Recently a really strange thing happened in a middle school in China's Hubei Province. Over 600 students at the school took part in a "caring for an egg like a baby"{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(active). in which they were asked to keep an egg close at hand for a month{#blank#}2{#/blank#}breaking it.

    "It's hard for parents to bring up their children{#blank#}3{#/blank#}many students just ignore it, " said Liu Kang, the school's director. "They should{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(teach) to be grateful to their parents,who have given them life but ask for nothing in return ."

    Li Ming is one of the students. His egg didn't break during the month, but he felt{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(exhaust). "I now understand what great difficulty my parents have had{#blank#}6{#/blank#}（bring）me up. I'll do all I can to make their life easier and{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(comfort) when I grow up,”promised the 13-year-old boy.

    {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(luck), about 450 students broke their eggs. Yan Yueming broke his egg after just five days, which made him frustrated. He said,”I can't imagine {#blank#}9{#/blank#}sad my parents would be if there was something wrong with me, their ‘egg'! It is now time I did something{#blank#}10{#/blank#}return for their love,”said Yan.

    A father was worried about his son{#blank#}1{#/blank#}was sixteen years old but had no courage (勇气) at all. So the father decided to look for a Buddhist monk(僧侣){#blank#}2{#/blank#} (train) his boy.

    The Buddhist monk said to the boy's father, “I insist that your son should be left alone here. I'll make him into a real man within three {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (month). However, you can't come to see him during this period.”

    Three months later, the boy's father {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (return). The Buddhist monk organized a boxing match (拳击赛) between the boy and an {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (experience) boxer. Each time the fighter hit the boy, he fell down, {#blank#}6{#/blank#}at once the boy stood up; and each time a heavy blow knocked him down, the boy stood up again. Several times later, the Buddhist monk asked, “{#blank#}7{#/blank#} do you think of your child?”

    “What a shame!” the boy's father said, “I never thought he would be so {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (easy) knocked down. I needn't have him stay here any {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (long)!

    “I'm sorry that that's all you see. Don't you see that each time he falls down, he stands up again instead of {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (cry)? That's the kind of courage you wanted him to have.

    An American boy went {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(miss) three days ago, {#blank#}2{#/blank#} has received people' great interest. Several people gave different descriptions of his {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(disappear).

    His sister, {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(age) nine, says she heard her brother {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(return) home at about 11p.m. When she went to bed, she was frightened at lots of strange creatures {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(stand) inside a spaceship outside. She is sure the aliens took her brother.

    His parents became worried and called the police when their son didn't show {#blank#}7{#/blank#} for lunch the next day.

    Some people also say that aliens took one of them aboard the UFO so that they could do research on her. {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(luck), she returned safely.

    When {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (ask) about the possibility that the boy was taken by aliens, the police say {#blank#}10{#/blank#}they haven't dismissed the idea, they will not give up until they find out what happened.

    Spring is coming. Everything is waking from its winter sleep. The fields {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(dress) in a fresh robe of green. The wild flowers begin to peep forth(隐隐露出). Birds sing among the trees, and begin to get their nests ready {#blank#}2{#/blank#} summer. Men are now sowing seeds in the fields. The days are {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(warm), for brighter sunshine has come again. Everything is full of life and joy.

    The polar bear is found in the Arctic Circle and some big land masses as far south as Newfoundland. While they are rare north of 88°, there is evidence {#blank#}1{#/blank#} they range all the way across the Arctic, and as far south as James Bay in Canada. It is difficult to figure out a global population of polar bears as much of the range has been  {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (poor) studied; however, biologists calculate that there are about 20,000-25,000 polar bears worldwide.

    Modem methods {#blank#}3{#/blank#} tracking polar bear populations have been employed only since the mid-1980s, and are expensive {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (perform) consistently over a large area. In recent years some Inuit people in Nunayut {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (report) increases in bear sightings around human settlements, leading to a {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (believe) that populations are increasing. Scientists have responded by {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (note) that hungry bears may be congregating(聚集) around human settlements, leading to the illusion(错觉) that populations are {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (high) than they actually are. Of {#blank#}9{#/blank#}  nineteen recognized polar bear subpopulations, three are declining, six {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (be) stable, one is increasing, and nine lack enough data.

Ask Helpful Hannah

Dear Helpful Hannah,

    I've got a problem with my husband, Sam. He bought a smartphone a couple of months ago and he took it on our recent ski vacation to Colorado. It was a great trip except for one problem. He has a constant desire {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (check) for text messages; he checks his phone every five minutes! He's so addicted to it that he just can't stand the idea {#blank#}2{#/blank#} there may be an important text. He can't help {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (check) even at inappropriate times like when we are eating in a restaurant and I am talking to him! He behaves {#blank#}4{#/blank#} any small amount of boredom can make him feel the need to check his phone even when he knows he shouldn't. The temptation to see {#blank#}5{#/blank#} is contacting him is just too great. When I ask him to please put down the phone and stop {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (ignore) me, he says, "In a minute," but still checks to see if {#blank#}7{#/blank#} has posted something new on the Internet. Our life {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (interrupt). If we go somewhere and I ask him to leave the phone at home, he suffers from withdrawal symptoms. Maybe this dependency on his smartphone has become more than an everyday problem.

    I recently read an article about "nomophobia," {#blank#}9{#/blank#} is a real illness people can suffer from: the fear of being without your phone! I am worried that Sam may be suffering from this illness {#blank#}10{#/blank#} he feels anxious if he doesn't have his phone with him, even for a short time.

    Who would have thought that little devices like these could have brought so much trouble!

Sick and Tired Sadie