Calabash brother (葫芦兄弟) live in the Calabash Mountain with their grandfather. They are all very brave. They wear different clothes. The red calabash is the oldest of the seven brothers. His strength is powerful. His body can be bigger or smaller. But he doesn't have his own ideas. The orange calabash has two bright eyes and big ears. He can see and hear far places clearly. The yellow calabash's body is very strong. Nothing can injure(伤害) him, but he is arrogant(傲慢的). The green calabash is the god of fire. He can eat fire and make fire. The cyan(青色的) calabash can drink water and make flood. The blue calabash is the cleverest of all.

    Nobody can find him when he makes himself invisible. And the purple calabash has a magic gourd(葫芦). The gourd can absorb(吸收) everything.

    One day a pangolin(穿山甲) broke the cave and two monsters came out. They were Monster Scorpion(蝎子精) and Monster Snake. The calabash brothers must fight with them and save the world, unluckily, their grandfather who helped them beat the monsters was killed by the monsters finally.

"I don't want to go, Miss White. I'm frightened (害怕的), very frightened,"Monica told her teacher.

Monica was a very 1 girl. She always sat at the back of the classroom, 2 or taking notes. Every Monday morning, there would be a special show in her class and one student would be 3 to make a speech about his or her dream. Miss White hoped that Monica could have a try the next week. 4 she refused.

"I know that it seems 5 for you, but it will help you build up your confidence," said Miss White. Monica was lost in thought.

The next day, Monica came to Miss White's office. Miss White was 6 that she would take the chance. Miss White red-penciled (修改) her speech manuscript (手稿), corrected her 7 and even helped with her body language. She advised Monica to practice and 8 that she was speaking confidently in front of her class.9 a whole week, Monica practiced speaking in front of the imaginary friends and teacher. Behind the locked door of her bedroom, she told them about her 10 .

Finally, Monday arrived. After Monica was called upon to give her speech, she 11 and walked to the front of the class without any notes, in a show of confidence. Monica's successful performance brought everyone a great 12 . The whole class clapped(鼓掌) for a full minute when she completed her speech. Miss White 13 , and she had known that Monica would make it when she 14 took her first step to overcome (克服) her fear of speaking in public.

From that day, Monica's life changed for the better. At the age of 23, she became a news reader. People who see 15 on television now will find it hard to believe that she was once a shy girl who refused to speak up in class. So believe in yourself!

Cheetahs, the world's fastest animals, died out in India over 70 years ago. Now a new project is trying to bring cheetahs back to India. Eight of the animals were set free in Kuno National Park in September2022.

By 1952, cheetahs died out in this country. One of the main reasons was that people took away much of their natural land. Some people also killed Cheetahs for their skins.

Since 1952, there have been efforts(努 力) to return cheetahs to India. Recently, that finally happened. In an event held on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 72nd birthday, eight cheetahs were set free. The cheetahs were a gift from Namibia's government.

These cheetahs aren't Asian cheetahs, but African cheetahs. There may be as few as 12 Asian cheetahs still living in the wild, and they live in Iran. But even African cheetah numbers have been going down quickly. Now there are only about 8,000 left. Some scientists believe that getting cheetahs going in India again will help make sure that cheetahs don't die out completely.

" Project Cheetah" will cost India about $11 million during the next five years. The goal(目标) is to increase the number of cheetahs to 40. A second group of 12 cheetahs was prepared by South Africa, and has arrived recently.

For more information, CLICK HERE.

English Week

Helpers Needed!

23 ﹣ 27 May

Student helpers from Grade 7 or above are needed for the following activities：