes you uncomfortable when getting a cold, but not the virus itself? So when you have got a strong immune system and the virus is strong enough too, you will possibly get terrible cold symptoms( ) ? Vitamin C won't stop a cold It is claimed that Vitamin C helps by increasing white blood cells. However, many tests have shown that it does not prevent colds. At best, it only slightly reduces the rime of symptoms. Staying indoors won't protect you One of the most likely sources of cold viruses is your computer mouse or desk. A study of the cold virus in offices found that 47% of desktops, 46% of computer mice and 45% of telephones had cold viruses on them. Wrapping up warm won't protect you Colds are more common in autumn and winter. That's because the cool, wet and cold weather drives people indoors, where viruses may more easily jump from one person to another. And the distinct peak in colds is in September and early January, which is likely due to the return of students to schools and colleges after the summer and winter vacation. Old granny's chicken soup is right Granny's chicken soup is an old cure for colds since a long time ago. Scientists say it is true. Chicken soup does help cure a cold. Many canned soups are just efficient as homemade ones.

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A 13-year-old Shenzhen girl wrote a book about her life in junior school, and you could see the book in bookstores in June, the News Today reported yesterday. The book is A fresh Summer Day. Zhao Yue finished it in three months. Zhao Yue is a Junior One student of a middle school. She started writing this book after she finished her first book. " I think it is important for me to write the life of students. Adults cannot understand the world of us. So if adults read my book, they will know more about students." The girl also said that she wrote most of the book at night, sometimes until the early hours of the next morning. " I went to school as usual during the three months of writing. I felt very good every day even though I slept for only four hours a day," said the girl. A fresh Summer Day is about love between two junior high school students. _ said it was a common problem among young children.

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More than anything else in the world, Lion liked being King of the jungle. He walked around, showing off his power and pride. Each day Lion took a long lazy sleep under the shade of his favourite tree. He always dreamed of weaker animals bowing before him. One day Mouse ran through the jungle and tripped over Lion's huge paws. Lion woke up with a start. "How dare you wake me up! " he shouted angrily. Lion grabbed Mouse with one paw. "On the second thought, I'm in the mood for the snack, and you'll make a delicious meal.", he said. Mouse cried out, "King Lion, please spare me! If you let me live, I'll always remember your kindness. And, some day, I might be able to help you." " How could such a powerless little mouse ever help me?" That thought made Lion laugh so much that he decided to let Mouse go. A week later, Lion was walking through the jungle on the way to his favourite tree when he stepped onto a hunter's net. The net scooped him up. No matter how he twisted and turned, he couldn't escape. When Mouse heard Lion's frightened shouts, he raced to help. Mouse quickly chewed through the ropes to make a hole in the net. Soon, Lion moved out and was free. Lion looked down at the little mouse. "Thank you for saving my life," said Lion, smiling his widest smile. "I was mistaken. You are not a powerless little mouse. You are a great friend!"

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What is the first thing you want to do when you see someone yawn ?You want to yawn, too! Yawning is _ Scientists have found that all people yawn. Babies start to yawn even before they are born. The earliest yawn takes place when a baby is still inside its mother. When young children are about one year old, they start to yawn when they see others yawning. That's why scientists seem to think yawning is contagious. It's no secret that yawning is contagious, but why do we yawn? Well, scientists are not really sure. Some think we yawn because we feel bored. Recently scientists studied two groups of students between the ages of 17 and 19. One group watched music videos, and the other watched a boring color test. Scientists compared the numbers of their yawns and found that the color test group yawned more times than the video group. Another reason for yawning has to do with breathing. Some scientists believe that when we are bored or tired, we breathe more slowly. As our breathing slows down, we cannot get rid of enough carbon dioxide, our bodies will tell the brains to breathe deeply. The result is a big yawn. In 2007, scientists suggested a new reason. They said that the reason why people yawned was to cool down their brains. These scientists found that people who were warmer than others yawned more often. Scientists are still trying to find out why yawning happens and why it is so contagious. But they are only sure that when one person yawns, almost everyone else nearby wants to yawn, too.

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Mary and Peter were having a picnic with some friends near a river when Mary shouted,"Look!That's a spaceship up there and it's going to land here." Frightened by the strange spaceship,all the young people got into their cars and drove away as quickly as possible except Peter and Mary. They were more curious than frightened. They watched the spaceship land and saw a door open,but nobody came out,so they went to look into it. In the center of the floor,there was a lot of food. Peter followed Mary into the spaceship and did not hear the door close behind him. The temperature fell in no time and very soon the two young people didn't know anything. When they came to themselves,they were surprised to see that the spaceship disappeared, their car was near them. "What happened?"asked Mary. Peter scratched his head,saying slowly,"Don't ask me. Perhaps we had a problem. Come on. It's time to go home." After driving about fifty meters,they found a thick wall made of something like glass stood in their way. On the other side of the wall,a few strange aliens were looking through the wall and reading a notice,it said,"New comers at the zoo: a pair of earth villagers with their _ ."

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Every day in China, about 200 million children go to school. Many of them take school buses. What should we do to keep these students safe on the road? On April 5, 2012,the State Council published new rules about school bus safety. These new rules are stricter than the old ones. Under the new rules, local governments must make sure that students go to nearby school or _ schools to reduce traffic risks . Also, local governments must help kids in the countryside reach their school buses. From now on, school buses have a speed limit of 80 km/h on highways and 60 km/h on normal roads. While on the road, other cars must let school buses go first. The new rules also say that school buses must never be overloaded . There are many other rules as well. A school bus must have more than seven seats. On each bus, there must be at least one adult to keep an eye on the kids. Each school bus must have a fire extinguisher , a first aid kit and a GPS. A series of school bus accidents happened in China in 2011. To stop such accidents, the Central Government decided to strengthen the rules for school buses. The most serious accident happened in Gansu in November,2011. When a nine-seat minibus crashed. There were more than 60 children inside, and 21 of them died. I hope such terrible things won't happen again and all of us can pay more attention to the safety of the students.

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Katy Marsh is seventy years old now. She stopped working five years ago. Last year she decided to make her dream come true. When she was young, she hoped to travel along a river of Scotland in a small boat. She took her small CD player, her hot water bottle and a bag of books to make her life in the boat wasn't too uncomfortable. We asked her if she was afraid of being on the river for so long. She said, "Well, I'm going to take a good _ . When I'm losing my way during my trip, it can help me a lot. Anyway I'm not afraid of death because I love rivers-I just hope it loves me too. " Katy certainly had lots of energy . In her free time, she enjoyed playing the piano, swimming, hiking, and dancing. She had a wonderful trip in the small boat last year. She is seventy, but she doesn't want to have a quiet and peaceful life. She hopes to have fun in the rest of her life.

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Henry Smith taught science at the City School. One day, he wen to a bookstore and bought some books. Most of them were expensive. He left them in his car in a quiet street. Then he went and bought some other things at other shops. At 6 o'clock he came back to the car. One window was open and the books were gone. Henry drove back to his home in Lake Street. That night he wrote a letter to a newspaper. The next day he went to the police station. On Friday people read an advertisement in the newspaper. BOOKS WANTED DO YOU HAVE ANY BOOKS THAT YOU NO LONGER WANTED? I BUY OLD AND MODERN BOOKS. OPEN ALL DAY ON SATURDAY. HENRY SMITH, 18 LAKE STREET. Henry stayed at home on Saturday. His first visitor came at 8 o'clock. Henry took him to the kitchen. At half past nine another man arrived. He had a bag under his arm. "Mr Smith?" the man asked. "That's right," Henry said, "Can I help you?" "I have some good books. You buy books, don't you?" "Yes, bring them in. I'll have a look at them." Soon the books were on the dining-table. "Come in now," Henry called out, "And bring the list." A policeman came into the dining-room. He read the titles on the books and those on the list in his hand. They were the same. "Come with me, Sir," the policeman said to the man.

