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 1866 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.

Jane was a young girl. She loved to see the negative side of life.

Once, her father took her to the kitchen. He asked Jane to take a potato, an egg1 two spoons of tea leaves. Jane was 2 , and asked her father, "Do you want me to cook?"

"No," her father said.

He then took three pots and 3 some water into each pot. The pots were placed on the stove. Once the water started to boil, he dropped the potato in a pot, egg in 4 one and the tea leaves in the third one.

"Why are you doing all these things?" Jane felt puzzled and asked.

"You'll get the answer in fifteen minutes" said her father.

The impatient daughter tried her best 5  for around 15 minutes.

Now, he placed the two plates, one with the potato and 6 with the egg, and the cup of tea in front of Jane.

Jane asked, "What does it mean, father? I don't understand!"

"Each object faced similar adversities（不幸）, but reacted（反应）7 . After we put the potato into boiling water, it became very weak. The soft egg became very hard 8 we put it in boiling water. And the tea leaves changed the water itself, giving it a nice smell. 9  fantastic it is!"

Jane understood that we could create 10 new even when we experienced adversities.

So, what are you? A potato, an egg or tea leaves?

My name is Mary. Linda is my good friend. We are classmates. Look! Here is a photo of Linda's 1 . The tall man is her father. He 2 at a radio station. He likes his job. Every morning, he gets up early, so he is never 3 for work. The radio station is far from their 4 , so her father drives to work. It usually 5 him about forty minutes. The woman6 white is her mother. She is a teacher. She 7 English in Linda's school. She usually goes to school 8 . She likes walking and she says it's good 9 . Can you see the girl in black? It's Linda. She is a nice girl. I like to play with 10 after school. 

Today, AI robots play an important role in people's daily lives. These robots work in many areas to help people.

① The Christmas party is over. The gifts are opened. The Christmas tree has finished its work. Every year, people around the world buy lots of trees for Christmas. In 2022, people in Americabought 20-30 million trees! But where do the trees go after the holiday?

② Many countries recycle(回收) the Christmas trees. For example, in Berlin, people take off toys from the trees and leave the trees on the streets. The trees will be sent to the power stations. Every year, Berlin recycles about 350, 000 trees. They can make electricity(电) for 500 families to use for a year. 

③ In New York. people always send their trees to parks. There, the trees are cut into small pieces. The wood pieces are used in gardens to keep the plants warm. 

④ In some countries, many Christmas trees are sent to zoos. Once a year, elephants in Austria get their favorite food. The trees taste sweet. 

⑤ The lives of Christmas trees are short, but they bring people so much happiness.