The Duanwu Festival in China, also called Dragon Boat Festival, is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month every year according to the Chinese lunar calendar. For thousands of years, this festival has been marked by people's eating Zongzi and racing dragon boats. (A) To hold the dragon boat races is in memory of Qu Yuan. He was one of the greatest poets in ancient China.

    Qu Yuan was born in Zigui of Hubei Province over 2,200 years ago. Qu Yuan was an honest minister (大臣) of the State of Chu during the Warring States Period (475—22l BC) . He was upright, patriotic (爱国的) and wise. (B) 屈原想给自己的祖国带来和平并让它变得更强大。But the country was in the hands of bad officials, he could do nothing to change it. (C) He was very discouraged. At last, Qu Yuan ended his life by throwing himself into the Miluo River. It is said that people tried to save him by jumping into the river. But it was too late and all their efforts were in vain. Also, they were so sad and they threw rice into the water to feed Qu Yuan's spirit.

    Now we read his poem Li Sao which is filled with deep love for his country. We can see the dragon boat races and have a kind of Chinese food named Zongzi to eat during the Dragon boat Festival.

    Imagine you are taking a walk on thebeautiful beach. Just then, your feet step over something and you hear a crack(噼啪声) —an emptyplastic bottle. Things like this are happening more often because of searubbish.

    Studies show that 80% of all the waste isfrom the land. The waste is mainly plastics (塑料制品)which are really hard to degrade (降解). So the rubbishwill remain there for a long time. Some of the pollution is causedaccidentally. For example, about 10,000 product-filled boxes are lost at seaevery year from business ships. Sometimes people just throw things into thewater from boats or land. Many large rubbish areas are formed in the NorthPacific Ocean.

    Thankfully, the situation isn't ignored (忽视). Groups like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)are taking action to help clean the sea. Since 2006,76 projects have clearedout 3,814 metric tons (公吨) of rubbish from the sea.Methods of rubbish cleaning include using machines to remove (移除) the waste away from the surface of sea water. Besides, specialnets are set by the mouths of rivers to stop the rubbish before it reaches thesea. If everyone does his part, sea rubbish seems like a problem that can besolved.

The ISS is as tall as a nine﹣story building and weighs 186，900 kilograms. It's about the size of two football fields and flies about 400 kilometers above our heads at 28，970 kilometers per hour. It goes around Earth once every 90 minutes. 

If you watch the sky for about an hour after the sun goes down，you may see some "moving stars". But they are not really stars. They are man﹣made satellites. And the biggest of all is the International Space Station （ISS）. From May to July is the best season to watch the ISS flying over the earth. And people can see it with their eyes during the time. 

The scientists want to live on the ISS. They think that the best way to learn more about space is to live there. 

When the space station is finished，it will be like a city in space. People will stay and study there with many of the thing they have at home. Laboratories，living rooms and power stations are being built. The ISS is the most ambitious（雄心勃勃的）

Scientists hope that the ISS will be a stepping stone（跳板） for future space exploration. "The ISS will be more useful some day. The ISS will help us understand the human body better，explore space and study the earth. It can help us make life on the earth better. " said Kathryn Clark

Sixteen countries are part of the space program：the US，Russia，Canada，Brazil，and 11 European countries. 

China isn't an ISS country，but it has helped with some of the experiments. In 2003，China sent some rice up to the ISS to find out what space would do to it. 

After it's finished，more than 90 percent of the world's population is able to see the Space Station. So keep looking up，and maybe you'll see it getting bigger. 

The night sky is our earliest library. There，we stored our knowledge，and passed it down around the fire

{#blank#}1{#/blank#} That night，I saw Saturn，one of the planets，and you were a part of it.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

Although starlight is good，light pollution on Earth can be a real problem. For the past 200 years or so，we have used too much electricity to make the night brighter.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}When a lot of light shines up into the sky，some problems may appear. 

Luckily，some cities have taken action，like setting up new downward﹣directing lights along the streets or controlling unnecessary lighting.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} I hope we can watch the night sky in a way humans have watched for thousands of years. 

You may think that students in the US have little homework or they don't work hard at school. You may also think that they have few rules or their teachers are not strict at all. When I went to school in the US, I found that not all these things were true. Let's take a look at a day at my school.

Take classes. All the students should take classes seriously( 认 真 地 ) . They know their strength(长处) and try to be better at it. They ask lots of questions in class. Grades mean a lot to them. There are lots of rules at school. Sometimes, they can't even use nicknames(绰号).

Do after- school activities. School is over. There is little homework, but there is more to do. There are a lot of after- school activities , like drama(戏剧), sports , art, debate(辩论) and more. In China, many

students do after- school activities just once a week. But students in the US do them for a few hours a day, every day of the week.

Students in the US might have more free time than those in China, but they are hard workers, too.

The sad but beautiful music Erquan Yingyue is very popular in the world, as it could touch the hearts of people. Actually, music brings in more {#blank#}1{#/blank#} in life, and is very important to teenagers. Here are a lot of reasons. First, it helps teenagers express themselves well, and allow {#blank#}2{#/blank#} to connect with their emotions, thoughts, and experiences. Music also {#blank#}3{#/blank#} a sense of identity and belonging, as teenagers often use it to make friends with their peer groups. Besides, music is a source of entertainment to teenagers and helps them feel {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. It can keep them away from the stresses of daily life. In addition, music can inspire and motivate teenagers to influence their feelings and behaviors. It can even work as a way for teenagers to experience different cultures, widen their understanding {#blank#}5{#/blank#} the world. In all, music plays an important role in the lives of teenagers, providing with a sense of connection, creativity, and joy.