From the balcony (露台) of my grandma's tenth-floor apartment, I search the sky, bopping to see stars.
"Stars are afraid of city lights, but a little song is1good for something" Grandma puts her arms around me and sings softly in her low and beautiful 2.
But stars are still hiding.
So I rest3 deeper into her arms, hoping for a few more minutes of her warmth as much as I hope to see at last one star.
"Tomorrow won't come if you don't dream tonight, Sally!" She kisses my hair and points me to 4.
The next day, I wake up and take the lift5 Grandma as usual.
On the fourth floor, the life stops suddenly and it goes dark I feel my 6beating in my ears. Grandma rings the bell and is told that the power(电) is of along the whole street,
Grandma holds my hands, and we sing together in the dark lift.
Before long, Mr. Smith comes and helps us get out safely. Grandma takes my hand, and we walk 7 the stairs to the first floor. Grandma nods in the direction of my school.
"Am I still going?"
"School has power, dear Sally." She takes my hand again! And I am not8for school."
The power is still off when I come home that afternoon.
After dinner and homework, we come to the balcony and watch day turn to evening. Lights come on several streets away, but it's9here.
"Stars night not be so afraid tonight," I say.
"Star light, star bright…" I start to10, and Grandma joins in. One, two, three…Thousands of stars light the sky bright!
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Welcome to our school farm! I'm Potato. |
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Dry me in the sun for 2 hours. |
Plant me about 20 cm deep in the ground. Use the soil in No. 6 box. |
The best temper is between 15℃ and 20℃. |
After 2 or 3 weeks, a potato plant will rise out of the ground. |
The potato plant will flower. |
When the flowers die, carefully dig up the potato plant. Then you'll have your own potatoes. |
"Lots of restaurants say they're the best. To be honest, we are not and we've never said we are. We just try to be a little bit better every day," said Mr. Yang. Who runs a restaurant named Grandpa Yang in Chongqing.
Yang stared the restaurant in 2011. He was unhappy when quite a lot of food was left uneaten. "If customers know more about the food before they order, they will know what to pick," he thought. So he decided to write something about each dish on his menu online.
Now there is something about the food. "Compared with our General Tao Chicken; this one is not THAT good, " says the introduction of Orange Beef. Another introduction warns, "Don't let the name fool you. This one is NOT a real Sichuan dish. "
"People often search online to find the right restaurant. I don't want them to say, 'Oh, it's one of the best in the area, and it must be very good,' but then they come here only to find it's not so good," Yang said, "Customers should read more about the food before they order, not only my introductions, but also other customers' opinions."
Thanks to his honesty, the restaurant is having a moment under the sun. "It's been a very exciting and busy time," said Yang, "and I love it."
When Xiong Chuanfa, 34, blows a lifelike tiger out of sugar in just minutes, kids look at him in surprise thinking he is a magician.
Xiong has been blowing sugar figurines(吹糖人) for over twenty years. Blowing sugar figurines is a Chinese traditional folk(民间) art with a history of over 600 years and has been listed as a state-level intangible cultural heritage.
Every morning. Xiong prepares the sugar and drives to different markets in Nanchang to start his magic show.
He heats(加热) the sugar, pulls off a little to make a ball and blows it into different shapes —a rabbit, a monkey, and even Bing Dwen Dwen, the mascot of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
People, especially little kids, are interested in his skills. ▲ he also stops by colleges.
Many college students have been drawn to the art, waiting in line for hands-on experience. Among them, Simon, a foreign student, couldn't help having a try. Though it looked easy, he found it difficult to make it. Thanks to Xiong's help, Simon finally saw a horse slowly taking shape.
Simon was deeply moved after learning about the art. "I just can't believe the traditional folk art can be kept so well here. I love it. Chinese culture should be spread around the world," he said.
This art has been passed down for four generations(代) in Xiong's family. His 6-year-old son often blows sugar balloons, just like what he used to do as a child.
"We will pass on the intangible heritage," said Xiong.
We all have those moments when bright ideas hit us, but not everyone can develop such moments into the fruits of creative thinking. While we believe creative thinking is the falling apple of Isaac Newton, one of the greatest scientists. we seldom notice that creative thinking is in fact a process(过程).
Let's look at what happened in 1666.
Sitting in the garden, Newton watched an apple fall from a tree. He began to wonder if the same force that pulled the apple down also kept the moon circling the earth. Newton believed it did. He called it "gravity(重力)".
This story has become one of the most popular examples of "eureka" moments. But when we cheer for the great discovery, the whole process of creative thinking shouldn't be forgotten.
Newton studied mathematics for long to have a better understanding of the world. He always enjoyed finding new ways to solve problems. The falling apple was only the fruit of years of hard work before. It also started the train of thought that continued for the next twenty years.
Newton began to examine "gravity" carefully. He experimented(实验). Then he studied the results and used what be had learned to do new experiments. In 1687, the greatest scientific work ever written came out.
The whole process of creative thinking works the same in our life.
