It just hadn’t been a very good week. On Tuesday, Sam’s father _______ his job. Then on Wednesday, Sam’s mother announced that the rent (房租) on their apartment was going up. Now it was Friday, and Sam received an _______ from Rosa to her birthday party.

Sam knew Rosa from the Climbing Club. He knew he would enjoy Rosa’s party, but he didn’t want to go _______ a gift. What could he possibly buy her with the little bit of money he had?

Later that afternoon, Sam noticed a second-hand book sale going on. He went there and had a quick look. Two books caught his _______. The first was a _______ of Shanghai foods, and the second was a book about women explorers (探险家). “Rosa would like these,” Sam thought, “_______ would it be embarrassing to give her second-hand books for her birthday?”

Sam finally decided that a second-hand gift was _______ than no gift at all. Besides, Rosa _______ recycling in a big way. So, she would probably like it. With his last dollar, Sam bought the books and went home. He felt a little better.

The party was on Saturday. Rosa opened all her gifts and _______ everyone for the nice things they had given her. She paused (停顿) when she opened Sam’s gift, which made him wonder if she liked the books, but ________ was said.

When Sam got home, he opened his ________ and found this note from Rosa.

Love

Rosa

“Late again, Mavis! How many times I have told you to come back in time to help me cook dinner?” asked Mrs. Muntari.

“But, mummy, I can’t just walk out in the middle of a game!” said Mavis.

“You shouldn’t be playing the game in the first place.”

“But, mum, why can’t I? You never tell Adibe or Senze not to play football. I had to leave the game at half time and rush back, so you wouldn’t get angry with me,” said Mavis.

“You are a girl! It is as simple as that. Boys and girls have different roles to play. I have 11 hungry mouths to feed and I need your help! You are the oldest girl not working, so it is your job to help me. That’s the way of our people. Now go and fry some more chicken.”

At the dinner table, Adibe and Senze were excitedly talking about today’s game, while eating the chicken Mavis had fried. They talked about how Mavis scored in the first half with a power shot from the halfway line. It was a great goal as their team was losing by 0—1 at that time.

Dad came home then and brought the boys a local newspaper, in which there was news about football scouts (球探) from England visiting Ghana (加纳). These scouts had asked to be allowed to visit schools to look for players of the future. Adibe and Senze looked at each other and cheered.

“Wow. I’m going to be like Essien!” And they started arguing which one would make it as a superstar.

Mavis decided to take this chance. She stole out of home. When she arrived at the playground, one player happened to get hurt and the coach was worried. “I can take his place!” Mavis shouted. Though it was unbelievable to let a girl play, the coach agreed. During the second half, she made an amazing shot!

When the game was over, the scouts all stood up, cheering.

*You can enjoy dinner at our restaurant under the water from 6:00 to 6:30.

*You can’t eat anything while you are watching the sea animals.

*Each tour costs 15 yuan. You can buy the tickets at the gate of the aquarium.

*You can decide which tour you will join after you arrive at the aquarium.

The Silk Road was actually a network of trade routes (线路) between China and Europe. Traders carrying Chinese silk and other goods followed routes that crossed Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Far East. Many traders traveled on camels in groups called caravans. In a caravan, fifty or more camels might travel in a line.

Traveling the Silk Road could be unbearable. Warring soldiers, bandits (土匪), and terribly bad weather such as sandstorms troubled the caravans. Caravanserais eased the way for tired tradesmen. These were huge guest houses that welcomed traveling traders. Caravanserais are on the Silk Road from Turkey to China. At a caravanserai, traders were safe from harm. There, they could enjoy tasty meals, rest, and ready themselves to journey on.

A caravanserai was protected with high, strong walls. The one door was tall and wide enough for a loaded pack animal to enter. Along the inside of the walls were guest rooms for traders, their servants and their goods— Some guest houses provided stables (马厩) for animals. Others had open central courtyards where pack animals horses, camels, and elephants drank from stone water troughs.

Caravanserais were placed within a day’s journey of each other. This allowed traders (with their precious silk and other trade goods) to avoid spending nights under the Silk Road’s bad condition. In many places, there was usually a caravanserai every 20 to 25 miles (about 30 to 40 kilometers).

A caravanserai provided more than a sale place to rest. There, traders could exchange goods and pack animals, buy local products, and socialize with other trade travelers. Thus, the Caravanserais provided places for people of diverse cultures to share knowledge about arts, crafts, literature, science, and technologies. Over hundreds of years, trade along the Silk road allowed cultures, language and religions (宗教) to influence one another.

We have always been interested in the moon. 2000 years ago people already knew it moved around the earth and where it would be in the sky at different times of the year.     66    

When scientists could use telescopes (望远镜) to study the moon more closely, their ideas began to change. They could see the moon was made of rocks.     67     This was because they believed the moon had once been a planet that had been caught in the earth’s gravity (引力) millions of years earlier.

    68     Much to their surprise, scientists found that, except for water, the moon and the earth were made of the same things. Once again new ideas were needed for this new information.

    69     They believe very early in its history, maybe 4 million years ago, something about the size of Mars (火星) hit the earth. This sent billions of rocks into space around our planet.     70    

In the future, even though our ideas about the moon may change again, we will still be interested in it.