The most common disease in the world is the cold. It often starts with a sore throat. You sneeze and your nose runs. You usually have a headache, too. Often you have a cough later. It's not a serious disease, but you can feel quite bad.

    There isn't a cure (良药) for a cold, but you can take some medicine to make you feel better. For example, you can take aspirin (阿司匹林) to get rid of (去除) your headache. It is good to rest. and to drink a lot of water, too. A doctor once told me. "With the right medicine. a cold will last for seven days. With no medicine, it will go on for a whole week!"

    A long time ago, people understood that some plants made them feel better. For example, the juice of lemons (柠檬) makes a sore throat feel better. In modern times, scientists have found out which chemicals (化学药品) are in them. Man, of our medicines today are made from those chemicals. There are some diseases that we can't cure yet. And nobody has found a cure for old age. But because of modern medicines, the average people now live longer than their grandparents.

    One day a little boy came into a fruit shop. He had five dollars and wanted to buy some apples. He said to the shop owner,“Give me $5 worth of apples, please.”

    When the shop owner gave him the apples, the boy counted them and felt very surprised. Then he said:“Last Friday, my mother bought apples here for $5, too. Why did you give me fewer apples?” “Don't ask questions, boy. I have no time for questions.”

    “Excuse me, sir.” said the little boy, “but…”

    “It is all right, my boy,” said the shop owner, “Don't you know? The fewer apples you get, the less fruit you will have to carry.” “All right.” said the boy and he gave $4 to the shop owner. He was just going to leave the shop when he heard the words:“Come back! You must pay me $5.” But the boy replied: “Don't you know? The fewer dollars you get, the less money you will have to count.”

    If you want to learn English well. You have to practice speaking English! Use these sentences to help you start interesting conversations in English.

    ①{#blank#}1{#/blank#} We should try to do things independently, rather than wait for help. Do you think our schools stop us from thinking independently? How can we become more independent? Can we help our classmates to be more independent? How?  

    ②{#blank#}2{#/blank#} I find this to be true with my students. If they only recite without understanding, they cannot use English well. Have you ever tried to recite many English words? What is the result? Do you know anyone that only follows but never thinks? What is that person like? Do you know anyone who is a clear thinker? What is that person like?  

    ③{#blank#}3{#/blank#} How can laughter help us in our daily life? Do you think humor is helpful if we are really sick? Do you know anyone who laughs all the time? What is that person like? Do you know someone who never laughs? Do you enjoy being around that person? 

    ④{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Do you have many friends or just a few very close friends? How did you meet your best friend? What advice would you give a newcomer to your school to help him or her meet new friends? What would you do to help your best friend? 

    ⑤{#blank#}5{#/blank#} How should we eat to stay healthy? What do you think is the healthiest food we can eat every day? Do you eat very healthy food? Or do you prefer delicious but not so healthy food? What food should we avoid eating? Besides eating well, what should we do for our health? 

    Attention, please. We have exciting news for you today. Our yearly Short Story Competition for teenagers is now open.

    The regular（常规）subjects "friendship" and "hobbies" are still choices, but this year we have a new subject "travel". Your stories should be fewer than 2,000 words. You can send your stories to the organizer, Mr. Smith in Room 209. There is an amazing prize for you. The best story will be printed in the magazine, New Writers. Don't forget to hand in your stories before September 30^th.

    And you will know the results on October 15^th.

    So get your thinking hats on. For more information, visit our school website.