My mother is a kind woman. She is very busy from morning till night. As a teacher, she works hard. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Both my brother and I love her dearly as she loves us. My mother has been teaching math at a middle school in my hometown. She goes to work early in the morning and does not return home until late in the afternoon. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} She treats them with patience and teaches them well.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Every day, when she comes back home from work, she sets about doing housework, sweeping the living room and bedrooms. As she has been very busy working every day, she looks older than her age. But she looks as cheerful and happy as ever. Mother never buys expensive dresses for herself. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Often she says to us, “Work while you work, and play while you play. That is the way to be a happy person. If you do not work, you will become lazy and be of no use to society". What a piece of good advice this is! {#blank#}5{#/blank#} This advice of hers will always serve as a guide to my behavior. My mother is great indeed, and I always feel proud of her.

A. She enjoys listening to classic music.

B. As a mother, she takes good care of us and gives us every comfort.

C. She loves her students and cares for them.

D. She often buys expensive and high quality clothes for us.

E. My mother is hard-working and never wastes money.

F. I never forget it and always bear it in my mind.

G. Can you tell us something about your mother？

Can zoos ever be animal-friendly?

    The topic of our last class discussion was “How can zoos provide animals with a good life?” Everyone believed it was impossible for zoos to give animals a caring environment. Our teacher suggested that visiting a modern zoo might give us a new point of view.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} In our discussion, many people said that zoos were full of smelly cages with unhappy animals living in. Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, however, was set in an attractive, open environment. Trees and flowers had been planted around the park. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    At school, some people accused（指责）zoos of exploiting（剥削）animals for money but at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, as I see it, nothing could be further from the truth. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Before I visited Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, I wasn't sure about the rights and wrongs of zoos. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} I feel that, although zoos can't provide the freedom of the wild, they can be animal-friendly by giving animals a safe and caring environment. As long as they do this well, to my mind they make a good contribution（贡献）to animal health. They also play an important part in educating us about wildlife. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    On the bus back to school, we all agreed that what we liked most was the zoo's environment and we would recommend（推荐）it for next year's group.

A. It is difficult for the zoo to raise animals.

B. More and more animals enjoy their wild homes.

C. I think lots of my friends changed their minds, too.

D. Most of the money is used to improve conditions at the zoo.

E. I went to the zoo and was pleasantly surprised by what I found.

F. In my opinion, the animals, rather than seeming upset, were pleased.

G. It was difficult to say how a zoo could really make up for animals' loss of freedom.

    There was once a lonely girl who longed so much for love. One day while she was walking in the woods she found two starving birds. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} She cared them with love and the birds grew strong. Every morning they greeted her with a wonderful song. The girl felt the great love from the birds.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} The larger and stronger of the two birds flew from the cage. The girl was so frightened that he would fly away. As he flew close, she grasped him wildly. Her heart felt glad at her success in capturing him. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} She opened her hand and stared in horror at the dead bird. Her desperate love had killed him.

    She noticed the other bird moving back and forth on the edge of the cage. She could feel his great need for freedom. He needed to fly into the clear, blue sky. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} The bird circled once, twice, three times.

    The girl watched delightedly at the bird's enjoyment. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} She wanted the bird to be happy. Suddenly the bird flew closer and landed softly on her shoulder. It sang the sweetest songs that she had ever heard.

    The fastest way to lose love is to hold on it too tight, while the best way to keep love is to give it wings!

A. Her heart was no longer concerned with her loss.

B. Suddenly she felt the bird go softly.

C. She took them home and put them in a small cage.

D. She gave them some delicious food and left.

E. She lifted him from the cage and threw him softly into the air.

F. One day the girl left the door of the cage open.

G. One day she left with the two birds at home alone.

    How much do you know about colors? The colors that you select create a distinct atmosphere in the room. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Pick the color for your room and you can create whatever you feel like. The color will also help you to enlarge the space or making it more inviting, which will also make differently all about it.

However, the trick is to select the right version of that particular color. There are different hues (色调) for blues, for instance. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Here we have presented a guide that will let you gain a deep insight about the colors.

    Blue

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} For kitchen, bathrooms and bedrooms it is an ideal choice. Of course it is also associated with sadness that means it may not strike note for each and everyone. It is a popular choice among people. Blue comes from the cold side of the color wheel, so it can make the room feel cold, unless and until it is south filling space. If you are attracted to blue color, think of going for purple, or mix red and purple.

    Dark blue is best for a living room. Probably it is best reserved for high ceiling space. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Green

    Like blue, green is also a calm shade. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} It is the shade that reflects nature and renewal. Green produces a positive energy without the feeling of overstimulation.

A. Colors can light up the mood of the room.

B. You can use it for a living room or a bedroom.

C. They won't create similar effect and atmosphere generally.

D. Traditionally, blue is just related to calmness and comfort.

E. It is better that you select colors that are very warm like blue.

F. Dark blue will really make you feel the wall appear near to you.

G. But before diving into any decision, here's what you need to know.

Little Habits Make a Big Difference

Everything around us is changing at amazing speed, it seems ̶ but some things will always remain the same.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Some of our daily habits have the power to always give us happiness and lead us toward success. Here are some little habits that can make a big difference:

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Many studies have linked early rising with success. An early morning wake-up carries benefits including better planning and anticipation（预料）of problems, and more time to do the things that make you happy.

    Happiness comes to those who are curious.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} As long as you live, there will always be something to learn, and as long as you follow your heart and your passions, you won't miss out on learning.

    Believe in yourself and all that your are.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Confidence is the key to success ̶ the thing that lets you look at the past without regret, stay grounded in the present, and prepare for the future without fear.

A day well spent gets you a good night sleep.

    Enough sleep makes you feel healthier and happier, and it's more than lifting up your mood or removing exhaustion. Adequate sleep is a key part of your health and inner happiness. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    It doesn't take a huge effort to make a significant change in your life－using one or two tiny habits may be all you need. Get started today and you'll soon be experiencing the rewards.

A. That's why habits are so powerful.

B. The ground work of all happiness is good health.

C. Early to rise makes you healthy, wealthy, and wise.

D. The habit of respect means treating everyone with kindness.

E. Nothing will ever make you happier than having faith in yourself.

F. When you rest better, you can live better and achieve more happiness.

G. There is no stage in life when we can't be learning something valuable.

    There was a man named Ken Nwadike who wanted desperately to run this year's Boston Marathon. But the Boston Marathon is different from most marathons: you have to qualify in order to enter it. Namely, you have to have completed your previous marathon in a certain amount of time, depending on your age category.

    Well, the man in question was 23 seconds short of the qualifying time he needed in order to enter the marathon. He had a number of options. He could get angry. He could blame someone. He could get depressed. Any of them could easily have led to his turning tail(逃走) and going home, angry or depressed.

    Instead, Ken Nwadike attended the Boston Marathon in his own way. He made a " Free Hugs" sign, and with that had a camera on a tripod (三脚架), he gave out hugs and smiles to the runners that passed him by, his way of encouraging and supporting them. From that humble beginning, Ken began his widely acclaimed Free Hugs Campaign, which states its purpose as follows: "continuing the movement of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the mission of the Free Hugs Project is to spread love, inspire change and raise awareness of social issues." His campaign, which quickly became a huge success, got the widespread compliments.

When things go wrong in our lives, as they do from time to time — sometimes seemingly all the time — we have a choice. We need to take a deep breath, judge the situation, and find a positive direction in which we should go. Whether it's something relatively small, like missing a marathon, or large, like losing a loved one, let Ken's story inspire you to take that breath, re-orient(重新调整)yourself, and move on to doing something worthwhile with the experience.