Once, in a small village, there lived a family with eight children. Two of the children loved 1 very much, but the family was so poor that it was impossible to send 2 of them to study at the art college at the same time. After some discussion, the two boys finally 3 a plan. They would toss（抛） a coin. The loser would go down into the mines（矿井） and, with the earnings（薪水）, he would 4 his brother all through college. Then, when the brother who won the toss 5 his four-year studies, he would support the other brother so that the brother could continue his studies at the college.

    6 , James won the toss and Jack went down into the mines. James worked with all his heart and his paintings were much 7 than those of most of his teachers. By the time James 8 , he could make a lot of money for his paintings.

    9 James returned, the family held a big dinner for his great success. Soon after the meal began, James 10 up from his seat to drink a toast（敬酒） to his dear 11. He said," Jack, now you can go to the art college and your 12 will come true. I will take care of you. "

    " Brother, the four years in the mines has done too much to my hands, so it's too 13 . Now I can't even hold a glass," Jack said softly.

    To 14 his great love and respect, James drew his brother's hands with 15 towards the sky. He called his drawing "The Praying Hands", which became very famous years later.

Blue Lightning

    Sally loved cars more than anything else. This spring she thought of building a go-kart to enter for the Go-Go Race. So she asked her dad for help.

    "Well," he said. "How about this: you do some research first and then come back to me with a design. "

    A week later, Sally brought her notes and drawings to Dad. She named her go-kart "Blue Lightning". Dad looked over her work, thinking. "Well, that's interesting," he said. "Have a try. Just build Blue Lightning as you've designed. "

Over three weekends of hard work, Sally turned her design into a real, working go-kart and painted it light blue. Dad asked her to take it for a test drive. Sally agreed.

    After she did that, Sally drove back to Dad. "Well," she said. "Now I know why you wanted me to have a test drive. "

    "Oh, do you?" he said. "Please share. "

    "When I drove fast, there was a lot of push back," she said. "I think it's because of the lightning bolt (闪电) shape. "

    "Very good!" Dad said.

    "So, why didn't you tell me about that problem in the first place?" Sally asked.

    Dad laughed. "Where's the fun in that? If you give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day. But if you teach a man to fish, he'll eat for a lifetime. "

    Sally said, "I see. Anyway, designing is half the fun !"

    Dad smiled. "Good. Sometimes, learning happens during the process. We learn how to do something right by doing it a few times first and making mistakes along the way. "

    That encouraged Sally and she worked even harder. When she showed Dad her new go-kart, he nodded with pride.

    Finally came the race. Sally wasn't worried about whether she would win—in her mind, she had already won, by building something better than ever before.

    Qian Xuesen was born in Shanghai on December 11^th, 1911. He is known as "the father of China's space program" and "The king of the rocket".

    When he was 24 years old, Qian went to America for further study. After graduation, he worked in America for a few years, where his working conditions were better. In the early 1950s, he heard New China had been founded(成立) and decided not to stay in America any longer. He succeeded in coming back to his motherland in 1955 though the American government tried to stop him.

    In 1956, Qian Xuesen suggested setting up a special organization, which later became the leading organization for China's rocket and air travel program. In June 1964, China successfully created its first medium rocket. Qian also played an important role in developing China's first man-made satellite(卫星). On April 24, 1970, "Dongfanghong-I was successfully sent into the air. "

    In 1964, a young man wrote Qian Xuesen a letter and pointed out a mistake in his published article. Qian immediately answered the letter and encouraged the young man to write an article out the mistake.

    Zhu Yilin, who was said to be the last student of Qian Xuesen, once said, "I learned a lot of professional knowledge as well as the pint a attitude that a scientist should have from Mr Qian, especially his deep love for the motherland. Without that, the couldn't have helped to develop science and technology when New China was badly development. Without that, he would not have made the great contribution(贡献)to industry in the late 1950s and early 1960s when conditions in China were too hard.

    Mr. Qian has been dead for ten years, but he will live in the memory of Chinese people forever.

    Recently, a video story has spread among people.

    James Anthony has cleaned the halls of Hickerson Primary School for 15 years. Although he is deaf, he never complains(抱怨). Instead, he greets every child and teacher with smile. Teachers and children love him very much and call him Mr. James.

    On the day Anthony turned 60, the school wanted to give him a very special surprise. That day when Anthony walked into a classroom, a group of children started to sign(打手势) and sing "Happy Birthday" to him. Anthony started smiling as usual. Then his jaw(下巴) dropped open and he laughed for joy as he realized what was going on. A few teachers led the kids through the whole song as Anthony watched. A wide smile was on his face. As they finished, tears came out from his eyes.

