Adam Braun set up the organization(组织) Pencils of Promise in2008. Its goal is to make sure all children have a chance for education. Six years later , the non-profit organization is building a new school somewhere every 90 hours.It has helped more than 22.000 children in Africa,Asia and Latin America.

 It all started when Adam Braun was a college student. He was visiting India when a boy stopped him and asked for money on the street, Mr. Braun asked the boy what he would want, if he could have anying in the world.

“I thought the answer was going to be  'a house' or 'a car' or 'a boat'.His answer was 'a pencil'.So I gave him my pencil and he was just happy and excited . I  realized he never had been to school before ,and that was the reality(现实) for 57 million children around the world. " Braun said.

 Adam Braun started working in finance(金融) after he graduated from college, But he never forgot the boy and the problem he realized.

“We live in a world in which every child can have a chance to get a good education ,because we have everything necessary already.We are able to educate every child .  So I promised to help create that world .” Braun said.

  Mr Braun raised money for his project. He paid for building the first Pencils of Promise school,in Laos, five years ago. Since then ,his organization has helped pay for more than 200 schools in the countryside of Laos,Nicaragua,Guatemala and Ghana.

    Mary was a little girl and she lived with her parents in Africa. Her parents had gotten tired of the neighbors always complaining to them about their daughter, who was naughty and disrespectful to others. To change the situation, the father told Mary a story of a thief who would come and take away the parents of a bad child to take care of a better child and leave the bad child alone.

    However Mary went on with her ways. One day she made fun of an old blind man on her way to school. On hearing this, her parents thought of a new plan.

    The next day Mary came back from school. To her surprise, nobody was at home. It was getting dark but neither of her parents showed up. The little girl started to wonder where they were. Suddenly she remembered the story. Mary began to cry, for she thought she would never see them again. While she was crying, the door opened and her parents came in. She ran to them and asked, “Where have you been? I thought the thief had taken you away.”

    “He did but he let us go and told us to come back home because he knows you are going to be a good girl. He told us that if you are still a bad girl, he will come back for us,” they told her.

    “I am a good girl now and I promise never to be bad again because I don't want him to take you away from me.” Mary's words made her parents very happy. From that day on, Mary has never misbehaved again.

任务一：判断下列句子正误。

任务二：回答问题。

    "Mom! Get my annoying(令人讨厌的)brother off me," I shouted. I woke up because of my brother. It happens almost every day. I got out of bed and put on my clothes hurriedly. Then I realized a huge problem—it was the first day of high school! It meant I had to go to the same school as my brother. But I didn't want to go there. At that exact moment, a thought came into my mind. I had never thought of it before.

    I had to go to school in 30 minutes. I had to eat, pack and think of a plan to get my brother embarrassed(尴尬).20 minutes later, I got my bag and slowly walked out of my bedroom. I saw my mom taking the school uniform downstairs and in exactly a second I had a great plan. I quickly ran after my mom and followed her downstairs. Like a cat I hid behind a couch, seeing her put the uniform on the couch and make her way back upstairs. I only had one chance. I quickly wrote something that would make my brother embarrassed on the back of a shirt as my brother ran downstairs. We put on out clothes right away and we wore the same size. It was quite a cold day, so I took a jacket and put it on.

    A couple of minutes later, we were in the car and were almost at school. I was secretly waiting for my great plan to happen. I got out of the car and ran to my classroom. I unpacked and decided to take off my jacket, because the day was heating up. Once I took my jacket off, everyone started laughing. I had no idea why everyone was laughing until suddenly I realized what had happened.

    China is a country with many colorful days and festivals. The Dragon Head Raising Day (Longtaitou) is one of them. This special day is on the second day of the second month in the Chinese lunar calendar. It stands for the start of spring and farming.

    The dragon is important for Chinese people. We Chinese people call ourselves the" descendants(传人)of the dragon" . Therefore, people celebrate the Dragon Head Raising Day with many customs.

    On the day in ancient times, people put ashes in the kitchen. This was to" lead the dragon into the house". People believed that with the help of the dragon, they could have a good harvest(收成)in autumn.

    Also, people cat special foods that day. The foods are usually named after dragons. For example, people eat" dragon whisker(细须)"noodles and dumplings called "dragon teeth " .

    Today, many customs have faded away(消退). But one that has remained is the cutting of hair. It is said that a haircut during the first lunar month may bring bad luck to the uncles of the family-mainly mother's brothers. So many people have their hair cut on the Dragon Head Raising Day.

    Many people seem to know well about the rain forests. Some people even go to the rain forests to spend some of their time trying to make friends with the plants and animals there. The scientists are actually hard at work studying the plants that grow in the very top level of a rain forest. Rain forests are one of the richest environments on Earth. They are home to millions of species of plants and animals. The red research raft provides scientists with a platform from which to study life in the treetops. Scientists can even sleep on the raft, so they can stay up in the treetops for days at a time.

    Rain forests cover only about 6 percent of Earth's land surface. However, they contain more than half of the plant species on Earth. Many of these plants provide useful medicines to use against human diseases. In fact, about 25 percent of prescription medicines in the United States are based on chemicals from rain forest plants. Scientists think that many new medicines might be developed from plants that are yet to be discovered.

    Unluckily, rain forests are disappearing. Rain forest trees are being cut down for wood. Huge chunks of the forests are cleared to provide land for farm animals and crops. Scientists haven't identified all the plants in these forests yet. Some scientists think thousands of kinds of plants that we'll never even know about are being destroyed each year.