A traveler was in a large desert, planning to walk across it in one month. Twenty more days passed the journey had been going on1. "Soon I'll be able to walk out of this desert," he thought gladly.

    But the desert was never friendly2travelers. In a short time, there came a strong sandstorm. He hurriedly3his head with the clothes, prostrate on the sand. After about ten minutes, the sandstorm4. He shook the clothes and stood up. At that moment, he found himself in a hopeless situation-the backpack with food and water was swept away by the5.

    As we know, it seems 6 to leave the desert without food and water.7, he had a pear left. He held it in his hands tightly. "Not too bad, at least I have a pear. I8I can walk out of the desert."

    Days and nights went by quickly, but the desert still looked endless. Besides, hunger, thirst and fear of9were always around him like ghosts,10, each time he was close to losing hope, he forced himself to stare at the pear that he had been11. "Not too had, at least I have a pear."

    A small pear became the12for his survival(生存). Three days later,13he saw a village not far away, he laughed with excitement. He felt completely relaxed-the "pear" brought him back to14.

    To keep hope is the best weapon(武器) for victory, so never tell you "15" because only if you try to search, you can always find a "pear" to pull you out of trouble.

    Frank is a small schoolboy. His school has so many rules for 1. He doesn't like any of them because he thinks they are all 2."The school asks us not to do this 3that. I'm not happy about it," He often says.

    Frank can swim. He always wants to 4how good he is at swimming. One day he comes to the lake in his school. There is a school rule about this lake: Don't 5in it! Frank doesn't like the rule and he jumps into it.

    When he is in the lake, he finds he is 6. The lake is so deep and the water in it 7very dirty. He feels terrible and can't swim well in the lake. He needs 8 The two teachers come and help 9out of the lake. From that day on, he knows it's important to 10the school rules.

    What do you think of the school rules in your school?

One Day of a Middle School Student

My name is Jill Green. I am a teacher of a middle school in England. 1 want to tell the school day of my school to you.

{#blank#}1{#/blank#}The first lesson is at 9:20 a.m. It lasts(持续) an hour. The students can have a break(休息) from 10:20 a. m. to 10:45 a. m. Most girls like to talk, but most boys like to play ball games.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}After the break, students have the second lesson. During(在.....期间) the first quarter of the lesson, teachers usually have a test(测 试)for the students.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

Lunch time is from 12:00 to 1:10 p. m. All students have their lunch at school. After lunch, students like to go to some clubs. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} They can also watch TV, play games or tell stories in the clubs.

Students read some books and have the last lesson in the afternoon.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}Then students go home.

People know animals do have feelings, but they are not sure if these feelings are correctly understood. In recent years, scientists have done research about the feelings of cows, frogs and pandas.  ▲  It says that humans can tell whether a chicken is happy or sad by listening to its calls.

The researchers put a bowl behind a door. Inside the bowl, sometimes, there was something chickens love to eat, such as rice or insects. Sometimes, there was nothing. When the chickens saw food behind the door, they seemed happy and produced fast and loud sounds, known as food calls. When there wasn't food, the chickens made low and long noises to express disappointment. The researchers recorded all these sounds and studied their waves.

Then the researchers chose 16 recordings of such chicken noises. Half were from the chickens seeing the food and half were from the chickens finding no food. The recordings were played to 194 volunteers. Sixty-nine percent of the volunteers correctly understood whether the chickens were feeling happy or not, and some of them even had no experience of taking care of chickens.

The result shows that humans have the natural ability to understand the feelings of chickens. Hopefully, this finding can bring about new technology to help with chicken-raising, a big industry in many countries. Some scientists are already working on a smart computer program that can identify chickens' feelings. This is good news for farmers who want to make the birds happier and healthier.

One day, little Mike's mother went to the river to do some washing. Before she left, she said to him, "Mike, while I am away, stay near the door and watch it all the time!" She said this because she was afraid of the thieves. 

Mike sat down beside the door. After an hour, one of his uncles came. He asked Mike, "Where is your mother?" "She has gone to the river to do some washing, " Mike answered. "Well, " said his uncle, "Now it is a quarter to two. Three hours later we are going to visit your family. Go and tell your mother. For I'm busy, I have to go now. "

After his uncle had gone away, Mike began to think: "Mother had asked me to watch the door all the time and my uncle told me to go and tell my mother. "What shall I do?" he thought and thought. Finally, he pulled down the door, put it on his back and went to the river with it. 

When Chandra went into Books ‘n' More, she noticed that there was no one else in the bookstore. The last four or five times she had stopped in here, she had also been the only customer. 

That night, Chandra told her family about the situation at the bookstore. Her brother Pete said, "The bookstore needs more people. How about starting a book club? People could meet in the store to discuss a book they've all read. If they buy it at the store, they'll receive a discount. "

"That's great!" Chandra said excitedly. "How about having some writers come and do a book signing? I even have an idea for the first writer. Mr. Fletcher, my math teacher, writes children's books. I'm sure he would be willing to help. I could put up fliers about the event at my school. "

The next day, Chandra shared her thoughts with Mrs. Lee, the bookstore owner. Mrs. Lee seemed unsure at first, but by the time Chandra finished, she was smiling. "I'll try your ideas, but I need some help. Someone will have to lead the book club discussions. Also, I'll need help advertising these events because I've never been good at such things. "

Chandra promised that she would help. She asked Mr. Fletcher if he would read and sign some of his books at Books ‘n' More, and he happily agreed. A date was chosen, and Chandra threw herself into the preparations. She personally invited all her friends, the other teachers, and even the school headmaster. 

Finally, everything was ready for the big night. Mrs. Lee opened the event. "Before I introduce tonight's writer, I must thank a young lady named Chandra Phillips. This exciting evening was mostly managed by her. If she were a little older, I would have her as my advertising director, " said Mrs. Lee. The crowd laughed and clapped. As Mr. Fletcher began to read from his latest book, Mrs. Lee took a seat next to Chandra. 

"Could I really work here someday?" Chandra asked. Mrs. Lee nodded with a smile. Chandra tried to listen to Mr. Fletcher, but her mind swam with even more ways to help Books ‘n' More be successful. After all, she had to protect her future job!