Eleven countries are building a great wall of trees across Africa. It is called the Great Green Wall. The aim is to bring life to the dry lands and help to fight the bad environment.

    The wall is 8, 000 kilometers long and 15 kilometers wide. It covers from Senegal in the west to Djibouti in the east, on the south of the Sahara Desert (撒哈拉沙漠). So far, Senegal has made the best progress by planting about 11,000,000 trees.

    Many years ago, there were few trees in that area and the winds used to be very strong. It was harmful to the fields. Also, there was little rain, so few plants could grow and many people went hungry. Since the tree planting project started, the trees have provided food for the local people and increased the wetness (湿度) of the air. Little by little, there appeared green fields for people to grow plant.

    The project which began in 2007 is supposed to cost a total of 8, 000, 000, 000 dollars. Many countries are trying their best to help to continue the planting. So we will be able to see the whole green wall across Africa in the near future!

    Baozi is one of the common Chinese foods for breakfast. Who would have thought that this simple meal would become a leading character in a film, and even win an Oscar?

    On February 24, 2019, the short film Bao won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film. In the film, a small baozi comes to life and becomes the "son" of a lonely Chinese woman in an immigrant(移民) family in Canada.

    Domee Shi, Pixar's first Chinese-canadian woman director, got the idea from her own experience. When Shi grew up, she was busy working and spent little time with her mother.

    Bao explores the life of an empty-nest Chinese Canadian mother who feels lonely after her son leaves home to go for his own life.

    In the film, many details show the way the Chinese woman loves her "son". She prepares delicious food, cleans up the house carefully and always buys him snacks. These details are true to the strong and protective love of Chinese parents for their children

    Traditionally, Chinese parents don't say 'I love you' to their kids. They express it with food or by fussing(小题大做) over them. "I didn't use dialogue in the film because I wanted it to be a story that spoke to everyone around the world." said Shi at an interview.

    Moreover, this film can serve as a bridge to help parents and children better understand each other and learn how to express love.

    Answer the following questions. (No more than seven words)

    Today teamwork is becoming more and more important in businesses and other jobs. Our society needs people who can work with and get on well with others.

    John Brown, Design Works

    A good team needs people with different skills and talents. The best people can work with others and develop ideas with a team. It's important that everyone uses his talents in work.

    Lee Chung, Computer World

    Good team players are usually friendly and easy to talk to. They are also good at listening to other people. They are happy to share ideas.

Jane Lin, Lin Electricals

    Most teams need a mixture of people. It is great 10 have people with ideas but you also need people who get things done on time. A team made up of people that all have the same skills would not work.

Jim Khan, Northern Bank

    I prefer people who can bring out the best in other people. In a group you can see people that know how to get a team to work together. They understand teams and they can make a team work. A good team is the key to success.

    Here is an article about {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. John Brown thinks the best people in a team do well in working with others and {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. Lee Chung thinks a good team player should be friendly, easy to talk to and {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. In Jane's opinion, a good team needs not only clever people but also those who can finish things {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. Jim thinks we need people who can {#blank#}5{#/blank#} the best in others and know how to get a team to work together.

    Why do people cry? Scientists say the body produces tears because they need them. One kind of tears is for the eye, the other is for the heart. They both work as cleaners. If something else like dust(灰尘) gets into your eye, tears also come into the eye to clean it out. If you are hurt by something, your strong feelings produce some poisonous chemicals(毒素) in your body, and at the same time, tears come out with them. If these poisonous chemicals are not cleaned out of your body as soon as possible, they will do harm to the heart sooner or later.

    In the United States men have heart problems more often than women do. Doctors say heart problems have something to do with the pressures(压力) of living and working now. Perhaps men suffer more from these illnesses because they do not cry enough. They need to cry more.

    In fact, you can find many ways of reducing the pressures to keep fit. Crying is a natural and physical one.

May 31, 2017

    Jaden is a six-year-old boy. He experienced the unlucky things of life twice. First he lost his dad when he was four and his mom died unexpectedly in her sleep last month. Jaden's heart was broken. His parents' death hit him a lot.

    But things always go towards a good side. A few weeks later, Jaden told his aunt that he was tired of seeing everyone sad all the time. He'd like to see more smiles around him. He hoped that the number of the smiles could reach 100.

    Then he asked his aunt to buy him some little toys and take him to the center of the city. "I'm trying to make people smile," said Jaden. At first, he was not sure if the people passing by would like to accept his toys. In fact, he was always successful and got close to his dream step by step, because no one could refuse such a little boy's giving and expecting.

    "I'm keeping a count of 100 smiles," said Jaden. When asked if he could make it, he answered, "I think I can."

    Reported by Barbara.