John and Jack met at the old bench every afternoon. Then they played football. But they didn't have enough money to buy a real football. So Jack made a ball out of old socks covered with a piece of plastic. Every time, the two friends didn't stop kicking and running until very late.

    On Monday afternoon, John and Jack met again at the old bench. Soon the home-made ball was running across the grass. The boys laughed and shouted happily. The ball was stopped by a boy wearing a nice pair of sports shoes. John was upset when he saw it was Steven.

    The next morning, John's mother gave him a bill. “Your uncle sent you a birthday present.”She smiled. John's eyes grew big when he saw the ＄100 bill. Later that day, his mother bought a pair of new sports shoes and a real football.

    That afternoon Steven invited John to play football. Steven did not want Jack to join them only because Jack's sports shoes were dirty. When the game was over, John and Steven walked past the old bench where Jack was sitting. Steven picked up a stone and threw it at him. John, holding his new football in his hands, walked on and did not look back.

    Several days later, as John walked past the old bench, he saw something lying under it. He looked closer and saw it was the home-made ball. John was full of sadness when he saw the ball. As his sadness turned to anger, he picked up his new football and kicked it into the air. Then he walked to the beach, sat down and waited.

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You Can Make a Windsock(风筒)

    Have you ever seen a windsock blowing in the wind? Well, you can make one of your own! This is a fun project that you can do with things you may have. You just need to follow a few easy steps.

You will need:

●one piece of heavy colored paper   ●five ribbons

●strong tape       ●a string

●a pencil

What to do:

Step 1: Draw pictures on the paper. You can write your name on it. Do anything that will make it special to you.

    Step 2: Make the paper into the shape of a tube. Hold one of the shorter edges(边缘) over the other. Then make them together with the tape at each end and in the middle.

Step 3: Use a pencil to make a hole into both sides of the tube. The holes should be only on one end of the tube. Pull the string through both holes. Then tie the ends of the string together.

    Step 4: Now make five holes around the top of the other end of the tube.Put a ribbon through each of the holes. Tie a knot in the ends.

    Make sure the knots are bigger than the holes.

    Now your windsock is ready to use, but how does it work? The shape of the tube plays an important part. Wind blows through the tube and makes it fly and dance around. Hold the windsock up in the air by its string and run around. It will fly behind you. You can also hang it outside and watch it dance around on its own!

    Why do plants grow in some places but not in others? Why does some land have so many plants growing on it, while other land has almost no plants growing on it at all?

    To grow, plants need several things. One is warmth. In very cold places almost nothing grows. Plants also need water. In very dry parts of the Earth only a few unusual plants can grow. That's why there are almost no trees or grass in dry deserts.

    Plants must also have a place to put down their roots and grow. They find it difficult to grow on hard land. The town is built(被建立) on hard land. The plants there have only the soil between the cracks of the stones to grow in.

    Another thing plants must have before they can grow is food. What will happen if we try to make things grow on the sandy beach? A few plants, such as grass, will grow in sand, but most plants won't. Even if the weather is warm enough and we water the plants each day, many of them will die because the sand on this beach has almost no food for plants.

    According to a national study, in the summer of 2013, the long-term(长期的) warm weather in the UK has made the number of butterflies increase.

    Around 46,000 volunteers(志愿者) took part in the year's Big Butterfly Count(统计), and they found 830,000 butterflies.Volunteers were asked to make a record.They would record how many times they found one of 21 different kinds of butterflies.

    Later, the scientists used the records to find out how many butterflies of different kinds were found across the country.Then, they compared the results to the year before.They found that there was a rise in the number of 15 kinds of butterflies, and some of them went up by 50% compared to recent years.They said the increase in butterfly numbers was a result of warm weather.

    However, scientists also said that the number of butterflies was in decline(下降) as a whole, and that we might not see the same result the next year.

    Richard Fox, who works for Butterfly Conservation, said, “UK butterflies are in long-term decline.Studies have been done since the 1970s.They show that UK butterflies have declined in type and number.”

    He added, “We must halt the long-term decline of these beautiful creatures(生物).The only way is by stopping the damage that has been done to the butterflies' habitats(栖息地) across the UK.”

    We always think that it's OK for us to leave our plants home during our vacation as plants won't scream like pets, right?

    A recent study done by a group of scientists at the Tel Aviv University has discovered that some plants will scream when they are under stress.

    The research was carried out on tomato plants and tobacco plants by cutting their stems (茎) and depriving (剥夺) them of water. A microphone was placed 10cm away from them. When their stems were cut, the plants started "screaming" between 20 and 100 kilohertz, and the scientists guess that this scream is probably meant to warn other plants nearby.

    When the tomato plants' stems were cut, 25 ultrasonic (超声的) pain sounds were recorded in an hour, and at the same time, 15 ultrasonic pain sounds were recorded from the tobacco plants. When they were deprived of water, the tomato plants recorded even more pain sounds with 35 pain sounds in an hour while the tobacco plants recorded about 11 pain sounds.

    The plants also acted differently to different kinds of stresses. For example, the tobacco plants gave out a stronger "scream" when they were deprived of water than when their stems were cut. But plants that were in no immediate (立刻的) danger gave out less than one ultrasonic sound per hour.

    The group of scientists said that plants are not as quiet as we had always thought, but in fact their voices are so high-pitched that we just can't hear them.

    Last year, another study has found out that plants feel pain when they are touched or hurt and they will give off a terrible smell.