“We have visitors this morning.” Ms. Myers told Class 5. “A journalist and a photographer from the newspaper are doing an article about our new school _______. And some of you will be in the photo.”

The kids were excited, except for Brad. He knew he wouldn’t be in the photo. Brad was small. Kids were always making jokes about how _______ he was.

“They won’t put Brad in the photo,” John said. “ You’d need a magnifying glass (放大镜) to see him.”   The other kids laughed. Brad grinned ( smiled widely ), even though John’s words were rude. He _______ smiled when people made jokes like that.

The visitors arrived. The journalist was called Tegan and the photographer was a short guy named Rick. Tegan talked to the class about how a journalist had to _______ clear sentences and Rick told them about some amazing photos he’d taken. Rick also said, “Once I had to photograph a mother duck that was looking after a baby duck. She thought I was trying to _______ the baby duck, so she started hitting me with her wings. Picking on a little guy like me !”.

Class 5 laughed again, and Brad grinned, too. It’s OK when you make jokes about __________, he thought. It was jokes from other people that could hurt.

Time to take photos. Rick said,“ I’Il have them.” pointing to 6 kids, Brad _______. Brad could hardly believe it.

In the hall,   Rick put them in front of the new library’s big painting of stars and planets and books. he said. “We’ll get you guys to ______ in front of it, so it looks even bigger .”

“Is that why you picked Brad ?” called one of the Class 5 kids. “So it looks really big?” Some people laughed. Brad started to grin as he usually did. _______ Rick shook his head.

“ No way,” he said. “I picked him because he’s got a smile two miles long.”

He looked at Brad ,“ Plus, this guy is _______ inside where it matters. Right, mate ?” This time, Brad spoke before he could think. “ Inside, I’m three miles long.”

Class 5 laughed again. But Brad knew that they were laughing with him, not at him.

Since 2011, the Shanghai Peking Opera Company has held two seasons of “Youth Runway”, a long-term opera development project, hoping to find young opera talents.118 young performers have successfully showed 200 plays and classical pieces. Most of them were born between 1995 and 2000, making them the company’s newest power. They will show both classical and new plays in many different styles.

__①__ The Butterfly Lovers, one of the plays in this spring, is changed from a sad love story between a young poor man, Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, the daughter of a wealthy family. They return as butterflies after their death. Another one, Twelve Roles, which will be presented in the summer, largely gets its idea from an American film 12 Angry Men. The 12 members, all from different backgrounds, must decide a child’s fate in a murder.

Yueju opera, which developed around 1906 in Shengzhou, Zhejiang Province, is one of China’s most famous operas. In the old days, people loved it because of its styles of singing and melodies (旋律). Now, it is getting a new life. __②__ The performing season for young performers is held in its fifth year and has its own characteristic. Moreover, the project worked with BesTV to create a Yueju opera short video series about the 24 solar terms (节气) of traditional Chinese calendar.

Every year, the China Shanghai International Arts Festival provides chances for traditional opera performers like Yueju talents to perform. __③__ Many traditional opera performers have got fans among students and young performers in recent years by showing how they prepare for a concert and behind-the-scenes stories with mobile apps on video websites.

__④__ They try many ways to make traditional art forms attractive to today’s youth, including the creation of short opera films and the use of popular melodies. “We believe that Xiqu (traditional opera) like Yueju can attract today’s young people because it can be mixed with different art forms,” says Chen Daming, a theater critic.

Garrison had been treasuring his last piece. All he had left now was a sheet of the beautiful brown paper Pa had brought back from his last sailing trip.

“You’ve been quiet.” Pa said, “Could I see your picture?”

Garrison handed over his sketch. Pa studied it, then looked at his son. “You’re ten now, eh?” Garrison nodded, hoping Pa wouldn’t say that he was too old to be fooling around with pencils and paper.

“When I was ten, I wanted to work on my father’s ship,” Pa said, “When Thomas was ten, he asked me to let him plant the corn.”

Garrison’s throat tightened. “I know I’m not like either of you.” Pa looked at the drawing again.

“No, you are like both of us. You work hard, like Thomas. And you’re like me, too. I have wandering feet, but you have a wandering mind. We need to see things differently.”

Garrison frowned. “I’d rather love the land, like Thomas, or the sea...”

Pa patted his hand. “Thomas cares about our family very much—that’s why he’s worked so hard to bring us food. And my love for the sea makes good money. But there’s more in life than food and money. There’s happiness, for one. Does it make you happy to draw?”

Garrison nodded.

“And it makes me happy to look at your drawings. Not many folks can catch happiness on a piece of paper. Some might say drawing’s a waste of time, but they don’t understand how things are. Why, asking you to stop drawing would be like asking Thomas to stop farming, or me to stop going to sea. It would be like asking us to stop breathing, wouldn’t it?”

Garrison considered this, then replied, “No, sir. Not quite like breathing. If I couldn’t draw any more, it would be...like someone took away my voice.” He hung his head. In his mind he could hear Thomas laughing, “It’s not like you ever speak up, anyway.”

But Pa patted his shoulder and said, “That would be a pure shame. Your voice is important, Garrison, whether it’s out loud or on paper. And speaking of paper...” Pa smiled. “Take a look in my bag.”

Garrison reached into the bag and found a sketchbook. For a moment he was speechless; happiness seemed to fill his body and stick in his throat. Then he managed to find his voice. “Oh, Pa—thank you.”