Zhu Yanjun is a migrant worker(农民工)from northwest China's Gansu Province. Recently the 50-year-old took part in the 2023 Chinese Poem Competition and won second place in the final.

Zhu was born in a family of farmers. As a young boy, Zhu would help his father do farm work after finishing classes. In 1983, as a first-grader in primary school, he met poetry for the first time in a Chinese class. Since then, he has been in love with poems. After noticing Zhu's interest, his father spared some money from the family's living costs to buy him poetry collections （诗歌集）. During junior high school, some of his classmates dropped out of school and moved to other cities to look for jobs. Zhu listened to them talking about the outside world during holidays. "I also wanted to leave my hometown to see the world. "he said.

After graduating from junior high school in 1992, Zhu stopped his schooling. He began to work as a migrant worker. But he did not stop reading poems. 

In the past years, Zhu has worked in seven cities in China. Whenever he arrives in a city, he first visits the bookstores and libraries there. Although he is busy working during the day, he spends his time at noon and in the evening reading poems. He knows around1, 000 poems by heart and the lines help him keep a calm mind. 

In 2023, with the encouragement of his wife, Zhu decided to sign up for the 2023 Chinese Poem Competition. To his surprise, he made it to the final. Under his influence, his son and daughter have developed a great interest in poetry. They have been accepted by universities away from their hometown. "I hope more people will also fall in love with poetry, "said Zhu, adding that he will continue learning poetry.

From this autumn, primary and middle schools have labor education(劳动教育). 

Duan Jiayang is a 12-year-old student in Yinchuan. One of the subjects in his school is welcome. It is the life skill(生活技能) class. He learns to plant fruit and vegetables in class. He says, "It's not easy. "

In China, many parents do everything for their children. Lots of students don't have life skills. Because of this, Duan's school gives the class. "We want students to really enjoy life by taking the class. We hope students can know it's not easy to get food. And we also want students to thank their parents, "a teacher says.

At the same time, in another middle school in Yinchuan, students learn how to make steamed buns(馒头) in class. A girl named Lian Yan says, "I really love our life skill class. It's my favourite class, "

"Children often just study but don't want to do housework(家务) at home, "says a mother. "The life skill class makes it interesting And the class can even make it become students'hobby or life skill, "she says.

The summer holiday is coming. Ben will have a trip to Beijing with his two {#blank#}1{#/blank#}this weekend. His dad will also go and have a meeting. This is a great journey for Ben and he is very {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. Ben knows little about taking a plane. It is his first time to take a plane. However, Ben's father often goes to other places by plane. 

In the morning, they arrive at the airport early. It is very {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. Ben's dad tells Ben what to do. They sit close and wait there for a few minutes. It will take them about four hours to get to Beijing. A few days ago, they {#blank#}4{#/blank#} a hotel far from the Summer Palace because all the other hotels were full (满的) and they had no {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. Ben is really looking forward to the trip. 

 How do you feel about junior high?

I love my junior high school life. It is a new {#blank#}1{#/blank#}for me. I have many new friends. We often study and {#blank#}2{#/blank#} sports together. There are also a lot of interesting {#blank#}3{#/blank#} at school, such as sports meets and music festivals. All of {#blank#}4{#/blank#}can share the joy through them. Junior high life is {#blank#}5{#/blank#}interesting. What about your junior high?

A husband and wife moved to a new apartment. The apartment had a beautiful view(景色) of the neighboring building. Every 1 , the wife would look out of the window to see what was happening in the neighborhood.

 One morning, as the wife was 2 the window, she saw a neighboring woman hanging out her clothes to dry. "Look at her 3 clothes," she said to her husband.

4 , he went on reading the newspaper and didn't pay any attention to her words. "Perhaps her soap is bad or she does not know how to 5 . I will go to teach her someday!" the wife said to herself, shaking 6 head. "I can't believe she is7 those clothes in public(在公开场合)."

A few mornings later, the8 was still not clear about the woman's washing habits. Every time the neighboring woman hung out her clothes, the wife would be 9 at how dirty they looked. She couldn't understand why she could 10 wash them clean. "Maybe she has no taste for being beautiful. That is 11 the colours of her clothes on the drying line hardly match(相配)," she said to her husband, with a12 in his hand again.

 Then, one day, after she looked out of the window as usual, she shouted13 . "Oh! Look, her clothes are clean today. The 14 woman has finally learned how to wash clothes!"

 To this, her husband answered quietly, "15 . Today I just woke up a little bit earlier and washed the window."