This week we asked students at New Star High School about the best ways to learn more English. Some said they learnt by using English. Some students had more specific suggestions.

      Lillian Li said the best way to learn new words was reading English magazines. She said that she never studied grammar. She thought it was too boring.

      Wei Ming felt differently. He has been learning English for six years and really loves it. He thought studying grammar was a great way to learn a language. He also thought that watching English movies was a good way to watch the actors say the words.

      Liu Chang said that joining the English Club at school was the best way to improve her English. Students got lots of practice and they also had fun.

      CCTV reported that every year Chinese people throw away a lot of food which can feed 200 million people for a year.

      Do we have too much food? Of course not. According to the UN World Food Programme, there were 900million hungry people all over the world in 2013. About six million children die of hunger every year.

     So think about it. We should say no to people who waste food every day. An old saying goes, “Every grain on the plate comes from hard work.” It tells us everybody must save food.

      Luckily, a number of people have realized the importance of saving food. Li Hong, a waitress in a restaurant in Jiangsu, once lost her job because she took some leftover(剩余的) food home for her son. But many people were by her side and criticized (批评) the waste of food.

      What should we do in our daily life to stop wasting food? We can do many things to prevent it from happening. Here are some tips:

     Don't order too much food in a restaurant. Only order as much as you can eat. If you can't eat all the food you order, take the rest of it home.

      Don't be too picky(挑剔的) about food. Some food may not be tasty, but put body need it.

Don't keep too much food at home, especially for fruit and vegetables.

    Anne Zhang is a 21-year-old girl from Hangzhou, China. Now she studies in Britain. One day, when she was taking a train from London to Oxford, she heard loud noises on the train.

    Before, the train had been very quiet. Some people were resting while others were reading books or listening to music. Suddenly, a group of Chinese people laughed loudly as they played a game of cards.

    As it becomes easier for Chinese people to get visas(签证) to foreign countries, more and more of them are traveling abroad. However, their bad manners have given them a bad reputation (名声).

    Chinese always talk loudly in places like cafes and museums. They also spit (吐痰) and litter whenever they want and jump queues. Some Chinese tourists also like to write or draw pictures on famous buildings. In Singapore, Chinese tourists are fined(罚款) because they were smoking in Non-smoking areas.

    Some people may say that they can do everything that they want because they spend money in the country. In fact, this is not true. Besides enjoying ourselves, we should respect local customs and take care of the environment.

Information Card

    GIY stands for "grow it yourself'. There is a new fashion for growing your own food. And there are a lot of reasons why growing your own food is a good idea.

    GIY helps reduce carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions (排放物). Food in supermarkets travels a long way, which produces a lot of CO₂. If you grow as many vegetables as you can at home, you can help save the earth.

    GIY can be good for people's health. Compared with supermarket vegetables, vegetables you grow by yourself are better for your health. Because they have more nutrients (营养品) and they don't have chemicals.

    GIY can also save your money and make you popular. First of all, seeds are much cheaper than vegetables. And secondly, you can save more by planting the most expensive and the most productive (多产的) vegetables. Thirdly, you can give your vegetables to friends and neighbors, which will make you very popular.

    Don't worry if you don't have much space. To GIY, you don't even need a garden. You can use pots on your balconies (阳台). And don't worry if your space could get much sunshine. You can plant vegetables that don't need a lot of sunshine.

    Grow your own vegetables now. You will have both a healthier body and a healthier social life.

Lightning(闪电) flashed through the darkness over Sibson's bedroom window. Sibson was woken up 1 he knew what was happening. The storm had moved directly over his two-floor wooden house. Then he heard the smoke alarm 2 .

Sibson rushed down the stairs to check : he opened the door to the basement(地下室), and it was on fire. Sibson went back upstairs 3 to call 911 from his bedroom.

"The room had a separate outdoor stairway(楼梯), so I felt 4 at first ," he explains. But the phone didn't work, and when he tried to go down the outdoor stairway, he was 5 by the big fire. Now Sibson realized he was in danger.

Sibson's house was three kilometers off the main road and was so well hidden by trees that he knew shouting for help would be 6 .

Up a hill nearby lived Sibson's neighbor, Huggons. He was lying in bed when something like a smoke alarm came into his 7 . He jumped out of bed, took his flashlight and phone, and headed down toward the 8 . Then he saw the rolling heavy smoke.

Huggons called 911, and the operator warned him not to 9 the house. But Huggons said, "There is no way I am going to listen to Sibson 10 in that fire."

"Anyone there?" Huggons called out. Then he heard"Help! I'm 11 the house!" coming from the second floor balcony(阳台). He tried to get into the house many times, but soon had to run back to catch his breath 12 the thick smoke.

Several minutes later, the wind blew away the smoke so that it was just enough for him to see Sibson. He noticed a 13 with the help of the flashlight. He took it over to the balcony and 14 Sibson before the house fell off.

Sibson is still 15 when he tells the story. "I almost lost my life that night," he says, "Then I heard the most beautiful sound in my life. It was Huggons."