Florida teen band The Garbage-Men is performing on the stage. The band has five members. They are Jack Berry, Ollie Gray, Harrison Paparatto, Austin Siegel and Evan Tucker. The five teens are making music from waste. The Garbage-Men band's instruments are made from recycled things. The guitars are boxes. A horn(号) is made from pipes. The keyboard is formed from old bottles.

    The band started about two years ago. Jack Berry who was in eighth grade at the time decided to make a playable, home-made guitar. After some trial-and-error(反复试验),                he ended up building it from a cereal box,  a yardstick and toothpicks. After Jack showed his creation to his friend Ollie Gray, Ollie had the idea to form a band using other home-made instruments as a way to improve recycling. “We want to show people there is more to recycling than throwing things away in the bin.” Jack, 16, told TFK. “You can actually reuse materials.”

Last year, the Garbage-Men played at local events, including festivals, farmer's markets. Typically， the teens set up on the street and performed popular songs from the 1960s， including classic Beatles and crowd favorite “Wipe Out”. They talked about recycling and offered tips for how to improve the environment. While they were performing, Jack's little brother Trent, 11, gave out leaflets about recycling and helped sell the band's CDs and other musical products.

The band donated the money from sales to charity. They have raised more than $2,500 for Heifer International. The organization gives farm animals, seeds and agricultural training to people in poor countries to help end poverty and hunger. “It's a good, sustainable-development (持续发展的)charity,” Jack says, “By donating one animal, you help the whole community.”

The band, all tenth graders, tries to play a show every week. They've also played on a Florida radio station. The teens hope to take their shows on the road by touring in other states. “Music is a really good way to get a good message across to people because it's really close.” Jack says. Their instruments may be rubbish, but their message isn't.

    One day a little boy dialed a telephone number and started to speak and he put part of his hand over the phone at the same time. He wanted to change the tone (音色，语调) of his voice. While all this was happening, a man who was working nearby, watched carefully and listened with great interest to the conversation that followed:

    “Lady, can you give me the job of cutting your lawn (草坪)?”

    “I already have someone to cut my lawn,” answered the woman at the other end of the phone.

    “Lady, I will cut your lawn for half the price of the person who cuts your lawn now.” “I'm very satisfied with the person who is cutting my lawn.”

    The boy said, “Lady, I'll even sweep the floor and the stairs of your house for free.”

    “No, thank you.”

    With a smile on his face, the young boy thanked the lady and hung up the phone. The man then walked over to the boy and said: “Son, I like your attitude（态度）. I'd like to offer you a job.”

    “No, thanks,” said the boy.

    “But you're looking for a job, aren't you?”

    “No, sir,” answered the boy. “I was just checking on my performance at the job I already have. I am the one who cuts that lady's lawn!”

    The Kings lived in a small house in New York with their child. Sometimes Mr. King came back from work very late. When his wife and the child were asleep, he opened the front door of his house with his key and came in very quietly.

    But one night when he was coming home late, he lost his key. So when he reached his home, he rang the bell. Nothing happened. He rang it again. Again nothing happened. Nobody moved inside the house. Mr. King knocked at the bedroom window. He spoke to his wife, he shouted, but she didn't wake up. At last he stopped and thought for a minute. Then he began to speak like a small child. "Mother," he said, "I want to go to the toilet." He spoke quietly, but at once, Mrs. King woke up. Then he spoke to her, and she opened the door for him.

    If you love reading books, you must know about the book The Little Prince. It's a famous novel written by a French writer. As one of the best-selling books in history, it has been sold as many as 200 million copies in 253 languages and dialects(方言). Now, around seventy years after the birth of the book, an American director has found a way to make it into a 3-D animated film.

    The book tells the story of a pilot, called The Aviator, who crashes into the desert and meets a young prince there. However, in the film, the story starts years after the crash when The Aviator is much older. He has got a new neighbor called The Little Girl, whose mother wants her to get ready to enter the grown-up world. Slowly, The Aviator shares his story with The Little Girl by writing it down and sending her a page at a time. The pages are complete with the pictures in the book, speaking about his time in the desert and taking The Little Girl to an amazing world where anything is possible.

    China is the first country in the world to see the film in two versions(版本)—in Chinese and English. The film shows The Little Girl's life and tells The Little Prince's story at the same time in a beautiful way.

    Huang Lei, a famous Chinese actor, says the film is like a childhood dream which is lost by most adults in this stressed-out society.

    "The most touching(感人的) part is that every one of us was a good-natured kid like The Little Prince, and it's a pity that this good characteristic(品质) goes away as time flies," he says.

    12-year -old American boy Maxwell Daley just grew a pumpkin(南瓜) that weighs 582. 5 pounds (1 pound is about 0.45 kg). He won first place in the seventh annual Largest Pumpkin Contest at the Kentucky State Fair. And he received the $500 (about 3, 334 yuan) top prize.

    Maxwell is a seventh grader at Grayson County Middle School. At the age of 8, he became interested in growing huge pumpkins after seeing them at the state fair.

    Maxwell is a boy of few words. But he shared his secret of growing a big pumpkin" We put lots of special fertilizers(肥料) on it. We put it in the shade(阴凉处) and put a canopy(遮篷) over it. Lots of weeds(杂草) need to be pulled," he told local media Franklin Favorite.

    His father Joe Daley also added that it started by picking the right seed this year, Daley paid $ 40 for his pumpkin seed and worked hard every day to grow it. He also needed to keep the pests(害虫) out. "It turned into a pretty big job. He did all the work," Joe said.

    This winning giant pumpkin was the only one he grew this year. According to the rule, Maxwell has to take part in the Largest Pumpkin Contest for years to come.