The crowd at the airport rushed forward. The passengers had been waiting for a couple of hours for an airport worker to open the door leading to the plane outside. No one was in a good mood. An old man got stuck in the middle of the rush, He fell down and his head hit the hard floor. B1ood came out of his head. He appeared to be unconscious. Everyone rushed past him, except for Dana. She called for help.

 A minute later, a young airport worker showed up. Hardly looking at the old man, she told Dana to get on her plane. She said the old man would be okay, and walked away.

 Dana cried for help. Another airport worker appeared. He told Dana to get on the plane. Dana said that she was not moving until an ambulance(救护车) arrived. The worker said her plane would leave without her. Dana said that she didn't care.

 An ambulance with a doctor and a nurse finally arrived. They put him into the ambulance and drove off.

On her way out to the plane, which was still refueling(加油), Dana saw the worker who didn't care about the old man at the very beginning. The worker said, “You're lucky the plane didn't leave without you.”

 “The plane?” Dana asked.“Who cares about the plane? How could you be so cold? That was an old man; he could have been your grandfather! How would you like it if everyone just stepped over your grandfather and went on their way?”

    Kevin lived in a village in Africa. One morning, the teacher came into Kevin's classroom with a new girl. "Hi, guys! My name is Jenny. I am from America. I came to Africa with my dad. It's nice to meet everyone," the girl said.

    Kevin noticed (注意) that he looked different from Jenny. As soon as school was over, he ran home to ask his mother, "Mom, there is a new student Jenny in our class today. She comes from the US. Everyone in Africa has curly hair, right? Then, why is Jenny's hair straight?"

    Mom thought for a minute and said, "It's always hot in Africa. Curly hair is like a sponge (海绵) with many holes (洞), so the air can get in and out easily. If your hair was like Jenny's straight hair, you wouldn't be able to stand the heat (热). Our curly hair is necessary (必要的)!"

About 90% of the population in the world is right-handed, But according to a report, lots of famous people are left-handed. For example, American presidents such as George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama are left-handed. So are Leonardo da Vinci , Bill Gates, Seven Jobs and so on. What does that mean? Are left-handed people smarter than the right-handed?

To answer this question, scientists studied 2,300 right-handed and left-handed students between the ages 6 and 17 in Italy. The students were asked to work out some math problems. There was no difference when they looked at the easier math problems. But left-handed students did better at the more difficult problems.

In fact, left-handedness has not always been seen in such a positive way. In the pamphlet(小册子) The Prevention and Correction of left-handedness in children written by J.W. Conway in 1936, left-handedness was described as a serious " lillness".

Prejudices(偏见)against left-handed people are built into our language. To be someone's " right-hand man" is good. It means you are a person who can help a lot.

But having "two left feet" or receiving a " left-handed compliment(赞扬)" is bad. The word itself comes from the old English. "lyft" mean weak or broken. These prejudices not only appear in English. The French word for left is "gauche" which means "awkward(笨拙的)"， while "droite", the French word for right , means "clever".

Today more and more people travel around China by high-speed train. We know that China wasn't an early starter in the high-speed rail field. Japan started half a century ago, and Ger-many did 22 years ago. But China has the largest high-speed railway system (系统) in the world. Here are some advantages of China high—speed trains.

First, China high-speed trains do well in speed. For example, the G3 train from Beijing to Shanghai only takes 4 hours and 48 minutes. But a normal-speed train takes more than 15 hours. The travel time between main cities in China has already been reduced.

Second, it's handy for you to book or cancel tickets. There are many high speed trains running during the day, especially between popular cities. You can choose your favorite one according to your plan. It's easy to cancel or change, if necessary.

As we know, airplanes and normal speed trains sometimes will not arrive on time. But high-speed trains always arrive at station on time. This type of trains are less affected (影响) by weather conditions or traffic control.

Moreover, traveling by high-speed train can make your trip more comfortable. You can enjoy nearly the same service as airplane. You can even walk around on a train and use the Internet on a high-speed train.

According to these advantages, the high-speed railways bridge the distance between people. It greatly develops people's lives.

All around the world, people drink tea. But tea doesn't mean the same thing to everyone. In different countries, people have different ideas about drinking tea.

People in China like to drink tea with nothing in it, and they often have it with their friends or by themselves. They have two kinds of tea—green tea and black tea. They may drink tea at any time of the day anywhere. But they don't often drink tea just before they go to bed, for tea makes them awake. In England, people like to drink tea with milk and sugar in it, and they often have it in the afternoon with their friends.

In Japan, people also like drinking tea very much. It is very popular there. They drink tea every day. They have it in a way different from that in China. Some young Japanese girls are good at making tea. They can do it beautifully.

In the USA, people drink tea at breakfast or after meals. They usually use tea bags to make their tea. Making tea with tea bags is faster and easier than making it with tea leaves in teapots.

"What's the matter, Mum?" As soon as I go into the door, I find that my mother is 1 . It's unusual—She usually opens the door and 2 me with a smile when I come back home. 

"She's dying, " Mum says sadly. I 3 what she says. The tulip(郁 金 香), Mum's favourite, is dying. 

A month ago, we 4 into our new house and Mum bought a very beautiful tulip. Mum liked it very much. 5 she was free, she would sit in her armchair beside the tulip and 6 its beautiful colour and inviting(诱人的) smell. 

She thought it as a(n)7 and looked after it carefully. She put the tulip by window and moved it from one place to another to let the tulip get enough 8 . The first thing she did when she got up every morning was to 9 the tulip. Mum also fertilised(施肥) it many 10 . 

She hoped that 11 great care, the tulip would become more and more beautiful and stronger. But the tulip was dying because of 12 sunlight, water and fertiliser. 

It's 13 that Mum loved the tulip. But this kind of 14 can be harmful(有害的). Love can sometimes make what you love 15 . Don't you think so?