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Tony loved basketball. One afternoon on his way to a basketball game, he was walking and dreaming about playing college basketball the next year. Suddenly a car hit him and he was thrown three meters into the air. Tony woke up in a hospital room. When the doctor told him that both his legs were broken, he knew his college basketball dreams were over. Tony did what the doctors told him. But it didn't work when he left the hospital, Tony was sent to a _ center for physical treatment. A week after he arrived there, he met Sunny Chen. Sunny used to be a coach. His legs were hurt badly in a skating accident. Though he couldn't move his legs, Sunny became a coach of a basketball team called The Sun. It was a wheelchair basketball team, because everybody on the team played on a wheelchair. Sunny invited Tony to join the game. Tony played badly, but for the first time since the accident, he stopped feeling sorry for himself. After becoming a part of The Sun, Tony improved quickly. Playing basketball was like medicine for him. Tony was much better that before. When Tony became sad or angry, Sunny was there to help him. The day before Tony left the center, he had dinner with Sunny. He asked Sunny how he could be so happy, even with his broken legs. Sunny smiled and said, "It's really quite easy. When you keep your face to the sun, the shadow falls behind."

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Mr Smith is an English teacher. He comes from America. He has a daughter. Her name is Amy, and she is a good engineer in New York. Mr Smith likes traveling very much, and he can speak Spanish very well. Now he is in China, so he wants to learn some Chinese. He works very hard at his Chinese, and goes to Chinese classes every evening. He has a lot of friends in China and they often help him. He likes to talk with them. He tells his daughter that he can speak good Chinese, and he doesn't have anytrouble with his Chinese, but the Chinese have a lot .

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One day, my mother said, "Let's buy you some new clothes." I was very happy and surprised because my family didn't have much money at that time. I bought three dresses, a pink one, a blue one and, best of all, a yellow and blue one. I loved that yellow and blue dress. I showed my three new beautiful dresses to my best friend Emily. She loved them all and was happy for me. But she also felt sad and said her father could only buy her new clothes for her birthday. So I asked her to pick one. Then she picked the best one--the yellow and blue dress! You should know that I was only 7 years old and it was my turn to feel sad. She wore it and I saw her smiling, so happy and beautiful. I could feel her joy! So, I told her it looked great on her. That day, I did my best to explain this to my mother. She smiled and said, "I understand. You're always my good little girl!" I shared my dress with my friend, and she shared her joy with me. That's friendship. And we are still best friends today!

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I am Jerry. My family is in New York. We have got a big house. There are three bedrooms . One is for my parents. One is for my sister Betty. One is for my brother Tony and me. I haven't got any grandparents, aunts or uncles in my family. My father is forty-three years old. He is a hotel manager. My mother is forty. She is a secretary in a factory. Betty is sixteen years old. Tony is nine years old and I'm twelve years old. We are students. I love my family.

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People in Australia love koalas and take care of them. They have set up places for them to live safely. No one can kill them for their pretty fur . When a koala is born, he has no fur. And he is not as big as your little toe ! The mother koala has a pocket in the front of her body. The baby goes into this warm pocket. There he stays for six months. The koala could not live without a special kind of tree. The tree gives him both his home and his food. For most of the day the koala sleeps in the tree. At night the koala looks for food. He may go miles to find it. He likes only the _ and the leaves of the tree. He eats nothing else. And he eats more than two pounds each night!How lovely the koalas really are!

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In the United States,boys and girls start school when they are five years old.In some states they must stay in school until they are sixteen.Most students are seventeen or eighteen years old when they graduate from secondary school.another name for high school.Most children go to public elementary and secondary schools .The parents of public pupils do not have to pay for their children's education because taxes support the public schools.If a child goes to a private school ,his parents have to pay for the child's education.Today about half of the high school students go on to colleges and universities .Some colleges and universities receive money support from the government .A student at a state university does not have to pay very much if his parents live in that state.Private schools are expensive,however.Almost half of the college students in the USA work while studying.If a student's family is not rich,he has to make money for part of his college expenses .

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Two men are walking in the park. One is Mr Brown, a worker, the other is Mr Black. Mr Brown is going to a chair. It is beside the road. Mr Black is behind him. Mr Brown finds Mr Black. Now Mr Black begins to walk faster, because he wants to get to the chair before Mr Black. Now Mr Black begins to walk faster because he also wants to get to the chair first. Then they both run .Mr Black runs faster than Mr Brown. So he gets to the chair first and sits down on it. Mr Brown runs after Mr Black. When he gets to the chair, he sees Mr Black sitting on it. He is sorry to show a notice with the words "Wet Paint" to Mr Black . Now Mr Black knows why Mr Brown is going to the chair.

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The Water World Swimming Pool is open every day from eight o'clock in the morning until half past seven in the evening. It costs two dollars sixty to enter the pool. There is a special cheap price for students with a student card. The price is one dollar forty. But you must bring your student card with you. On Wednesday morning the pool is only open to mothers and babies. So mothers can enjoy themselves in the water with their babies. Please leave your older children at home on Wednesday morning. The new Water World Cafe will be open up on June 22nd. From the cafe you can watch the swimmers or enjoy a drink after you swim. Please call 2105369 for more information. We look forward to seeing you at the Water World Swimming Pool.

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Man is a born child, his power is the power of growth. The trees come up to my window like the yearning voice of the dumb earth. You smiled and talked to me of nothing and I felt that for this I had been waiting long. The fish in the water is silent, the animal on the earth is noisy, the bird in the air is singing. But Man has in him the silence of the sea, the noise of the earth and the _ of the air. The world rushes on over the strings of the lingering heart making the music of sadness. We come nearest to the great when we are great in humility. The mist, like love, plays upon the heart of the hills and brings out surprises of beauty. Your voice, my friend, wanders in my heart, like the muffled sound of the sea among these listening pines. What is this unseen flame of darkness whose sparks are the stars? Let life be beautiful like summer flowers and death like autumn leaves...

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In many English homes, people have four meals a day: breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner. People have breakfast from 7:00 to 9: 00 in the morning. They eat eggs or bread. English people drink tea or milk for breakfast, too. Lunch comes at about 13:00. Afternoon tea is from 16:00 to 17:00, and dinner is about 19:30. They often have soup , and they have some chicken or fish with vegetables. Then they eat some bananas, apples or oranges. But not all English people have meals like that. Some of them don't have their dinners in the evening . ,.

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Dukuly Dogbah, a 14-year-old Liberian boy, grew up in a war. He was born in the same year the Liberian war started. Since then fighting between the government forces and the rebel armies has not stopped. Dukuly is one of around 10,000 child soldiers in Liberia. At 10, Dukuly lost contact with his family in the war and had to fight for the rebels. During the war he learnt to kill people with guns. He has killed many people and seen many of his friends die. "You have to," he said, "because it is war." Lots of children had to join the army. Some did it out of their own will. They thought they would be safe with a gun. The army leaders use child soldiers because they are easy to control and do not get paid much. Child soldiers do terrible things. Most of them take drugs. "I cannot control myself because it makes me brave," Dukuly said. There are 120,000 child soldiers in Africa and 300,000 around the world. Many child soldiers die and nobody cares for them. According to a United Nation's report, 23 armies in the world use children. Some African and Asian countries often use child soldiers. Myanmar has the highest number of child soldiers in their army: around 50,000. Most of the child soldiers are under 18 years of age and the youngest is only 7 years old. The UN has called for the protection of children in war. The UN Children's Fund wants African countries to ban child soldiers. Many UN organizations are trying to take child soldiers away from war and send them back to school.

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When you are in England, you must be very careful in the streets because the traffic drives on the left. Before you cross a street, you must look to the right first and then left. If the traffic lights are red, the traffic must stop. Then the people on foot can cross the road. If the traffic lights are green, the traffic can go. People on foot mustn't cross. In the morning and in the evening when people go to or come from work, the streets are very busy. Traffic is most dangerous then. When you go by bus in England, you have to be careful, too. Always remember the traffic moves on the left. So you must be careful. Have a look first or you will go the wrong way. In many English cities, there are big buses with two floors. You can sit on the second floor. From there you can see the city very clearly. It's very interesting.

