Margaret Porter is a violinist and music teacher. According to her, the best age to start learning the violin is between three and six. She says, “It's the time when you are learning about the world.” Margaret, who was born in London, likes to take pupils at three and four. However, she has made lots of exceptions (例外) for five-year-olds. She started teaching the violin in 1972 and she taught her children's five-year-old school friends at first.

    In Margaret's opinion, it's important for one to know why music sounds the way it does. Without knowing it, one can't become a great musician at all. So from the earliest lessons, pupils in her class learn to play by ear. They do not even try to read music until they have been playing for several years. Margaret says that her method is not to produce great violinists. She always suggests that pupils should leave and study the violin using more traditional methods.

Information Card

    It is not easy for people to sail (航海) around the world in quite small boats. Sometimes the weather gets bad. Accidents(事故) can happen easily and quickly.

    One family once had an accident. A big fish swam under their boat and bit holes(洞) in it. Sea­ water came in and the boat soon went down. Luckily these people had another small boat—a lifeboat, so they all got into the lifeboat. They lived in the boat for many days. They ate and slept, and always hoped. At last people in a ship saved them.

    How do people live in a very small lifeboat for a long time? They must be strong in every way. They must have a hope, and they must have a strong desire(愿望)to live. People cannot drink seawater. If they drink a lot of seawater, they will quickly die. They must catch rainwater and drink it. They must also catch fish and birds for food. Lifeboats do not often carry cookers. So people cannot cook their food in the lifeboats. Raw (生的) fish and birds are not very nice but they are their only food. They must eat raw food, or they will die.

    It's December. It is snowy and the weather is really cold in the north of China. You can see many children playing with snow. Some of them are making snowmen. Some are skating on the river. It's so cold that the water in the river freezes (冻结). It's a white world. How beautiful!

    But in Australia, the weather is hot now. Many people go swimming in the sea. They are having a good time. Jim and his friends are playing soccer near the sea. They want to swim after playing soccer.

    Why can they swim in December? It is winter, isn't it? Yes, it is in China. But it isn't in Australia. That's because China and Australia have different seasons in a year.

    Ma Wanqing, 13, is a Junior I at Chengdu No.3 Middle School. By looking at this kid, you would never think he's a scientist.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} He got patents（专利）this month for two inventions（发明）：a feet-washing machine and an easy trash can（垃圾桶）.

The feet-washing machine looks like a toy, but it really works." Just hit the button, and that's all it takes: the machine washes and dries your feet for you," said Wu Di at Chengdu Zhongya Patent Office.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} It's something his mum makes him do every day.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} He drew many pictures, and he made many changes to his first ideas. After lots of thinking and hard work, he is finally finished.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} "It's all because I'm too lazy, "he tells them.

But his mother, Wang Xiao lin, thinks differently." He's hard-working. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}"

    Anger(生气) is a kind of feeling. Many things can make you angry. When your teacher gives you too much homework, when your team loses an important game, when a friend borrows our favorite thing and then breaks it, you may get really angry.

    Usually, your body will tell you when you are angry. For example, you breathe(呼吸) faster, your face turns red, and you may want to break something or hit someone, but sometimes you hide your anger. For example, you may hide it in your heart. But if you do this, you may get a stomach ache or headache

    In fact, it's not good to hide your anger, and it's common for you to get angry sometimes. But anger must be let out in the right way, without hurting others or yourself. When you get angry, you can talk about it with other people, such as your friends, your parents, your teachers and so on. You can also count from 1 to 100, go for a bike ride, and think about good things, etc.

    Remember that how you act when you are angry can make something better or worse. Don't let your anger control you.

A. Actions(表现)    B. Ways          C. Reasons(原因)

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    Good study habits are important for all students. When you have good study habits, you will learn faster and find you have a good memory.

    Do you usually study in the living room？This is not a good place for study because it's really too noisy. You need to study in a quiet place, such as your bedroom. A quiet place will help you learn better.

    Before you begin to study, do not forget to clean your desk. It helps you study well, too. Light is important, too. You will feel tired easily if there is not enough light.

    Of all the good study habits you can develop, asking questions is the key. Just ask. No one knows everything, but we can always learn from each other by asking questions.

    When do you work best？Are you an early bird, a night owl (猫头鹰), or something in between ?Find your most productive work time, and then plan to study at this time.