The Farmers' Fresh Market

    This morning，I went to the Farmers Market in Burlington ，Vermont. I didn't know what the Farmers Market is or how to get there.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    First ，I had to decide how to go there，and I chose both to walk and to take a bus. When I went，I would walk and when I came back，I would take a bus.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

Walking to the market in this city，I was surprised because every house was beautiful，and they were all arranged in good order. In Korea's cities，most houses are not like that，and many apartments are like boxes which often screen off beautiful views like hills and mountains. Also，every road is not straight and narrow.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}It was a very small market，but a very interesting one. I don't know why farmers go there to sell vegetables or why people go there to buy them because there are many more products in large supermarkets.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    Also ，all the things sold there were very novel. In addition to fresh food，there was homemade food and many other things such as woolen blankets，quilts ，and wooden products.

    I wanted to buy some of them，but I didn't need them，so I just looked at them. It was a very exciting experience.

A. I visited a flower stand at the market.

B. Anyway，I was able to find the Farmers' Market.

C. So, to me, this American town was very impressive.

D. I decided to go early because the market is held in the morning.

E. I knew that it would take a long time to walk，but I wanted to see an American town.

F. I was attracted by the comfortable houses where they lived and the cars that they drove.

G. I think the reason is that the ones sold in the Farmers' Market are fresher and cheaper.

Be an inventor

    The biggest secret about inventing is that anybody can do it! Perhaps this sounds crazy, but it's true. Maybe you have the wrong idea about inventing, so read on to discover the truth.

Wrong idea number 1:{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Well, inventing means creating something “new”, but the idea could come from something that already exists.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} 

Wrong idea number 2: Inventors are born, not made.

    There are a lot of factors that make invention possible. Take Mozart, for example. He was born with a special talent for music.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}His father was a music teacher, and Mozart practiced for hours every day, from the time he was in kindergarten.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}Very successful creators don't give up when they get something wrong. As one inventor said, “A failure is the right answer to the wrong question!”

    Wrong idea number 3: Inventors are always old people.

{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Here is an example of a young inventor: Louis Braille went blind when he was a child. When he was 15, he invented a system of reading and writing for blind people that is still used in most countries today.

A. Everyday things can give people lots of ideas.

B. An invention has to be something completely new.

C. But other factors were also important for his creativity.

D. As a young man, George Nissen invented the trampoline (蹦床).

E. Don't believe that you can't invent something when you are young.

F. Thomas Edison said that being an inventor was “99% hard work and 1% inspiration”!

G. The Wright brothers, for example, got the idea for building a “flying machine” from watching birds.

    Listening to others requires entering actively and imaginatively into the situation and trying to understand a frame of reference different from your own, and yet so many of us don't listen properly as we should. Listening means more than just sitting silently while someone else talks.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Here are some ways to become a better listener.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Make sure you actually hear fully what your friend is saying, and you can't cut your friend off verbally carelessly. While you might intend to help move the conversation along your friend might feel as if what he has said needs to be continually talked over or sounds anything but interesting.

    Nod to encourage the conversation along. A better option to let your friend know you're interested in what he says is just to nod along from time to time. Sometimes you nod along but then start thinking about something unrelated to what he could say.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Turn out background noise. If you're easily distracted by laughter, glasses clinking, children crying, you might need to work extra hard to focus only on your friend.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Don't hesitate to tell them that the background noises are getting in the way. If you can't focus, try moving to another area.

    Don't text or look at your phone!{#blank#}5{#/blank#} For you see, when you're sitting in front of someone, he is the most important person in your world at that moment.

A. Stop the speaker whenever you have a question.

B. Practice silence when someone else is talking.

C. If necessary, ask your friend to repeat himself.

D. Whoever is calling or texting can wait until you're done with your conversation.

E. It means trying to see the problem the way the speaker sees it.

F. In this case, try to push away your thoughts until you're absorbed in what your friend is saying.

G Remembering ideas from previous conversations proves that your attention is kept and encourages your friend to continue.

    Celebrate!

    Piñatas(彩罐)

    In Mexico, children often get piñatas on their birthday. Their parents put chocolates and other sweets inside the piñata and hang it on a tree. Then the children hit the piñata with a stick. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

Noodles

    In China, people often celebrate birthdays by eating with family or friends, and the last dish of the meal is always noodles. The noodles are long and thin. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} You can't cut them. In Chinese culture, long noodles mean you will have a long life.

