D

    When I was a child，I often dreamed of the time when I could leave home and go to the city．We lived on a farm，and especially in winter，we were quite out off from the outside world．As soon as I left school，I packed my bags and moved to the city．However，I soon discovered that my life has its disadvantages，too．

    One big disadvantage is money．It costs so much to go out，not to mention basics like food and housing．Another disadvantage is pollution．①空气是如此的脏以至于我害怕出去。 Then there is the problem of traveling round．Although I have a car, I seldom use it because of the traffic jams．One choice is to go by bike，but that can be dangerous

    Of course there are advantages．First，there is so much to do in the city．And there are wonderful jobs and more chances of moving to a more important job or position．Finally，if you like shopping，the kind of goods is very surprising．②What's more，there are many shops that are not far from your home．

    Is life better in the city then? Perhaps it is，when you are in your teens or twenties．However，as you get older，and especially if you have small children，the peace of the countryside may be a better choice．I certainly hope to move back there soon．

    When I spent the summer with my grandmother, she always sent me to a store with a long shopping list. How could I hope to find all these things? In the store, there was a tall lady with black glasses on her nose. There wasn't a smile on her face.

    “Excuse me,” I said. She looked down and said, “I'm Miss Bee.”

    “I need to get these.” I said, holding up my list. “So? Go to get them. ” Miss Bee pointed to some shelves. “There's no one here, only you and me, so get yourself a basket and get all these things yourself.”

    That summer I visited Miss Bee twice a week. Sometimes she gave me wrong change. One afternoon I corrected her, “That bag of beans is only twenty-nine cents!”She just looked at me over her glasses and changed the price. Going to the store was more like going into battle. I got into the store just like General Patton getting into North Africa.

    Soon I learned how to find the product on the shelf… At the end of the summer, the shopping trip only took me 15 minutes. Before I left, I stopped in the store to get some candy.

    “All right, little girl,” she said. “What did you learn this summer?” Before I could answer. Miss Bee laughed and said, “I know what you think of me. Well, I don't care! My job is to teach every child some life lessons. When you get older you'll be glad you ever met Miss Bee. Haha!...”

    I didn't think of her words. Years passed, one day my daughter came to me with her homework. “It's too hard,” she said. “Could you finish my math problems for me?”

    “If I do it for you, how will you ever learn to do it yourself?” I said. Suddenly, I was back at that store and I knew what I learned from the old lady that summer.

配对阅读：上栏描述了五位同学喜欢看的杂志，下栏是七份杂志的简介，请为上栏的每位同学选择一份合适的杂志。

    Who is the greatest teacher in Chinese history? You can't think of anyone else when you hear people read Confucius' words.

    Confucius was born on September 28^th, 551BC in the Kingdom of Lu, in today's Shandong Province. Chinese people see Confucius as the greatest thinker（思想家）and also the greatest teacher. He had about 3,000 students. For more than 2,000 years, Confucius's ideas are around in people's everyday life. Now millions of people around the world are learning Confucius's ideas.

    Why are his ideas so popular? They help not only in everyday life but also in society. Confucius's most important ideas are being kind and having good manners. Confucius said young people should take care of the old. People should give up thinking of themselves and work for others.

    Confucius and his ideas are becoming more and more popular. Now, more than 100 Internet websites are teaching people about Confucius and his ideas.

    In the time it takes you to read this sentence, the population of the Earth will have grown by 10 people. That may not sound much, but it is about 14,000 people an hour. That is the same as adding most of the population of Germany to the world every year!

    Most of these new people are born in developing countries. These countries are found in much of Africa, South America, and parts of Asia. In the developed countries of Europe and North America, the population is growing very slowly. This is because women in these countries have, on average, only one or two children. In the developing countries, many women have five or more children. In 1950, around one quarter of the world's population lived in the developed countries. By 2050, these countries will be the home to only around one tenth of the world's people.

    In the developing countries, more than one billion people already live below the poverty line (贫困线).These people don't have enough food to eat and they live in poor housing; children get little or no time at school and suffer from many kinds of diseases.

    The United Nations (UN) tries to guess population growth. At the beginning of the 21st century, the world's population was around six billion people. The UN has said that the world's population will level off at 12. 5 billion people by the year 2100. Other people think the world's population will continue to grow, reaching 14 billion people before it becomes stable or even falls.