We often hear stories of animals rescuing people．But now someone has managed to return the favor．

    The event took place one snowy January morning Thomas Smith was walking his dog，Jack，in the park．"As I was walking，I just saw Jack running onto the ice towards the ducks in the middle，and then he fell into the water and couldn't climb out，"said Smith．He realized he had no choice but to try and save his dog．"someone else told me the lake was only one﹣meter deep，but it was at least twice that．I had to break my way through the 6﹣cm ice．Finally，I got Jack by the neck，and pulled him out．I don't think I have ever felt so cold by the time we got back to dry land．And when we got there，everyone was asking if Jack was okay﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣no one was particularly worried，about me!"

    A neighbor，Julie Brown，saw it all happen．"The dog went onto an icy lake．All of a sudden，it started to go under．There were crowds of people around，and they were all shouting and screaming．Before I knew it，the owner Smith was in the water forcing his way through the ice．I can't begin to imagine how cold it was．Everyone was very nervous，but he was as cool as a cucumber﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣he just crawled back out，put the dog on its lead，and went home．"

    Many regard him as a hero，but Mr．Smith is quite laid﹣back about it．"Most dog owners are the same as me．They would do what I did without a second thought．But in the future，I'm going to make sure he's on lead near any ice ponds，Pets are members of our family．Would you do the same for them？

    Roger, a young man from China, has taught Chinese in a primary school in England for 3 years．A lot of children like his class and he enjoys teaching them very much．All the pupils are quite interested in what Roger teaches them．They learn quickly and do everything carefully．

    One day he said to the children, “People in a lot of Asian countries wear white clothes at funerals(葬礼), but people in America and in Europe wear white in the weddings because white means purity and happiness．What colour does an English woman wear when she gets married?”

    Mary said, “White, sir, because she is happy．” “That is good, Mary,” Roger said．“You are quite right．She wears white because she is happy．”

    But then one boy in the class put up his hand．“Yes, Dick?” Roger said, “Do you have a question?” “Yes,” Dick said．“Why do men wear black in our country when they get married, sir?”

    As we all know there are all kinds of clubs in US middle schools, such as music club, sports club, chess club, swimming club. But do you know homework club? It is a popular club in many US middle schools. More and more students spend(花费) their afternoons at homework clubs. The US middle school students need a quiet place to study. But games, computers and TVs are all around kids at home. So the homework club is just for them to do their homework. The club is quiet and it's good for students to study. Some teachers are there, too. They can answer students' questions and help with their homework.

    After the students finish their homework, they can go home. Then they can play games or watch TV happily.

For thousands of years, humans have explored the earth. Nowadays, we are exploring space. Many astronomers (天 文 学 家) are looking for new planets and new places for humans to live in the future. But where do astronomers start looking?

First, astronomers look for a star(恒星),because our own earth moves around a star. More importantly, it is the correct distance(距离) from the Sun for heat and light. So when astronomers have found the star, they look at the planets around it. In recent years, astronomers have found nearly 400 new planets with stars. However, many of these planets are either too near the star or too far away.

Then, if the planet is in a good position(位置), astronomers look for three key things: water, air and rock. Water is important because all life needs water. And plants produce air for humans to breathe and food to eat. Rock is also important, because there is often water under the rock.

After many years of scrutinising, astronomers have found a planet that is similar to the earth. It's Gliese 581g and it's near a star. The astronomers think it has water and rock. Gliese 581g is bigger than the earth. A year on Gliese 581g is only 37 earth days instead of 365. But astronomers do not think these are big differences and some of them think Gliese 581g will be a new earth.