5. Jim ________ the useful information yet, so he can’t finish his work soon.

Friends Helping Friends

Jason put on his schoolbag and walked out of school. His schoolbag weighed (重) him down with all the things he needed to finish his science project this weekend.

“Hey, Jason!” Ken came over. “I need to clean up the park this weekend. Can you help out?”

“Jason,” Tracy ran up to him. “I have to walk Mrs. King’s dogs this weekend. Could you help me?”

“Um...” Jason knew Tracy walked the dogs three times a day. How could he find time? “I guess I can.”

Jason’s schoolbag felt even _________ as he walked into the house. “Hard day?” his mother asked.

“More like hard weekend. I have to finish my science project, help Ken with the park clean-up, and help Tracy walk Mrs. King’s dogs.”

“Sounds like you _________ to do too many things,” his mother said.

“I know, but they are my good friends. I didn’t want to make them _________,” Jason said.

“I’m glad you want to help your friends, but you need to have time for your own things, too.”

Jason knew she was right. “Maybe I can tell Ken I can only help for two hours in the morning. And I can probably help Tracy walk the dogs early in the morning but not at lunchtime or in the evening,” Jason said. “Mom, do you think they will get mad?”

“They’re your friends. Tell them you need time to finish your science project. They’ll _________ ”

Jason nodded and got the phone. He told Ken and Tracy the _________. As soon as he hung up, he turned to his mom. “They’re fine with it, and they both _________ to help with my project, too.”

“Friends always help each other out.” Mom said.

A Sweeter Apple

A father and his daughter were flying a kite in the park. The young daughter was a little bit tired, so they took a break on the bench. When the daughter saw an old man selling apples, she asked her father to buy her some apples. Her father didn’t bring much money with him, but it was enough to buy two apples. So he did, and gave both of them to his daughter, smiling.

His daughter held one apple in her right hand. Then the father asked her if she could share one of the apples with him. When the girl heard this, she quickly took a bite from one apple. And before her father could speak, she also took a bite from the second apple. The father was surprised. He wanted to know why his daughter acted in such a greedy(贪婪的) way. He was lost in thought. Perhaps he was just thinking too much. His daughter was too young to understand sharing and giving. A smile disappeared from his face.

Suddenly, his daughter held up the apple in her left hand and said, “Daddy, take this one! It is much juicier and sweeter.” Her father didn’t know what to say. He felt bad about making the judgment(判断) so fast about a small child. So he smiled again, knowing why his daughter quickly took a bite from each apple.

Don’t judge anything or draw a conclusion(结论) too quickly. Always spend some more time in understanding things better.

A black hole is a place in outer space with very strong gravity. Gravity is a great force（力量） that shapes the universe. On Earth, gravity makes apples fall from trees. It keeps your feet planted on the ground. The gravity in a black hole is much stronger. It is so strong that nothing around it can get away from it, not even light.

Black holes are invisible. We can’t actually see them because they don’t throw back light. But scientists can find them with space telescopes and special tools. The strong gravity makes nearby stars move in a certain way. By studying how the stars move, scientists can find out if they are flying around a black hole. Strange things happen around black holes. This makes black holes a popular subject of science fiction（科幻）stories, although they are very unreal.

A black hole forms（形成）when a star dies. The star falls in on itself and turns into a very small point. Because of its small size and huge mass（质量）, the gravity will be so strong that it will pull light in and become a black hole. Black holes can grow huge as they continue to pull other things in and “eat” them. Many scientists believe that there are super-massive black holes at the center of galaxies, including the Milky Way.

The idea of the black hole was first suggested by two different scientists in the 18th century: John Michelle and Pierre-Simon Laplace. In 1967, a physicist named John Archibald Wheeler came up with the name “black hole”. Studying black holes can tell us many things about our galaxy and help scientists answer questions about the universe.