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Every morning, the newspaper chief editor holds a meeting with the reporters. They discuss the main events of the day. Reporters are then sent to cover the events. As soon as the reporters know what to write about, they get down to work. They telephone people and fix a time for a face-to-face interview with them. Sometimes they do telephone interviews. Checking information is very important. They go to the newspaper's own library to look up any information that they need. This is called "doing one's homework". At the same time, the picture editor decides which photographs will be used for the next day's paper. All the people who work on a newspaper must be able to work fast. Reporters have to stop working on one story and start working at once on the important new one. They must find out the new information as quickly as possible. Later in the day, everything is put together at the news desk. Reporters return, type their stories into the computer and hand them to the editor. The chief editor decides which will be the most important story on the front page. Sometimes this will have to be changed if something more important happens late in the day. Other editors read the stories which the reporters have written and make any necessary changes. Finally, there is no more time left for adding new stories, and the time for printing the newspaper has come. This is done on fast-moving printing machines. The newspapers are then delivered by truck, plane or rail. Speed is important. People want to buy the latest newspaper; nobody wants to buy yesterday's.

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One day, a little boy comes into a shop and says to the shop worker, "I want to buy twelve exercise books of 6 cents each and nine pencils of 10 cents each. How much is that altogether ?" The shop worker writes these numbers down on a piece of paper and thinks for a minute. Then she says, "1 dollars 62 cents." "If I give you ten dollars, how much money will I get back?" "You will get 8 dollars 38 cents for _ Here you are. These are the things you want." "No, thank you. I don't want to buy anything." The boy looks at the piece of paper and says politely, "This is my math homework. Thank you. Can I take it away?"

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It is reported that in the near future robots and humans will probably work together to create jazz. A singing robot is being taught to create jazz with human being in a project. Antonio Chella from Italy is working with a Telenoid robot. To start with, the Telenoid will be trained to _ the movements and simple sounds made by a human singer, and then connect music with different human emotions. Previous robots had the ability to find common connections between things. But Chella suggests that a conscious robot should be able to go a step further and find new connections. The Telenoid is of this kind. "This work raises interesting questions about the connection between consciousness and music creating." says Philippe Pasquier, a musician needs a physical body. Pasquer argues that the robot musician is faced with a big challenge. "Its software has already been developed and it can imitate The Beatles, a famous band. However, what made The Beatles famous were not only their songs but their wonderful performance of the songs," he says. It is not clear how a robot would perform music a new way. But by imitating humans, the Telenoid robot could provide some useful information. What is important is that human musicians often listen to and compare music made by others for a long time before creating music of their own. So the Telenoid robot had better listen to more jazz music first.

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1Have you ever wondered what goes through your mind when you choose where to sit in a new classroom? Or in a waiting room full of strangers? Or on a bus? Researchers have found out some interesting facts. 2Girls sit by girls and boys sit by boys.Adults sit together and young people choose another young person to sit near.But it goes further than this.We even choose to sit near someone who looks like us.People with glasses are more likely to sit near other people with glasses.People with long hair sit closer to other people with long hair. 3We seem to believe that people with similar habits or hobbies will share similar experiences and we are more likely to be accepted by people like ourselves, or even, we think we may be safer with people who look like us.Sometimes that' s true but it's a pity if we always stay with the same people, the same group.The danger in always staying in our comfort zone is that we just recycle the same opinions, the same tastes and the same ideas.We lose the chance to learn something new, find out interesting things, hear funny stories and discover differences. 4When we always stay with the same people, how can we break down the barriers which prevent us from getting to know people with different ideas? And how can we avoid the ignorance ? If you want to live in a society that opens to changes, new things and different opinions, be the cat among the pigeons . 5Move out of your comfort zone.Go and sit next to someone different.And don't just sit there in silence.Say hello.Ask a question.Start a conversation.That's how we make friends.That's how we learn about people.That's how we open our minds to new ideas.That's how we live an exciting life.

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Today Grandma comes for a visit. She gives my sister and me a box of chocolate candies. We say "thank you!" Then Jenny quickly takes off the box. The pieces all look the same! I can't tell which pieces are hard inside and which are soft! I only like the soft ones. Jenny does not care. She is happy to get any kind of candy! I slowly look at all the pieces; I don't know which one to choose. Just then Dad calls us Grandma is going home, He wants us to say goodbye to her. I hurry to the front door where they are standing. Jenny comes a few minutes later. I say, "Grandma, I hope to see you soon. I always feel sad when you leave. "Jenny stands behind me and doesn't say anything. After Grandma goes home, I find out why Jenny doesn't say anything. She has most of our candies in her mouth! Only a few pieces are left in the bottom of the box! Then I'm sad!

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On Christmas Eve, the night before Christmas Day, children are very happy. They put their stockings at the end of their beds before they go to bed. They want Father Christmas to give some presents. Father Christmas is a very kind man. He comes on Christmas Eve. He lands on top of each house and comes down the chimney into the fireplace and brings children a lot of presents. Christmas Day always begins before breakfast. Children wake up very early. They can't wait to open the presents in their stockings. Then they wake up their parents and shout 'Merry Christmas!' Do you know what Christmas means? Christmas Day is the birthday of Jesus Christ. When Christ was born, many people gave him presents. So today, people still do the same thing to children.

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The deep sea is not an easy place to live in. It's cold and dark. The deeper it is, the less sunlight there is. At about 3,000 feet, there is no light at all. It's very dark in the sea. Many fishes have no eyes, but some have big eyes. A few have eyes only on one side. Besides the coldness and the darkness, deep sea animals face a third danger--other animals. Animals must find food to eat. Many animals eat plants, and some eat meat. This means these sea animals have two big jobs. One is that they need to find animals as their food, and the other is that they have to try not to become other animals' meals. ,. (5)

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Mobile phone has become a problem for high schools. Some high-school students in Australia are not allowed to carry mobile phones during school hours. Mobile phone used among children has become a problem for the school. Several children have got mobile phones as Christmas presents, and more students will want them. Marry Brown, a headmaster, said that mobile phone was a distraction to students during school hours and it also gave teachers so much trouble in their classrooms. Teachers were also saying that sometimes students might use phone messages to _ during exams. She said some schools had tried to ban mobile phones. Some parents felt unhappy because they couldn't get in touch with their children. Many teachers said students should not have mobile phones at school. But there was a good reason that they could leave their phones at school offices. They also said they were easily lost and were a distraction for studies.

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Every child has his own dream. Every child hopes to be an adult. However, is it truly like what they imagine? As a boy who lives in modern times and in a modern city, I feel greater pressure on me with the city's development. Although we seldom worry about money, we still have a lot of things such as competition among classmates and expectations from parents. These experiences are very helpful to our future. But in fact they really give me a lot of pressure. I still clearly remembered the happiness of my childhood. Unluckily, we had to face the fact with time passing by. We began to feel this invisible pressure come upon us. We get up before sunrise and return after sunset. We work and study like an adult, even harder. What we do is to get an excellent mark. Oh, growing up is completely boring. We must try to find happiness while growing up. I think the friendship among our friends, the support from our parents and the encouragement among our teachers can help us. Why not enjoy the pleasure of growing up?

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Flow like the river of change Little stream ran down from a high mountain through many villages and forests. Then it reached a desert. "I went through so many difficulties. I should have no problem crossing the desert, "she thought. As she started, she found herself slowly disappearing into the sand. After many tries, she still failed. "Maybe I can't reach the ocean, "she said sadly to herself. At this time, a deep voice said, "If a breeze can cross the desert, so can a river. "It was the voice of the desert. But the little stream answered, "That's because a breeze can fly, but I cannot. " "That's because you can't give up what you are. Let yourself evaporate into the breeze, and it can take you across, "said the desert. "Give up what I am now? No! No! "The little stream could not accept this idea. "The breeze can carry the vapor across the desert and let it leave as rain. The rain will form a river again, "said the desert. "And whether you're a river or vapor, your nature never changes. "Hearing this, the little stream went into the open arms of the breeze. It carried her to the next stage of her life. The course of our lives is like the experience of the little stream. If you want to go through difficulties in your life to head for success, you should also change the way you are.

