Favorite Books for Kids

    Rescue officials in Poland are working quickly to clear one of the country's highways. The roadway is covered with a sticky brown material. It is blocking cars from both directions.

    What is causing the mess? Milk chocolate. The problems began early Wednesday, after a huge truck carrying many tons of liquid chocolate overturned. Chocolate spilled out. It spread across six driveways of Poland's A2 highway.

    The liquid chocolate solidified（凝固）as it cooled, causing even more difficulties. The accident happened near the western Polish town of Slupca. Bogdan Kowalski is with the fire fighters of Slupca. He told the Associated Press that “the cooling chocolate is worse than snow”.

    Videos published on social media showed rescuers and cleaners were trying to move the sticky brown mess with a bulldozer（推土机）.

    The private Polish broadcaster TVN24 reported that the driver of the truck was taken to a hospital with a broken arm. The accident happened in the morning when there was little traffic. Nobody else was harmed.

    The sticky situation became a hot topic on social media. Some people offered to help the clean-up workers by eating the chocolate themselves.

    Marlene Kukawa is a media officer for Slupea police. She told the New York Times that rescue workers needed to remove the truck from the highway first. “The cleanup”, she said at the time, “will take a few hours or more.” She added that accidents are rare in this part of the A2 highway. And, she told the New York Times, she is sure the area has never experienced something quite like a huge chocolate spill.

    Even now, almost a year after their astonishing act of group heroism, the dozens of people who risked their lives to save two boys from drowning in Panama City Beach, are still remembered.

    The story began on July 8, 2017. Members of the Ursrey family, eight in total, were enjoying an evening together at the beach. As the sun sank lower on the horizon（地平线）, the two boys—Noah, 11, and Stephen, 8—took their skateboards and walked into the waves without the grown-ups noticing. When the boys were about 70 yards from shore, they realized that the ocean pulled them out to sea. After trying and failing to paddle（涉水）back, they started waving and screaming for help. But the lifeguards had clocked out for the evening.

    The boys had been struggling for several minutes when Brittany and Tabatha Monroe, a married couple from Georgia, wandered by. They didn't see the boys at first, but they heard them.

    They jumped into the water and easily reached the brothers, who were still in fairly shallow water. The woman reassured the frightened boys and seized their skateboards, telling them they would be safe and then discovered that they, too, were now in a world of trouble. They couldn't get back to shore and could barely and only occasionally hit the sandy bottom with their feet. After a few minutes, it was clear to the woman that they were all trapped in a terrible whirlpool.

    Then scores of tourists were walking to them, hand in hand, forming a line. Soon the first person held the woman's hand. In turn, her husband and the two boys joined her. The long line moved slowly until they were back to the safety of the beach.

    The rescuers call it the Human Chain. But it was the deeply “human” aspect of the rescuers' cooperation（合作）that made it so astonishing and successful.

    You may be surprised to learn that English gets 30 to 45 percent of its words from French. The reason goes back to the year 1066, when Norman forces invaded（入侵）what is now Britain. The Normans were from northern France and spoke French. During the Norman occupation, French became the language of England's rulers and wealthy class. This lasted for more than 300 years. Other people in England continued to speak English during this period.

    Over time, the two languages combined and shared words. Some researchers believe that about 10,000 French words eventually entered the English language. However, although English took many French words, their meanings have not always stayed the same. Sometimes the differences in meanings can be very important, and lead to funny or strange situations if the words are used in the wrong way.

    Take, for example, the French word college. In English, college can often be used in place of the word university, or sometimes as a school within a university. However, in French, college actually means “middle school”, or the level of schooling for students in grades five or six through eight.

    There are many other similar words in the two languages with completely different meanings. In English, the word chat is a verb which means “to talk casually”; but in French, the word chat is the word for an animal: a cat.

    If an English speaker says someone is jolly, that means they are cheerful or friendly. But in French, jolie means someone is good-looking or pleasant to look at. In any case, both are nice things to say to someone.

