A lovely rabbit, a cute hamster, some colourful fish, a strange-looking turtle or a snake...What kind of pet would you like? Lots of kids love animals and dream of having a pet.

    But not every family can have a pet. So, in many Western countries such as America, Britain and Australia, primary and middle school classes have their own pets. Looking after a pet is not as easy as you may think! Fish and turtles need clean water and the right food. Hamsters and rabbits need fresh vegetables and a warm place to sleep. Even little mice need good care! What would you feed a pet mouse? How about snakes?

    Class pets teach kids about nature and being responsible. Sometimes the pets have babies. It's very exciting but it also means having more animals to take care of!

    Students take turns to take care of their class pets. Every week the pets have a new “mum and dad” to look after them.

    You may want to know what happens to the class pets during school holidays. At the end of term, the teacher chooses a responsible student. This lucky student keeps the pets at his or her home for the holidays.

    Notes:

1) hamster n. 仓鼠   2) turtle n. 乌龟   3) responsible adj. 负责任的   4) choose v. 选择

    Schools in the UK are quite different from those in China. In the UK, at the beginning of the term, students must select their courses and teachers first.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} So in the first term, don't select too many courses, or you'll feel nervous and it may influence your study. Then you have to ask for some teaching plans. There is some information about subjects, time arranging, marks and textbooks. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Different teachers have different teaching methods.

    If the teacher is called "killer" by the last grade, many students will give up choosing him, because this kind of teacher will leave too much homework, give too many exams and too low grades.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} How to buy textbooks makes each student feel hard. The textbooks in the UK are very expensive. Each copy is about $30 -50. In order to save money, many students buy some used textbooks. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    In class, discussing is very important. The teachers always encourage you to ask questions or show your own opinions freely. They don't usually ask you to sit well. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} They usually don't give you much homework to do. So in the schools in the UK you can learn knowledge and do exercises by yourself. You must do almost all things independently.

A. And some students usually borrow textbooks from the school library.

B. At the same time, you must select the teachers.

C. Selecting is very important for your grades in the UK.

D. Instead, they allow you to sit or stand everywhere you like.

E. There is another thing after you select the courses and the teachers.

Have you ever wondered what an American high school is really like? This article will describe a typical (典型的) high school and its students.

A typical American high school has several large buildings and enough space for about 1,500 students. Every student is given a locker. When students first arrive at school, they go straight to their lockers to put away or get their textbooks and to hang up their outdoor clothes. As American textbooks are expensive, students would rather loan (租借) than buy them. Students must pay back if they lost any of them.

American students have different types of school transport. They usually take a yellow school bus or walk to school if they live close enough. Sometimes their parents drive them to school.

When they turn 16 years of age, most take a free driving class at school for one term. If students' exam passing grades in the class and also pass their state driver's exam, they can begin driving themselves to school.

Each day, students take six or seven classes. They must take science, math, English and social studies. They can choose art, homemaking, fashion design and other classes. In some schools students are required to take one or more of the following special classes: health education, physical education or foreign language studies. Students move to different classrooms for each subject. This is because cache teacher has their own classroom. There is a five-minute break between classes, to give the students the time to hurry to their next class.

The regular school day usually ends early in the afternoon. After school more than half of the students take part in after-school activities. These activities include sports, specially football, basketball, baseball and soccer or clubs, such as yearbook, speech, school newspaper, photograph or student government.

Title: {#blank#}1{#/blank#} in an American High School

In learning English, one should first pay attention to listening and speaking. It is the groundwork for reading and writing. You'd better 1 your best to speak while you do much listening. Don't be 2 of making mistakes. But be careful not to let them stop you 3 improving your English. While you are doing this, a good 4 is to write or keep a diary, or write notes or letters. Then if you can, ask others to go through 5 you have written and tell you where it is wrong. Many mistakes in your speaking will be 6 found when you write. Through correcting mistakes, you can do better in learning English.

If you are slow in speaking, don't 7 about it. One of the helpful ways is reading, either aloud or to yourself. The most important thing is to choose 8 interesting to read. It mustn't be too difficult for you. When you are reading 9 this way, don't stop to 10 the new words if you can guess their meanings when they have nothing to do with the sentences. You can do that some other time.

Every year thousands of students leave school for a few weeks or months and enjoy an unusual type of educational program. What they learn during this time does not come from books. They learn new skills by living in a different country and doing unusual jobs. There are several programs that help students to gain (获得) the experience they are looking for.

One interesting program is saving elephants in Thailand. Most people think of elephants as animals in zoos or circuses. However, many elephants are no longer kept in captivity (囚禁). Now, hundreds of them are homeless. These gentle animals are often found on the streets because they do not have owners to care for them. Although they may look well, they are often in poor health and don't have enough food to eat.

One center in Thailand cares for these elephants. It provides a safe and natural living space for them. When they are at the center, they stay in a building but are free to walk around. Students come from all over the world to help there. The students work with the elephant keepers and help then a train elephants. These keepers teach the students how to care for the elephants. In the morning, they go to the forest together and lead the elephants to the center. They clean them and give them food. In the afternoon, they take the animals back into the forest for the night. Helping at the center is interesting and the young people learn a lot.