A

    Nina and Julia are two lovely girls．They are 14 years old and go to school in London．But they weren't at school last week—they were doing work experience．And this week they are back in the classroom．Now a school reporter is talking with them about their work．

(Q=Question；N=Nina；J=Julia)

O：Where did you work?

N：I worked in a restaurant．

J：I worked for a TV company(公司)．

O：What did you do?

N：I cleaned the tables and swept the floor and I also served the customers（顾客）．I gave them their food and drinks and took the money．I started really early—at 6：00 a．m．The restaurant opened at 7：00 a．m．and closed at 6：00 p．m．I didn't stay until 6：00 p．m．一I finished work at 2：00p．m．The staff(全体员工)were friendly but we didn't have much time for talking．We were all really busy!

J：I worked in an office of the TV company．I started at 10：00 a．m．and finished at 6：00 p．m．I helped my boss(领导)with different jobs．Sometimes he told me to answer the phone．Other times he asked me to use the computer to look for  information he needed．I was really busy all day!

Q：Did you enjoy it?

N：No．I didn't! I wanted to work in a restaurant because I like cooking．But I didn't do any cooking all week．I am very happy to go back to school．

J：Yes，I did! The boss was kind and the staff were nice．I've really learned a lot from them．

    In northern Scotland there is a long deep lake called Loch Ness.  More than 200 meters deep, it is the largest lake in the UK.  People  say  a  big monster (怪兽)  lives in its dark, cold waters. It weighs more than 1,000 kilos and is at least ten meters long. Some people say it has a head like a horse. Others say it looks like a snake. Many people travel to Loch Ness to look for this strange monster, but only a few people have seen it. At least, they say they have seen it.

    The Loch Ness Monster is a famous legend (传说). The first story about a monster in Loch Ness was told over 500 years ago, but the legend of the monster spread widely only in the twentieth century. In 1933, a husband and wife reported that they saw a big monster in Loch Ness. Several people have taken photos, but at least one of them was a hoax (骗局). During the 1960s, a team was formed to look for the monster. They took many photos and made movies, but they were never able to find a monster.

    There is no real fact that a monster lives in Loch Ness, but there is also no fact that one doesn't live. One thing is true about Loch Ness: there are a lot of tourists there.

    My dream home is a house made of glass and it has a garden. It is not far from the sea. It is a smart house with a library. There are one million books in it! There is a big 3­D TV in the living room. How cool it is to watch my favourite films with it! It is never too cold or too hot in the rooms. When I walk into a room, the lights are turned on. The house can keep itself clean.

    There is a garden in front of the house. Many flowers are in it. And there is also a small lake behind the house. At weekends, I can watch the fish swim around or do some fishing by the lake.

    The house is far from the city centre, but there is a mini airport (机场) in it so I can fly to other places in my mini plane if I want to go shopping or do some other things. Does the house sound cool? Maybe in 20 years, my dream will come true.

    Researchers say that nearly two thirds of children don't get enough sleep, and this can make them nervous and slower at school. So how long should young people sleep each night? The answer is between 8 and 10 hours. If you don't get enough sleep at night, you'll have less energy the next day.

    A report shows that children sleep less because they have TVs and computers in their rooms, and busy parents don't read to their younger children at night any more. The traditional "bedtime story" helps children to relax and fall asleep peacefully. Children with TVs and computers in their bedrooms were more likely to sleep badly, and to get less than eight hours' sleep. Even losing one hour's sleep a night can mean that children do worse than usual at school.

    British scientists think that your brain keeps working while you're asleep. To show that they were right, they have done an experiment. They gave two groups of people a problem to work out. One group went to sleep, and the other group stayed awake. You want to know the result? The people who slept worked out the answer more quickly. Researchers explained that their brains were trying to find the answer while the people were asleep. So, make sure you get enough sleep tonight, 'and you'll be at your best tomorrow!

    How would you persuade (劝说) your parents to support your dream? American actress Emma Stone created a PowerPoint presentation (陈述) to get her argument across.

    Stone is a rising star in Hollywood. She has played the role of Gwen Stacy, Spider-Man's high school love interest, in two Spider-Man movies.

The actress said she has something in common with her character in the film. "Gwen is clear on what she wants to do with her life... I think I am in the same ballpark (同一范围) there."

    Stone made up her mind to become an actress at the age of 15. But would her parents agree to her leaving school early and pursuing (追求) her dream? The young girl decided to think outside of the box.

    "I used a lot of computers when I was younger, and my dad's a businessman, so I just thought a presentation is the way to get my point across," she said.

She titled the presentation Project Hollywood and used pop singer Madonna's classic song Hollywood as the soundtrack, saying "just please let me move to LA to be an actress."

    Her tactic (策略) proved to be a success. In 2004, Stone dropped out of high school and moved with her mother to Los Angeles. She was homeschooled after that.

Now Stone is a successful actress with many films to her name. Her next step is to try different things like "bizarre (奇怪的)" characters or comedy. Will she persuade directors with PowerPoint presentations too?

    Answer the following questions:

    Polar bears(北极熊) are soft and lovely, but they are also very dangerous. Mark's best pal is Agee, just a big cute white polar bear! Mark is a Canadian animal trainer. He and Agee became friends when the polar bear was just about four weeks old. Now Agee is 16 years old and weighs 800 pounds. She can't live at Mark's home now, but both of them are still best friends. They always play, swim and even wrestle(摔跤) together. Agee is not only Mark's best friend, but also the world's first trained polar bear star. She has acted in some films and TV advertisements(广告) . Polar bears usually live in the freezing Arctic region(冰冷的北极地区) . Unluckily, as the weather gets warmer and warmer, there is less and less room for the polar bears to live in. And they have to find their home and have less time to find food. So these make polar bears become fewer and fewer.