Debbie is a very busy woman. She has ten children. Every morning she wakes up at 6: 00. The older children get up at 6: 30 and the younger children get up an hour later. After the older children leave for school at 8: 00, Debbie spends most of the day at home with her babies, cooking and cleaning. She doesn't have time to go out to work, but she doesn't mind. Debbie's husband Bob works in a bank. He doesn't enjoy it, but he makes lots of money. Debbie spends most of it on food and clothes for the children.

    Debbie likes the evening best. After dinner, she sits down in the living room and tells the children stories before they go to bed. She doesn't read from a book. She reads her own stories. Once the children are asleep, Debbie can relax. But she doesn't sit and watch TV with Bob. She writes stories in a notebook.

    Bob sent one of Debbies' stories to a competition and it won. The organizer of the competition said Debbie should become a writer, but Debbie wasn't sure. However, the children thought it was a great idea, so she decided to try. The children like elephants best, so Debbie wrote a story about them. One book company (公司) loved it and published (出版) it. People can now buy her book in shops.

    How would you use a radio or a telephone if you had no electricity or batteries? These1bothered (使烦恼) British inventor Trevor Baylis. So in 1996 he2a wind-up (装有发条的) radio. It doesn't need electricity or batteries. You wind it up3hand. It plays for about an hour. Then, you wind it up4.

    Baylis also invented a mobile phone that is powered by5. The shoes contain (含有) a small battery that is powered when you6. This battery is connected to a mobile phone. These two simple inventions can bring modern7to all parts of the world.

    Baylis didn't have a university degree in engineering. In8, he left high school before graduating (毕业). He just loved9things to help people. He never knew10ideas would come to him. The idea for the phone came to him in a dream.

    A new report shows what life might be like in 100 years from now. Experts on space and architecture(建筑), and city planners gave their ideas on life in 2116. Twenty－five years ago, we could not imagine how greatly the Internet would change our lives. Now the Internet has revolutionized the way we communicate and learn. They said the changes in the next century would be even more unbelievable.

    The way we live, work and play will be totally different from today. There will be many tall buildings, underwater cities, and holidays in space. People will work at home and have virtual(虚拟的) work meetings. People will have 3D printers to "print" everything they need at home, such as food, clothes and so on. There will also be less need for doctors. Our home health robot will tell us what the problem is and give us treatment. We will also go into space for holidays and get resources that we have used up on the Earth. Researchers interviewed 2，000 adults about the predictions, and most of them thought they were most likely to happen!

Few parents can hear the words "What can I do to help?" from their kids. Teenagers spend more time on video games, computers and mobile phones, so they help less with housework.

Students at a primary school in Fuzhou, East China's Fujian Province were required to clean the school toilets to help them develop good habits. But some parents are strongly against the idea. They can't see the advantages of students doing such chores. They think that the school should provide students with a proper education, not the chance to be school cleaners.

In fact, parents, schools and society play an equally (同等地) important role in developing the character of students. It is good for schools to give students such tasks, because few of the students will do them at home. Their parents want them to do homework only.

In recent years, some parents will make mountains out of molehills when students are asked to do some chores in schools. Some will complain the teachers if their kids get hurt in schools; some will even challenge the schools' teaching methods and management. As a result, many primary schools, especially those in big cities, do not let students join in outdoor activities during breaks, fearing that they might get hurt. This is bad for the development of students' best qualities.

What the primary school in Fuzhou doing is worth praising. Doing chores can put a sense of responsibility (责任感) into students' minds and teach them the spirit of rules as well as teamwork. Also, it can make students' in-school experiences more meaningful.

One day when Picasso was walking along a road, a woman passed by and saw him. She ran to Picasso for a painting as a gift. Picasso smiled and said {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(polite), "I'm sorry, Madam. I have nothing to paint. I am {#blank#}2{#/blank#}/ˈempti/ handed here. I may make you a painting some other time."

However, the woman didn't give up. She {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(keep) on, "Please, I am a big fan of you and I want to meet you for years." Hearing this, Picasso was moved and then took out a small {#blank#}4{#/blank#} of paper and a pen, and began to draw something. Within 10 seconds, Picasso finished {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(draw) and handed it to the woman, "Take this! It's a million-dollar painting."

But the woman thought Picasso was just playing a joke on her. How could it be {#blank#}6{#/blank#}/wɜːθ/ a million dollars just in 10 seconds? So she went to the market and was {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(surprise) to learn that it was true.

When meeting Picasso again, she wished she could be his student. She said, "Please teach me so that I can do the same thing {#blank#}8{#/blank#} such a short time."

Picasso smiled and said, "Dear, the drawing I made was not in 10 seconds {#blank#}9{#/blank#} my thirty-year efforts towards the arts!" The woman was speechless.

We fix our eyes on others' {#blank#}10{#/blank#}/səkˈses/ more often than the hard work and patience behind it. If we want to reach it, we need experience and struggle(奋斗).

Hello! I'm Anna. Look at{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(this) photos. The woman in{#blank#}2{#/blank#}orange dress is my mother. She{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(teach) English in a middle school. The man in a white T-shirt is my father. He is an office{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(work).

My mother gets up at 6:30. It takes her about{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(40) minutes (分钟) to go to school on the bus. She has two{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(class) in the morning. We{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(usual) have lunch at a restaurant near school. At 14:00, she has an English class. She is kind{#blank#}8{#/blank#}her students, so they like her a lot. At 17:40, she comes back home. She cooks dinner at 17:50. At 18:30, we have dinner. After dinner, she reads a book about English. Sometimes (有时), she helps me with my study. She can help me with my English{#blank#}9{#/blank#}Chinese. I think she is a very good mother. I love {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(she) a lot.