Since Abbi Hickman was just a little girl, she has been surrounded by animals. Chickens, cats, dogs, rabbits, and sometimes goats are just some of the animals she cares for. At the age of 9, Abbi went to the Tracy Animal Shelter，in her hometown of Tracy，California，to adopt Sheldon，her favorite cat. There，she saw the poor conditions that the animals were kept in. Abbi knew that it was her duty to take action.

    Pins for Pets is Abbi's solution. For the last three years, she has organized a bowling tournament to raise funds for the Tracy Animal Shelter. She has raised more than $30,000, resulting in a better home for the animals. “Now the shelter is nicer and cleaner and animals have more space. It is far better, a hundred percent better,” Abbi says.

    To praise Abbi for her outstanding efforts, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) named her the 2015 ASPCA Tommy P. Monahan Kid of the Year. This award is given to kids who make a substantial (大量的) effort to help animals. Abbi responded to the news of her win with shock. “I was pretty excited. I' m really honored to receive it,” she says.

    Sacrificing time and effort to assist animals can sometimes be difficult, but Abbi hopes to do more. “I want to spread my free services to more shelters. I really just hope people are kinder to animals and respect them more,” says Abbi, sharing her goals for her organization.

    At the age of 12, Abbi has already accomplished so much. The advice she has for kids like her, who want to accomplish their goals, is, “Nothing is impossible. You can do anything you put your mind to. Even if it is something small, it can make a huge difference.” Abbi's work has improved the lives of animals, and she plans to keep coming up with new ways to help them.

    A disease called “Panama” is threatening supplies of the world's most popular fruit—banana.Two years ago,the United Nations warned that the "Panama disease" could destroy "much of the world's banana crop."Since then,things have not gotten better.A new outbreak was discovered last year in Australia.The disease started in Asia in the 1990s, and later spread to Africa and the Middle East.

    World health officials worry the disease could travel to Latin America,one of the top banana producers in the world.All this is a big concern because bananas are an important source of income and nutrients for millions of people.They are grown in 135 tropical nations.The United Nations lists bananas as one of the most important foods, along with rice,wheat and corn.

    Randy Ploetz is a professor at the Tropical Research & Educational Center at the University of Florida.Many consider him as America's top banana expert.As he explained,Panama disease affects the Cavendish banana.The Cavendish is one of more than 500 kinds of bananas.But it is the most popular.

    “The industry is waking up to the problem,”Ploetz said.“They are pretty scared.”He was speaking Thursday by telephone from Miami,Florida,where he is among 1,000 people attending the International Banana Congress.The meeting was supposed to take place in Costa Rica,but was moved at the last minute.There were concerns banana growers could spread Panama disease from dirt collected on their shoes,Ploetz said.

    Ploetz said reports that Cavendish banana production could end are not correct.But if the disease spreads to Latin America,it could hurt the world's economy along with food supplies for millions of people.Still,he said there is reason for hope.Scientists in Australia are working on a genetically engineered banana that might not be at risk of getting Panama disease.

A Competitive Sport

    Cheerleading

    Over the years, cheerleading has taken two primary forms: game-time cheerleading and competitive cheerleading. Game-time cheerleaders' main goal is to entertain the crowd and lead them with team cheers, which should not be considered a sport. However, competitive cheerleading is more than a form of entertainment. It is really a competitive sport.

    Competitive cheerleading includes lots of physical activity. The majority of the teams require a certain level of tumbling (翻腾运动) ability. It's a very common thing for gymnasts, so it's easy for them to go into competitive cheerleading. Usually these cheerleaders integrate lots of their gymnastics experience including their jumps, tumbling, and overall energy. They also perform lifts and throws. This is where the “fliers” are thrown in the air, held by “bases” in different positions that require strength and working with other teammates.

    Competitive cheerleading is also an activity that is governed by rules under which a winner can be declared. It is awarded points for technique, creativity and sharpness. Usually the more difficult the action is, the better the score is. That's why cheerleaders are trying to experience great difficulty in their performance.

    Besides, there is also a strict rule of time. The whole performance has to be completed in less than three minutes and fifteen seconds, during which the cheerleaders are required to stay within a certain area. Any performance beyond the limit of time is invalid.