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Now the VOA Special English program Words and Their Stories. ( MUSIC) Many everyday American expressions are based on colors. Red is a hot color. Americans often use it to express heat. When they are red-hot, they are very angry about something. Fast loud music is popular with many people. They may say such music is red-hot. Pink is a lighter kind of red. People sometimes say they are in the pink when they are in good health. The expression was first used in America at the beginning of the 20thcentury. It probably comes from the fact that many babies are born with a nice pink color that shows that they are in good health. Blue is a cool color. The blues music in the United States is the opposite of red-hot music. Blues is slow and sad. Someone who is blue is very sad. The color green is natural for trees and grass. But it is an unnatural color for humans. A person who has a sick feeling in the stomach may say he feels a little green. A passenger on a boat who is feeling very sick from high waves may look very green. Sometimes a person may be _ because he does not have something as nice as a friend has, like a fast new car. That person may say he is green with envy. Some people are green with envy because a friend has more dollars or greenbacks. Dollars are called greenbacks because that is the color of the back of the paper money. The color black is used often in expressions. People describe a day on which everything goes wrong as a black day. (MUSIC) I'm Warren Scheer. Listen again next week for another Words and Their Stories program in Special English on the Voice of America.

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Last summer Jenny and her friends had a bus trip to New York. She felt very relaxed on the way. They visited a museum. But it was really crowded there and the display was not interesting at all. They went to different restaurants to have dinner. Some food was quite delicious, but Jenny thought the fast food was awful. When the weather was fine, they went to the beach to swim. The sea was beautiful, and they had a good time.

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Martin's Clothes Store Come and buy your clothes at Martin's Clothes Store! We have pants, shorts, hats and more at very good prices! Come and have a look! Clothes Price black pants blue pants green pants $20 $18 $22 shorts ( all colours) $10 hats (all colours) $14 socks (all colours) $5 red skirts blue skirts white skirts $12 $14 $11 white T-shirts green T-shirts $7 $8 red sweaters yellow sweaters $30 $28

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Mr Stilwell looked out of his window. There was a boy at the other side of the street. The boy sat before a store and took some bread out of a bag and then began eating it. There was a very thin dog in the street too. The boy said to it very kindly. "Come here, good dog. Do you want a piece of bread?" The dog was very hungry and went to the boy, but he didn't give it any of his bread. Instead, he kicked the dog. It ran away and the boy laughed. Then Mr Stilwell came out of his house and said to the boy, "Do you want a dollar?" The boy was happy and said, "Yes, I do." "Come here," Mr Stilwell said. The boy went to Mr. Stilwell, but Mr Stilwell didn't give him a dollar. Instead, he hit him with a stick. The boy cried and said, "Why did you hit me? I didn't ask you for any money." "No," Mr. Stilwell said, "and the dog didn't ask you for any bread, but you kicked it."

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My family makes the best chicken salad.Dad prepares all of the ingredients and Mom makes the relish.There are a few things that make this chicken salad different from the other chicken salads.First,we use fruit jam in the relish.You can buy any fruit jam,like banana jam or orange jam.But we have bottles of strawberry jam that my mother made,so we use the strawberry jam.Second,we put some green olives .Green olives give the salad an interesting taste and make a big difference.Now let me tell you how my family makes the salad. First,mix up all of the salad ingredients in a large bowl.The ingredients are chicken,tomatoes,green olives,onions and apples.If you like lettuce,you can also put some.Next,make the relish.Please mix the jam,the juice and the salt.Finally,mix the relish with the salad ingredients. Do you have a favorite chicken salad recipe?Please tell us about it.You can write to greensalad@yahoo.com.

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It's interesting that the arrival of snow has a different effect on people in different countries. For some countries it is an important happening to celebrate each year, while for others it is a catastrophe or even a wonder. There are countries between these two extremes that normally expect snow some time over the winter months, but never receive snow regularly or in the same quantities every year. Britain is one such country, for which the arrival of snow quite simply creates problems. Within hours of the first snowfall, however light, roads are blocked, trains and buses stop in the middle of traffic. Normal communications are affected as well, telephone calls become difficult and the post immediately takes more time than usual. Almost within hours, there are also shortages -- bread, vegetables and other things -- not because all these things can no longer be produced or sent to shops, but mainly because people are frightened, and go out to store up these commodities , "just for fear that something bad should happen." Why then does snow have this effect? After all, the Swiss, Austrians and Canadians don't have such problems. It is simply because there is not enough planning and preparation. We need money to buy equipment to deal with snow and ice. To keep the roads clear, for example, requires snow ploughs and machines to spread salt. The reason why a country like Britain does not buy some ploughs is that they are only used for a few days in any one year, and the money could be more useful in other things such as hospitals, education or helping the old.

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Quick Service A man took a pair of shoes to a shoe repair shop and said to the shoemaker, "I'd like you to repair these shoes for me, please." "Certainly, sir." the shoemaker said. "When will they be ready?" the man asked. "I'm a bit busy, but they will be ready for you on Thursday," he said. "That's fine." the man said and left the shop. The next morning he received a letter, offering him a job in another country. Within 24 hours he was on an airplane to his new job. Twenty years passed and he returned to his hometown. He remembered his shoes. "They were a good pair of shoes," he thought, "I wonder if the shoemaker is still there and still has them. I'll go and see. " The same shop, although he was an old man by now. "Good morning. " he said to the shoe maker, "Twenty years ago, I brought in a pair of shoes. Do you still have them?" "Name?" the old shoemaker asked. "Smith." the man said. "I'll go and see. They may be in the back." The shoemaker went out to the back of his shop and a few minutes later returned, carrying a pair of shoes. "Here they are." he said, "One pair of brown shoes. I'm a bit busy now, but they'll be ready on Thursday."

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The Round Bird is not like any other birds. He has a big round body but with little wings. He can not fly but he expects to play with other birds in the sky. Every day and in many ways, he tries to fly. And he tries again and again. But nothing works. Then he thinks it will be better use the tree. It is very hard for a little bird to do so, but he climbs up the tree! The Round Bird really wants to learn to fly. A few minutes later, he sits on a branch and gets ready to jump and flap his wings. He practices many times and flap some more, but they don't work! In the end, he climbs down the tree and starts thinking seriously. After thinking for a long time, he knows that although he really wants to fly and tries hard, there are some birds are not able to do. He can't fly because of his body and his little wings. But he knows that there are still some things he is able to. Then the only job for the Round Bird is to find those special things that only special birds like him can do.

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Frank Smithson woke up and leaned over to turn off the alarm clock. "Oh,no!"he thought to himself."Another day at that office;a boss who shouts at me all the time." As Frank went downstairs his eyes fell on a large brown envelope by the door. He was overjoyed when he opened it and read the letter inside. "Bigwoods Football Pools would like to congratulate you. You have won half a million pounds." Frank suddenly came to life. The cigarette fell from his lips as he let out a shout that could be heard halfway down the street. At 11:30 Frank arrived at work."Please explain why you're so late,"his boss said." _ ," replied Frank. "I've just come into a little money so this is goodbye.Find yourself someone else to shout at." That evening Frank was smoking a very expensive Havana cigar when a knock was heard on the door. He rushed to the door. Outside were two men,neatly dressed in grey suits. "Mr Smithson," one of them said,"We're from Bigwoods Football Pools. I'm afraid there's been a terrible mistake......"

