Now many people like to keep dogs as their pets. But how did dogs become humans' close friends?

    In some places of Europe (欧洲), about 10,000 years ago, some wild (野生的) dogs often came to human's houses to find food. The wild dogs looked different from the ones today. They looked like wolves (狼). At first, they felt ① frightened. They always stood and looked for a short time. Then they got the food and ran away. Sometimes the young dogs couldn't run fast and people caught them. People trained them and the young dogs grew up with the help of people. Slowly, the wild dogs became home dogs. They could make home safe when people were away. They helped people hunt (狩猎). They helped people keep warm on cold nights. ② Sometimes, they could smell and hear danger before people could. In some cold places, they helped people pull (拉) things people need.

    Now there are more than 400 different kinds of dogs in the world. And they look different from each other. The number and kind are growing all the time. Today, some people mainly (主要地) regard dogs as pets. In fact, dogs are really our close friends. We should protect them from being killed.

    Two days ago, I had taken a test in Biology, and I knew that I would get my scores in the same class today.

    After the bell rang, every students sat in his or her seat impatiently. Then, one by one, the teacher called our names.

    As each paper was given back to the correct student, the front of the answer paper would always be turned to face the ground and the paper itself would be slightly folded (折叠) to prevent anyone from seeing.

    In fact, folding each test paper is a way to make sure that each student sees only his or her own scores. The scores are seen as private information not to be announced or shown to others. As a way to keep the students' score records secret, each student is given an online account (帐号) with which to check his or her grades posted on the official school website.

    Protecting students' private information always comes first in US schools that want to free students from unnecessary pressure. Academic (学业上的) reports are guarded closely to prevent poor academic grades from damaging a student's dignity and reputation (有损学生的尊严和声誉), which are for himself or herself only.

    However, some insist that although students' feelings and self-dignity are easily hurt, they cannot be forever protected. They say that school also teach their students to make themselves stronger in mind, and the classroom should show the reality of competition in society. Scores that everyone can see might better encourage students to work harder to be better than others.

A. Eric has changed a lot in the past few years. He understands that people should care about others, especially those in need. He gives away money and things to poor people and is praised for his kindness.

B. Frank has been in China for five years and known a lot about Chinese culture. But it seems too hard for him to speak Chinese well and he's considering giving it up.

C. Dale has made great progress in spoken Chinese with the help of Mr. Zhang. And he's very comfortable talking with others in front of crowds. Now he has great interest in it and often takes part in speech competitions.

D. Jim has stopped playing computer games. His parents helped him a lot to change. Now he exercises with his father in the morning every day. He always says, “Doing sports makes me active and healthy."

E. With the help of his older brother. Tom is able to play some computer games now. And he often plays them with his brother on weekend to relax.

F. With the help of Mr. Smith, Mike has become quite interested in painting. What's more, he won first prize in all art competition yesterday. Many people say that he has changed a lot and will be a great painter.

G. John wants to change and he is trying to be active in class now. He's still a little afraid when answering the teachers' questions, but he will put up his hands at once as long as he knows the answers to the questions. What's more, he will take part in a speech competition this term.

    Car Free Day encourages drivers to give up their cars for a day to protect the environment. People from around the world get together in the streets to remind the world that we don't have to; accept the society full of cars. It started from France in 1998. Because of the air and noise pollution, some French young people wanted a day without cars. On September 22nd, people in 35 cities in France didn't use their cars. They went to work or school by bike, bus or on foot. After that, September 22nd became Car Free Day. The first Car Free Day in China was in Chengdu in 2001. The slogan(口号) for the day is "If we, drive for one less day, we can have one more nice day."

    Organized activities are held in many cities on Car Free Day. In Brussels, Car Free Day shall be valid(有效的) for everybody except persons with a special permit(许可证),but they have to slow down to the speed of 30 kilometres per hour. The public transportations are encouraged. The streets are open only to walkers, bicycles and buses from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. In Beijing, it asks drivers to leave their cars at home for one day each month and walk or ride a bike to work. More and more people are taking part in the activity. In the first quarter of this year, Beijing only had 52 blue sky days, and you may see haze almost every day! We must do more for Car Free Day as a Beijing driver said, "We may not change the weather, but we can choose not to drive."

    But we do not want just one day and then a return to "normal" life. We should go on with Car Free Day.