The 14-year-old girl Susan Davis is having a party. At this party, there are neither cakes nor candles. There is only a room full of art supplies(供应品)and many kids she never met. And all the kids are homeless.

 Susan got the idea last year after her school. She worried that kids who could not afford their own supplies would give up drawing. So she started writing letters to big companies to ask for help. Then the girl received lots of donations(赠品)from some of the biggest art supply companies. Susan collected more than $3000 in supplies, enough to make a home for kids to paint their own watercolors.

By far she's held three parties. What she did was encouraged by the White House. Susan received the President's awards(奖赏). Now Susan does it for a different reason— to get the poor kids to enjoy art.

B

Venus is close to Earth．It is the second planet from the Sun．Earth is the third planet from the Sun．Venus is similar to Earth in size and mass (质量).It is often described as Earth's“sister”.

    Scientists have been learning about Venus for a long time．First they looked at Venus through telescopes(望远镜)．But Venus is covered with thick(厚的)clouds．Scientists could not see Venus well through the clouds．So they made guesses about it．

    For a long time, scientists thought that Venus had water and plants．They thought Venus might have animals，too．But they didn't know for sure．

    Then scientists found a way to learn more about Venus．In the 1960s，they began sending probes (航天探测器) to Venus．The probes flew through the thick clouds．They took pictures of Venus up close．They found out many things ,too．The probes sent the pictures and things they found out back to the scientists．

    The scientists learned a lot from the probes．First they learned that most of their guesses were not right．And they learned that Venus is very hot．

    After that，scientists knew they could not send people to Venus．But they still wanted to know more about it．So they sent new probes．These new probes took great pictures of the planet．The pictures showed that Venus has plains(平原)and mountains! And in some ways，Venus looks like Earth．

    In the Charles E. Johnson Elementary School in New York, there is a special radio. It gives people warnings (警报) about bad weather.

    One day, there came a sound from the radio. This sound brought the piece of news: a heavy storm was coming. William Tomic, principal (校长) of the school, he asked teachers to bring children indoors and put them in a safe place at once.

    Minutes later, the storm came. However, because of the warning of the radio and the quick work of the principal, no one was hurt. “The radio really did work very well. 我们对它的工作感到很高兴,” William Tomic said. “The parents were as well.” The US government hopes there will be more such success stories. It plans to give this kind of radios to all 97, 000 public schools in the country.

    Every year, more than 10,000 big thunderstorms, 2,500 floods, 1,000 tomatoes (龙卷风) and some hurricanes (飓风) take place in the US, so the warning radios are very useful.

    They not only give people warnings about bad weather, but also give warnings about other dangerous things.

    Attention, please. We have exciting news for you today. Our yearly Short Story Competition for teenagers is now open.

    The regular（常规）subjects "friendship" and "hobbies" are still choices, but this year we have a new subject "travel". Your stories should be fewer than 2,000 words. You can send your stories to the organizer, Mr. Smith in Room 209. There is an amazing prize for you. The best story will be printed in the magazine, New Writers. Don't forget to hand in your stories before September 30^th.

    And you will know the results on October 15^th.

    So get your thinking hats on. For more information, visit our school website.

    Wen Xinrui, a student from Shanghai, together with her family, is seeing the great changes of China in recent years.

    Wen's grandparents have been enjoying free health checks for people aged above 65 since 2013. It was hard to imagine in the past. The river near Wen's house used to be dirty and give out a terrible smell. But last year, (C) it was cleaned up and trees were planted on both sides. Now there are even fish swimming in it.

    From 2013 to 2016, 55.64 million people in(A)_____ have been lifted out of poverty(贫困). This means their personal income(收入)has increased to more than 3, 000 yuan a month. China aims to(力求达到)make all the people get out of poverty by 2020.

    Also, China now has more than 22, 000 kilometers of high—speed lines. That's about 60 percent of the world's total high—speed railways.

    Such progress can't have been made without the leadership of the Communist Party of China. (D)As the ruling party in China, the Party has more than 89 million members.

    They are from all walks of life(各行各业). They have a big influence on both the government and people's lives.

    According(B)_____ President Xi Jinping, our socialism(社会主义)with Chinese characteristics(特色)has entered a new era(时代). The Party must always put people first and continue working hard to help people live better and happier lives.