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Miss Li is a teacher. She teaches in a middle school. She gets up at half past five in the morning. She has breakfast at 6:00.After that she goes to school by bike. She gets there very early. She cleans her desks and chairs for other teachers. Classes begin at 8:00.She and the other teachers work hard. She goes home at 4:00 in the afternoon. Then she does some housework .After dinner she reads books and goes over the students' homework. She goes to bed at about ten.

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(one day Alice runsafter a strange rabbit and falls into a deep hole.She becomes smaller after she drinks something.She finds herself in a wonderland with many amazing things inside.) Caterpillar and Alice look at each other in silence.Then they begin to talk. Caterpillar:(In a tired,sleepy voice)Who are you? Alice:(Rather shyly)I--hardly know,sir,just at present--at least I know who Iwas when I got up this morning.but l think I must have been changed several times since then. Caterpillar:What do you mean by that?Explain yourself! Alice:I can't explain myself, I'm afraid.sir,because I'm not myself,you see. Caterpillar:I don't see. Alice:(very politely)I'm afraid I can't put it more clearly,for I can't understand it myself.And being so many different sizes in a day is very puzzling . Caterpillar:It isn't. Alice:(Feeling uncomfortable)well,perhaps you haven't found it so yet.But when you have to turn into a chrysalis you will some day,you know--and then after that into a butterfly,I think you'11 feel it a little stranger,won't you? Caterpillar:Not a bit. Alice:Well,perhaps your feelings may be different.All l know is it would make me feel very strange. Caterpillar: (At the top of his voice)You!Who are you? Alice:(Angrily)I think you ought to tell me who you are first. Caterpillar:Why? (Here is another puzzling question.As Alice cannot think out any good reasons and Caterpillar seems to be very unpleasant,she turns away.) Caterpillar:Come back!I have something important to tell you! (Alice turns and comes back again)

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"Tom? Are you in bed yet?" called Mrs White. There was no answer. Mrs White put down her book and went to her 14-year-old son's room. Tom was sitting in front of a bright computer screen on which a colourful dragon jumped and shouted. "Oh, Tom! You're still playing on that computer. You must stop now. It's half past eleven. If you don't go to bed soon, you'll be very tired tomorrow," said Mrs White. "But I've nearly beaten the dragon," said Tom. Mrs White could see the excitement on her son's face. She sat down beside him. "You are always playing on that computer. You spend more time with this machine than with your family," she said with a smile. "What's special about it? Show me what it can do!" "I think this is a great computer, Mum!" he said happily. "The hardware is good. There's so much memory and it has some wonderful software programs. This game, 'Dragon Player', is my favourite, but I sometimes borrow games from Daniel and other friends. I don't have to worry about any infected disks because I have a virus detector which can go over any disk and check it for viruses. Let me show you!" Tom began tapping. The screen changed in answer to his orders. "Oh, Tom," laughed Mrs White. "I'm sure it's a wonderful computer, but I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."

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In China, there're many different kinds of foods. Some of them are very popular. The most popular Chinese food is dumplings. Now let me tell you something about them. Almost everyone in China likes dumplings very much, and there are many different kinds of dumplings. Some have meat and vegetables in them. Some have eggs in them. I like dumplings with vegetables and pork better than any other kinds. Usually we make dumplings at home. If we have no time to make them, we can buy them from supermarket. Then we can take them home and eat them with _ . Spring Festival is very important in China. When it comes, we make dumplings. Usually we put a coin in a dumpling. It is said that one will be lucky in the year if he eats the dumpling with the coin. In the old days, people couldn't often eat dumplings, because they were very poor. Now the condition has changed a lot, so people can eat dumplings usually. ,. (2,10)

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A 13-year-old American has made a cheap machine that can help blind people read. The blind can read by using _ - a system of small bumps that the blind touch to read the letters. The machine that makes these small bumps usually costs at least $2,000. It is called Braille writer. The American schoolboy, Shubham Banerjee, made a new Braille writer from a Lego tool that lets people create robots. Banerjee has called his new machine the Braigo - a combination of the words Braille and Lego. It costs just $ 350. It works by changing electronic text into Braille and then printing it using a computer or mobile machine. Banerjee designed his Braigo last year for a school science exhibition. Since then, he has caught the interest of Silicon Valley in the USA. The big technology company Intel spent money on Banerjee's machine last November, but they did not say how much money they put in. Banerjee also got $35, 000 from his father to help him start the project. His father works as a computer engineer at Intel. He spoke about why he gave so much money to his son, saying:"We as parents started to be interested more, thinking that he's on to something and this invention has to continue." Banerjee told the AP News: "My dream would probably be having most of the blind people...using my Braigo."

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Note-taking is a skill that can help you do well in all your schoolwork. It can make you confident when you are studying. But unluckily, most students don't know how to take notes. Write down key facts. If your teacher writes notes on the blackboard, that's great. You can copy them or write down the most important facts of all in class. Different teachers do things differently. For example, some teachers may focus on lots of dates and facts in class, but they only write the important ones on the blackboard. Other teachers may not write anything down, but they may say something important again and again. Ask. Don't be afraid to ask your teacher to repeat what you miss. If your teacher speaks too fast and you can't follow what he is saying, you can ask him after class. Compare. Comparing your notes with your classmates' can be good for your learning. It can also help you and your classmates correct some mistakes. Organize . Note-taking also needs organization. Keep notes for each subject in one notebook, so that you can find everything easily when a test comes. Good note-taking takes time. If you decide to recopy your notes every evening, you'll surely have less time to watch TV. But you'll save time in the coming test.

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My sister Alli and I have been trying to get people to stop dropping cigarette butts for seven years. One day, we were walking in our hometown and saw hundreds of cigarette butts on the ground. They made the town look so ugly that we decided to start a group to make people stop dropping butts. We called it "No Butts About It". At first, we drew pictures with "The Earth is Not Your Ashtray " written on them. We put the pictures around our hometown---in parks, by beaches, and along roads. We wanted to make people understand that dropping butts hurts the environment. Most smokers don't think that dropping butts hurts the earth. But it does! All rubbish does. Later, we wrote to companies and asked them for money to help us. We used the money to buy ashtrays to give smokers. We wanted smokers to carry the ashtrays with them so they didn't have to drop butts. At the moment, we are trying to get cigarette companies to put an ashtray in each pack of cigarettes. Some companies want to do it. Many people have started to join our group since it began. Today there are 45 other "No Butts About It" groups in America. And there are even groups in England, Australia and India! Many newspapers have written about my sister and I over the last seven years. And we have won many prizes for our good work. But we are not interested in prizes. We just want to make the earth a better and cleaner place for animals, plants and people. One day it will be.

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You've probably seen it before-two elderly people walking hand in hand down the street and looking very much like each other. They look so much alike that they could be brother and sister. Do you believe that people who live together for many years would look alike? It's strange. but scientists say it's true. How scientists proved it? In a study, scientists found young couples only showed similarity by chance. However, elder couples were very likely to look like each other. The similarity could be very subtle and could be found in wrinkles or furrows, etc. Besides, some couples look far more alike than other couples. The scientists thought of several possible reasons: 1. Diet. "We are what we eat." As couples usually share the same diet, will they probably look alike? For example, if both partners eat a high fat diet, their faces will tend to look fat. However, the scientists ruled this out using another small study. 2. Environment. Will elderly couples show similarity because they live together in the same area for a long time? The environmental factors such as sunshine and wind affect the skin in similar ways. The scientists ruled this possibility out as well. 3. Empathy . This is the theory the scientists believe in. Couples grow to look similar because they are empathizing with each other. They copy each other's facial expressions. For example, if one partner often smiles in a certain way, the other is likely to copy it. In this way, their faces share similar wrinkles and furrows.

