Humans are mammals (哺乳动物). Most mammals are born able to do many things.

Some can walk within a few minutes of being born. They have to be able to run away if 1 is near. But human babies are born 2. They need the care of adults to live.

In the first month of life, babies can not smile or sit up. They can not even hold up their own heads 3 some help from grown-ups.

In the next few months, babies grow a lot. They learn to roll over, support their heads, and 4 sit up while being held.

Babies also have to learn to use their 5. It takes months for them to learn to reach for objects. At around six months old many babies can 6 an object from one hand to another.

Babbling is 7 a human baby learns to speak. Babies all seem to make similar sounds by babbling. They try to imitate (模仿) the sounds they hear from adults. It will take about nine months 8 a baby can say real words.

Somewhere around a baby's first birthday he or she may stand or walk with help. Soon the baby will 9 around on his or her own!

The first year of a baby's life is a time of growing and 10. Growing sure takes a lot of work!

A barking (吠)dog does not bite (咬)

Tom is a little boy of eight. His father is a doctor. He works in a hospital. He is often very busy (忙).{#blank#}1{#/blank#} After dinner, he says to Tom, "Tom, it's a nice evening. Put on your cap and coat.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}."

Tom is very glad.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} He puts on his cap and coat and says, "Dad, I am ready." Then Tom and his father go out to the park. Suddenly, they see a big, black dog.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Tom is very afraid (害怕) of the dog. He wants to run home. His father, says, "{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Don't you know the proverb (谚语), ‘A barking dog doesn't bite'?"

"Oh, yes! Dad," says Tom. "I know the proverb, you know the proverb, but does the dog know the proverb?"

After winning the under-14 boys' singles (单打比赛) title at the 2022 ASICS Tennis Junior Tour in Guangzhou, Wang Fa {#blank#}1{#/blank#}became popular on the Internet. He is{#blank#}2{#/blank#} as "a basket tennis boy" now. 

Wang is a member of the Va ethnic group (佤族) in Yunnan. In 2016, he was chosen by a tennis {#blank#}3{#/blank#} to learn to play professional tennis. At first, Wang's parents didn't want him to learn tennis because they thought it was too expensive, but the tennis club offered to teach him for {#blank#}4{#/blank#} .

Wang was {#blank#}5{#/blank#}at first. The outside world was really different from his home. {#blank#}6{#/blank#}tennis helped him make more friends and get a much better education. Over the past six years, Wang has improved his skills by training {#blank#}7{#/blank#} . He ran 9 kilometers and swung his racket (球拍) more than 7, 000 {#blank#}8{#/blank#}a day. "If it wasn't for tennis, I would still be helping out my family with farm work," he {#blank#}9{#/blank#} the reporter from China Daily. 

When people asked him why he carried his rackets in a bamboo basket, he explained he just wanted {#blank#}10{#/blank#}his hometown. For Wang, winning the game was the beginning of a promising {#blank#}11{#/blank#} . "I will head to the top spots on the professional stage," Wang said. 

When Mary was just seven, her family moved to a new city. She went to school by school bus. One morning there was something wrong with the clock. When she got up, it was too late to take the school bus. Her mother said she could go to school in her car. 

"But how can you find the way, Mum?" Mary asked, "You went to our school only once. " "Yes, " her mother answered, "but you take the school bus there every day and you know the way. " "Oh, yes, " said Mary. 

They started out and the car went around most of the city before getting there. When they arrived, her mother found that the school was not really far from their house. 

"Why did you make us go so long a way?" her mother asked her. "Well, Mum, " answered Mary, "I know only this way. The bus always goes like this, so the other children can take it to school. "

Nick is my pen pal. He is 12 years old. He is from Canada. He lives in Ottawa. He speaks English and French. His favourite subject is Science. He likes Chinese, too. And he says he can speak a little Chinese, but he can't write in Chinese. He doesn't like Physics. He thinks it's too difficult.

Nick likes sports, too. He likes swimming best. He goes swimming at weekends with his father. He says he can swim very well.

Nick has a big family. There are his grandparents, his parents and his brothers and sisters. He has two brothers and two sisters. They are Bob, Tim, Jane and Susan. They are happy!