    Another reason for the fact that competitive cheerleading is one of the hardest sports is that it has more reported injuries. According to some research, competitive cheerleading is the number one cause of serious sports injuries to women. Emergency room visits for it are five times the number than for any other sport, partially because cheerleaders don't use protective equipment. Smiling cheerleaders are thrown into the air and move down into the arms of the teammates, which may easily cause injuries. Generally, these injuries affect all areas of the body, including wrists, shoulders, ankles, head, and neck.

    There can be no doubt that competitive cheerleading is a sport with professional skills. Hopefully, it will appear in the Olympics since cheerleaders are just as athletic and physically fit as those involved in the more accepted sports. It should be noted that it is a team sport and even the smallest mistake made by one teammate can bring the score of the entire team down. So without working together to achieve the goal, first place is out of reach.

    Generations of children grew up reading comic(漫画) books secretly, hiding out from parents and teachers who saw them as a waste of time and a risk to young minds. Comics are now gaining a new respectability at school. That is thanks to an increasingly popular and creative programme, often aimed at struggling readers, that encourages children to plot, write and draw comic books, in many cases using themes from their own lives.

    The Comic Book Project was started in 2001 by Michael Bitz at an elementary school in Queens. Since its creation, the programme, which is mainly conducted after school, has spread to more than 850 schools across the country. It has gotten a big push from the craze(狂热) among adolescents for comic book clubs and for Manga, a widly popular variety of comic originating in Japan.

    The point is not to drop a comic book on a child's desk and say “read this”. Rather, the workshops give groups of students the opportunity to collaborate(合著) on often complex stories and charac-ters that they then revise, publish and share with others in their communities.

    Teachers are finding it easier to teach writing, grammar and punctuation with material that students are fully invested in(投入). And it turns out that comic books have other built-in advantages. The pairing of visual and written plotlines that they rely on appear to be especially helpful to struggling readers. No one is suggesting that comic books should substitute for traditional books or for standard reading and composition lessons. Teachers who would once have dismissed comics out of hand are learning to exploit(利用) a style that clearly has a powerful hold on young minds. They are using what works.

    Are you interested in country music? I like it very much! It will take me away for a while after I am tired. The guitars and songs will take me to mountains and fields. Country music usually talks of everyday life and feelings. It's the spirit of America, easy to understand, slow and simple. Country music developed in the Southern United States. It was the folk music of American countryside. Many of songs tell about the lives of farmers. They talk about love, crops or death.

    The life of the countryside can be hard, so the words in country music are often sad. At first, people played the music only at family parties. But it became more popular later. In the 1920s, people played country songs on the radio, and they made them into records. When people in the countryside moved to towns and cities to look for work, they took their music with them. Country music continued to change and became popular across America. John Denver was one of America's most famous country singers in the 1970s. His song "Take Me home, Country Roads" is well-known and people still play it today.

    When your pen is broken, the batteries (电池) in your toys run out, or you have some leftover food, what will you do with these things? You will probably throw them all into one bin. But actually, all of these pieces of rubbish need to be sorted (分类) separately.

    Rubbish sorting is a big problem worldwide. In recent years, some Chinese cities have been working hard on it. Shanghai has worked with Alipay to create a "green account (账户)" service. Account owners get points by correctly sorting their rubbish. Through the Alipay app, they can exchange the points for milk, phone cards or other products. The city is asking all people living there to sort their rubbish into four groups: wet, recyclable, harmful and dry.

    Wet waste is something you don't want but that pigs can eat. Plastics, glass, paper and other things that can be reused are recyclable waste. Harmful waste includes things like medicine, batteries and bulbs. Finally, any waste that's not wet, recyclable or harmful will go in the "dry waste" bin.

    Many other Chinese cities are also sorting their rubbish in this way. For example, Shenzhen has been doing this since 2012. Students there also receive waste-sorting guidebooks that they must study.

    In fact, there are still many workers specially working for sorting rubbish by hand in China. There is still a long way to go. But it's never too late for every Chinese to learn how to sort rubbish properly and protect the environment.

    If you don't sort your rubbish, all of it will go to a landfill (垃圾填埋场) and be buried together.

    These landfills can take up much ground that could be used for planting. The electronic waste you throw away, such as batteries or used mobile phones, can cause pollution. Other pieces of rubbish, like the metal part of a pen, can be used to make other things if they are properly recycled.