Clothes are traditionally made of natural materials, such as cotton, leather and wool. They are all from plants or animals, but that doesn't mean they're friendly to the earth. For example, farmers have to use a lot of chemicals to grow cotton plants.

    Scientists are now looking for new ways to make clothing materials. They hope the new materials are both comfortable and good for the earth. Scientists have worked out how to make materials out of cornhusks (谷壳), chicken feathers and rice straws.

    "They used to be useless things. We always have a problem of how to deal with them," Yang, a scientist says. "Now, we can turn them into beautiful materials. Chicken feathers are better than other things. They have small air pockets like honeycombs. That means it will be very warm if you use them to make a jacket or sweater, and I think more and more people will like to buy these kinds of clothes."

    When you're closing your eyes and hitting your pillow, you're probably not giving much thought about the sleeping position throughout the night. Most people don't change their sleeping positions throughout their lives. The following is why you might want to pay more attention: Your sleeping position can actually say a bit about who you are and what your personality is like.

    There are many sleeping positions. The fetal (胎儿的) sleeping position is generally the most common sleeping position. Fetal sleepers sleep on their side, they move into a position in which their body makes a rounded shape. People who sleep in the fetal position are often quite sensitive and generally shy. They are often worried or nervous and don't focus their attention on the main problem, but get into trouble on very small pieces of information.

    The log (木头) sleeper rests on the side with a straight body when hands and legs are kept at the sides. These sleepers are often relaxed, but also can easily believe lie-tellers. If you're a log sleeper, you might want to keep in mind that it's good to be easy-going and have less stress, but don't be so quick to go with the flow (流) at all times.

    The third one is the soldier position. Soldier sleepers typically lie on their backs with both arms close to their sides. In general, they are the strong and silent type. However, they can also put the pressure on. "They can be quite strict with themselves as well as others," a scientist added.

    Giraffes are beautiful, smart and friendly. They have long legs and necks (脖子). They are so tall that they can grow up over 5 meters (米). So how do they sleep or drink?

    You may think it's difficult for them to sleep, but they have no such problems because giraffes don't often stop for a sleep. Giraffes just need to sleep about thirty minutes a day. When they sleep, they don't always lie down (躺下). They usually sleep for minutes at a time, because it's difficult for them to get up again. And it's a great danger to sleep in the wild (荒野). But the giraffes in the zoo sleep for about 4-6 hours every day. They usually lie down when they sleep.

    Drinking water is a big problem for giraffes because their long necks are too "short". To drink water, they must spread (伸展) their front legs in a difficult way. And in this way, other animals like Africa's big cats can easily hunt (猎食) them. So they usually get most of their water from the trees and flowers. Giraffes don't need to drink water very often. They can even drink no water for months!

Here is a story: A man sees a butterfly (蝴蝶) . The butterfly tries to get out of its chrysalis (蛹) . F{#blank#}1{#/blank#}sorry for it, the man decides to help. He cuts the chrysalis and the butterfly comes out e{#blank#}2{#/blank#}. Surprisingly enough, the butterfly is unable to fly. If the butterfly doesn't struggle (挣扎；奋斗) to leave the chrysalis, it can't fly！The struggle develops the e{#blank#}3{#/blank#} in the butterfly which makes it fly. Similarly, the challenges of life bring out the best in young people and make the fly.

When people are young, meeting and overcoming challenges will make them s{#blank#}4{#/blank#} and ready to face life.

When we look at successful people, we see that the most successful of them are people who have had to struggle.

One famous businessman, who now o{#blank#}5{#/blank#}many big supermarkets, used to carry clothes on his back and sell them from door to door when he was young. Another successful man is Dennis. His father died when he was only twenty. He had to b{#blank#}6{#/blank#}up a big family. He took up the challenges and overcame them. Today his brothers and sisters are leading s{#blank#}7{#/blank#} lives.

Sometimes challenges do not appear to us because we keep away from them. So, some parents and teachers actively encourage young people to face challenges. They might organize some a{#blank#}8{#/blank#}for young people which provide them with challenges, like rock—climbing, camping, volunteer work and so on. However, just passing exams will not prepare a person for life. We must meet and overcome challenges. The young people of today will become the leaders of t{#blank#}9{#/blank#}. For countries to continue to become successful, it is i{#blank#}10{#/blank#}that the young people learn to meet challenges and overcome them.

Singapore is a city of different cultures. Walking through the streets of Singapore, you can{#blank#}1{#/blank#} (听到)different languages spoken, such as English, Chinese and Malay. People from different cultures live and work peacefully with each other and share their traditions.

In Singapore, cultural differences are shown in building styles, shops and in many other ways. Take food as an {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (例子), each culture has its own place to sell their traditional food, but there are also the {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (著名的) hawker markets. Different foods are sold in these {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (繁忙的) markets.

And these are very {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (受欢迎的) with Singapore citizens and {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (游客) from around the world. The food is good and very{#blank#}7{#/blank#} (便宜的).

Singapore is also an interesting city. Large numbers of people, ideas, etc, are mixed together {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (在……下面)the same sky. English is used for business, {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (虽然)the official language here is Malay. Now, however, there is a strong Chinese business community and also a growing Indian business community. Singapore welcomes talented people from around the world and {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (希望)they will live there all their lives.

①Franz Schubert was a music giant (巨匠). He wrote several symphonies (交响乐) and operas, about600 songs, and had many other musical works.

②Schubert was born in a musical family in Vienna on January 31, 1797. His father was a teacher, and he taught young Schubert to play the violin. One of Schubert's brothers also gave him piano lessons. Schubert was really good at writing all kinds of music. Schubert started working at his father's school in1814, but he didn't like teaching. So he spent most of his free time writing music. During that time, he wrote his first full symphony and opera. He also wrote many famous songs.

③In 1818, Schubert gave up teaching to make music full time. It was a good change. People liked his music, and they even paid him to write music for them. Schubert finally made money from his musical works, but they didn't make him rich.

④Schubert died at the age of 31 on November 19, 1828. Schubert and his music were popular during his time. And people still listen to his music today.