Business birthdays

    A business birthday shows that a company is successful. Many businesses in the USA celebrate important birthdays, like 10, 50 or 150 years. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}sometimes they make TV advertisements. It is a good chance to advertise the business.

Name days

    As well as a birthday, many people in Southern Europe also celebrate their name day. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} people have big parties and open their houses to anybody who wants to come. People bring small gifts, often flowers or a box of sweets.

Islamic New Year

    In Muslim countries across the world, people celebrate Eid(开斋节). Eid means festival or celebration. During Eid, people visit family and friends, as well as people who are sick or in hospital. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Children receive toys, too. Children often wear special traditional clothes during the Eid celebrations.

A. You have to eat them in one piece.

B. They go out for a meal to celebrate.

C. Companies hold parties and send cards.

D. They give presents, such as sweets and food.

E. It breaks and the sweets fall out on to the ground.

F. This is one of the two important festivals in this country.

G. In Greece, name days are more important than birthdays.

Spreading smiles at Birchwood

    When Ava McCarver was in kindergarten, her class visited a nursing home (疗养院). Ava learned that many of the residents (住户) there receive few visitors. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}"I asked my mom if I could visit them," she says. Soon, Ava and her mom became volunteers at Birchwood Health Care Center.

    That was six years ago. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}She enjoys hanging out with Mary, Shirley and other residents during her twice-monthly visits. "I paint their nails, and I talk to a lot of them," she says. Sometimes she helps lead craft (手工艺) projects. Other times they play card games. "It's good for the residents to see little kids," Ava says. "That makes them really happy."

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}She has raised money for the nursing home by making refrigerator decorations and selling them at a craft fair. She has also collected used puzzles from garage sales and donated them to Birchwood.

    Ava wrote a book called The Squirrel Family. In the book, two squirrels raise a family and eventually move into a place called Birchwood where they live happily. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}Ten stores in her city agreed to display the books, along with a can to collect money. Ava's project raised about $750. Birchwood used that money to buy furniture for the residents.

    Ava says she enjoyed the look of "pure joy" on a resident's face after a hug from her. That's why she started visiting Birchwood — to bring happiness to others.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}"It's really fun," she says. "They have good stories, and I enjoy my time there."

A. She decided to take action.

B. But she has gained happiness for herself, too.

C. Since then, Ava has made many friends at Birchwood.

D. Ava used her book to raise money for the nursing home.

E. Birchwood needs more volunteers for its craft project.

F. Ava has found some creative ways to help her friends at Birchwood.

G. Ava's book has achieved a great success and earned a large amount of money for her.

     A lot of parents help their kids do homework and study for school.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    A photographer in India's Bihar state took a photo of dozens of parents risking their lives to help their 10th-graders cheat on tests. The parents climbed the walls of a four-story school to throw cheat sheets through the window for their children.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} About 600 students were expelled(开除) from the school. And police have detained(拘留) more than 1,000 people connected with the scandal(丑闻).

    The tests the Bihar students were taking are called board exams. These exams help determine who will be considered the top students in each class. India's best university will take only students with a 95 percent score or better.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Students who make it into India's top universities have a much better chance of getting well-paid jobs. They can help their families by becoming doctors or engineers. Many of the students who don't pursue(追求) these kinds of careers have a much more difficult time making money.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}About 30 percent of its citizens are considered poor. In many parts of the country, a family of five might struggle to survive on as little as $80 a month. For students who do well, the exams can be a life-changing event for their families.

    Few believe the Bihar incident will stop people from cheating on exams. Many students think that because others are cheating, they also have to cheat to keep up.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    Officials believe that new laws and policies will help only so much. To stop cheating, they say, people need to change their attitudes toward it.

A. India has a high poverty rate.

B. This cycle has proved very difficult to break.

C. The exam season can be called cheating season.

D. The government cannot stop cheating in exams.

E. The serious cheating outbreak did not go unpunished.

F. But the parents of some students in India have taken helping their kids to a new level.

G. As a result, students throughout the country are under great pressure to do well on the tests.