People already know a lot about animals. However, there are still some things about animals that may surprise you. Here are {#blank#}1{#/blank#}about animals you probably didn't know.

    Cows do have best friends and feel stressed when they are separated. Scientists have found that cows are very social animals and that a cow always {#blank#}2{#/blank#}other cows. When a cow is with its friends, it feels relaxed, compared with when it is alone.

    During a breeding season, a male penguin will offer a small stone to a female penguin as a gift. If she takes it, they will become partners. When the female penguin lays an egg, she and her partner may carry it {#blank#}3{#/blank#}, because some penguins don't build nests.

    Crocodiles (鳄鱼) swallow (吞) stones. Crocodiles always swallow their food instead of eating it like other animals. They swallow stones which break the food into very small pieces in their stomachs. These stones may stay in their stomachs {#blank#}4{#/blank#}.

    Elephants use plants to treat pain or other illnesses. Scientists once found a pregnant (怀孕的) elephant in Africa who ate a kind of plant which was not part of her normal food. Four days later, she {#blank#}5{#/blank#}a baby elephant. The same plant was used by the local pregnant women.

    Mr. and Mrs. Brown are from America. They are now teaching English in Zhengzhou. Their son Jack is with them. Jack speaks English. They want him to learn some Chinese. Jack is in Grade Three in a Chinese school. He plays with Chinese children every day. He listens to Chinese, speaks(讲) Chinese, reads books in Chinese and writes in Chinese. He is doing well in his Chinese.

One day, I walked into a stranger (陌生人) as he walked by me. "Oh, excuse me." I said. He said{#blank#}1{#/blank#}a smile, too. "Please excuse me, too. I wasn't watching out for you." We apologized (道歉) and went our own ways.

Later that day, when I was cooking, my daughter was standing too close to me. When I reached for some milk, I nearly knocked (撞){#blank#}2{#/blank#}(she) over. "Move out of the way." I shouted. She walked away sadly. But I didn't feel like {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(say) sorry to her.

While I was in bed that evening, my husband said to me, "Dealing with{#blank#}4{#/blank#}stranger, you were polite (礼貌的), but with a daughter you love, you were unkind. Your daughter {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(bring) you some flowers that she picked for you this afternoon. You'll find them in the kitchen by the door. Have you seen the tears in her eyes?"

I{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(quiet) went in and put myself down by my {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(daughter) bed. "Honey, I am so sorry." I said, "Are these the flowers you picked for me? She said, "I found them by the tree. I picked them {#blank#}8{#/blank#} they're pretty like you. I knew you'd like them, especially the {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (three) blue one." I tearfully replied, "Sweetie, I'm really sorry for the way I acted today. I shouldn't have shouted at you." "It's okay. I love you anyway." she said as she kissed me on my cheek.

If we can be polite to a stranger, why can't we be kind to the ones we love? I come to understand that {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (important) thing in life is the love between people.

Sun Yingsha is a famous Chinese table tennis player. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}（recent）, the ITTF（国际乒乓球联合会）awarded her "Female Player of the Year 2023". In the past year, she won seven women's singles（单打）gold medals.

Sun comes from Shijiazhuang, Hebei province. She {#blank#}2{#/blank#}（play）table tennis for 17 years since she was five. Her parents wanted her {#blank#}3{#/blank#}（have）something to do after school and be {#blank#}4{#/blank#}（health）. At the age of seventeen, she succeeded in {#blank#}5{#/blank#}（join）the national team and started to join in many games. The 23-year-old got the nickname of "Little Devil" because {#blank#}6{#/blank#} her style of play. Her competitors find it hard to get the ball back.

Sun also has a strong mind. If she is losing in a game, she never gives up. She said, "You always face ups and downs. Determination（决心）and courage（勇气）can make you be {#blank#}7{#/blank#} excellent player."

Outside of the sport, Sun is a lovely girl. One of her {#blank#}8{#/blank#}（hobby）is watching videos of the panda HuaHua. "I like to watch her rolling around," Sun said. Sometimes, Sun is a little {#blank#}9{#/blank#}（care）. She once got lost inside a gym. Another time, she nearly missed her airplane after a competition.

Sun's many different sides make {#blank#}10{#/blank#}（she）real and win her a lot of hearts.

It was the last day of the school year. The classroom was filled with excitement. When our teacher, Mr. Johnson, walked in, holding a CD player, everyone's face lit up with a smile. We knew that this wasn't going to be another normal day, but a special one.

"Please calm down and sit," said Mr. Johnson, "I'm glad everyone's here for the final reading test of the year." When everyone cried, Mr. Johnson laughed, saying it was just a joke. Then he reminded us that we still had a job to do. "You need to clean out your desks and put all your things into your backpacks," he added gently.

As we began our task, Mr. Johnson turned on the CD player. The lively music made the room feel like a party. Some of us started singing along with the music, and others were dancing around their desks while they were cleaning them out. Even Mr. Johnson showed us a few dance steps, making everyone laugh heartily. After we finished cleaning, someone asked, "When is break time?" Mr. Johnson took out some balls and started playing with them. Suddenly, he let the balls drop and said, "Break time starts... now!"

Just as we were about to rush out, our headmaster, Mrs. Miller, appeared at the door. "Mr. Johnson!" She cried out. A moment of silence fell over the room as we thought, "Mr. Johnson might be in trouble." However, to our surprise, Mrs. Miller couldn't help but laugh at the sight and left us to enjoy our break.

During break time, Mr. Johnson surprised us with another treat. He went to the cafe and came back with ice creams for everyone. We all cheered for him!

As we walked back to the classroom, we passed Mrs. Miller's office. Someone joked, "Don't play with the ice creams, Mr. Johnson!" We all laughed together.

Many people think skateboarding（滑板） is very cool，but it's hard to learn this sport. I {#blank#}1{#/blank#}in a skateboarding camp last summer. On the first day，our{#blank#}2{#/blank#} ，Hagen，taught us how to stand on a skateboard. It sounded{#blank#}3{#/blank#}，but in fact it was difficult to do that. 

I could hardly keep my balance（平衡） on the skateboard， {#blank#}4{#/blank#}I was a beginner. I often fell on the ground. I couldn't even stand up. I was so tired that I wanted to have a（n） {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. But just when l was going to give up（放弃），I remembered the words my mum told {#blank#}6{#/blank#}， "No pains，no gains. " If I stopped halfway，I wouldn't get anything from this camp. So

A few days {#blank#}7{#/blank#}，Hagen taught us how to be cool on the skateboard. With all of my hard work，I did my {#blank#}8{#/blank#}to be cool. 

You may be interested{#blank#}9{#/blank#} skateboarding and think it is cool. {#blank#}10{#/blank#}，if you want to learn it well，you must practise hard. Without the love for it，you will never be cool on a skateboard!