    Scott, secretary(秘书) of the school said, "The children love and respect Mr. James. They give him high fives in the halls, and he even teaches them sign language. Today he has put smiles on faces all around the world. "

    Have you ever had trouble sleeping in a new place?

    Lots of people do. And now researchers from Brown University in Rhode Island think they know why. They found that one-half of the brain "remains more awake" than the other half when people are trying to sleep in a new place.

    The sleep findings were reported in Current Biology by Brown University. In their report, the researchers said many people report they have a harder time sleeping the first nightat a hotel or other places outside their home. They call it "first-night influence". "In Japan they say, 'If you change your bed, you can't sleep,'" said Yuka Sasaki, one of the report's writers. "You don't sleep very well in a new place. We all know about it."

    The researchers measured brain waves (测量脑波) for 35 volunteers over two nights in a laboratory. The two nights were a week apart (间隔). They found during the first night the left half of the brain was more active than the right half. This was during the first deep-sleep period, the researchers said.

    Sasaki said a lot of questions remain.

    Researchers did not keep measuring brain waves all night long. So, they don't know if the left half keeps "watch" all night, or whether it "works in shifts (轮换) with the right half later in the night". They also do not know why the brain activity, at least during the first period of deep sleep, is always on the left half.

    For some, this research may be calming. It is good to know that our brain is "looking out for us" in a new place. But it may not help with sleep. That brain activity, at least according to this new research, makes it harder to get the sleep people need to wake up well rested in the morning.

    If your children are learning to read, it's wonderful! Whatever they're reading, they're probably super-excited readers! But the fact is, reading is skill.  

    Create a comfortable reading space.

    Choose a special place with right furnishings(装饰), blankets and pillows for your children put a bookcase of your children s books. If your children feel like they have got their own special place for reading, they will probably spend time in their little space with all their new favorite books.

    If you want your children to learn to love reading, set aside a few minutes every day to read together, no matter how busy you are.  Plan to go to bed a few minutes earlier each night so your children have the time to choose a book to read. Besides, reading aloud to your children can make them more willing to read on their own.

    Make the library and bookstore a special treat.

    Whether your kids are big readers or not, they are only children. They may be excited about new clothes and toys, but not books! Try to use that excitement to help your children love to read. Making a special treat of spending some time at the library or bookstore can be the perfect way to get your children excited about reading.

    A man feared his wife wasn't hearing as well as she used to and he thought she might need some hearing aid (助听). Not quite sure how to  （帮助）her, he called the family doctor to discuss the problem. The doctor told him there was a simple test the husband could do to give the doctor a better  （主意）of her hearing loss.

    "Here's what you do," said the doctor. "Stand about 40 feet away from her, and in a  （通常的）conversational speaking tone (音调) see if she hears you. If not, go to 30 feet, then 20 feet, and so on until you get a reply."

    That evening, the wife was in the dining room, and he was in the yard. He said to himself,"I'm about 40 feet away, and let me see what will (发生)." Then in a usual tone he asked,"Honey, what's for dinner?"

    No   （回复）.

    So the husband moved closer to the kitchen, about 30 feet from his wife and asked,"Honey, what's for dinner?"

     （仍然）no reply.

    Next he moved into the dining room where he was about 20 feet from his wife and  （重复）, "Honey, what's for dinner?"

    Again he got no reply. He walked up to the kitchen door, about 10 feet away. "Honey,what's for dinner?" Again there was no reply.

    So he （走到）right up behind her. "Honey, what's for dinner?"

    "Chicken! James, for the  （第五）time I've said that."

    We can't remember clearly when we started to take our mobiles to the dinner table. This often （ especial） when we eat out. Once a dish comes,  of lifting our chopsticks, we take out our mobiles and click. Later, we post the photos onto Weibo or WeChat, waiting to be "liked". Then we check our mobiles from time to time during the meal to see whether we get"liked"   not. We just cannot leave our mobiles for only a meal.

    Does that sound familiar to you? Do you do that often? If not, how do you feel when others do that while having dinner with you?

    A recent study suggests that what we are used to （do) is not so good. Spending taking photos of food makes the food less pleasant. To test this, some researchers did an experiment. Some people were  （ask） to take photos before they could enjoy food. As a , it showed that the  （many） photos they took, the less delicious the food  to them. Why not stop taking photos and just enjoy the food in front of you?

    So, next time you go out to have dinner with your family or friends. how about not （take）photos of food? Let the food be delicious as it is and share your life with people you. Trust me, and it will be a wonderful time.

要求：⒈语言表达要准确，语意要通顺、连贯；

⒉词数80-100左右，电子邮件的格式、开头和结尾已给出，但不计入总词数。

参考词汇：欺骗tick；许可permission