In the town of Lampang in northern Thailand, there is an unusual group of musicians. They play many different kinds of music—everything from traditional Thai songs to music by Beethoven. Both children and adults love this group. What makes them so popular? Is it their music? Their looks7 Yes, it's both of the things, but it's also something else: they're elephants.

    These musical elephants started at the TECC in Lampang. The TECC protects elephants. It teaches people to understand and love them. And, like many zoos around the world, the TECC encourages elephants to paint.

    Richard Lair works for the TECC. He loves his job there and knows a lot about elephants. He says some of the animals' paintings are very good. But, in fact, elephants hear better than they see. And so he had an idea: if elephants are smart and they have good hearing, maybe they can play music. To test his idea, Lair and a friend started the Thai Elephant Orchestra. During a performance, the elephants play a number of instruments, including the drums and the xylophone (木琴).

    But can elephants really make music properly? Yes, says Lair. They are very creative. Human encourage the animals to play, but the elephants make their own songs; they don't just copy their trainers or other people. There are now CDs of the group's music which make money for the TECC. And the music these artists create is pretty amazing

    Larry is going to be a pilot. He wants to fly an airplane. But Larry is not a rich man. He doesn't have an airplane. He has only a chair. Larry ties 45 big balloons to his chair and then sits in the chair. The chair goes up.

    For a few minutes, everything is fine. The view from the chair is beautiful. Larry can see houses and trees below him. He is happy. He is flying!

    The chair goes up very high. Larry is afraid. “I don't want to go very high,” Larry thinks. “I want to go down a little.” With a small gun, Larry shoots 10 balloons. Then something terrible happens. Larry drops the gun, and it falls to the ground. Larry can't shoot more balloons. The chair goes up and up.

    Larry is three miles above the ground. Airplanes are flying over him. Larry has a small radio. “Help! Help!” he says into the radio. “I'm flying in a chair, and I want to come down!” People hear Larry, but they can't help him.

    Larry flies in the chair for 45 minutes. Then the balloons begin to lose air, slowly the chair comes down, and Larry is back on the ground. He is not hurt.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} The main stairs are cleaned twice a week by the Association, so please try to keep them tidy and clean and do not leave furniture or bags on the stairs or in the hallways.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Residents are asked to keep noise to a minimum. Loud music and other loud noise can disturb other people and the Association will get in touch with you if you make too much noise.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Rubbish collection is on Tuesdays. Please do not leave rubbish bags out before Tuesday as birds and animals can break into them and they smell.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} The main lights are on a timer and they stay on for five minutes when you press them. Please tell the Association if any lights are not working.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} There is a washing line for every flat in the garden next to the car park. Please only dry your washing on these lines so it does not disturb（干扰） people in the ground floor flats.

    Katelyn Clarkson, an 11-year-old girl, loves baking(烘烤）very much. Three years ago, {#blank#}1{#/blank#} In her spare time, Katelyn often cooked cupcakes for her family and friends.

    A few months ago, Katelyn's teacher had a serious disease. Soon Katelyn had an idea of helping her teacher by selling cupcakes. Katelyn told the idea to her best friend Mattie who also loved baking cupcakes. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} They spent the whole afternoon making over 60 cupcakes and sold them to their friends and relatives. Their teacher was moved when she received money from the two little girls. Within days, the two girls got the idea of Cupcakes for a Cure. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} They were excited about their idea. Katelyn and Mattie later found they also needed someone to manage the money. They found Charlie. Charlie was happy to join them. He wrote down where the money was from and even set up a bank account(账户）. Also, Charlie made a website for their work. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Of course, they made advertisements about their money-raising activities and called on people to join them.

    Last month, they held their first money-raising activity.  {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Katelyn and Mattie baked more than 300 cupcakes. All of them were sold during the two-hour activity.

    One day a man went home after work and said to his wife, "I bought something for you." "Thank you!" said his wife. "What have you bought for me?" "I've bought a gold ring (戒指). Here it is." He took it out for his wife to see. Then he dropped it to the ground. He began to look for it on the ground, but it was dark in the house and he could not see anything. Then he went out and began to look for it in the street. Just then a friend came along. "What's the matter with you?" asked his friend. "I'm looking for my ring. I lost it just now," said the man. "Where did you lose it?" "I lost it in my house just now." "①You lost your ring in your house, but you are looking for it in the street. How foolish (愚蠢的)you are!" "Ah," said the man, "but it is dark in my house. I shall never find it there. But here in the street, it is much brighter. I can see everything." When his friend heard his words, he laughed and laughed.②你觉得这个人怎么样?