Space suits don’t just make astronauts ________ cool. Without these special suits, astronauts can’t ________ their spaceship. That is to say, they won’t ________ able to walk on the ________ or work outside the International Space Station.

★________ do astronauts need to wear space suits?

Space is a ________ place for people. Firstly, there is no air to breathe. ________ space also has high levels of radiation （辐射）that can pass ________ our bodies and make us sick. Thirdly, some parts of space are really ________ while other parts are very hot. So astronauts may die in just a few seconds if they go outside their spacecraft without ________ suits. With a space suit, astronauts can move around in ________ for several hours.

★What can a space suit do for an astronaut?

Space suits keep astronauts safely sealed （密封的）inside. A backpack sends O₂ in to let astronauts breathe ________. At the same time, the CO₂ that astronauts breathe out is sucked away （吸走）. The suit also ________ them from harmful radiation and fast-moving space dust. Under the space suit is ________ suit that looks like a pair of pajamas （睡衣）with little pipes （管子） running through them. Water runs through these pipes to ________ astronauts because wearing a space suit can make astronauts very hot!

Do you know the two lovely mascots (吉祥物) ? You may know the five “Fuwa dolls” from the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. On September 17 of 2021、the two lovely mascots first showed on TV. Now, let’s see who they are.

Look at the panda! It looks like an astronaut. It wears an ice shell (冰壳) and looks fat, so we call it “Bing Dwen Dwen”. White is the color of ice and snow. “Bing Dwen Dwen” likes ice sports very much and is good at them. That’s why it is the mascot of 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games.

Do you think the red mascot looks like a lantern? The lantern’s name is “Shuey Rhon Rhon”. When the Chinese New Year comes, people always make or buy red lanterns. Red is the color of hope and good luck, so people think their dreams will come true in the new year. “Shuey Rhon Rhon” can give players hope and help them do well in the 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympics Games (残奥会).

Many people in different countries like the two mascots very much, and they show their love for them on the Internet.

Do you know how to cook, clean or grow plants? If not, you will soon. These will all be part of Chinese public education starting this fall. A new standard（标准）for labor education recently came out. Students in primary and middle school will have at least one class a week to try and experience different kinds of labor and learn different life skills and even job skills. The standard includes different tasks for each grade. For example, fifth-and sixth-graders learn to cook two or three common dishes, like fried eggs or scrambled eggs with tomato.

This move is to enrich Chinese students’ life and build their character（塑造品行） through labor. Chinese school education didn’t pay enough attention to this in the past. According to a 2019 report, Chinese kids only do 12 minutes of practical activity each day, while US kids do 1.2 hours each day, China Daily reported.

The standard also calls on families to take part in students’ labor education. They will make household lists to help students be more independent.

According to the new standard for labor education, middle school students need to learn the following skills:

Organize their room and classroom.

Pick proper clothes for travel and pack a suitcase.

Make a healthy daily eating plan.

Cook three or four dishes by themselves.

Look after and fix some home appliances, such as washing the air conditioner and the fridge. Take part in local labor such as planting and fishing.

Make one or two kinds of traditional handicrafts such as pottery（陶艺）and wood carving（木雕）.

Take part in one or two industrial（工业的）projects, like paper making. Do one or two kinds of volunteer work.

People depend on plants. We use plants for food, cloth, shelter（住处）, and even the air we breathe.

Plants keep our air and water clean. Green plants give us oxygen （氧气）. Oxygen is part of the air we breathe.

Plants are also part of the water cycle（水循环）. Most of the water that a plant takes in goes back into the air.

★________ Fruits, vegetables, and grains（谷物）come from plants. Without plants, we would not have bread, rice, carrots, apples, oranges, or bananas! Many people are growing plants to eat in their own gardens at home. Having your own garden helps the earth as well.

When you grow your own fruits and vegetables, you help cut down on pollution because big trucks don’t need to take your food to shops. You also help save more bags because you don’t need to use bags for packing your food. You can just pick it out of the ground or off a plant and put it into a basket!

Trees are an important plant resource. Trees provide wood to build homes and furniture. Trees are used to make lots of things around your home and at your school. And trees provide fruits that are good for you. Without trees, the earth would be a very different place.

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Simple ways to improve your written English

Many people think it is really difficult to improve their writing in English. Don’t worry, though. Here are some simple steps that you can take to improve your written English.

● Increase your vocabulary.

To express yourself clearly, you need a good active vocabulary. That’s not just being able to know lots of words—it means actually being able to use them correctly.     53    

Tip: When you learn a new word, try to learn all the forms of that word.

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People often say that we learn to write best by reading. Reading in English is useful in many ways. It is a great way to get an idea of the different styles of writing and see how to use words properly.

Tip:     55     Learning shouldn’t be boring. Read each text several times to make sure you understand how to use new words and expressions in the text.

● Improve your grammar.

Grammar is very important because it improves the quality of your writing.

Tip:     56    . The first time, look for general mistakes and the second time look for mistakes with the grammar point you are studying at the moment.

● Just do it!

The best way to improve your writing is to get a pen and paper and write. Be prepared to write several versions（版本）of each text.     57