It's the end of class. When the bell rings, students of Luohu ForeignLanguages School in Shenzhen quickly take out their cell phones.
They want to log on to their micro blogs to check the interesting things that have happened in the last hour.
   Since last year, the trend (潮流) of micro blogging has swept the country. Recent surveys shows that most students in middle schools have a micro blog and some even update their blogs over five times per day.
   "We learn many fresh and interesting things on micro blogs and they have become popular topics in class," said Andy Liang, 14. "If you do not know about them, you are out of the loop."
   It is also a great place for students to let out stress. "My parents always ask me to study hard, and encourage me before exams, but it really adds pressure," said Simon Zhang, 15. "When I share these feelings on my micro blog, I get many replies from friends in the same situation, which makes me feel better."
   But parents are worried that micro blogging could be a waste of time. Some misleading messages may even cause danger to kids, they said.
   Mr. Shen, a professor at the China Education Association, suggests parents not worry too much as long as kids are not crazy about micro blogging. Maybe it can become a window for parents to understand their children.
   "If parents can read their children's micro blogs, they'll know their thoughts, thus leading to better communication and solutions to problems," he said. He also gives some tips for kids.
   -Don't micro blog for more than one hour a day.
   -Never micro blog in class.
   -Try to talk face to face with people from time to time.
   -Be critical(批判性的). Don't trust all the messages on a micro blog.

"Spell ‘champion,'" Scott told his elder sister.

"C-h-a-m-p-i-o-n."

Unsure about it, Scott still cheered, "You'll win the spelling bee (拼写大赛)!"

Lucy thanked, happy but worried, wondering if her dog Senator would be looked after well when she was away for a week.

"Dad and I will keep him perfectly!" said Scott, dreaming of getting his own pet if he could prove himself.

It was time to leave. Dad wished Lucy good luck.

"See you in a w-e-a-k," Scott said.

"W-e-e-k," Lucy corrected him and said, "Bye!"

Each morning Scott woke up early to feed Senator, leaving a note to remind Dad. After that Scott continued to sleep.

A week later, Lucy returned and told the family she failed. Then she found her dog sick. Scott felt sorry but confused, because he'd been a strict direction-follower.

They came to the animal hospital. After the examination, Lucy was angry, "A terrible stomachache! How could Senator put on two pounds in such a short time?"

Dad said, "I only fed him two scoops of dog food every morning."

Scott shouted, "Dad! You fed him again? Didn't you read my note? It says I've fed him!"

It took Lucy a while to understand before asking Scott how to spell "fed".

"F-e-e-d? Scott! ‘Fed' is spelled f-e-d. But your note says f-e-e-d, telling Dad to feed the dog!"

"So Senator was fed twice?" Dad asked.

Scott said sorry, "I just wanted to be responsible so I could get a dog for my next birthday."

"OK. I'll teach you how to spell correctly and train myself for next year's spelling bee," Lucy said.

"You have a few months to practice before you get one for your birthday," Dad added. 

Scott burst into laughter.

"Having a little brother isn't so bad," Lucy told Senator, "if he can help f-e-e-d!"

① Arat Montoya, 36, lives in West Linn, a city in the US. He is from a family of bakers. But he doesn't like making bread. When his father asked him to follow the family tradition, Montoya said, "I'm sorry, Dad. I love dogs. " he said. 

②Montoya spent a few years working at a dog club. After the club closed, Montoya started to offer(提 供) a doggie day care service(服务). He has a" Doggie School Bus" and he works as the driver. The bus runs five days a week and the service is $30 per(每一) dog each day. 

③Montoya's service is pretty nice. Every morning at about 7 a. m. , he drives the school bus to the owners'(主人) houses to pick up the dogs and takes them to" school"—a farm. The dogs are full of excitement because" go to school" means they can play all day. They can run around and play with each other at" school". When" school" finishes, Montoya takes the dogs back home. He also sends some videos and pictures to show the dogs'" school" life to the dogs' owners. 

④ It shows that the doggie day care service is a great business(生意) idea. Montoya loves taking care of those dogs. And the dogs love going to" school". The most important is that the dogs' owners speak highly of Montoya and his business. All of them are happy about this doggie day care service. 

⑤Now, more than 300 owners ask Montoya to take care of their dogs. "I'm the happiest man in the world, " Montoya said. " Doing what I like truly makes me happy. "

The traditional Chinese Lunar Calenda r divides the year into 24 solar terms. Great Heat(大暑), the 12th solar term of the year, begins this year on July 22 and ends on August 7. During Great Heat, most parts of China enter the hottest season of the year. The following are some things you should know about Great Heat.

A season of harvesting and planting

During Great Heat, the sunshine, high temperatures, and heavy rainfall are good for agricultural crops. But like Slight Heat, many natural calamities such as floods, droughts(干旱) and typhoons also happen during Great Heat. Therefore, it's important to harvest and plant in time to avoid setbacks(挫折) caused by natural disasters.

Sending the Great Heat ship in Zhejiang

The ship is filled with various animals for sacrifice (祭祀) such as pigs, sheep, chickens, fish and shrimps. More than 50 fishermen take turns carrying the ship as they march through the streets. The drums are played and fireworks are lit. Both sides of the streets are filled with people praying for blessings. After a series of ceremonies, the ship is finally carried to the wharf(码头). Then, the ship is pulled out of the fishing port and burned at sea. People carry out this ritual(典礼) to pray for good harvests(收成) and health.

Eating litchi and Mizao in Fujian

On the day of Great Heat, there is a custom of eating litchi and Mizao in Putian, Fujian Province, as a celebration of Great Heat. Litchi is a nutritious fruit. People usually soak litchi in cold well water first and eat it. Mizao is made of fermented(已发酵的) rice. On the day of Great Heat, people cook it with brown sugar.

Now students' English handwriting gets worse. That makes their teachers feel worried. Is your English handwriting beautiful? If not, here are some steps that really work.

Use paper with lines.

When you write English words or sentences, you can use paper with lines. That will make your handwriting straight. Those lines on the paper can help you to write words in the right size. Be sure to fill the lined space completely. And make sure those capital letters are written properly.

Slow down.

If your writing is hard to read, just slow down a little. Going slower makes your handwriting clearer. If you write too quickly, it's hard for you to stop where you should, and you may make more mistakes easily.

Hold your pen right.

When you hold your pen in the correct way, writing is much better. Some kids press down really hard when they write. That makes the handwriting bad. Try to be relaxed and don't hold the pen so hard. Let your writing appear nice and clean. If you do so, people will guess you are a student with a good habit.

Draw more pictures.

Drawing can improve your handwriting. While you are drawing pictures, you need to use the skills to control your pen better. Even though you have no chance to draw at school, you can practise by drawing at home. Handwriting is very important. Imagine (想象) you are a famous movie star or a well-known sports player, what do you do when your fans run up to you? Give them your autographs (亲笔签名), of course!