How do you feel about your Chinese? Is it good or bad? If you think youare good at Chinese, you can take part in the competition named the “Chinese Characters Dictation Competition (中国汉字听写大会)”. The competition became popular among teenagers. Let's know something about it.

    More and more computers and smart phones are used by teenagers. They spend too much time onthe Internet in playing or chatting. They are used to sending messages by computers and smart phones. As a result, some teenagers forget how to writethe Chinese Characters by hand. The teachers and parents are very worried about it. What can they do?

    Not long ago, they found an interesting game called the Chinese Characters Dictation Competition. The program was similar to the American show “National Spelling Bee”. In this program, middle school students competed among themselves and wrote down the Chinese Characters by dictation. Over two hundred competitors were from forty-six middle schools. The audiences(观众) loved this new kind of competition, too. They tried to write down the Chinese Characters while the competitors were writing them. Butthey found it was also difficult for them to write down all the Chinese Characters.

    Is it an interesting competition? Can you be the winner?

    Students learn their lessons in class．{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Students sit in the classrooms listening．This is a way of learning．Is this the only way for students to learn something？Of course not．There is another way to learn．{#blank#}2{#/blank#} For example，if you cannot remember something when you are doing your homework，you can look at your book to find the answer．This is a way to teach yourself．{#blank#}3{#/blank#} We can do this at any place and at any time．

    How do you teach yourself？The first thing you must do is reading．Read something you are interested in．{#blank#}4{#/blank#} If there is something you don't understand or you want to know more about，you can write down questions．The third is to answer the question yourself by thinking hard，by reading the text or other books，and something by asking other people．This is the way of teaching yourself{#blank#}5{#/blank#} If you keep doing like this，you are sure to succeed in your study．

A．In class，teachers teach them．

B．And you must do this all by yourself．

C．The second is that you must ask yourself questions．

D．And it is not a difficult thing．

E．That is students can teach themselves．

    Recently, Chongqing Three Gorges University has held an activity named “Cell Phone Ninja”(手 机忍者). They would like their students not to use cell phones for 21 days. It is really a challenge( 挑 战)for most students.

    The activity started on April 12. Each student who volunteered to take part in this activity got a bracelet(手环). If the students did not use their cell phones, there would be a photo on the screen of the bracelet to show that. If they used their cell phones, a different photo would appear on the screen of the bracelet. After the last class of each day, the students sent the photos to the school's public Wechat.

    More than 800 students wished to take part in this test, and 400 were chosen. After seven days, only 103 students remained. The test was set for 21 days because some scientists believe that 21 days is long enough to help people form a habit.

    According to the teachers in the university, the activity was not a competition. It depended on students themselves to make the decision. The teachers hoped their students could form better study habits through activities like this one.

    On Noah's Ark(诺亚方舟), Noah and his animals were playing games happily and noisily, but suddenly a woodpecker(啄木鸟) made a hole in the bottom of the ark. As water began entering the boat, the hole got bigger, so more water came in and things got a bit worse.

    One by one, different animals tried to fix the hole and they even tried to show that they were better than others and everyone wanted to be the animals that could save the ship. Each animal tried its best but still couldn't help. Everyone was frightened and worried that the boat would sink. That was, until the bee started talking. The bee explained to everyone how bees always worked together as a team, each one doing the job they were best at. On hearing this, all the animals set about working together, each one playing their part by using their won special talent. The birds lift the ship up with their mouths, and moved their wings greatly to make the boat up above the water a little. The elephants drank the water in their trunks（树干） and shot it back into the sea. The fastest animals ran here and there to collect things.

    And so, by working together for two and half an hour, the animals stopped the water form coming into the ship completely and they were safe in the end.

    Scientists are trying to turn deserts into usable land again. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}, so people can live and grow food. They are learning a lot about deserts. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. Scientists may not be able to change these deserts. People are doing bad things to our planet.

    Some places don't get much rain. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. This is because green plants are growing there. Small green plants and grass are very helpful for dry places. Plants don't let the hot sun make the soil too dry. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. When a little bit of rain falls, the plants hold the water. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}, land can turn to desert much more easily.

    Vienna is a beautiful old city on the River Danube in the center of Europe. It's the capital city of Austria and the center of European classical music. In the 18th century a lot of musicians came to study and work in Vienna.

    In the Strauss family, there were two composers called Johann Strauss: the father and the son. The father, Johann Strauss the elder, wrote and played music for traditional dances, called the waltz. His dance music made him famous all over Europe. The son, Johann Strauss the younger, was also very successful and popular. He wrote over 150 waltzes. In 1867 he wrote The Blue Danube waltz.

    Mozart was another very important composer. He was born in Austria in 1756. Before he was six, he played not only the piano but also the violin. His family took him around Europe and he gave concerts in many cities. He wrote hundreds of wonderful pieces of music. But he became very poor and died in 1791 when he was only 35. Like Johann Strauss, father and son, he was a great European musician, and many people still think his music is perfect.