It is easy for many people to catch a cold in the springtime or fall. It makes us wonder if scientists can send a man to the moon, why can't they find a cure for the common cold? The answer is easy. There are actually different cold viruses out there. You never know which one you will get, so there isn't a cure for each one.

When a virus attacks your body, your body works hard to get rid of it Blood rushes to your nose and causes a block in it. You feel terrible because you can't breathe well, but your body is actually eating the virus. Your temperature goes up and you get a fever, but the heat of your body is killing the virus. You also have a runny nose to stop the virus from getting into your cells. You may feel very uncomfortable, but actually your wonderful body is doing everything it can to kill the cold.

Different people do different things to deal with colds. In the United States and some other countries, for example, people might have chicken soup to help them get over the cold. Some people take hot baths. Other people take medicine to stop different symptoms(症状)of colds.

There is one interesting thing to note一some scientists say taking medicine when you have a cold is actually bad for you. The virus stays in you longer because your body doesn't have a way to fight it and kill it Bodies can do an amazing job on their own. There is a joke, however, on taking medicine when you have a cold. It goes like this:

It takes about one week to get over a cold if you don't take medicine, but it takes only seven days to get over a cold if you take medicine.

A group of children from poor families from all over China gather at a baseball camp in Beijing. They live and train together, hoping to change their life through {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (play) baseball.

This is the story of the film Tough Out(《棒！少年》). It came out on December 11, 2020 and it is one of this {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (year) best films with a score of 8.7 out of 10 on Douban.

These children are being helped by Power Baseball Angels, a charity(慈善) programme launched in 2015 by Sun Lingfeng, former captain of China's national men's baseball team.

"Baseball changed my personality, teaching me rules and how {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (live) life. Without it, I would have probably become a bad boy," Sun told China Daily. Sun wants to help poor children in{#blank#}4{#/blank#} same way.

Ma Hu is one of the stars of the film. He {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (raise) by his grandmother in a poor village. He often fights {#blank#}6{#/blank#} others and almost never follows the rules at first. But with the guidance of his coaches, he learns to comfort his teammates instead when they lose a game. "I behaved {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (bad) back then," Ma said. "I'm not like that anymore. My goal is to become a member of the national team in the future."

The film hopes to draw attention to the 40 million children who live in poor {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (condition) in China. Just like Ma, many of the kids in the movie are left-behind children. They don't have much money, education {#blank#}9{#/blank#} parents' care. How can these {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (problem) be solved? The baseball charity programme is offering hope to these kids.

Rick and his classmates are visiting the City Zoo near their school. Mr. Wells, a zookeeper, 1 them around and says, "Let's go and see our new 2 —Daisy, an otter (水獭)!"

The kids happily run to a 3 . There, they see the otter lying near the water, looking sad.

"Is Daisy sick(生病)?" Rick asks.

"No. She 4 needs friends." Mr. Wells says, "But we have no money to buy 5 otter."

" A life without a friend is terrible!" the kids feel 6 for Daisy.

The trip is fun, 7 the kids keep quiet on the bus ride back to the 8 . Suddenly, Rick asks, "Is there anything we can do for Daisy?"

"Yes!" Lisa 9 an idea, "What about having a bake sale? Then we can make some money for the zoo!"

"Great!" the kids all say, "People will love the idea and 10 !"

The next morning, the class all 11 their home-made cakes to school. The cakes are very 12 and soon sell out. "Wow! We've collected 13 $300!" Rick calls, "Let's send the money to the zoo!"

Two weeks later, a thank-you note comes to the class. It 14 .

Dear kids,

Thanks for your help! Daisy has a friend. Come and see them at any time!

The City Zoo

"Daisy must love her 15 life now!" Rick says and the class all smile.

A son takes his old father to a restaurant for dinner. They sit down and order a meal（点餐）. The man orders some rice and vegetables with chicken. His father likes jiaozi very much, so he orders some jiaozi for his father. His father is very old and he doesn't look healthy. Some food is on his T-shirt or pants（裤子）after eating. Some people in the restaurant don't look happy about him when they see him eating food. But the son doesn't care (关心) at all.

When the son gives the waiter money, the waiter says, "Oh, the dinner is free."

The son asks, "Why?"

A young man is next to the waiter and says, "Sir, I'm the boss (老板) of this restaurant. I think you're a great man. You love your father very much, right? I learn a lot from you." The son says, "Yes, you are right. But what do you learn from me?" The boss says, "A lesson (课) for every son and hope (希望) for every old father."

Once there lived a little rabbit in the forest. One day, while the rabbit {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(walk), he saw a river. He saw himself in the river when he {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(drink). "Look {#blank#}3{#/blank#} my long beautiful ears," the rabbit said to himself. "I'm so proud (自豪的) of {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(they). But look at my legs. They are so short {#blank#}5{#/blank#} they make me look silly. "

After the rabbit finished drinking, he was ready {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(leave). {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(sudden), he found a tiger running towards him. With his short legs, the rabbit began to run as fast as he could. While the rabbit was running, the tiger {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(follow) it. But the tiger couldn't catch up with him at all. 

"I'm safe now," said the rabbit happily when he stopped running. But the tiger appeared again after about five {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(minute). Just before the rabbit wanted to run away, the tiger{#blank#}10{#/blank#}(catch) him by his long ears. So what are your advantages or disadvantages?

Book Report by Alice Brown

Name of the book: The Twins' Forest Adventure

Writer: Polly Hunts

Main characters: Andy, Daniel, the squirrel (松鼠)

Summary(概要):

Andy and Daniel are brothers. One day, they go into the forest and spend the whole afternoon there. 

The sky turns dark and they cannot find their way back. Suddenly, they fall into a big hole. 

In the hole, they become very small. They meet a squirrel and become friends with it. Then they go on a journey with the squirrel. During the journey, they meet different animals. They have lots of fun. They stay overnight at the squirrel's home. 

The next day, they are still in the hole, but they are back to their original( 原 来 的 ) size. They finally climb out of the hole after two hours. They think that it must be a dream, but they see the squirrel nearby. It is waving(挥手) to them. 

Opinion:

This story isn't exciting. I think Polly's other books like The Twins in the Mysterious Cave and The Twins' Deep- Sea Discovery are much more exciting. I hope her new book The Twins' African Trip will be better. I bought it from the bookshop yesterday.