There are 24 solar terms (节气) in China, and the Grain Rain(谷雨) is one of them. It falls on April 19 this year.

    This solar term is called the Grain Rain because it is known for “rain” that helps the grain grow. From its name, we can guess it means a time of more rain. So if you go out in the next two weeks, you may need to bring an umbrella with you.

    But this is a great time for planting crops. If you miss the time for planting during the Grain Rain, you will feel sorry later. So maybe you can try to plant some flowers or vegetables in your garden. When the spring rain falls, farmers begin to grow crops (庄稼). Farmers often say, “Spring rain is as precious (珍贵的) as oil.” It brings farmers hope for a good year ahead.

    There are also many interesting customs during the Grain Rain. In the northern part of China, people like to eat Chinese toon (椿芽) mixed with eggs. The food made during the Grain Rain tastes wonderful and is good for your stomach. In the southern part of China, the tea leaves are picked during the time. They are called Grain Rain tea, which is famous for its freshness and sweet smell.

    The famous scientist and thinker, Charles Darwin, was born on February 12, 1809. As a boy, Charles liked to go for walks in the fields and forests. He enjoyed watching nature, and comparing what he saw with everything he had read in science books.

    At sixteen, Darwin was sent to Edinburgh University to become a doctor. But he was interested in the history of nature. Then he was sent to study in Cambridge University. He left the university in 1831. Some time later he heard that the ship Beagle was going on a trip to South America and wanted a scientist. His teacher advised him to go. So when the Beagle left England in December, 1831, Darwin was on it. The trip lasted almost five years.

    In 1842 Darwin went to live in Ken. Darwin understood that plants and animals are not always the same, and that they really change. By 1859 Darwin had finished his famous book "The Origin of Species". Darwin continued his studies in science before he died in 1882.

    I'm Sally. I'm a student in No.14 Middle School. This is my family tree. You can see it is a big family. My father is Jonathan, and my mother is Claire. They have three children. My brother's name is William and my sister's name is Olivia. My grandparents Jerry and Elizabeth have two sons. My uncle Mike and my aunt Sarah have a son. His name is Joseph. He is my cousin. He is four years old. We all love him very much.

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    Fun or kind? Old or young? Let's see what these students say about their favourite teachers?

Zhao Dan

    My favorite teachers are learned(博学)teachers because they can make their lessons easy and interesting. And in class, after learning what is in the book, we hope to learn more.

Wang Jianing

    My geography teacher Mr. Todd is kind to students. His class is interesting. All of the students want to learn and do their homework.

Wang Peng

    We boys and girls often have questions. We really want to talk about these questions with teachers and make friends with them. I don't like old teachers because they can't understand(理解)us!

Lu Hongfei

    Ms. Li is my English teacher. She always wears purple clothes. It is her favorite color. She often teaches us to sing English songs.

    We did a survey (调查) about students' free time activities yesterday. One of our questions was about exercise and of course, it is the most important one. From the survey, we knew only 25% of the girls often have activities outside. Many girls do little exercise. They don't like P.E. classes and even don't play sports. These girls may face a lot of problems. They may get fatter and weaker, And they may get some kinds of illnesses(疾病) easily. Wang Jing, a 16-year-old girl, said, "I don't like doing exercise. I like watching TV on the sofa. I spend at least three hours watching TV a day. My sleeping time is no more than seven hours a day. I often feel tired

    Some girls said, "We don't have enough time to do exercise. We must help our parents with housework because they are very tired after a day's work. We do some washing, clean the house and finish the homework. We don't have time for doing anything else."

    Everyone may have these excuses(借口) for not doing exercise. However, we must know that if we don't do exercise, we will get sick easily. As students, we'd better exercise every day. That makes us live a healthy life.

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