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What would you do if a stranger gave you some medicine and it would keep you slim or help you do well in exams? Would you take it? Students at Shenzhen Luohu Foreign Language Middle School have learned to keep themselves safe by saying "no". In fact, what those strangers want to give them are drugs . Drugs are dangerous to your health! "Because teens don't know much about drugs, they might want to try them," said Zhang Dongsheng, the director of Shenzhen Drug Control Office. Now, many schools arrange courses or organize some activities to help students know about drugs. Liang, 16, was a good student before trying drugs. One day, some old friends told him it would be fun. After taking drugs only once, he found it very hard to stop. Liang began to spend all his time and money on drugs. Soon, he stopped going to school and started stealing. In the end, he was put in prison. In China, taking drugs is becoming a big problem for teens. According to a survey, about one million people in China were using illegal drugs last year, and 72% of them were young people. Worse still, there are about10,000 drug users under 16 now. Zhang has some good advice on staying clean. He said, "Drugs are dangerous. Never try them, even if you're curious! It is the most important for you to keep safe and healthy."

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Sleep is like food for the brain. Enough sleep helps the body and brain grow and develop. According to the National Sleep Foundation in the US, adults need seven to nine hours of sleep every night. For students aged 10 to 17, a healthy amount is about eight to nine hours per night. But many students don't get enough sleep because of early school start times and heavy homework. About 80 percent of middle school students don't get enough sleep, the China Youth and Children Research Center reported. For some students, they want to sleep early, but they keep worrying about their schoolwork and can't fall asleep quickly. For others, they may even have _ which might keep them awake all night. These sleeping problems greatly affect people's lives. Experts have shown that lack of sleep for teenagers leads to poor grades. Students without enough sleep cannot pay attention in class or do well in sports. Also, the lack of sleep may make them depressed . Luckily, with good sleep habits, it is easier to fall asleep. Some of these good habits include avoiding drinks that make people excited late in the day, going to sleep at the same time each night, and sleeping in a comfortable place that is dark, quiet, and neither too warm nor too cold.

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Online English Web Sites * www.english-zone.com----A site teaching English grammar; vocabulary and reading skills. Also lots of jokes. * www.theenglishprofessor.com----ESL (="English" as a second language) links. "Learning English free" is its slogan. Very good at helping students improve their writing skills. * www.globalstudy .com/est----Directory of "English as a Second Language" web sites in the United States; Canada; Australia; New Zealand; Great Britain and Ireland. * www.netsurflearning.com----A free English course using materials from the web and catering for all levels. You can improve all kinds of language skills there. * www.rg-chonang.com----Hundreds of ESL links for you to go to. * www.wfi.fr/volterre/weblinklearners.html----A wide variety of English language resources links.

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The rapid growth of Smartphones and electronic tablets is making the Internet favourite for Americans reading news, a report said. News consumption online increased 17% last year from the year before. Television news, newspapers, radio and magazines all lost audience last year. For the first time, the number of people who get news online at least three times a week is larger than the number of people who get news from the newspapers. TV news has been the most popular since the 1960s. It has replaced the afternoon newspapers. But now the online news seems to be more popular than the TV news. People are used to having the Internet available on phones or small tablets. In December, 2010, 41% of Americans said they got most of their news on the Internet, more than double the 17% who said that a year earlier, the report said. In January, 2011, 7% of Americans owned electronic tablets, nearly double what it was three months earlier. It was the fastest-growing new digital technology, ahead of mobile phones when they were introduced. The online ad income was expected to surpass print newspaper ad income for the first time in 2010. The news business used to be the intermediary . You needed newspapers and TV stations to reach your customers. In this age of the computer, it's the software developers that you need.

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MIT ( Massachusetts Institute of Technology) is a world-class university mainly in math, science and technology, but you may be surprised to learn that MIT sets arts courses. MIT believe in the passion of learning, the value of working and teaching methods. MIT's teaching power is quite strong. There are eight Nobel winners and many other national and international winners in the teacher group of MIT. MIT is proud of these top scholars and thinkers. The ratio of teachers and students in MIT is about 1 to 7.5. About 63 percent of the classes have fewer than 20 students each. Only 4 percent of the classes have more than 100 students each. Most MIT students can learn courses that they like. The students in MIT have many activities when they finish their lessons, for example: Student Life And Culture Student Organizations Music & The Arts @ MIT Athletics Most students in famous universities feel serious pressure both in life and study. In MIT the students have the same pressure which encourages them to have to study hard. But MIT usually gives one year for the new students to adjust to the transition (;). In their first term all the new students are graded by a test. In this test if he or she receives a C or the level better than C, his or her result will be kept forever. If she or he receives a D or an F, no record will be kept.

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Mr. Brown lives in America and has a big factory there. He is busy all the time. But when he takes his holidays, he always goes traveling and has been to about thirty countries. One summer he went to visit Moscow. There he heard the workers were paid much less than those in his countries. And most factories couldn't work because they were short of money. He thought he would save much money if he invested in a factory there. The Russians knew it and warmly met him and he was invited to visit a modern factory. He went to the workplaces, watched carefully how the machines worked. The workers worked hard when he went in. Soon it was time to have lunch. Mr. Brown went in the dining -room. Meat, eggs, milk and bread could be bough there. It seemed that they weren't short of anything. Mr. Brown came up to an old worker and sat down next to him. Are you satisfied with your life, sir? Asked Mr. Brown. "Of course," the worker answered and went on drinking. "What do you have now?" "I live in beautiful villa ," answered the man. "I have a new fridge, a new color television and I drive a new car to my factory." "What's your next wish, then?" "To buy a pair of strong shoes!"

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Accident Report Form Accident A car hit a tree. Four people were in the car. Weather condition There was a heavy rain. Cause The driver named Li Jun drank too much. Date of call March 20th, 2009 Time of call 8:30 p.m. Name of caller A man called Zhang Wei. (He was taking a walk there at that time.) Place Zhongshan Road, Nanjing Conditions of victims Mr. Green hurt his head. Mrs. Green hurt her left leg. Their daughter felt frightened. Their dog died. Action Policemen arrived at 8: 40 p.m. and sent the victims to Gulou Hospital at 8:45 p.m.

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In classes, your teachers will talk about topics that you are studying. The information they provide will be important for you to know when you take tests. You must be able to take good written notes from what your teachers say. Taking good notes has three stages. There are certain things you should do before class, during class, and after class. Here are the three stages of note-taking and what you should do during each class. 1. Get Ready to Take Notes Review your notes from the previous class before you come to class. This will help you remember what was covered and get you ready to understand the new information your teacher will provide. Complete all assigned readings before you come to class. Your teacher will expect that you have done this and will use and build upon this information. Bring all note-taking materials with you to class - several pens and pencils as well as your notebook. 2. Take Notes Keep your attention on what your teacher is saying. Paying attention to "signal statements". Examples of signal statements are "The most important point ..." and "Remember that ..," Be sure to include in your notes information that your teacher repeats or written on the blackboard. Write quickly so that you can include all the important information in your notes. Do this by writing abbreviated words such as med for medicine, using symbols such as % for percent, and writing short sentences. Place a "?" next to information about whose meaning you are not sure.

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8.1-Magnitude Quake Hits Central Nepal Nepal is suffering from the disaster brought by a magnitude 8.1 earthquake that struck on Saturday. Nepal's Interior Ministry has said that the death toll from the quake has climbed to 1,931 . And more than 4,700 people are injured. Nepal's military predicts the death toll may climb to as high as 5,000. The Chinese embassy in Nepal has said that four Chinese were killed, with five severely injured. The initial magnitude-eight-point-one quake struck 80 kilometers east of Pokhara on Saturday afternoon. It was followed by a huge aftershock, measuring seven-point-zero. As for Sunday, two big aftershocks have been recorded in the morning, with the latest in the afternoon with a magnitude of 7.1. This is the most powerful earthquake to have hit Nepal in over 80 years. The tremor was felt by more than 4.6 million people across South and East Asia. Search and rescue efforts are underway for survivors buried under the rubble and flattened buildings, but efforts are influenced by rain and aftershocks. Nepal national television is reporting that 90 percent of historical structures in Kathmandu Valley were destroyed in the earthquake.

