My mother is a diligent and kind woman. She is very busy from morning till night. As a teacher, she works hard. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Both my brother and I love her dearly as she loves us.

    My mother has been teaching math at a middle school in my hometown. She goes to work early in the morning and does not return home until late in the afternoon. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} She treats them with patience and teaches them well. For her excellent quality and very good teaching results, she has been elected as a model teacher several times.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Every day, when she comes back home from work, she sets about doing housework, sweeping the living room and bedrooms or cleaning the furniture, and putting everything in good order. She seems to be busy all the time. As she has been very busy working every day, she looks older than her age. But she looks as cheerful and happy as ever. Mother never buys expensive dresses for herself, but she often buys some inexpensive but high quality clothes for us. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} She just eats a plain meal outside when she is too busy to cook herself. She lives a busy yet simple life, without any complaints.

    Often she says to us, “work while you work, and play while you play. That is the way to be happy and gay. If you do not work, you will become lazy and be of no use to society”. What a piece of good advice this is! {#blank#}5{#/blank#} This advice of hers will always serve as a guide to my behavior. My mother is great indeed, and I always feel proud of her.

A. She enjoys listening to classic music.

B. As a mother, she takes good care of us and gives us every comfort.

C. She loves her students and cares for them.

D. She never goes to expensive restaurants to enjoy meals.

E. My mother is hard-working and never wastes money.

F. I never forget it and always bear it in my mind.

G. Can you tell us something about your mother?

    I have two younger cousins starting their “Third Year of High School.” Though I don't talk to them often, I'm both excited for them and also worried. Are they growing up too fast? Are they eating right? {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    I throw myself into anxiety. But, today, I stepped back for a moment and came to this realization: my cousins are smarter than my 16-year-old self. If I could go back in time, here's what I would say to myself.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} There's a time for everything—don't speed it up. This is especially true for love. Life is much longer than the distance from now until tomorrow.

    Maintain your digital diet. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Being connected has benefits, but please don't become a victim of the internet.

    Study. You're just starting to define who you want to be and what you want to do. Make sure you study, get the grades, light the midnight oil. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Study the other things in life—the people who are transforming your community and the simple stuff that makes our world go round. You will discover that each bit of detail will change how you view life.

    Be an upstander, not a bystander. Your biggest childhood regret is not standing up for that kid. The kid is the one who was accused of not fitting in right; the one whose shirt was always stained and whose eyes were dull. Your biggest regret is walking away. And, it doesn't matter if you turned away from the taunting（嘲弄）. It doesn't even matter if you were nice to him when the other kids weren't around. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Take your time.

B. You'll regret not being more sympathetic, more courageous, more of a leader.

C. Are they dating?

D. Don't be afraid of what will happen.

E. But, don't just study what teachers say you should.

F. Are you worried about your life.

G. You don't need to spend every waking moment on a device.

Values for Americans

    One of the most basic moral values for Americans is honesty. The well-known legend about George Washington and the cherry tree teaches this value clearly. Little George cut down his father's favorite cherry tree while trying out his new hatchet. When his father asked him about it, George said, “I cannot tell a lie. I did it with my hatchet.” Instead of punishment, George received praise for telling the truth.  {#blank#}1{#/blank#} But Americans still believe that “honesty is the best policy.”

     {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Remember Aesop's fable about the turtle and the rabbit that had a race? The rabbit thought he could win easily, so he took a nap. But the turtle finally won because he did not give up. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} The hill was so steep that the little train had a hard time trying to get over it. But the train just kept pulling, all the while saying, “I think I can, I think I can.” At last, the train was over the top of the hill.

    Compassion(怜悯) may be the queen of American virtues. The story of “The Good Samaritan” from the Bible describes a man who showed compassion. On his way to a certain city, a Samaritan man found a poor traveler lying on the road. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} The kind Samaritan, instead of just passing by, stopped to help this person in need,

     {#blank#}5{#/blank#}In fall 1992, people in Iowa sent truckloads of water to help Floridians hit by a hurricane. The next summer, during the Midwest flooding, Florida returned the favor. In less dramatic ways, millions of Americans are quietly passing along the kindnesses shown to them.

