The setting was a packed gymnasium just before the start of a game against another school. There were five girls who were members of the Danville High School basketball team—all of them starters. They were not in uniform to play that night and would not be on the team for the rest of this season. They were there to admit their breaking of team rules. They were there to support their coach's decision to take them off the team. They were there to let the town know there was a problem in their little community that needed to be addressed. And they did it with sincere regret rather than defensiveness.

    While the school had been out for the New Year's holiday, the five girls had gone to the party with several of their friends. There was alcohol there. And they all drank some.

    Coach Rainville has a zero tolerance rule on drugs and alcohol for her members though it was a hard decision to make. When classes resumed and accounts of holiday parties were shared, rumors about the five girls began closing in on them. The coach said she couldn't back down on her rules. And the players—two junior students and three senior students—agreed. That night in the gym was part of their public support of the coach's decision.

    “We hope you will understand that we are not bad kids. What we did was definitely not worth it. We hope this event will make everyone realize that there is a big drug and alcohol problem in our community,” one of the senior students said, “And if you work with us to try to solve this problem, you will help us feel that we have not been thrown off our basketball team for nothing.” The five left the floor to deafening applause.

    The team may not win another game this year. But they've learnt something about personal responsibility, the effect of one's action on others, and honesty that will serve them well throughout life.

    The baby is just one day old and has not yet left hospital. She is quiet but alert (警觉的). Twenty centimeters from her face researchers have placed a white card with two black spots on it. She stares at it carefully. A researcher removes the card and replaces it by another, this time with the spots differently spaced. As the cards change from one to the other, her gaze(凝视) starts to lose its focus—until a third, with three black spots, is presented. Her gaze returns: she looks at it for twice as long as she did at the previous card. Can she tell that the number two is different from three, just 24 hours after coming into the world?

    Or do newborns simply prefer more to fewer? The same experiment, but with three spots shown before two, shows the same return of interest when the number of spots changes. Perhaps it is just the newness? When slightly older babies were shown cards with pictures of objects (a comb, a key, an orange and so on), changing the number of objects had an effect separate from changing the objects themselves. Could it be the pattern that two things make, as opposed to three? No again. Babies paid more attention to squares moving randomly(随意地)on a screen when their number changed from two to three, or three to two. The effect even crosses between senses. Babies who were repeatedly shown two spots became more excited when they then heard three drumbeats than when they heard just two; likewise(同样地) when the researchers started with drumbeats and moved to spots.

    In fifth grade, my backpack was stolen from my dad's car, which had my binder (活页夹) with a few valuable stories that I have been working on for quite a while. I was very devastated. Then I decided to go to school with absolutely nothing.

    My 5th grade teacher, Miss Taylor, was really sweet, understanding and kind to me. She gave me an extra binder that she had, and to help personalize it, she got out a piece of paper, and started writing my name in a cool letter style. I was deeply moved by what she had done for me that day.

    But here's something even better. Later that same day, Miss Taylor had gotten a call from the office and told me exactly this “Zoe, A wonder has happened! Someone found your binder!” And I ran down to the office, and got my binder. It was really packed full, because the person that had found it had collected all written works and put them inside of my binder. When I opened it, an envelope fell out. On the back of the envelope was “I'm sorry all your things got stolen, but I hope this helps.” I opened the envelope and it had $20 in it.

    If something bad happens or if life lets you down sometimes, there are always lots of people out there that are kind, and can bring back faith and hope to humanity.

    Hip-hop culture covers many fields; it includes spoken words, break-dancing, beat-making, painting, fashion, lively design, technology, and more. Hip-hop is becoming the unofficial music in the education world, as more artists launch school programs, summer camps, and other activities connected city youth in the classroom through the beliefs of hip-hop culture. Even more and more university teachers — who once would have been strongly against hip-hop — have joined the crew. In the past two decades, hip-hop culture, including hip-hop education, has become a legitimate(合法的) field of study in universities and the subject of numerous books.

    Hip-hop culture has influenced every piece of American and global culture because the culture is so prevalent. Teachers must be willing to engage in it if it's part of the unique reality of their students' lives. That way, teachers can truly be effective, reaching students in a meaningful, culturally connected way.

    Teachers might at first feel frightened by hip-hop culture, an area in which they might not have previous knowledge or experience. But a lack of knowledge is actually a blessing; the best trained hip-hop educators have been those that are at the beginning disconnected(分离的) from the culture. One of the biggest sayings in hip-hop is “keep it real”. If a teacher comes to the classroom and says, “I don't know hip-hop, but I recognize that it's your culture and I want to learn,” the kids will teach the teacher, and then the students will be more willing to learn from that educator. Hip-hop is about a respect for youth culture.

    When you think back to the blackboard from your school days, what color is it? Chances are that it's green. So what's up with the name? Originally, blackboards were really black. Before wall-sized blackboards existed, late 18th-century students used their own mini boards made of slate (石板) or painted wood, according to Concordia University, Those first boards were, in fact, black, and they paved the way for the larger ones.

    In 1800 when a Scottish headmaster named James Pillans wanted his students to draw maps, the students couldn't draw the maps their teacher wanted on their tiny boards, so Pillans put several slates together to create a large board. Problem solved! From there, the idea spread quickly as teachers could finally show a concept to the whole class at one time. By 1815, the massive writing spaces were common enough to earn their own name: blackboard.

    The color change came in the 1960s when companies sold, steel plates, coated with green enamel (漆) instead of the traditional dark slate. The new material was lighter and less fragile than the first blackboards, so they were cheaper to ship and more likely to survive the journey. Teachers weren't complaining either. After all, the new "greenboards" made the chalk powder easier to erase. Plus, the enamel left less of a glare and the color was nicer to look at. At that point, people started using the word "chalkboard "as a more accurate descriptor, but "blackboard" still stuck around.

Woodcut New Year picture, a historic art form of woodcut painting, is for the occasion of Chinese Spring Festival. It features beautiful art designs with bright, delightful colors {#blank#}1{#/blank#} fits the mood of the people longing for a happy life. 

Popular {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(theme) of Woodcut New Year picture include house safeguard, family wishes, and prosperity. Customarily, hanging on the door {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (keep) the dangerous spirits away are door gods (门神) while on the screen wall facing the door is a character "Fu"{#blank#}4{#/blank#} indicates good fortune. 

Folk New Year picture emerged in pre-historical time and {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (use) as the door god. The{#blank#}6{#/blank#} (grow) of product economy and handicraft (手工艺) industry along with the advancement in printing during the Song Dynasty {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (change) the manufacture of Chinese New Year picture from mainly hand-painting to woodcut painting, making it richer both{#blank#}8{#/blank#} category and content. 

After being listed as National Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2006, woodcut New Year picture has enjoyed {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(great) popularity, significantly influencing the artistic styles of other nations as well. The making of the picture, a package process from drafting, woodcut, painting, to hand painting touch-up, keeps millions of its lovers {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (lose) in its striking beauty.