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Hi!I'm Lucy. I am a student in Class 5,Grade 7.I have a big schoolbag. It is blue and red. The price is Y=88.1.have a nice pencil box in it. It is Y=10.Its color is white. I bought it in a store. There are four pencils and one pen. Each pencil is Y=1 and the pen is Y=12.My eraser is yellow. The price is Y=2.My ruler is orange and very long. I like them very much. I study very hard.

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One morning, Mr. Smith came into the garden at the back of his house. He saw so much snow in the garden. Mr. Smith wanted to take his car out, so he asked a man to clean the road from his garage to the gate. He said to the man, "Don't throw any snow on the side. It will damage the flowers in my garden, and don't throw any on the other side, because it will damage the wall. And don't throw any into the street, because the policeman will come." Then he went out. When he came back, the road was clean. There was no snow on the flowers, or the wall or the street. But when he opened the garage to get his car out, he saw: the garage was full of snow, the snow from the road, and his car was under the snow.

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Do you know what an eagle does when a storm is coming? The eagle will fly to some high spot and wait for the winds to come. When the storm hits, it opens its wings so that the wind will pick it up and lift it above the storm. While the storm rages below, the eagle is flying above it. The eagle does not shirk the storm. It simply uses the storm to lift it higher. It rises on the winds that bring the storm. When the storms of life come to us--- and all of us will experience them--- we can rise above them by setting our minds and our belief, like an eagle does. The storms do not have to beat us. We can use the nature's power to lift us above them. We are able to ride the winds of the storm that bring sickness, tragedy, failure and disappointment in our lives. We can fly above the storm. Remember, it is not the burdens of life that weigh us down, it is how we face them.

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A 90-year-old tortoise is going twice its usual speed after being equipped with a set of wheels. The animal, called Mrs T, was facing a terrible future after losing her two front legs in a mouse attack while she was sleeping in winter, but her owners glued the wheels onto her shell . "She's going double the speed she used to," said the owner Jude Ryder, "She uses her back legs to push herself along and seems quite happy." The 58-year-old owner was surprised when she went to check on her loved pet last month and found her front legs had been eaten in the mouse attack. The local animal doctor tried his best to save Mrs T. But he was afraid that the tortoise would not survive without being mobile. After paying PS1,000 for the treatment, Mrs Ryder turned to her son Dale for help. Dale designed the front wheels and used resin to add them to the front of the shell. Mrs Ryder said: "She liked them immediately, but she must learn how to turn and stop. She can get a good speed up, much faster than before. Mrs T is still quite young for a tortoise. She could go on for another 50 years. All she needs is a new set of tyres sometimes." When Mrs T was sixty years old, she was bought as a pet for Dale, an 8-year-old boy. It liked running happily in Mrs Ryder's garden in spring and summer. When winter came, Mrs T slept in the garden shelter. A mouse got in last month and chewed off both her front legs. Mrs Ryder said: "We were afraid she would be sure to die, but her new set of wheels have saved her life. She can run in the garden again and we can always find her because she leaves very strange footprints behind wherever she goes." Mice attacking tortoises is not uncommon around us--in 2013 Britain's oldest tortoise died after a mouse attack. The tortoise called Thomas was 130 when he was bitten at his home in Guernsey. He spent five days on strong antibiotics , but the wound became so infected that his owner had no choice but to have him put to sleep.

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People eat different things in different parts of the world. In south China we eat rice every day. Sometimes we eat it two or three times a day, for breakfast, lunch and supp-er. We usually eat it with fish, meat and vegetables. The Japanese eat rice, too. They also eat a lot of fish. They sometimes eat raw fish. In Africa, maize is the most important food. People there make maize into flour .From this flour they make different kinds of bread and cakes. In western countries such as Britain, Australia and the U.S.A, the most important food is bread or potatoes. People there usually make their bread from wheat flour. They cook the potatoes in different ways. In England the most popular food is fish and chips. Sometimes people cook this food at home, but usually they buy it at the shop. They eat this food at home, in their work place, in the park or on the road. People call it "take-away" food.

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Peter felt very sorry because he forgot to say "Happy Birthday" to his uncle yesterday. So he wrote a letter to his uncle : "My dear uncle, I'm very sorry because I forgot your birthday. But to teach me a lesson, you'd better forget my birthday on Tuesday, tomorrow."

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Michael wanted to make some money to buy a new computer game, but he did not know how. So he went to ask his brother Greg for help. "I think you could help to wash Mom's and Dad's cars," Greg said, "Some of the neighbors could pay you to wash theirs, too. It's getting colder and no one wants to wash the cars themselves." Michael agreed, but he shivered at the thought of washing cars and getting wet in cold weather."Maybe this isn't a good idea." "Don't worry," Greg said. "I have some golf gloves .You can use them to wash cars. and I will even help you to wash the cars.""Thank you!"Michael said. After spending the day washing cars, Michael got enough money and went to the store with Greg. He found the game he wanted quickly, but as he took it off the shelf he saw a golf video game next to it. He knew Greg loved golf and wouldn't play golf in winter, so he put his game back and decided to buy the golf video game. "What are you doing?" Greg asked. "I thought this game would be more fun." said Michael. "We can play it together."

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I was born in the Tronto, Canada. Life looked bright and was filled with hope for my parents and me. My father and mother were married in 1980, and I was born next year. As I grew into a man, I often looked to my father for advice and support. There were many things about his character that I admired, but like any young boy, I often thought that my father's ideas were from the past and out of date. I did well as a student and was the first person in my family to graduate from university. I went on to be a university professor and writer, and most people would say that I have had a very successful life. But I know much of my success is because of the lessons that he passed onto me. On Father's Day, I will look in the mirror and smile. My dad gave me many gifts, including my now bald head , and the friendly smile that my friends say I have. Thank you again, dad. I miss you. Happy Father's Day.

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Should Children Be Allowed to Get Bored? Children need time to stand and stare. They should be allowed to get bored to that they can develop their ability to be creative. Children are expected by their parents to be reading a textbook all the time. However, research shows that it may _ the development of their imagination, while boredom can give them opportunities to develop creativity. Boredom is often linked with loneliness, but a writer named Meera Syal said boredom had helped here in developing her mind. She told researchers about her childhood. Having few things todo, Syal often talked with her neighbors. She also tried to do things like learning to bake cakes. "But importantly, I Thought and wrote a lot, because I was bored," Syal said. She kept a diary, filling here time with short stories and poems she made up. Grayson Perry, an artist, grew up in a family with little money. He enjoyed himself by making up stories, drawing pictures for his stories and reading many books in the library. Bored but free, he spent hours looking out of the window, watching the changing clouds and seasons. Perry filled up his free time with what he liked. He became creative, because he could think freely. Dr. Belton is an expert on the effects of emotions on learning. "Boredom could be an uncomfortable feeling," she said. "But some young people cannot deal with that boredom creatively. So sometimes they may break a classroom window, or drive a car out for a mad race." Usually, when children have nothing to do, they would turn on the TV, the computer, or the phone. Their time on these things has increased, yet they need to have time to think about their experiences through play or just watching the world around them. It is this kind of thinking that can inspire the imagination. On the other hand, the TV or phone may cut short the thinking process. That can be harmful to the development of creativity. "For developing the ability to be creative," Dr. Belton advised, "perhaps we need to stand and stare, and stay off-line from time to time."

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According to a recent survey, British teenagers are damaging their health by not getting enough sleep because they are prevented from doing so by electronic gadgets in their bedrooms. According to the Sleep Council, "junk sleep" could compete with eating unhealthy junk food as a main worrying lifestyle for parents of teenage children. Among the l, 000 students aged 12 t0 16 who were tested in the survey, 30 percent just slept for 4 to 7 hours a day. Almost a quarter said they fell asleep, more than once a week, while watching TV, listening to music or using other electronic gadgets. "This is a quite worrying trend ", said Dr Chris Idzikowski of the Edinburgh Sleep Centre. "What we are seeing is the appearance of terrible junk sleep - sleep that is of neither the length nor the quality it should be." Nearly each of the teenagers had a phone, music system or TV in his or her bedroom, with around two-thirds owning all three. Almost one in five of the teenage boys said the quality of their sleep had been influenced by leaving their TVs or computers on. The survey also found that 40 percent of youngsters felt tired each day, with girls aged 15 to 16 feeling the worst. "Teenagers need to wake up to the fact that to perform well. They need to do something about their sleep. I'm shocked that so few teenagers have noticed ," said Idzikowski.

