If you ears are working well, you hear sounds all the time. You can't switch（关掉）your ears off, even when you are asleep.

Listening

    When you really want to listen to something, you tell brain to focus on that sound. If your ears are healthy and are both working well, they can turn down other sounds while you focus on what you want to hear. If one ear isn't working __________ the other, they can't do this as well. If you hearing cells（细胞）have been damaged by too much loud noise or music, what you want to hear can get mixed up and lost in the other sounds around. With healthy ears you can choose what you want to listen to, but you can't choose what you hear.

Understanding

    Your brain deals with the received sounds and tells you what they mean. Some people have problems understanding what they are hearing because their ears don't work well and they don't hear all the sounds. They brain does not get enough information to understand the messages or they may be mixed up.

Selective（选择的）hearing

    Lots of mums and dads think that kids have this “problem”. They think that you select what you are going to hear and what you can't hear! Many mums say that dads do this, too. In fact, this is something we may all do to try and make our lives a bit easier. Some children wrote what they liked to hear and what they didn't like to hear.

    We sometimes call the lion “the king of the jungle” Because it is stronger and more dangerous than other animals.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}It is the highest animal in the land food chain.

    In the sea, the shark is one of the animals at the top of the food chain. It can swim faster than most other sea animals{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}People are! We are not the biggest or fastest, but we are the cleverest. We could not run faster than cheetahs, so we invented cars and now we can move the fastest. We could not fight better than lions, so we invented guns. Now we can hunt the best. People's inventions are clever, but they can be dangerous, too. For example, people invented factories, and now they make the air and rivers dirty.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}Dirty rivers kill fish. Then bears cannot eat the fish and die. If we kill one part of the food chain. Other parts also die. Remember that we are a part of the food chain, so we are in danger, too!{#blank#}5{#/blank#}We should and we could do something for the world!

    One day, a baby snail（蜗牛） found that he had to carry a big and heavy shell（壳） at any time. He was confused(困惑的), so he went up to his mother and asked, “ Why was I born with a shell that grew so hard and heavy?” His mother said, “Because we don't have bones（骨头） to hold us up. We can only move slowly, so we need a shell to protect us.”

    The baby snail asked again, “The caterpillar(毛毛虫) has no bones, either, and she can't move quickly. Why can she live without a shell?” The mother snail answered, “That's because a caterpillar will become a butterfly. She can fly high into the sky. The sky can protect her.”

    The baby snail had one more question, “But the earthworm(蚯蚓) moves like us. He has no bones and he won't turn into a butterfly. Why doesn't he carry a hard and heavy shell?” His mother said, “He can dig a hole and hide in the ground, and then the earth can protect him.”

    The baby snail then cried, “We are so poor! We have no protection from the sky or from the ground!” His mother smiled at him, “That's why we have a shell. My dear, imagine that if we don't have the shells, what will happen to us? Hot sun will dry out our bodies and we'll have nowhere to sleep. What's worse, we'll die in the heavy rain. How terrible it is! We don't depend on the sky or the ground for protection. We should depend on ourselves.”

    People all over the world celebrate the New Year. However, not all countries celebrate in the same way, and in some countries, the New Year doesn't begin on the same date every year. It can depend on the seasons, the moon or the sun.

    In many countries, the New Year begins on 1st January, but people start celebrating on 31st December, New Year's Eve. In New York many people go to celebrate in Time Square. While they're waiting for the New Year, they listen to music, sing traditional songs and have fun. Just before 12 o'clock, everyone counts down from 10: 10, 9, 8 … As soon as it's 12 o'clock, everyone shouts very loudly, "Happy New Year!" and they say, "Out with the old year and in with the new!" Suddenly there are fireworks and special drinks. Sometimes people sing an old song called Auld Lang Syne. New Year's Day is often a family day. Some people relax at home. Some families get together for a special meal with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. When the weather is fine, many families go out for a walk.

    On New Year's Day, many people make resolutions for the New Year. They write down a list of things, such as "I will help out more at home. I will work harder at school." or "I won't spend so much time playing video games." When they have made their list, they read it to their family or friends and promise to follow their resolutions.

    Hi! My name is Jack. I am a middle school student. There are four people in my family. I live with my dad, my mom, and my sister, Irene. Irene is only two years old, so I usually play with my cousin, Kevin.

    Kevin is the only son of Uncle Frank and Aunt Dolly. He is in a middle school, too. He gets up at 6: 30 every day. Kevin's home is not far from his school. He usually takes the bus to school. It only takes him 15 minutes. Sometimes he walks to school. It's a 30-minute walk. But he thinks it's good exercise. In his free time, he likes dancing, singing, playing the piano and playing soccer. He dances very well. He gets some awards (奖) in dancing. Every day he dances and does sports.

    However, Kevin doesn't forget his lessons. He does his homework first after school. He is very busy, but he is one of the best students in his class. His classmates and teachers love him very much. He usually teaches me to dance. Kevin often says, "I want to be a great dancer one day." Can his dream come true?