"The grass looks greener on the other side of the fence. "That's an old saying in English. It means other places often look better, more interesting than the place where you live. Some people worry that young Chinese are beginning to feel that way. They see young Chinese ignoring Chinese culture and, instead, buying Japanese cartoon books, watching Korean soap operas and even celebrating Western holidays.

 Foreign books and soap operas are good, but Chinese writers and actors are just as good. As for holidays, Christmas is nice, but it can never have the meaning for Chinese that Spring Festival has, and the West has nothing to compare with Mid-Autumn Festival. And let's not forget the part of Chinese culture I like best: its friendliness. Not all countries are as warm as China.

 It's good to enjoy other cultures and to learn from them, but they cannot replace your own culture. It's good to look on the other side of the fence, but make sure you take a good long look. You will find that the grass isn't always greener on the other side of the fence.

 Judge the following sentences true (T) or false (F) according to the passage.

阅读下面有关企鹅活动的周期表，在短文的空白处填入或选择恰当的词，完成对其活动的介绍。

The Penguin Calendar

    The chart above shows five activities of penguins over a period of one year, month by month. They are hole staying, nest building, {#blank#}1{#/blank#}, chick raising and moulting. The penguins stay in the {#blank#}2{#/blank#} most of the year, from January to October. In July, they begin to build nests, just {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (before/ after) they lay eggs. Chick raising lasts five months, from September to the next {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. After chicks come out of the eggs, they begin to lose their baby hair, which is called moulting. It usually takes about {#blank#}5{#/blank#} months, from February to May.

    When it comes to the letter grade on your test or homework, you might notice that there is no letter E. Have you ever thought about why that is so?

    In the A, B, C, D and F grading system, the first four letters are typically considered passing grades. An F in this system simply stands for“fail”.The word“fail”happens to start with the letter F, which seems to leave out the letter E. The fact”．Some schools have U grade for“unsatisfactory”,or I grade for “incomplete”.

    Even with all this said, we should also point out that E grade actually has been used pretty commonly throughout the history of letter grades in the US.

    The first college in the US to use a letter grading system like the ones we use today is Mount Holyoke College. In 1897, they began to use the following grading scale:

A: 95-100%(excellent)       B: 85-94%(good)      C: 76-84%(fair)

D: 75%(barely passed)       E: below 75%(failed)

    We can see the inclusion of E instead of F.

    Gradually,the letter grading system became more popular throughout the US. However, many schools decided to drop the E grade and go straight to F.There is no evidence(证据) to really support this, but one possible explanation is that teachers were worried that some students and parents might mistake E for “excellent”.

    Why do we have letter grades? Well, part of the reason is that they made grading simpler during a time of great change for schools. As the 20th century began,growing cities and an increase in immigration led to larger school classrooms. Most teachers at that time thought this new letter grading system was an easy, fair and clear way to grade students.

    Today, more and more people argue that letter grades don't fully reflect(反映) student learning. However，as teachers try to improve grading methods, many parents continue to favor the letter grades they got as kids, they are familiar(熟悉) and easy for parents to understand. So while they might not be perfect, the letter grades probably aren't going away any time soon.

    Culture UK: Bristol

    Chocolate!

    The first chocolate bar in the world was created in Fry's, a company in Bristol. Joseph Fry invented the delicious treat around the year 1720. Fry's also produced the first chocolate Easter egg in the UK in 1873. The company continues to produce chocolates and sweets to this day.

Balloon Festival

    The Bristol Belle was the first modern hot-air balloon in Western Europe and was developed and built in 1967. The Bristol International Balloon Festival is held every summer in the city, and is Europe's biggest hot-air balloon event.

    According to a new study, Bristol is the UK's most musical place, with the biggest number of musicians among the population. It's well-known for giving birth to the trip-hop scene in the 1990s. Its multicultural（多元文化的）population has really influenced the sounds of the Bristol music scene.

    Famous people

    JK Rowling

    J.K. Rowling was born and brought up in Chipping Sodbury, just outside Bristol. It is said that she invented her famous character Harry Potter after meeting a young boy named Ian Potter in the village where she grew up.

    Banksy

    Banksy is a graffiti artist local to Bristol. He is famous all over the world for his street art. Some of his pieces have been sold for hundreds of thousands of pounds. Many Hollywood pop stars and famous people love to collect his work.

    My name is Jack. I'm 25 years old. I think I can help you for your Beidaihe School Trip. I like sports. I can play basketball, soccer and tennis. And I like music, too. I can sing and dance and play the drums. And I can also work on the computer. I believe (相信) I can help kids with these things. I like kids and want to be their friends. I'm a funny man. I'm sure children like me. Please offer (提供) me this job.