Car pool(拼车)

    "Beep, beep," goes the car horn(喇叭).You've got dressed，but you've not had time to eat breakfast. You run out of the front door with your schoolbag, and jump into the waiting car. Inside, your Friends say "hey" as one of their parents drives you to school. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} 

    Car pools are a common way of transportation for many students in the US. You, along with many of your friends, can sit in one car.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} And your parents may take turns to drive you all to school {#blank#}3{#/blank#}  If you're late, you can eat that breakfast you don't have time for at home. If you're behind on your homework. this is your last chance to finish it before class. Some simply add to their sleep time before classes begin.

    Besides walking or cycling to class, car pools are green if you can't take the school bus. Instead of four cars taking four students to school each day, they can all squeeze (挤) into one. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} 

More importantly, car pooling teaches students valuable life lessons not taught in class. It can teach students about being on time. It can also teach them the bad influence of being late. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} 

第2单元的主阅读Fishing with birds介绍了一种中国的传统技艺—鸬鹚捕鱼。文章结尾写道：In 50 years, perhaps there will be no more cormorant fishermen in the world. 你觉得鸬鹚捕鱼这项传统技艺会消失吗?给出你的观点，提供至少两个理由，并进行适当的论证。

We know animals have emotions. They can feel fear. We also think they feel love, since they have strong relationships with each other. So are animal emotions s{#blank#}1{#/blank#} to our own? And do animals have a sense of humor?

A Parrot's Joke

Sally's parrot Bongo didn't get along with her o{#blank#}2{#/blank#} parrot, Paco. In fact, Bongo clearly didn't like Paco at all! One day, Sally cooked a chicken for dinner. She started to cut the chicken with a knife. 

"Oh, no! Paco!"Bongo said loudly and laughed. Sally laughed, too, and said, "That chicken is not Paco. ""Oh…no, "said Bongo. This time, she sounded d{#blank#}3{#/blank#}. Then the parrot laughed at her own joke.

Yoga Dog

Jean enjoys yoga and so does her dog Buffy. W{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Jean does yoga, Buffy carefully places her toys on Jean's body. If a toy falls, Buffy runs to put it b {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. Does this behavior have any real purpose?"She thinks it's funny!"says Jean. 

Animal Laughter

Can dogs "laugh"?Recent research shows that dogs can tell each other when they want to play. They make a special sound a kind of "laugh. "Psychologist (心理学家)Patricia recorded the sound. Then she played it to dogs and s{#blank#}6{#/blank#} their behavior. "All the dogs seemed to like the laugh, "says Patricia. So do animals have a sense of humor? If laughter is a clue, then p{#blank#}7{#/blank#} the answer is "yes!" .

Deadly flooding has swept China s northern provinces this summer，causing many losses such as a number of people died and houses were destroyed（破坏） by floods. Like many other natural disasters，floods can happen with little or no warming. Finish floods move quickly and have strong currents（水流）. They are known to bring down trees and take down buildings. Besides，floods can cause power cuts （停电），traffic jam and other problems. But the food itself isn't the only problem to deal with. After the flood，it may have deadly results，as it may not be easy to send food and water to the area. 

So In the face of a flash food，how should we save ourselves？

*Don't use bridges that rapidly﹣moving water is crossing，as floodwater can cause bridges to break. 

*Listen to emergency broadcasts （应急广播） for more information. If told to move to another place，do so. 

*Stay inside the car if the car Is caught in the fast﹣moving water. Only get out if the water begins to food the car itself，and then move to the roof（项部） of the car. 

*Stay away from power lines （电线），as they are knocked down during the strong storms. Besides，here is something to keep in mind after a flood. 

*Do not use floodwater to wash food or drink it. 

*Return to your home only after the government has said it is safe to do so. 

*Use only bottled or clean water for drinking cooking are nothing. 

It might be difficult to make yourself better. If you try the following ways, they may help you.

{#blank#}1{#/blank#} You can't decide what you look like, but you can decide what you want to be. So accept yourself, and then anything will be possible.

{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Learning is a lifelong journey. No matter how old you are, there will always be lessons in front of you. As the saying goes, "It's never too old to learn."

{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Good leaners keep practicing what they have learned. Try new things and practice them over and over again to make yourself better and better.

{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Life is like a mirror. If you smile at it, it will smile back at you. There is a lot of trouble in your life. Keep smiling when you are in trouble.

{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Maybe you don't dare to take part in school activities. That's because you don't believe in yourself. But actually you are great. Just have a try.

{#blank#}6{#/blank#} {#blank#}7{#/blank#} {#blank#}8{#/blank#} {#blank#}9{#/blank#} {#blank#}10{#/blank#}

It is true that people with better education* are usually able to get better paying jobs. In other words, they have more chances to choose a good job while people with little or no education don't. It seems that the purpose* of education is to make people get jobs. But not all the people agree with this idea.

Some people may think that a person should spend the best years of his life to get education in order to make more money in the future. This was probably one of the earliest purposes of education. In fact, if education is just a way to make a living, people don't need to spend so much time in school. They can get education for a living in a short time. Subjects like history and geography need not be taught to everyone. And people don't have to learn maths and languages so carefully. So it is clear that education is much more than teaching a man to get a way of living.

So what is education for? Education is well-rounded and it should improve a man in many ways. It is not only to teach him to speak, read and write, but also to develop his creative* thinking and other abilities. After that, it is to make him a wise man and thankfully enjoy the achievements of human. Education is to make a man lead a better life. Educated people are expected to be able to listen to good music, read good books, watch plays and most of all, take an interest in the world.

I would agree that making a good living is an important reason for education, but certainly not the most important or the only reason.