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.

    Perhaps the only test score that I remember is the 55 I got when I was in high school.

    The test was the last one of the term. I remember waiting nervously as my teacher Mr. Right gave out our papers one after another. It was a rather difficult test. I heard my classmates groaning(叹息),and I could guess by the groans that the scores were not looking good.

    Mr Right put my paper on my desk. There in big red numbers, circled to catch attention, was my score, 55! I let my head go down, and covered the score up quickly. A 55 is not something that you wanted your classmates to see. "The scores were not very good, none of you passed," Mr Right said. "The highest score in the class was a 55."

    A 55. That's me! Suddenly I didn't feel so bad. I had the highest score. I was getting a little better.

    I walked home alone that day with the low but high score. My mother knew that I had a big test that day and asked me as soon as I got home, "How did you do in your test? ""I got 55, "I said. A frown (皱眉) appeared on my mother's face I knew I had to explain at once. "But Mum, I had the highest score in the class," I said proudly. "You failed, Dave!" my mother replied. "But it's the highest!" I insisted (坚持). "I don't care what scores others had, you failed. The important thing is what you do!" my mother said in a strong way.

    For years, my mother was always in that way. She didn't care what others did, only cared what I did and that I did it excellently. My mother's words have made a big difference to my life.

International Women's Day is on March 8 every year. On this day, people celebrate the achievements of women all over the world and continue to fight for basic rights (权利) for women.

How did it start? 

In 1908, women in New York City wanted the right to vote. They also hoped to acquire shorter working hours and better pay. Then, in 1910 in Denmark, a woman called Clara Zetkin had the idea for an international day for women. The first International Women's Day happened the next year.

Why do we need a special day for women? 

In many countries, men get higher pay than women for doing the same job. Men get a better education and better health care, and do less work at home. Men also get better chances than women to get their jobs. We need a change for women so that women can have the same chances as men.

How is International Women's Day celebrated? 

People usually celebrate by remembering important women in history, like Emmeline Pankhurst, Rosa Parks, Marie Curie...It's a very long list! They made great achievements in their fields.

People also have special events to celebrate it. In some countries, boys and men celebrate this day, too!

If you want to celebrate this important day, you could:

⒈learn about an important girl or woman in your country (for example, in sports, science or history) and tell your classmates about her；

⒉ask your teacher if you can do a class project about this day.

Some people are very careful about everything they do. On the other hand, some people, especially teens, do things without thinking too much about the results. Why is this? 

Anna, a psychologist uses computer games to find out why some people are more likely to take risks. In one game, players are asked to click(点击) on a balloon on a computer screen. Every time they click, the balloon gets bigger. The bigger the balloon is, the larger the prize will be. But if the balloon gets too big, it'll be broken and the player will get nothing. 

Anna found that when teens played this game, a part of their brain called the striatum (纹状体) would become more active. It makes teens want to win. Another part of the brain, the prefrontal cortex (前额皮质), helps them control their decision-making process. 

It turns out that young people have more striatums and less prefrontal cortexes, which affects their ability to make careful decisions. You might have already guessed that teens break more balloons during the game than adults – mainly because they like to take risks more and don't take the time to think carefully. 

"The teen brain is like a car with a very strong engine, " Anna said. "Its brakes (刹 车) just don't work as well. "

Just like other students, I'll never forget my school-leavers' party. I was studying at an{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(国际) school. And just before our junior high school {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(教育) ended, we held an unforgettable party. 

We i{#blank#}3{#/blank#} to make the hall look nice so we decorated(装饰) the hall from ceiling to floor with paper flowers and {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(气球). There were flags from all over the world h{#blank#}5{#/blank#} on the walls. The African students {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(领导) us all in with the wonderful drumming — you could hear a strong b{#blank#}7{#/blank#} from far away. 

There was some food from six different countries on the menu, such as dumplings and {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(薄烤饼). And the menu was made in English. We all raised our glasses and said, "Cheers, everyone! Let's w{#blank#}9{#/blank#} each of us success for the future. " We enjoyed o{#blank#}10{#/blank#} at the party. What an unforgettable memory!