Were you the first or the last child in your family? Or were you a middle or an only child? Some people think it matters where you were born in your family. But there are different ideas about what birth order means. Some people say that oldest children are smart and strong-willed. They are very likely to be successful. The reason for this is simple.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} So this child is very likely to do well. An only child will succeed for the same reason.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Middle children don't get so much attention, so they don't feel that important. If a family has many children, the middle one sometimes gets lost in the crowd.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} He or she is the baby. Often this child grows up to be funny and charming.

   Do you believe these ideas of birth order too? A recent study saw things quite differently.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}. They didn't take many chances in their lives. They usually followed orders and seldom made their own decisions. Rules didn't mean as much to later children in the family. They went out and followed their own ideas.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    Is there a connection between music and language? According to recent studies, the answer is yes: {#blank#}1{#/blank#}Here, we look at two examples

    A recent study by researcher Kraus shows that playing a musical instrument can improve a person's hearing ability.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}The people in the first group were musicians, while those in the second group had no musical training. The musicians were able to hear the talking person more clearly.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Think about violinists in an orchestra (管弦乐团). When the violinists play with the group, they hear their own instrument and many others, too. But the violinists must listen closely to what they are playing, and pay no attention to the other sounds. In this way, musicians are able to focus on certain sounds, even in a room with lots of noise.

    Schlaug, a doctor at Harvard Medical School, works with stroke (中风) patients. Because of their illness, these people cannot say their names, addresses, or other information normally. However, they can still sing.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}Why does this work? Schlaug isn't sure. Music seems to make different parts of the brain work, including the damaged (损坏的) parts. This might help patients to use that part of the brain again.

    Music improves concentration (注意力), memory, listening skills, and our overall language abilities.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}Playing an instrument or singing can help us do better in school and keep our brain sharp (敏锐的) as we get older. Music is not only enjoyable, it's also good for us in many other ways.

    Sleep plays an important role in brain (大脑) development. Children should get enough sleep.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} A study says that because of being short of sleep, it is much harder for children to do something carefully. And also they become forgetful and easy to make mistakes. Another study shows that the right amount of night—time sleep is just as important for children's development as healthy eating and taking exercise.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} In general a younger child needs more sleep than an older one. Children at the age of 5-11 will need 10-12 hours of sleep a night while children at the age of more than 11 will need less hours.

    In fact, many parents don't know how to help their children get enough sleep. Here is something you can do. For children at the age of 5-11, a 30-40 minutes' routine (常规) before sleep is helpful.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} In the activities, children relax and enjoy themselves a lot, and they will go to sleep more easily.

    Children at the age of more than II may go to bed late in the evening, talking with friends online, playing games or watching TV. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}  And even they will be tired during the day. So limit(限制) your children's use of the Internet, games and the TV before they go to bed.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. If not, many problems will come to them.

B. Why does a child need so much sleep?

C. How many hours of sleep is enough for a child?

D. So they will find it, difficult to get up in the next morning.

E. It includes a bath, reading a story together and so on.

F. Taking exercise is as important as enough sleep for children.

G. And don't allow them to have a computer or TV set in their bedroom.

    John is from London. He is 8 years old this year. His father is a waiter and his mother works on a farm. He is a pupil of Grade One.

    It's Monday today. Miss King is teaching them to count from one to ten. John is working hard in class. Soon he can count them. Miss King is very glad and asks him, "How many people are there in your family, John?" John stands up and says, "Two, Miss King." "Who are they?" "My father and mother." "Oh?" Miss King is surprised and says, "There are three people in your family." "But now I'm not at home. I'm at school, you know!"

With only one yuan, could you live in a city for one day? It may sound impossible.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

On April 10th, more than 60 students from a middle school took part in the One Yuan Metropolis Survival(一元城市生存). A charity organization(慈善组织) for teenagers held this activity.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} And it is going to four others, including Beijing.

In the activity, students had to live and deal with difficult tasks. To make money, many students looked for part-time jobs and saw how hard life was. A 14-year-old girl asked more than 10 restaurants for a job and finally got one. "{#blank#}3{#/blank#} But gradually, we got used to it," she said. After being a waiter for an hour, she got 25 yuan.

Living was hard, but finishing the tasks wasn't any easier. The students went to different places to finish tasks in a short time. The most amazing one was when they had to exchange things worth a thousand yuan with only a piece of paper in half an hour. "{#blank#}4{#/blank#} From a balloon to a cake to a bottle of yogurt...after almost 20 tries, we got an expensive ring," a student said. "We will give all of the money we have raised to poor schools in Tibet."