Do you like music? Probably. But do you like all kinds of music? Want to say no? Well, before answering this q{#blank#}1{#/blank#}, you'd better have a good understanding of what music is. A music teacher wanted to tell his students the difference b{#blank#}2{#/blank#} music and noise (噪音). He brought many wooden blocks (大 块) of different sizes to class. The students were very s{#blank#}3{#/blank#} to see him throw the blocks at the wall. Everyone thought it was noise. He then took the same blocks and threw them at the wall a{#blank#}4{#/blank#}. This time, however, he threw them in a special order (次序). The students quickly found it was a tune (曲 子). "So," asked the teacher, "what is music?" The answer is that it's organized noise.

    A lovely rabbit, a cute hamster, some colourful fish, a strange-looking turtle or a snake...What kind of pet would you like? Lots of kids love animals and dream of having a pet.

    But not every family can have a pet. So, in many Western countries such as America, Britain and Australia, primary and middle school classes have their own pets. Looking after a pet is not as easy as you may think! Fish and turtles need clean water and the right food. Hamsters and rabbits need fresh vegetables and a warm place to sleep. Even little mice need good care! What would you feed a pet mouse? How about snakes?

    Class pets teach kids about nature and being responsible. Sometimes the pets have babies. It's very exciting but it also means having more animals to take care of!

    Students take turns to take care of their class pets. Every week the pets have a new “mum and dad” to look after them.

    You may want to know what happens to the class pets during school holidays. At the end of term, the teacher chooses a responsible student. This lucky student keeps the pets at his or her home for the holidays.

    Notes:

1) hamster n. 仓鼠   2) turtle n. 乌龟   3) responsible adj. 负责任的   4) choose v. 选择

    The 21st century discoveries about the human brain and its functioning have showed the surprising fact that human abilities are not fixed at birth. In other words, what you are able to do with your life is not fixed when you are born. It is not all in the genes (基 因 ). It is not just nature: nurture (教育, 培育) plays an important part in the moulding (塑造) of what a person is, and what he/she can be.

    Brain plasticity (可塑性) or neuroplasticity (神经可塑性) refers to the amazing ability of the human brain to modify (修改) its structure and functions according to the changes within the body and/or in the outer environment.

    In his book „The Brain that Changes Itself‟ psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Norman Doidge, M.D., offers an introduction to the great scientists strongly supporting neuroplasticity and the people whose lives they've changed. The book describes real life stories of stroke( 中 风 ) patients learning to speak again, and the amazing story of a woman born with half a brain that restructured itself to work as a whole. It is a book that changes the way we think about our brain, its nature, and its potential (潜能).

    The genes we receive from our parents are finite (有限的), no doubt about that. However, our brain's ability to develop is infinite. New brain cells are being born all the time, and to keep them alive and growing, we have to stimulate (刺激) them.

    Here lies the promise of neuroplasticity in the moulding of children into adults who are capable of realizing their potential. For, genius is nothing but a human being who has realized his /her inborn potential! What Mozart, Einstein and da Vinci had was inborn potential plus (和，外加) the right environment.

    All geniuses started life in exactly the same way. They had parents who supported the development of their individual gifts and talents. They had the right environment and stimuli (刺激， 刺激物) that led to the best development of themselves.

    You can think about your child's gifts as the merging (融合的) colours of a rainbow. The possibilities are endless. All children are born with three natural abilities that provide them with the potential to think like a genius: the abilities to think, to learn and to develop their own individual way of thinking and learning.

    Can your child be a genius? Yes, he/she can be, if you give him/her the right environment, the right stimuli and the right guidance.

    People read books less often in these days. With the invention of radio, television and most recently, the Internet and computer games, it seems that reading books is no longer a popular activity. However, I believe that books are an important part of our lives.

    Books offer an outstanding wealth of learning and at a cheaper price than taking a course.

    Books can make people cleverer, because heavy readers have greater knowledge of how things work and who or what people were.

    Everything in today's society requires reading. Imagine trying to do something as simple as reading the directions on a medicine bottle without good reading skills. Someone could not understand them and become very sick or even die.

    Even something as simple as walking or driving through the city could become very dangerous without enough reading. Sometimes, you must be able to understand what is written and explain the meaning of them;

    Some people say that reading is a waste of time and we can do better things with our time.

    Even if we don't read books, we still read every day, and reading books can strengthen (加强)our abilities. Reading is one of the greatest things we can do in our spare time.

    With a book, you can travel anywhere you want, do anything you want, and talk to anyone you want. Reading is very important in our lives, no matter how old you are. So I think people should read books

Tony lives in a big house, and his family is rich (富有的). He has a bad 1 . He always wastes (浪费) food. For example, he 2 eats half of an apple and throws away (扔掉) the other half. His mother always 3 him not to do that, but he doesn't 4 his mother. He thinks his father has a lot of money, so it's not a big deal. "My mother is too strict 5 me," he says. He doesn't like exercising, 6 . His home is not far from school, but he never walks 7 rides a bike to school. He asks his mother to take him to school in the 8 . He says to his mother. "We have a car, so 9 do I need to ride a bike or walk to school? Walking 10 me tired."

One day, in a geography class, his teacher 11 some pictures of Africa to Tony and his classmates. Many 12 have no food to eat there. They are thin because of hunger (饥饿). Their teacher asks them to 13 money and do something to help them. Tony feels 14 for what he did before. He knows what his mother did is to help 15 develop (养成) good habits.

Jason got a new phone, but he must follow these rules: