You probably don't think about soil often, but the following report may help you learn about science of soil.

What is soil made of?

Soil is made of sediments (沉积物) and humus(腐殖质). Sediment is small pieces of rock broken down over time by rain, ice, and wind. Sediment is often found in water. Humus comes from decayed(腐烂的) plants and animals. It helps give plants a lot of the food they need to grow.

How does soil form?

Over centuries, rock breaks down into very small pieces.

The rock pieces mix with humus.

The humus gets thicker and thicker over time. Soil is formed(形成)l

How are soils different?

Soils can be different colors and have different textures(质感). Texture is how the surface of an object feels. Color and texture are two features(特征) of soil.

Plants and soil

Plants do not grow well in some soils. Sandy soi1 is too dry. It does not hold water. Soil with too much clay is too thick. Most plants grow well in dark, rich garden soil that has different sediments and a lot of humus in it.

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    When we say a person blows his own trumpet(喇叭)，we mean he tells other people how good and successful he is．That is usually an act of arrogance(自大)．But teachers at Wimbledon High School once asked their students to blow their own trumpet．

    “Some students are under too much pressure and they find it difficult to accept that they have been successful．”said Ms. Hanbury, head of this famous all -girls school in London．“They push themselves hard and might never be happy．”That's why the “Blow Your Own Trumpet Week” was held in the school．

    In the“Blow Your Own Trumpet Week”,the teachers asked their students to share their stories of success and failure(失败)．They also asked them to tell how well they did in each subject．In this way, the school wanted to help students to know they were all good at something and that they didn't have to be good at everything．

    Before that, the school ran a“Failure Week”to help students deal with setbacks(应对挫折)．The students learned how to get better from setbacks quickly, so they wouldn't think it was the end of the world if they didn't do well in an exam．

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    Now students' English handwriting (书写) gets worse and worse. Their teachers worry about that. Is your English handwriting beautiful? If not, here are three steps that really work!

Slow down

    If your writing is hard to read, try slowing down a little. For some kids, going a little slowly makes the handwriting clear. If you write too fast, it's hard for you to stop where you should, and even worse, you may make more mistakes.

    Hold your pencil correctly

    When you hold your pencil correctly, writing is much easier. Some kids press down really hard when they write. That makes the handwriting not nice. Try to be relaxed and don't hold the pencil so hard. Let your writing appear nice and clean. If you do so, people will guess you are a student with a good habit.

    Draw more pictures

    Drawing can improve your handwriting. You need to use the skills to control your pencil better when you are drawing pictures. Even though you have no chance to draw at school, you can practice by yourself at home.

    Handwriting is very important. Imagine you are a world-famous movie star or a well-known sports player, what do you do when your fans run up to you? Give them your autographs, of course!

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    A king received a gift of two great falcons (猎鹰), and they were really beautiful. He gave the birds to his head falconer to be trained.

    One day, the falconer told the king that although one of the falcons was soaring (高飞) high in thesky, the other bird couldn't move from its branch (树枝) since the day it arrived.

    The king called on many falcon trainers to train the falcon, but no one could make the bird fly.

    After he tried everything else, the king thought to himself, "Maybe I need someone morefamiliar (熟悉的) with the countryside to work out this problem.” So he asked his men to go and get a farmer.

    In the morning, the king was surprised to find the falcon was soaring high above the gardens. The king asked the farmer, “How did you make the falcon fly?” The farmer said to the king, “It was very easy. I just cut the branch which the bird was sitting on".

    We are all made to fly. But sometimes we just sit on our branches, don't want to leave the things that are familiar to us. So sometimes our lives are boring and not exciting. Let us learn to cut the branch that we are familiar with and free ourselves to a brave soar!

    It's rare to see a team earn 11 straight wins (连胜) in a tournament (锦标赛). However, the Chinese Women's volleyball team has done it!

    On Sept 29, China took the Women's Volleyball World Cup Trophy(奖杯) in Japan. The team didn't lose any of its games during the tournament. It was also the team's 10^th world title (冠军).

    "The trophy is the best gift to celebrate the 70^th birthday of New China," People's Daily said in an article.

    The Chinese Women's volleyball team has long been the pride of Chinese athletics. In the 1980s, the team won five world titles in a row (连续), which raised people's confidence at the time. Since then its fighting spirit has encouraged generations (一代代) of people, both within the team and across the country.

    Working hard was the key to the team's success. The World Cup was played in several different cities and the team didn't have much time to train. The girls had to squeeze in (挤出) training time when they could. On Sept 25, for example, they arrived in Osaka at 2:30 pm and started training only an hour later.

    Never giving up, especially during difficult times, is also the key to getting success, according to head coach Lang Ping. Many of the team's members kept on playing even after being hurt.

    With their latest win, the girls are ready to prepare for next year's Tokyo Olympics.

    Everyone in my family loves music. My older sister, Lennon, and I hardly ever watch TV or play computer games.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Now we can play the piano, the guitar and the drums. Sometimes, just for fun, we'd choose a song, and then Lennon and I would make it our own.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} One night, they let us upload(上传) a video of us singing to an online video site. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}We felt so lucky.

    Lennon and I are good sisters and friends{#blank#}4{#/blank#}. We like to do something together, such as singing or acting. And acting is really fun for us because the character I play is more like Lennon and the character she plays is more like me.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}But I get a little nervous(紧张的) when I act. Lennon says,

    "You have to really believe in yourself." And I always try my best.

A. And we don't fight.

B. We'd sing it for our parents

C. Our parents always ask us to play music

D Lennon and I never get nervous when we sing

E. Two days later, we flew to New York sing on TV show!

F. Lennon is good at singing and dancing