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

    In America, the school life is not easy for us students. There are so many rules we have to follow. When we start school, we get a rule book. There are always teachers looking out for people who are breaking the rules and prefects (长官) are everywhere too.

    The most rules are in the classroom and in the hallways. For example, you can't run or dance around in the hallways. We can't put our bags everywhere in the hallways.

    You can't eat or drink in the classroom or the hallways. Prefects watch you, They can give out duty slips (cleaning the dining hall for about 2 hours).

    If you make mistakes, you will get a detention. You may have to do some work for school. A detention is the most painful. You have to do a lot of tiring and boring things. There are rules for students out of school as well. Boys should not buy take away food in the street if they wear the school uniforms. The school also expects good behavior on public transport and in public places.

    Is it good to be in a middle school? Most American children think so. In America, middle schools often have sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. It is different in different places.

    For children, going to a middle school is a big change. Most middle schools in America have a special day for new middle school students. On that day, they are showed around the school by their new teachers. And they could know a lot about the history of the school. They also would make friends with the old schoolmates (校友).

    They will grow up and learn some different and difficult things in a middle school. A new middle school student will learn foreign languages, computer, music and art, health, and other skills, such as cooking.

    A middle school will have sports teams, clubs and have activities for children. They can choose what they like and join them. If they are good at singing, playing basketball or something else, or if they want to learn, they can join them. Most American children think it's good to be in a middle school.

Now students' English handwriting（书法）gets worse and worse. That makes their teachers feel worried. Is your English handwriting beautiful? If not, here are four steps that really work!

u  Using paper with lines (线条)

Using paper with lines can keep you writing straight when you write English words or sentences. Those lines on the paper can help you to write words in the right size.

u  Slow down

If your writing is hard to read, try slowing down a little. For some kids, going slower 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.

u  Hold your pencil right

When you hold your pencil the correct way, writing is much easier. Try to be relaxed and don't hold the pencil so hard while writing, and then it makes your handwriting nice and clean. If you do so, people will think you are a student with a good habit.

u  Draw more pictures

Drawing can improve your handwriting. You need to use the skills to control(控制) your pencil better when you are drawing pictures. If you have no time for drawing at school, you can practice it at home.

Some have good handwriting and some don't. Anyway, handwriting is very important. You need to take time to improve it.

    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.

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