It was a sunny and enjoyable day. Everyone in the railway station was waiting for the train to arrive. Among the crowd, there was a group of young friends who were on board for vacation.

It was a ________ station with a lot of people and some juice shops, coffee and tea shops, book shops, etc. The train was arriving and everyone prepared to ________ the train to take their seats. The group of friends made loud noise to ________ the train as it moved into the station. They ________to get their seats before anyone entered the train. The empty seats were ________ and the train whistled (鸣汽笛) to move. An old man with a young boy aged around fifteen had their seats just next to the friends group.

The young boy was so ________ to see everything. He cheered, “Dad, the train is moving and the things are moving backward.” His father smiled and ________ his head. As the train started moving fast, the young boy again screamed, “Dad, the ________ are green in color and run backward very fast.” His father said, “Yes, dear,” and smiled. Just like a kid, the father was watching everything with great interest.

A fruit seller passed selling apples, bananas and oranges. The young boy asked his dad, “I want to eat apples.” His father bought some for him. He said, “Oh, this apple ________ a lot sweeter than it tastes. I love this color.” The group was watching all the ________ of this boy and asked the boy’s father, “Is your son having any problems? Why is he behaving so differently?”

“His son is mad, I think.” a friend from the group made fun of him and shouted.

The father of the young boy, with patience, ________ the friends’ group, “My son was born ________. Only a few days ago he was operated. He is seeing different things in his life for the first time.”

The young friends became very quiet.

Trees are one of the oldest “citizens” of our Earth. They keep our air clean, reduce noise pollution, improve water quality and provide food and building materials.

Just like us, trees change a lot as they grow. At 1 to 3 years old, young trees learn how to protect themselves. For example, many trees grow thorns (刺) to warn animals not to go near. Most young trees have large, deep green leaves so that they can catch enough sunlight and change it into their food and energy.

When trees are 4 years old, they begin to grow very rapidly and become strong enough to face challenges later in life. At the age of 15, trees become young adults. They grow more slowly and begin to produce flowers and fruit. It is not until the tree is 20 to 25 years old that it becomes a real adult. The tree reaches its largest size. The adult tree gives us shade, oxygen and natural beauty; it is also a great place for a tree house, or a place for us to read a book, listen to music and so on. If we give the adult tree proper care, it will go on to live healthily for many years.

Gradually, trees begin to grow older and older and even die. At this time, they still have their important place in nature. When a tree becomes hollow or part of it becomes dead, it provides a home for small animals and is a source of food for many other animals.

In many ways, the life of a tree is similar to our own life experience. When we are looking at the life of a tree, we learn about that each period of life brings its own form of joy and challenge. Life is hard but the value of life is how you live it bravely. A man who overcomes himself is a real strong man in life. Don’t give up when you still have something to give. Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying.

Enjoy every minute of the life of the trees as well as ours!

Once upon a time, there lived a girl in ancient China named Mulan. Her father was too old and weak to fight, but not too old to teach her how to ride a horse and use a sword. Girls usually did not learn these skills at that time, but Mulan’s father believed everyone should know how to fight, even girls.

One day, the government officials sent soldiers to Mulan’s village. Because the war was coming, men were needed for the army. The military leader of the group posted a list of names on the village’s wall. Each name represented one volunteer, one man from each family.

Mulan saw her father’s name on the list. She knew her father would never return alive if he was there. Mulan’s brother was a young child. There was only Mulan who could take her father’s place. But the military did not take girls as replacements for fighting men.

Quietly, the next morning, before her father could report for duty, Mulan stole his armor (盔甲). She acted herself as a man. She reported for duty. The soldiers accepted “him” in her father’s place. Mulan was very careful over the years. No one ever knew that she was a girl. When the war was over, Mulan received a special award from the emperor himself for her great courage. The emperor gave her a horse and a bag of treasure, and wished her a safe trip home. Her family greeted her with joy. Her brother was pleased with the gift of her military clothes. Mulan dressed herself once again in the clothes of a woman. That evening, Mulan and her family got together to watch the sunset.

Two of the men who had served with Mulan stopped by her home on their way home. When Mulan came to greet them, they could not believe their eyes. One shouted,“You are not Mulan! Are you Mulan?” After recounting many memories, they finally believed that Mulan was a woman who had fought by their side in the war. They spread Mulan’s story across China. Mulan’s story inspired many young women who wanted to learn how to ride a horse and use a sword.

Do you have good friends? Do you sometimes feel so close to them that they are like family to you?

It turns out that this isn’t just an expression. A study by Yale University has found that you and your friends have more genes(基因) in common than strangers do. Researchers looked at the genes of 1, 932 people and compared them in pairs of unrelated friends and strangers. They found that friends have 1% of genes that match.

“1% of genes may not sound like much to the layperson(外行), but to geneticists(遗传学家) it is a larger number,” Professor Nicholas Christakis of Yale University told Discovery News. In fact, this is the same amount of genes you share with your fourth cousins, those who have the same great-great-great grandparents as you.

So do you happen to become friends with people who share your genes? Not at all. In fact, it is evolution(进化) that brings you together.

People who share certain genes also share skills and have similar likes and dislikes, researchers said. In ancient times, it was important that people who were alike stayed together. For example, people who had a similar susceptibility(易感性) to the cold were more likely to help each other build a fire, giving them a better chance to stay alive.

Researchers also found that among all the genes studied, those producing a change in sense of smell were the most similar in friends. This is probably because people who smell things in the same way are more easily drawn to similar environments. For example, people who like the smell of coffee may hang out at cafes(咖啡馆) more often and as a result are more likely to meet and become friends with each other.

With their findings, the team has developed an interesting test called the “friendship score”. It can help tell how big the chances are that two people will be friends by studying their genes.

So, here is a question for you: would you like to take this test and know in advance(提前) who your friends are going to be, or would you still prefer to learn about it by yourself and let time be the judge?

When students get bored with the boring hours of theory (理论) classes, the practical classes bring relaxation to them. The laboratory is the place where students actually get hands-on experience about the lessons they have learned. High school students are allowed to perform the basic experiments of different branches of science, mainly physics, chemistry and biology. However, lab safety is of great importance. Lab safety rules are mainly about personal safety and proper handling of instruments to avoid accidents inside the lab.

Middle school is the first chance for students to work in a science lab. Lab experiments should be carried out quite carefully. And the students are always told to follow the guidelines to make sure of lab safety. Therefore, first of all, you must be careful of your personal safety. So you should be dressed in a full-sleeved apron (围裙) while performing experiments. Gloves, safety glasses and caps are also important things required for personal safety. Since you are dealing with the instruments or the chemicals for the first time, you might be curious to try something new. But such activities often lead to lab dangers. So, avoid any form of carelessness. Besides, you have to carefully listen to your teachers in order to start the experiment in the correct process and get exact results.

There are different types of instruments inside a science lab. Physics labs are filled with different electrical instruments, which need safe operation. So you need to perform the experiments under the supervision (监督) of your teacher, until you are good at them. Similarly, handle the chemicals according to the guidance of the lab assistant. Do not try to mix the chemicals as you please. It might lead to dangerous explosions (爆炸). Also, you should always keep a biology lab clean to avoid pollution.

You are new to the lab and therefore, it is your duty to learn about the lab completely. This includes a complete knowledge of placement of the lab equipment. You should learn about the correct operation technique of expensive instruments. Turn off the gas as soon as you have finished your experiments. You also should learn about where the fire extinguisher (灭火器) is and the working of fire safety instruments.

All students should follow the rules for your safety and perform the experiments carefully.