Have you ever wondered who is killing time in the cafes at three in the afternoon while you are busy at school? Linda and I found the answer when we got part-time jobs at Starbucks and KFC during the summer vacation?
86.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}、87.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}、88.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}、89.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}、90.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}.

    We sometimes call the lion “the king of the jungle” Because it is stronger and more dangerous than other animals.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}It is the highest animal in the land food chain.

    In the sea, the shark is one of the animals at the top of the food chain. It can swim faster than most other sea animals{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}People are! We are not the biggest or fastest, but we are the cleverest. We could not run faster than cheetahs, so we invented cars and now we can move the fastest. We could not fight better than lions, so we invented guns. Now we can hunt the best. People's inventions are clever, but they can be dangerous, too. For example, people invented factories, and now they make the air and rivers dirty.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}Dirty rivers kill fish. Then bears cannot eat the fish and die. If we kill one part of the food chain. Other parts also die. Remember that we are a part of the food chain, so we are in danger, too!{#blank#}5{#/blank#}We should and we could do something for the world!

    As the proverb says, "Your tongue has the power of life and death." This means that your words have power to finally cause things to happen, even life or death.

    We may all experience the power of words in our life, even when we were very young.

    A child is blamed (责备) by teachers or parents, and after that, he might probably think of himself as a bad child. Most kids have that experience. They say it is important to praise children four times for each negative (负面的) word. Blaming will make things worse, while positive words are helpful especially when being in trouble or in need. When we fail the exam, encouraging words from our teachers or parents make us work harder at our lessons.

    Encouraging words can go quite a long way. They lift people up. For example, encouraging words to someone who is sad can help them make it through the day. Words can have a powerful effect on your brain. And it will in turn (相应地) have a great influence on your action.

Everything you do depends on what you choose to do. It's not your parents, your past relationships or your job, but you and only you that are responsible for every goal you set. If you have dreams in life, write them down and speak them out. Your words are likely to bring you out something amazing.

    Language is always changing and developing. This isn't a bad thing. If English hadn't changed for a long time, we won't have words to describe telephones, washing machines, computers or some other new things.

    Language changes for several reasons. First, it changes because the needs of its speaker change. New technologies, new products, and new experiences need new words to express them clearly. Another reason for change is that different people have different language experiences. People use different sets of words and expressions, because they have different ages, jobs, education levels(水平) and so on.

    How does language develop then? On the one hand, many of the languages changes begin with young people. When young people communicate with others of their own age, their language grows in grammar, words and expressions that are different from the older people's. Some have a short lifetime but others can influence the language for long. On the other hand, we get new words in many different ways. We borrow them from other languages, we create them by making words shorter or combining words and we make them out of proper names.

    Languages that don't change over time are considered dead languages. The fact that English changes so much shows that it is alive and well.

    Is sleep important for children? A new study says yes.

    In America, most people don't get enough sleep. Children aged 5 to 12 are advised to sleep 10 to 11 hours every night, but most of them can't sleep that long. A study found that about 41 million American workers got less than six hours of sleep every night. Scientists worry that parents are passing their poor sleeping habits down to their children.

    In the study, Reut Gruber and some other scientists either added or reduced(减少) one hour of sleep for healthy children aged 7 to 11. They watched the children for five nights. They wanted to know if the amount of sleep can affect(影响) a child's behavior.

    Before the study began, students were asked to sleep the same amount of hours as usual. Their teachers were asked to record their behavior. After changing the children's sleep for five nights, the teachers had to record again. According to the two records, scientists found that those who slept one hour less behaved worse than those who slept one hour more. Students with less sleep were more likely(可能的) to feel sad and had more problems paying attention.

    The scientists chose to study children in their homes instead of in a laboratory, because they wanted to find out how everyday changes might affect children's behavior at school. "In the study, nobody became a talent, and nobody became crazy. But small changes in children can really make a big difference," says Gruber.

    Two Chinese farmers sang "in the spring" in their small room after drinking in a late August evening in Beijing. A friend put their song on the Internet. And soon they became stars around China.

    Wang Xu, 44, is from Henan, and Liu Gang, 29, is from Heilongjiang. They are among the millions of farmers who have gone to the cities to work.

    "Although nobody pays attention to the music, I am singing happily, on streets, under bridges or in wild country, with no credit card, no girlfriend or a home with hot water, but only a guitar." They sing, "It is just like the life we live now." Wang said, "We are poor farmers, and you know people won't care about us."

    Their song is loved by millions of Chinese, including the people who are also from the countryside. Many people said they cried after listening to the song.

    Wang came to Beijing in 2000 and has tried many jobs. Each month after he paid 600 yuan for the house and bought food, there was little money left." I love music, and also want to make more money." Wang said." I never dreamed of standing on such a big stage."

    Liu came to Beijing in 2002. "I wanted to try my luck in the big city." He said. And now their dreams of music have come true. They are really the luckiest of all the farmers in China.