March 24^th

    This morning, we had a school trip to the Dashan Collection House, a building of two floors． It is open from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm． We took the school bus and arrived at 9:00． When we entered the collection house, our eyes were caught by a collection of old photos of the town on the walls of the front hall． Those photos told us something about the history of the town． And then in the Art Room, we saw many pictures of the countryside． The colors of the flowers and trees are rich and bright． All at once, I lost myself in the beauty of nature．

    Then we went upstairs． On the left, there were over one hundred different clocks． The oldest clock was already more than two hundred years old． To my surprise, the clocks all worked well and they could tell the right time． It was then ten o'clock, and some clocks produced different beautiful sounds． It seemed to be a concert． How amazing!

    On the right there was also a stone collection． The stones were from all over the country． They were in different sizes, colors and shapes． Some looked like different kinds of animals． I really liked one stone that looked like a little monkey． It looked very nice．

    The collections there were wonderful． So they stayed there until 11:30 in the morning． I had a great time and really liked the school trip．

    Mr. Smith made many tests (作试验) with different animals and the monkey was the cleverest of all the animals. One day Mr. Smith put a monkey in a room. He also put some small boxes in it. In one of the boxes there was some food. "How long will it take the monkey to find the food?" Mr. Smith said to himself. "Let me wait and see." He left the room and waited outside. Three minutes later, he put his eye to the keyhole (钥匙眼). What did he see? He saw the eye of the monkey. The monkey was on the other side of the door and looked at Mr. Smith through the keyhole.

A

    Once upon a time, a fox was walking along a road, he saw some beautiful grapes hanging a high wall. He stopped to look at the grapes. They looked nice to eat. The fox wanted to eat the grapes very much, but he couldn't reach them. So he jumped and jumped until he was very tired.

    Finally he stopped jumping and walked away with his nose held high. He said, “I don't need those grapes. They look nice but I'm sure they are sour."

In our daily life, when people can't get something they want, they may say, "The grapes are sour.”

根据短文内容，判断句子的正误。

    Dai Shifang was an easygoing girl, who seldom argued with her parents. But when she became a ninth-grader, things started to change. "We often have arguments, sometimes because of some little things," she said.

    Maybe Dai has got the "ninth-grade syndrome (综合征)". Some experts think ninth-graders usually suffer a lot because of the changes in their body and mind.

    A study shows that the lack of support from parents makes things even worse. Dai's classmate Liu Shijia is an example. "The exams in Grade 9 are more difficult. So I'm under great pressure. But my parents push me so hard and they don't support me at all," she said sadly.

    As ninth-graders enter the rebellious phase (叛逆期), they want to be free and have their own ideas. The study shows that about 47 per cent of ninth-graders try to make their parents agree with them when they have different ideas. Dai feels this deeply. "I think I am an adult already. I can make decisions for myself," she said. For example, she thinks there is nothing wrong with playing with boys, but her parents don't agree with her. They often argue about that.

    To deal with these problems, an expert from Nantong gave useful advice to students. "First, talk with your parents. Sometimes you may not fully understand each other, but keep trying. Second, pay more attention to your studies. Finally, learn about the changes in your body and get to know yourself better. Then try to accept them and control your feelings," she said.

    What's going to happen in the future? Will robots control our planet? Will computers become smarter than us? Not likely. But here are some things that scientists say are most likely to happen in 10 to 30 years from now, according to the BBC.

Digital money

    We used to pay with cash for everything we bought. Now when we use a credit card(信用卡) to shop online, money is spent without us seeing it. That means we are already using digital money. Using a card is much easier than searching our pockets for change. It is also safer than carrying a lot of cash.

    When ATM cards were first introduced, they were not accepted everywhere. But now it's hard to live without them. It's reported that Sweden will first completely stopped using cash, and the US might be next.

Bionic(仿生的) eyes

    It's no longer something only in a science fiction movie. People who are blind may have a chance to get their sight back—by wearing bionic eyes.

    A blind eye can no longer sense light, but a bionic eye can use a camera to "see" the environment and send data (数据) to the mind. Now the bionic eyes only allow patients to see lights and unclear shapes.

Self-driving cars

    Unlike a human driver, a self-driving car won't get distracted(分神) by phone call, the radio or something outside the window. Sensors(传感器) and cameras on the car would allow it to reduce me number of road accidents. You could even take a nap while the car drives itself. In the future, driverless cars would be widely accepted.

    Robert Fredy was general manager of a large hotel in Ashbury Park, New Jersey. One cold day two years ago when he stopped his car at a traffic light, Stephen Pearman; an out-of-work taxi and truck driver, walked up to Fredy's car hoping to earn some change by washing his windshield(档风玻璃) , Like many motorists who try to keep the beggars off. Fredy turned on the wipers to show he wasn't interested.

    Pearman put his head close to the window. "Come on, mister. Give me a chance. I need a job, "he said. Something in Stephen Pearman's voice moved Robert Fredy. In the seconds before traffic started moving again, Fredy handed Pearman a business card and told him to call if he was serious.

    "My friends told me he was just pulling my leg," said Pearman. But I said. No, he's a businessman. I need to give it a shot."

    Two days later, 29-year-old Pearman appeared in the manager's office of the big hotel. Fredy gave him a job and lent him packet money while training him.

    Today, Pearman works full-time setting up the hotel's dining halls for business meetings. In the past two years, he has found a flat, married and repaid Fredy's loans (货款).

    "Mr Fredy gave me a second chance." says Pearman. "And I took advantage of it. I could have just come here a while and left. But there is no future washing wind-shields."

    Fredy always keeps away from the street people, "But Pearman seemed so honest and open, asking for a chance rather than just money," Fredy says. "I don't hand my business card to just anybody. But I'm glad I did in this case."