    Compared to the history of China, the history of the United States is quite short. In 1776, 13 colonies（殖民地）located on the eastern coast of North America declared independence and fought a revolution against the British. In 1783 the colonists won the revolution and gained their independence.

    After the revolution, the United States bought a large section of country from Napoleon of France. This purchase doubled（加倍）the size of the United States.  If he hadn't needed that money, the United States might have stayed a small country. Texas and most of what is now the southwestern part of the United States belonged to Mexico. The people of Texas fought a revolution against Mexico.  Later, the United States and Mexico went to war. If Mexico had defeated the United States in that war, California and New Mexico would have been part of Mexico today.

    The British and the Americans both claimed the northwestern part of the country. They settled their differences with a compromise. South of the 49th parallel was the United States. North of the 49th parallel was Canada. In 1861 one half of the United States did go to war with the other half.  President Lincoln wanted to free slaves. He was supported by the North but opposed by the South. The South wanted to separate from the rest of the country and become independent.

    Following the Civil War, the United States bought Alaska from Russia. Today it is the largest state in the country and a very important one, too.

A. This was the Civil War.

B. It was controlled by England then.

C. It began little more than 200 years ago.

D. After 4 years of war, the South was defeated.

E. Napoleon needed money for his European wars.

F. They became independent and joined the United States.

G. At that time many people didn't think Alaska was important.

    Recently I was shopping in the local Walmart. There I 1a former coworker. We started 2 about old times when we worked together at the store. Looking at her I could 3 that she was not in the best of health so I asked, “When are you going to 4?” She told me with tears in her eyes that she had 5 retired but had to come back to 6 because she couldn't make ends meet with her retirement 7. I told her how sorry I was and left the store.

    A week later, I was 8 to have a little extra cash and I was looking for someone to 9 it with. It wasn't a ton of money 10 it was more than what I had and I wanted to show my 11 by giving a bit of it to someone else. I was 12 at Walmart again and I noticed the same 13 I had talked to a week earlier.

    As soon as I 14 her I thought she could be one of the people I share my blessing with. I walked up to her. I 15 her by name and asked her, “If I16 you something, will you keep it and not try to give it back?” She 17 at me, puzzled and said yes. At the same 18 I reached in my pocket and pulled out a $100 bill and put it in her hand. When she saw what it was she looked 19 and asked “Why me?” I saw her tears rolling down her face.

    I walked away because I 20 myself about to cry.

    Joris Hutchison, 10 years old, of Seattle, has worked hard all year to save cheetahs（猎豹）from the very real threat of extinction. He has raised more than $14,000 to purchase GPS devices,  follow and protect the animals. He earns money by selling lemonade, flowers and T-shirts, and by (organize) skating parties and a garage sale. What moved the public (be) that Joris donated all that he raised to a wildlife conservation organization and shelter in Namibia where he and his mother have volunteered for  past three summers.

    As the group's (young) of all the volunteers, Joris prepares food, cleans enclosures（围场）, and creates improvement (item) for the cheetahs that live there, all of whom (injure) or raised by human beings in the past. The shelter protects cheetahs in the wild by convincing farmers not (shoot) the animals and instead, to allow the ones accused  killing farm animals to be fixed with GPS devices. “I've learned that everyone can make a (different), even if you're just a kid!” Joris told Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes. “You just have to start somewhere.”

增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。

删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。

修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。

注意：1．每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；

2．只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。

    My mother loves planting vegetables or she couldn't do it without some land. Last month she bought the tiny piece of land for a peasant, who used to plant fruits and vegetables. Now he has divided his land into piece for sale, providing water for each piece of land. So it is very convenient grow vegetables. He also directs people how to farm.

    My mother has already planted several vegetables. Various seeds came out, health and fast. I also love my mother's garden. I often work with Mom, planting, watered and weeding, which bring much pleasure to us. We are sure to have safe vegetables to eat them this year.

1）说明不去的理由；

2）邀请他参加因特网科技展览；

3）参观时间地点。

注意： 1）词数100左右；

2）可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。