Once upon a time, a wealthy villager hid a huge piece of gold in a nearby rice field to protect it from robbers（强盗）.

 Many years later, the wealthy man died and no one else knew about the gold. One day , a poor farmer began to plough（犁）the field. After ploughing for some time, his plough struck（碰、撞）the long forgotten treasure.

    At first, he thought it must be a very hard tree root. However, when he went closer to look, he saw that it was a large piece of beautiful shining gold.

    Waiting until midnight, the farmer started to take the gold home. He tried to lift the gold but it was too heavy. He tried to pull it out with ropes, but it was so huge that he could hardly move it. He became frustrated and thought how lucky he was to have found treasure, but unlucky too, as he could not move it. He even tried kicking the gold but it would not budge!

    He sat down and began to use his head. He decided to break the gold into smaller pieces. This would enable him to carry the gold easily.

He thought to himself, “ I will use one part for my daily needs, I will save the second part for a rainy day. I will invest（投资）the third part in my farming business. I will use the fourth part to help the poor and needy.”

    Follow this, he calmly divided the huge piece of gold into smaller pieces. Finally, he took all the gold home easily and lived happily ever after.

    Sally Ride was born in California in 1951. She was the first American woman to travel into space. She loved to play tennis and wanted to be a tennis player when she was young. But after three months' professional（专业的）training, she changed her mind. She went to Stanford University and started to study science. She studied stars and planets. She did researches at the university and got her PhD in astrophysics（天体物理学博士学位）after several years' hard work.

    In 1977, she took a test to become an astronaut. And then she was picked up from over 8, 000 people. In order to realize her dream of going into space, she had to get different kinds of special and difficult training. She learned how to fly a plane, how to jump out of a plane as well as how to operate（操作）special machines.

    Sally and four other astronauts flew a spaceship called Challenger on Jun. 18, 1983. She became the first American woman to travel into space. Later, she taught at the University of California. Then she wrote seven books on space for children, encouraging children to study science. Unfortunately, she died in 2012.

    Jim gets up very early and he finds some changes in his house. He looks around carefully and he sees that:

    The big tree is on the right side of the house, but now it's on the left.

    There is a dog house in the corner of the yard, but now it's gone. Where is the dog house?

    The green clock in his bedroom changes into a yellow one.

    "Mom! Mom! An alien(外星人)changes our house!" Jim runs to his mom and says. Mom is cleaning the living room. She's not surprised(惊讶的)at all. "Oh, it's your dad. He thinks our house is too boring and he wants to have some changes. What do you think of the changes? Do you like them?"

September 28th is very important in China. Many people celebrate the day{#blank#}1{#/blank#} it is the birthday of the great teacher Confucius (孔子). 

Confucius{#blank#}2{#/blank#} born in 551BC in China. He loved to learn. He thought about many things, and he wasn't afraid to ask {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. He studied the Six Arts, and he became really good at {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. 

Confucius wanted to share the information {#blank#}5{#/blank#}everyone. He thought they could become better people with education. So he became a {#blank#}6{#/blank#}. 

Confucius{#blank#}7{#/blank#} people's ideas about life. He believed that everyone could be{#blank#}8{#/blank#} if they received an education and worked hard. {#blank#}9{#/blank#}, in his opinion, education was not just information from books. Confucius said a lot of things. His{#blank#}10{#/blank#} put them in a book to share with everyone. 

 What comes to your mind when you think of kung fu? Maybe the image of Shaolin monks(和尚) posing with a serious look {#blank#}1{#/blank#}their eyes. But does it really present the meaning of kung fu?

 Laurence, J. Brahm, a documentary filmmaker from the United States, explored this question in Searching for Kung Fu(《寻找功夫》). In the movie, Brahm {#blank#}2{#/blank#} ( travel) to cities in China and the US in search of the value of kung fu. 

 Brahm himself is a kung fu {#blank#}3{#/blank#} ( love) who has been practicing the art for more than 40 years. For him, it is more than a pastime. Ages ago, Brahm was unable {#blank#}4{#/blank#} ( use) one of his legs for two years and had to walk with a cane(拐杖). But by {#blank#}5{#/blank#} ( practise) martial arts(武术), he was able to recover step by step. Now, kung fu has become a {#blank#}6{#/blank#} ( day) activity for him and also the way he begins the day. 

 Still, there are other deep meanings in the practice. Nonviolence(非暴力) is one value, which{#blank#}7{#/blank#} ( show) both in the name and practice of kung fu. The Chinese character Wu 武 has two parts-"ge戈", meaning"to fight", and"zhi 止", meaning"to stop". So, {#blank#}8{#/blank#} meaning of kung fu in Chinese is the art of stopping fighting, the art of nonviolence. Kung fu artists always greet people with baoquan(抱拳). This lets each person know that there are no hidden weapons(武器) and shown trust. 

"The {#blank#}9{#/blank#} ( tradition) values of kung fu, actually, are in the {#blank#}10{#/blank#} ( mind) of all Chinese people, " Brahm told Xinhua. 

If there was an empty lot (一块空地) in your neighborhood (街区), what would you want to turn it into? My classmates and I have turned such an empty lot into a place of hope.

The empty lot in our neighborhood was full of wild grass. As a project for our geography class, we wanted to change the lot. We hoped it could become a place to improve (改善) people's mental (心理的) health.

After weeks of designing, researching and making models (模型), we began our plans. Now the lot is a different place. There is a wood walkway with purple benches (长椅). Kids like the relaxing color, and they come to sit together and make friends.  

A few beautiful plants grow in the ground. There is also a bright blue hopscotch (跳房子游戏) board. We make it for a group of 8 to 10 school-aged kids who have no places to play in the neighborhood. And you can see a white wall painting with red words like "Love" and "Peace".

Now, the lot gives the neighborhood hope and beauty. More people love the neighborhood and have great hopes for things of the future.