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Food or friends? Lip salve or iPod? What is the most important thing in the US teenagers' lives today? Let's take a look. Some find that they can't do without people. "My biggest need is my friends. Without them, I wouldn't do much," said Adrian Fernandez, a 14-year-old boy. With others, food always comes first. "I do not think that I could live without chili con carne . I eat it every day. And if I didn't have it, it's all I would think about," said Max Wu, an 8th-grade boy. Sometimes, the things teenagers can't do without are strange. Take 14-year-old girl Hannah Sacchini for example. "I cannot live without lip salve, especially in winter," said Hannah Sacchini. "I go mad if my lips get dry." Of course, today everybody uses mobile phones and computers. Some teens can't live without these high-tech things. Justin Beck, a 15-year-old boy, feels like this: "I would not be able to live without my iPod. I use it for so many different things. I always have it with me," he said. So, now we know the things US kids really must have. What about you and your classmates? What can't you live without? ,. (10)

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News 1 : Have you ever thought of being able to fly around the world in a few hours though it is about 40,000 kilometers? One day,maybe you can. Last Saturday,the American X-43A airplane made its first flight. It reached a speed of 8,000 kilometres an hour. This makes it the fastest plane in the world. The X-43A is only three to four metres long,but it's very heavy:it weighs 1,270 kilogrames. News 2 : Have you ever got angry at books that are full of mistakes? Don't worry,things will get better soon. Last week,China started checking textbooks,dictionaries and children's books all over the country. The government said the results of the checking would come out at the end of June. News 3 : There will be a new "star" in the sky soon. China plans to send a satellite into space by December 2006. It will stay in space for one year. It will go around the moon and take pictures. It must be very expensive,right? That's for sure-1. 4 billion yuan! News 4 : Floods across the northern Mexican state of Coahuila killed at least 32 people and left100 more missing. It was reported on Monday. The heavy rain hit the state all night last Friday,so some banks of the river were broken. Along the river about 3,000 families were seriously affected .

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The English Fashion recently asked people about their wonderful ideas and plans about things they could do.The magazine asked people the following question, "If you had all the money you wanted, what would you like to do?" About 500 people answered the survey question. Almost half (49%) of the people in the survey said they would buy material things such as a bigger house or a better car.One fifth (20%) of the people said they would travel to the interesting or famous places.17% answered that they would give money to someone else.They would donate money to a charity or to help poor people.More than half of the rest of the people (about 10%) said they would give money to help medical research .All the other people in the English Fashion survey said they would save money in the bank.They said they didn't know what they would like to do right now, but perhaps in a few years they would find a good use for the money. "Lots of people think that if they buy bigger and better things, they will feel happier," said Dr Mary Wilson. " However," she said, " _ will not last long.After a while, they won't be happy with them any longer." Dr Wilson thinks the happiest people are those who make a change in people's lives.She thinks those people who give money to someone else or to medical research are thinking more of others at the moment.If they had all the money theywanted, they would change the world.

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Bai Yansong, a famous TV host, expressed his support for students wearing green scarves at a primary school in Xi'an. He wore a green tie on a TV program on October 19, 2011. "I just want the students to know that I'm also wearing green. And we are all great people and are as good as those wearing red scarves." The First Experimental Primary School in Xi'an made children with poor schoolwork and behavior wear green scarves. Parents whose children wore green scarves were angry. "The children still need their self-esteem even though they are very young, and they know the green scarf means something is not quite right," said one mother. Now, the school has stopped the practice. Educational expert Li Zhenxi said that primary and junior high school students have strong self-esteem. They are eager to be respected and understood. Punishment will hurt them. "It's better to encourage them rather than separating some 'bad' students," he said. A survey made by the Ministry of Education shows that 75 percent of students feel nervous and scared when the teacher is about to announce their grades. Some schools have done better in protecting students' privacy and encouraging them. In American schools, teachers post test results on the wall. Instead of using student names, they use secret numbers. This way, students know their secret numbers and can check their own grades only. Some teachers might call the students up to the desk and tell them their scores one at a time. But test scores are not the only measures of a student's ability. Everyone has his own strengths and everyone can make great progress by working hard.

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All the cities are quite the same. Living in a modern Australian city is not very different from living in an American city. But there are some differences on farms. In many parts of the world, farmers and their families live in villages or towns. In the United States, each farm family lives in its own fields. Usually their neighbours live far away. It's hard for them to see each other on weekdays. Their children take school buses to the nearest schools. These schools are only for the farm families in this area. In some areas, there are small schools for a few farm families, and the children walk to schools. Life keeps changing for everyone, so do farmers. Today there are cars, good roads, radios, television sets and there are modern machines for farming. All of these are changing farm life.

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Once there was a king. He had two old ministers. One was kind and the other was bad. The bad minister often said bad words about the kind minister before the king. The king was very angry. One day the king said to the bad minister, "Write two words on two pieces of paper. Write 'live' on one piece and 'die' on the other. Then put them in a jar and tell him to choose. If he takes out the paper with 'live' on it, I'll let him go. If he takes out the paper with 'die' on it, I'll kill him at once. " The bad minister was quite happy. He got two pieces of paper ready. He wrote 'die' on each piece of paper. The kind old man came. He knew the bad minister wanted to kill him. He also knew the words on the two pieces were both "die". But he knew what to do. Later the king had to keep his word and let the old minister go. Do you know what the kind man did about this at that time? He chose a piece of paper and ate it, When they saw the word "die" on the other piece, the king and other ministers thought the word on the piece that the kind man had eaten must be "live", so he saved his own life by his cleverness .

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Have you ever read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland? It was written by Lewis Carroll. He was an English writer, poet, scientist, photographer, and priest. His real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, and Lewis Carroll was his pen name. He was born in 1832 and died in 1898. He is most famous for writing two children's fantasy books about a young girl called Alice. They were titled Alice's Adventures in Wonderland(1865) and through the looking-Glass(1872). He also wrote two famous poems called "The Hunting of the Snark" and "The Jabberwocky". What is important about these poems is that he made up many new words to use in them. He was an expert at "word play" and used words in many different ways. Some of these ways were quite new. And this has influenced members of the literary elite who are well educated about English. Many people still study his work and his life today. Although they seem to have been written for children, Lewis Carroll's books and poems have been enjoyed by people of all ages. If you have not read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, which is also referred to by the short title Alice in Wonderland, you should read it soon. No matter how old you are, you will find it exciting and enjoyable.

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What do you think the future will be like? Here are some answers from some students. Mary: If we don't take good care of the earth now, our children and grandchildren will be born into a world with much pollution . There will be fewer trees and more buildings, because there will be more people. Jack: I agree with Mary. Things will be worse . The weather in the future will be much hotter. Humans won't be able to live on the earth. They will have to look for another planet to live on. Linda: I think the life in the future will be better. Most people in the world will use "green cars" by 2020, so there will be less pollution and people will live to be 200 years old. As for space travel, I would say, we will visit Mars in about fifty years.

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This large flat is on the top floor of a five-story modern building in a quiet part of the city. There are two schools, a restaurant and several shopping centres nearby. A bus stop is only one hundred metres away. The flat has got a large living room , a dining room,a modern kitchen, one large bedroom and two small bedrooms. There is a bedroom with a shower, a sink and a toilet. The flat has also got a small storeroom and there is a large doorway. The price of it is $245,600 without the garage . The price of the garage is $34,560.

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