Bill, a thirteen-year-old boy, thought he had grown up to be a man. But his parents told him, “you won’t be a real man until you begin to ________ helping others.”

One morning, his parents gave him some money to ________ some milk for them. Outside a shop he saw a homeless old man who looked very ________. Bill went to him and asked, “What’s wrong with you?”

The old man answered, “I’m hungry. I haven’t had any food for two days.”

At the thought of his parents’ words, Bill said to the old man, “Let’s go to the ________.”

When they got there, Bill asked the waiter to bring out bread and coffee to the old man. The old man finished the meal quickly. After the waiter ________ the plate and the cup, the old man said, “Sorry for giving you so much ________. I’m fine now. I’ll ________ forget your kindness! You are a very good young man.”

Bill was ________ when he heard this. Just when he wanted to pay for the meal, the waiter came. Bill and the old man learned ________ that the food was free because it was the birthday of the boss, and they were the first ________ in the restaurant that day. When Bill left the restaurant with the old man, the boss was smiling at them behind the window.

Do you have good study habits? Do you think good study habits help you a lot? Look at the 5 study habits below. How often do you practice them? Add up your points to see how your study habits are.

The traditional Chinese Lunar Calendar divides the year into 24 solar terms. Great Heat (大暑), the 12th solar term of the year, begins this year on July 22 and ends on August 7. During Great Heat, most parts of China enter the hottest season of the year. The following are some things you should know about Great Heat.

A season of harvesting and planting

During Great Heat, the sunshine, high temperatures, and heavy rainfall are good for agricultural crops. But like Slight Heat, many natural calamities such as floods, droughts (干旱) and typhoons also happen during Great Heat. Therefore, it’s important to harvest and plant in time to avoid setbacks (挫折) caused by natural disasters.

Sending the Great Heat ship in Zhejiang

The ship is filled with various animals for sacrifice (祭祀) such as pigs, sheep, chickens, fish and shrimps. More than 50 fishermen take turns carrying the ship as they march through the streets. The drums are played and fireworks are lit. Both sides of the streets are filled with people praying for blessings. After a series of ceremonies, the ship is finally carried to the wharf (码头). Then, the ship is pulled out of the fishing port and burned at sea. People carry out this ritual (典礼) to pray for good harvests (收成) and health.

Eating litchi and Mizao in Fujian

On the day of Great Heat, there is a custom of eating litchi and Mizao in Putian, Fujian Province, as a celebration of Great Heat. Litchi is a nutritious fruit. People usually soak litchi in cold well water first and eat it. Mizao is made of fermented (已发酵的) rice. On the day of Great Heat, people cook it with brown sugar.

Once upon a time, there were two fishermen called Luke and Jim. They were good at fishing. One day they went fishing by the lake. Jim     66     fishing alone. Luke was an outgoing person who loved to make     67     with different people.

When Luke found that some tourists at the lake couldn’t catch any fish, he said to them, “I can teach you how to fish. If you catch ten fish, give me one fish as compensation (报酬). But     68     you get fewer than ten, you don’t need to give me anything.” The tourists and Luke came to an agreement     69    . After that, Luke started to     70     them some fishing skills. After he finished teaching a     71    , he went to teach another group. Hours later, he asked the tourists to give     72     one fish for ten fish that they caught. At the end of the day, Luke got a full bucket of fish, and also made a lot of     73     friends. The tourists regarded him as     74     good teacher for teaching them how to fish.

As for Jim,     75     fishing for a whole day alone, he looked into his fish bucket, and found he had far fewer fish than his friend. He felt very upset.

If we help others succeed, we will harvest (收获) both success and friends.

In China, the 12th month of the lunar calendar (阴历) is called Layue. The month is full of interesting festivals and customs.

Laba Festival, which is on the 8th day of Layue, is the first festival in this month. From this day on, people begin to get ready for the Chinese New Year.

On Laba Festival, people eat hot Laba porridge (腊八粥). There are usually eight things in the porridge: rice, red beans, peas, dried lotus seeds, dates, and three different kinds of fruits and nuts. The porridge is not just good for your health, but a blessing for the coming of the Chinese New Year.

Laba porridge is not the only tasty food in Layue. Laba garlic (腊八蒜) is popular in the north. People begin to soak (浸泡) the garlic in vinegar from that day on, and eat it with dumplings during the Chinese New Year. While in the south, people like making sausages (腊肠).

Another major celebration before the Spring Festival is Xiaonian. It is usually on the 23rd or 24th day of the last lunar month. Traditionally, it is an important day when people offer sacrifices to the Kitchen God who looks after the family.

Don’t forget to clean your home. This is also an important thing to do to prepare for the Chinese New Year. It means sweeping away the dust of the old year and welcoming a fresh start. Now, the last thing for you to do is to wait for the coming Spring Festival.

近年来，越来越多的外国人对中国的传统节日感兴趣。某英语网站正在举办主题为 “我最喜欢的中国传统佳节” 的征文比赛。假如你是李文，请写一篇短文向该网站投稿。

My name is Li Wen, a middle school student in China. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________