In school, we prepare ourselves for the right moment. Once the moment comes, we catch it and then keep on working in the years to come. It tales much to get the fruits of creative thinking, but the sweetest fruits will be ready for those who wait the longest.
a. He caught the right moment.
b. He did experiments over and over
c. He saw an apple fall from a tree.
d. He studied mathematics for long.
①Since the first man-looked up at the flying birds, countless successes have been achieved on the way up to the sky. From the stones thrown into the air to airships of all kinds, pioneers of humans never failed to let their imagination run wild.
②Stories of pioneers go back to centuries ago.
③Kite flying in China dates back to the 5th century BC and is thought to be the earliest example of man-made flight.
④From the 3rd century BC, the sky lantern(灯笼) was known in China. Many people believe that it was invented by Zhuge Liang in the war. Some say he wrote a message on a sky lantern for help, while others believe sky lanterns were used to drive the enemies away.
⑤Whichever is true, humans have never stopped, and they never will. In modern times, new fields are being explored(探索).
⑥In 1993, the world's largest hot air airship was built. The AS-300 carried an underslung raft (悬挂式木筏). It allowed a team of French scientists to carry out their treetop researches without too much harm to the rain forest.
⑦On May 15, 2022, Chinese scientists sent up the latest model of "Jimu No. 1", China's self-developed airship, to collect weather information on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
⑧The airship would work at a world-record altitude(海拔) of 9,032 meters. It was the first time an airship of its size had reached this height, even higher than that of the 8,849-meter-tall Mount Qomolangma, the highest mountain in the world.
B . 
C . 
D . 
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A. Aren't you good at breakdancing? B. How long does it take you to do your homework? C. Why? D. When do you go to a breakdancing club? E. The poem club. F. I think so. G. What clubs do you have? |
A: How is your school life this term?
B: Still busy but more wonderful and relaxing.
A: Really?
B: Because we have different kinds of clubs.
A: Good.
B: We have a poem club, a sports club, a breakdancing club…Ah, so many of them!
A: Fantastic! Which club are you in?
B:
A: Oh? Why didn't you join the breakdancing club?
B: Yes. But I am practicing it at a breakdancing school on Sunday afternoon.
A: I see. You have a colorful life in and out of school.
B: Oh, I'm running out of time. Bye for now!
A: See you!
Desert Control is a huge challenge. In the past, China had much to learn from the rest of the world. But now the shoe is on the other foot. It's time for China!
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A Special Glue Researchers from Chongqing Jiaotong University develop a special glue to change desert ground into soil that people can grow plants in. The "sand glue" made of plant is used to help keep water, nutrients(营养) and air. And it has been used in different areas. |
An Interview in Yulin (Li has planted more than 2.300 mu of forest.) Q: Did your family support you when you decided to plant trees? Li: Not really. My family was strongly against my idea. My son even brought me back home, but the next day I went there again. Q: Did you have any difficulties? Li: Yes. At that time, the living conditions in the mountains were really terrible, and I didn't have any experience. Though I worked more than 10 hours every day, less than 10% of the trees could be alive. Q: How did you solve the problem? Li: I bought books and used what I learned to plant trees. I tried again and again. 19 years has passed, and more than 95% of the trees are alive now. Q: It took you 19 years to plant trees. Any regrets? Li: No. It's my dream. And my biggest wish is that everyone plants a few trees every year. |
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The Past and the Present Nearly 30 years ago, the Kubuqi Desert, the seventh largest desert in China, was a barren( 贫瘠的) land with no future. The local people called the Kubuqi Desert the "sea of death". Thanks to our government, chances came. The Kubuqi people have changed the desert into an oasis(绿洲). It has offered chances for the locals to get more money in different ways like selling farm products. They change the desert and the desert helps them. It's a win-win situation. |
Miss Wang recently had a worrying experience.
One morning, just as she arrived at her, Wang noticed some missed calls from her mother. "It must be something very important," she thought to herself.
Right away, she called her mother quite worriedly. To her surprise, Wang found her mother only wanted her charger(充电器), which Wang took to the office by mistake.
When Wang hurried home from her office, she found her mother's was still 70% charged. And her mother was worried that it would run out of power as she continued using it.
Now Wang realizes the seriousness of the problem. Her mother eight hours a day playing games, reading news and watching short videos online. And her mother has problems like poor eyesight, headache and so on.
This story is not special and Wang's mother is not . She is just one in a growing population of the old who lose themselves in playing with phones. As the old have chances to join in social activities, a smart phone is the best way to kill time.
But too much time on phone can cause many problems. "Be careful when using your phones, you will be easily fooled:" Although the old are always warned like this, online frauds (欺骗) still happen to them. Now there are more family problems. Action should be taken.
For the old, they should control their screen time and get enough rest. The young, for their part, should often visit the old, and help them learn more about online safety so that they can themselves. Also, the young can do more activities with the old like talking, walking and traveling, or encourage them to learn something at the universities for the aged.
