Welcome to the Painting Competition for Woodlands Students

The International Anti-Drug(禁毒) Day this year is coming soon. In order to raise teenagers' awareness(意识) to fight against drug taking, the City Art Council is going to hold a painting competition for the students in our city.

    Students who want to take part in the competition can hand in their own 2D paintings in either of the following two ways:

★Each school will be provided with a box for students to put in their paintings. Boxes will be picked up by the City Art Council on Thursday, June 23rd, 2016, before the end of the school day.

    ★Paintings can be also handed in on Friday, June 24th, from 8：00 am to 10：00 am at the Woodlands Art Hall (175 Riverside Street)．

    All paintings are required to be 60cm wide by 80cm long or smaller. Larger sizes will not be accepted. Each student can only hand in one painting.

The final decision on the competition results will be made on June 26th, the AntiDrug Day. The name list of the winners will be made known on the website of the City Art Council on the same day. All winning paintings will be shown to the public at the City Youth Park from June 27th till the end of July.

    Prizes: 1st Prize(10 students)＝$300 Gift Card each

    2nd Prize(20 students)＝$200 Gift Card each

    3rd Prize(30 students)＝$100 Gift Card each

For further information：Visit http: // www. Woodlands Art Council.org or call 25698632.

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    When he was 16  Dutch engineering student Slat was on vacation in Greece, and he started to think about all the rubbish that is p{#blank#}3{#/blank#} onto beaches by water. The oceans around the world are all of plastic—millions of tons of plastic. Unfortunately, plastic doesn't just disappear. It takes c{#blank#}4{#/blank#} to break down (分解).

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    Slat started with an idea for an unusual m{#blank#}6{#/blank#} to "catch" the plastic floating (漂浮) in the water using the natural energy of the ocean. He left school in 2013 to begin work on his project The Ocean Cleanup. Soon, the project r{#blank#}7{#/blank#} a lot of attention.

    A year later, he was leading a team of 100 scientists and engineers working on the invention. Slat needed money for this, so he started asking people to d{#blank#}8{#/blank#} to his project online and raised over $ 2 million!

    Soon after, Slat was named a "Champion of the Earth" by the United Nations for his meaningful and v{#blank#}9{#/blank#} work. It's the most important title the UN gives to people helping the environment. The Ocean Cleanup also won several awards (奖项) for having one of the best inventions of 2015. But the d{#blank#}10{#/blank#} goes on for Slat. He hopes that the oceans will be free of plastic in about twenty or thirty years.

    I remember the first time I got on a horse. I was two years old and we were watching a friend of the family ride. My mom agreed to let me take a short ride around the ground with the friend and that was it' I became crazy about having a horse. From then on, I drove my parents mad beg­ging for a horse. Whenever I saw a horse, I would beg even harder.

    When I was four years old, problems appeared in my life. I had Selective Mutism (选择性缄默症). This is an unusual childhood disorder (失调) in which children stop speaking in certain social situations, many times at around the age of four. I spoke to my parents as usual, my brother and certain other people, but was silent at school and in social situations. I went days, weeks, months without a sound at school. At most, I might very quietly speak to a friend.

    My parents looked for a cure. One psychologist (心理医生) had an idea. Having discussed his plan with my parents in advance, one day I was asked by the psychologist what I wanted more than anything in the world. He explained that I was going to be given a chance to work for what I wanted. I couldn't believe my good luck, but I could not answer. I just stood there. Finally, I was allowed to whisper (低声说) the answer in my mother's ear. "A horse," was all I could say.

    I was to get a little horse, but before we could even start looking, I had to try to talk. I had a chart of weekly tasks I had to finish. I had to answer the phone five times every week, something I had never done before. I did everything that was asked of me and the day came when my parents found the perfect horse. His name was Sequoia, a strong little chestnut (栗子马). He was perfect, of course, and I fell in love immediately. It truly was a dream come true. When I was with Sequoia, I forgot all about my problems and felt strong and life.

    By connecting with them, I have learned to hug what I was once not able to do and I found my voice back.

When I was looking for a Christmas present for my daughter in a toy store, a nicely dressed little girl, with some money in her little hand, was looking at some beautiful {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. When she saw a doll she liked, she would ask her father {#blank#}2{#/blank#} she had enough money. He usually said yes.

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The little girl had {#blank#}4{#/blank#} a very beautiful doll. However, she noticed the boy and his father. She saw the boy {#blank#}5{#/blank#} a computer game with disappointment(失望) and walk to another corner of the store.

Dancing is popular all over the world. People dance in theaters, in parks or in their own living room. But Yang Liu, a woman in Guizhou, dances in an unusual place. Her stage is a single bamboo pole. 

Yang is a performer of bamboo drifting (独竹漂). It is a traditional skill in the girl's hometown. In ancient times, the local people crossed the rivers by riding on a bamboo pole. Now, bamboo drifting has developed into a folk sport.

Yang started to learn bamboo drifting at the age of seven. The bamboo pole is very slippery and it never completely stops moving. Yang fell into the water again and again. But the girl didn't want to give up. She always got back up on the pole and tried again. She practiced hard every day for three years. Finally, she was able to keep her balance on the pole. 

But Yang didn't just stop there. She wanted to live out her dream of becoming a dancer on a bamboo pole. The girl practiced many difficult movements on the pole. She failed countless times, but she never stopped trying. 

Her hard work finally paid off. Now 26, Yang has made a name for herself as a dancer on a bamboo pole. People can't believe their eyes whenever they watch her performances. Through Yang's dances, many people now know about bamboo drifting. They have discovered the beauty of this traditional skill.

There is a very important place in my life. That is my grandpa's 1 . My grandpa lives in a small village (村庄). The village is far 2 the city. It is at the foot of a hill (小山)with all kinds of flowers, 3 it's very beautiful. There are many trees on the hill, too. The air in the village is very fresh.  There are many 4 , at my age in the village. When I go to my grandpa's home in the summer holiday. I always play with 5 . We often play football, sing and dance. The children are very 6 to me and I'm happy to be with them. Sometimes they come to my grandpa's home to visit me. We sit under a big tree in front of my grandpa's house to 7 my grandpa's interesting stories. Sometimes I take my computer with me to my grandpa's home. I teach them how to use the computer. They all like to watch soccer games on the 8 with me. We become very good friends soon. Now many workers are building(修建) a wide road through the 9 . The traffic will be very easy. I'm going to spend (花费) my summer holidays in my grandpa's home every year because I 10 my grandpa and my good friends. I also miss my grandpa's house very much.