When I was young, my mother always spent lots of time sitting behind a sewing machine（缝纫机）. For all three children in our family, she made all the _________ with a happy look on her face.

It looked so _________ for my mom to make them. But the first time I tried to make something, it seemed a little hard for me. I worked quite slowly and when I finished, it looked _________. Soon I gave up.

This summer, I really wanted to make a dress to _________ at a party. So I picked out some nice cloth and found a nice style in a book. I got so excited about sewing that I couldn’t _________ to begin. I started early the next morning. My mom was having a meeting, so if I had questions, there could be _________ to ask.

I did my sewing slowly and carefully, and I tried to do everything _________. When I was sewing the front, I made the neck too small. _________ the rest was fine. “I finally made it!” I finished two hours later. And it fit! For the first time, I could wear something I had made with my own _________ .

Later, I made some more clothes for myself. Now, I’m doing better and better. So, if you want to learn something, never stop __________ when you can’t do it well.

A wise man was visiting a village with his students. He found a group of family members shouting in anger at each other. He turned to his students and asked: “Why do people shout at each other?”

His students thought for a while, and one of them said: “Because when we lose our calm, we shout.”

“But, why should you shout when the other person is just next to you? You can just as well tell him what you have to say in a soft voice,” said the wise man.

Students gave some other answers but none were any good.

“When two people are angry at each other, their hearts become distanced（疏远的）, ” the wise man explained. “To cover that distance they must shout to be able to hear each other. The angrier they are, the louder they will have to shout to hear each other and cover that great distance. ”

The wise man then gave an example: “What happens when two people fall in love?” They don’t shout at each other, but talk softly because their hearts are very close. When they love each other even more, what happens? They don’t need to talk. They only look at each other and that’s enough.

He looked at his students and said: “So when you argue, do not let your hearts get distant. Do not say words that distance you from others. Otherwise, there will come a day when the distance is so great that you will not find the path to return.”

What do you usually do in your free time? Do you watch short videos on some apps? According to the China Internet Network Information Center, the number of short video users reached 773 million (百万) in March, 2020. That is, about 86% of all Chinese Internet users are watching or making short videos, or both! If you say short videos are only popular in China, you are wrong. TikTok has more than 800 million users around the world.

Many users like short videos. They say the videos not only make them relax, but also teach them useful skills (技能). “I love watching Lao Qiao’s short videos on my phone,” Francis, one of the short   video users, says. “Lao Qiao is a famous cook and his videos are my favorite ones. From his videos, people can learn how to make Shanxi noodles in no time at all.”However, quite a few people think short videos are not that good. “There are many other ways to relax, like watching movies, reading books and playing sports,” they say. “All of them are more meaningful to people.”                                                                        

What’s more, if people start watching the short videos, they can hardly stop. There are always new ones waiting for them, so they always spend hours on them. Some educators say people should not spend much time on short videos. “Most of them are just for fun,” they say. “They don’t teach people to think or to improve themselves. It’s not good for the people, and not good for society (社会), either.”

Hi, everybody! I’m Max, now I’m studying in an international school （国际学校） in Canada. Students here also spend much time on homework. How difficult the homework is depends on（取决于）what s    61     you are learning.

For English, we usually put together presentations （展示）. I will look for some i    62     on the Internet. For example, I’m working on a one—minute presentation about recent Canadian news. I read about lots of news, and I will c    63     one thing to write about. Doing presentations is a good way to p    64     speaking skills and build confidence （自信）. I still feel shy talking in front of many people. But my English has really become b    65    .

For geography and history, we usually do paper work and make posters. It takes a lot of time. We spent about a month on one article last year. We had to make outlines（提纲）and write out the m    66     ideas. Our teacher fixed them and then we could start to write. For the posters, you can print or d    67     them. Last week, our teacher asked us to make a poster about our favourite place. We drew two pictures and wrote 10 words to describe them.

Science was very hard for me at f    68    . And it took me an hour to read three pages. But as I l    69     more and more words, I understand it better. Even if I don’t understand all the words, I can mostly guess what it is s    70     . So I get faster and faster at doing my homework.

No matter what homework you get, just try your best.