Book Review by Patricia Ann Turner

    It is school holiday time and Mitch Morrow's family have just moved to a new home in a new place. Mitch can't stop worrying about what his new school is going to be like. He  is not even sure about the neighbours. Next door live the Bull family and they have two children, Di and Bruce.  

    The older of the two,  Bruce,  is a large boy,  about Mitch's age. Mitch. Watches him carry big rocks. He looks really strong and unkind. Mitch gives him the name Bruiser（彪形大汉） because he has a black eye. Did he get it in a fight? Mitch imagines all the worst possible things about Bruiser. He is probably the class bully (恶霸). In his mind Mitch thinks of him as the enemy.

    Things seem to get more worring for Mitch. He finds out he will be in the same class as Bruiser. Then on the first day of school he learns that Bruiser is his buddy for the day.

    This is a lovely story for young readers to read or listen to. It has a wonderful message for all children about facing their fears —real and imagined.

    The pictures in the book catch the worry Mitch feels and make Bruiser rcally look like a bad guy.

    My only complaint is the colour of the printing of the text. Why there are pages of different coloured print I cannot tell. They may create problems for children with poor eyesight.

    I give it four stars.

    Do you check your mobile phone often? Do you feel anxious if your mobile phone is not with you? When there is no WiFi or signal for your mobile phone, will you get nervous? If you say yes, then you've got addiction(上瘾) to mobile phones.

    ①Nowadays, we can see the scene everywhere in the life: in subways, restaurants, roads,people are watching their mobile phones. From family party to dating with friend, people couldn't top checking their twitter, WeChat, facebook on the mobile phones and snubbing(忽视)the persons in front completely. Phubbing (低头症) influences not only the young people, but also the old and even the kids.

    "Phubbing" is a new word which comes from the words "phone" and "snub". It describes the habit of snubbing someone in favor of a mobile phone. ②因为玩手机，更多的人变得沉默。They do nothing but bow to play mobile phones.③ time, spend too, they, phones, much, the on(.) And they don't have time to communicate with persons in real life.

    If we keep playing with phones when we are with our friends or family, we will spend less time talking to them. In fact, they need and deserve to be cared for.

    Let us put down the cell phones and enjoy the nature, the food, the books and all the beautiful things and persons around us.

    When it comes to the letter grade on your test or homework, you might notice that there is no letter E. Have you ever thought about why that is so?

    In the A, B, C, D and F grading system, the first four letters are typically considered passing grades. An F in this system simply stands for "fail". The word "fail" happens to start with the letter F, which seems to leave out the letter E.

    The first college in the US to use a letter grading system like the ones we use today is Mount Holyoke College. In 1897, they began to use the following grading scale;

    A: 95-100% (excellent)         B: 85-94% (good)      C: 76-84% (fair)

    D: 75%( nearly passed)         E: below 75% (failed)

    We can see the inclusion of E instead of F.

    Gradually, the letter grading system became more popular all over the US. However, many schools decided to drop the E grade and go straight to F. There is no evidence(证据) to really support this, but one possible explanation is that teachers were worried that some students and parents might mistake E for "excellent".

    Why do we have letter grades? Well, part of the reason is that they made grading simpler during a time of great change for schools. As the 20th century began, growing cities and an increase in immigration led to larger school classrooms. Most teachers at that time thought this new letter grading system was an easy, fair and clear way to grade students.

    Today, more and more people think that letter grades don't fully show students' learning. However, as teachers try to improve grading methods, many parents continue to prefer the letter grades they got as kids, as they are familiar and easy for parents to understand. So while they might not be perfect, the letter grades probably aren't going away any time soon.

Do you know from what English people get their family names? (你知道英国人的姓是怎么来的吗？)Finish the sentences after you read the story.

    Everyone has a family name. But what does it mean? From what do family names come?

    First, some family names come from the place of their homes. If a man lives on or near a hill, his family name may be Hill. In England people's names may be Wood, Lake, because they live near the wood or lake.

    Second, family names come from a person's job. If a person is a cook, he may be Cook.

    Third, many people get their family names from their father's given name. If you hear the name "Jackson", you know that he is the son of Jack.

    Mary is a six-year-old girl. She often goes to the shop and goes to the church (教堂) with her mother. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    One day, when they are in the church, the pastor(牧师)asks, "Who wants to go to the heaven(天堂) ? Please put up your hands. "All the people but Mary put up their hands. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    "I want to go home with my mother," answers Mary."

    When they get home, it is dark. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} She is very busy. She washes some clothes.  She cleans the table and the chairs. Then she wants to sweep the floor. But the broom (扫帚) isn't in the room.

    "Could you help me, Mary? Would you like to go. out and bring the broom for me?"

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    "Never fear, God can help you,"

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} She puts her hand out of the door.