A. The traveler had been beaten and robbed.

B. Another virtue Americans respect is perseverance (坚持不懈).

C. As a matter of fact, it is these virtues that help the country develop.

D. Compassion can even turn into a positive cycle.

E. There used to be a high and steep hill.

F. Sometimes American honesty—being open and direct—can hurt people.

G. Another story tells of a little train that had to climb a steep hill,

    Have you ever wondered how the trainers at Sea World get the 19,000-pound whale to jump 22 feet out of water and perform tricks? They get that whale to go over a rope farther out of the water than most of us can imagine. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}.

So how do the trainers at Sea World do it? The first thing they do is reinforce(强化) the behavior that they want repeated — in this case, to get the whale to go over the rope.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}, in a position where the whale can't help but do what's expected of it. Every time the whale goes over the rope, it's given positive reinforcement and gets fed with fish. But what happened when the whale goes under the rope? Nothing — no criticism, no warning and no feedback. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}.

    Positive reinforcement is the key of that simple principle that produces such splendid results. And as the whale begins to go over the rope more often than under, the trainers begin to raise the rope. It must be raised slowly enough so that the whale doesn't starve.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. Make a big deal out of the good and little stuff that we want consistently. Secondly, under-criticize. People know they need help when they mess up. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}, people will not forget the event and usually will not repeat it.

    So we need to set up the circumstances so that people can't fail. Over-celebrate, under-criticize…and know how far to raise the rope.

A. This is a great challenge

B. And the whale stays right where it is

C. If we figure out a way to motivate the whale

D. They start with the rope below the surface of the water

E. If we under-criticize, punish and discipline less than expected

F. Whales are taught that their negative behavior won't be acknowledged

G. The simple lesson to be learned from the whale trainers is to over-celebrate

    Rivers play an important role on the earth, and we can't imagine what the earth would be like without rivers. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    With a length of 6, 650 kilometers, the Nile is the longest river in the world. The Nile River has been the source of human civilization since ancient times. The Nile has two main branches—the White Nile and the Blue Nile. The White Nile starts from the Great Lakes region of East and Central Africa through Lake Victoria.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} The Blue Nile carries with it a lot of fertile soil which turns out to be very important to farming in Egypt.

    The Amazon River is the world's largest river with a width of about 40 kilometers during the rainy seasons but about 10 kilometers wide when it is not flooded. The Amazon River has such a big water volume that it accounts for(占.....比例) more than 20% of all the world's fresh water—far more than any other river. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}The main Amazon River flows mostly through Brazil and Peru but its tributaries can also be found in many other countries.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}It has a depth of about 250 meters. Its length is 4, 700 kilometers. The sources of the Congo River are in the highlands and mountains in the Eastern Africa Rift Valley. It's the second largest river in terms of water volume. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}The Congo River basin(盆地) is the catchments(流域，集水区) area of the Congo River. It lies in both north and south of the Equator, making its flow very stable as there are always some tributaries experiencing a rainy season at any time.

A. Some of them are worth mentioning.

B. The Congo River is the world's deepest river.

C. Do you know which is the deepest river in the world?

D. The Blue Nile originates from(发源于)Lake Tana in Ethiopia.

E. Without rivers, there would be no living life in and along them.

F. And it flows through the second largest rain-forests in the world.

G. Streams that begin in the Andes Mountains are its sources.

    Time is something that we all are taking for granted these days. We spend hours watching TV or playing mobile games, thinking that this is just normal. I find this a waste of time. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}Every second is valuable and we should rethink of ways of spending our time.

    Firstly, spend time in doing things that really matter. Spend time with your family and friends. Enjoy a nice hot meal and eat it slowly. Give yourself time to play and spend enough time in sleeping. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}But the truth is the little things matter most in life.

    Secondly, you have to know what is done cannot be undone. Do not allow your mind to stay in the past. Every day is a new adventure. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}It may not be an opportunity like an immediate get-rich chance, but it may be an opportunity for new experiences.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}If you have only one chance to do something for someone, why not do it to the best of your ability? It should not matter whether you are being rewarded or not. You will take pride in your work because you've done your best. Trust me, quality efforts will be rewarded in time.

    Lastly, every moment you spend in doing things is the time taken from your life. Don't waste your time away working day and night just for money. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}The value of your time is measured by how you spend it and whom you choose to spend it with.

A. You will get whatever you want from working.

B. Spend more time on the important tasks instead of time-wasters.

C. Do your best in every task as if the world will end tomorrow

D. That is not your life's worth.

E. It is hours of our lives that we can never get back.

F. Little things like this may seem meaningless.

G. You have to keep your eyes and ears open to the new opportunity.