“Everybody, it’s time for our group project. Let’s get to work!” says Ms. White.

Amy is the leader of one group. She is not _______ forward to working with her group because a boy named Ray is always absent from the group meetings. He doesn’t follow the rules, and he _______ to do any work. This slows the whole group down.

Amy considers telling Ms. White about these problems, but she doesn’t want to get Ray in trouble. _______, she decides to talk to him and find out what the _______ is. She says, “Everyone is working hard on our project. But so far, you haven’t done anything. Is there something wrong?”

Ray thinks _______ for a few seconds, and finally says, “It’s not that I don’t want to be in the _______. Sometimes, I don’t really understand the things we’re learning. I know it’s not fair, but I don’t want to say something stupid, so I do _______.

Now Amy understands. Ray isn’t _______ he just needs help! “From now on,” she says, “I will do my best to help you feel more confident(自信的). Then you can do your share, and it will be _______ for everyone. “Thank you! I’ll try hard to do my part.” says Ray.

Amy feels happy. She realizes that ________ about problems is better than keeping them as secrets.

A big company wanted a manager, so John went there. In the interview the director asked him a question.

“Who paid for your school fees(学费)?”

“My mother paid for them by washing clothes.”

Hearing this, the director asked John to show his hands. John showed a pair of hands that were smooth and perfect. The director said, “When you go back today, go and clean your mother’s hands, and then see me tomorrow morning.”

When John went back, he happily asked his mother to let him clean her hands. However, his tears fell as he cleaned his mother’s hands. It was the first time he noticed that there were so many bruises(伤痕) in his mother’s hands. After finishing the cleaning of his mother’s hands, John quietly washed all the remaining clothes for his mother.

The next morning, John went to the director’s office. The director noticed the tears in John’s eyes and asked, “Please tell me your feelings.” John said, “First, I know what appreciation is now. Without my mother, I would not be successful. Second, by helping my mother, now I realize how difficult it is to get something done. Third, I have realized the importance of family relationship.”

The director said, “This is what I am looking for to be my manager. You can get the job.”

Lisa was born and grew up in a small town. She is a great makeup(化妆) artist and has a shop on a busy street.

One morning, she arrived at her shop early, but no customers came. She turned on the TV and began to watch the local news.

To her surprise, there was some big news that day. A bad person had run from prison(监狱) the night before and was hiding in the town at the time. The police were trying their best to catch the person.

Lisa turned off the TV and wanted to do some cleaning. But suddenly, a man ran into her shop. Looking at him carefully, Lisa realized he was the bad person. She was so afraid.

“What ... what do ... you ... want, sir?” she asked.

“I want you to make me up! Do it quickly, or I’ll kill you!” the person said.

Lisa had to follow his orders. Half an hour later, she finished the makeup. The person looked at himself in the mirror and said, “You did a really good job. I can’t even recognize(认出) myself!”

The bad person then went out of the shop. Out on the street, he thought that no one would recognize him. However, two policemen soon came near and caught him.

Do you know how the police caught the bad person?

While the start of a new school year is always exciting, this year was even more for some primary school students in Auckland, New Zealand. They became the world’s first kids to be “taught” by a digital (数码的) teacher. Before you start imagining a human-like robot walking around the classroom, Will just appears on the computer or smart phone screen.

Will has a look of a man in the 30s and he acts just like a human. The digital teacher now teaches “Be sustainable (可持续的) with energy”, a free programme for Auckland primary schools. This programme used to be taught by humans. Its purpose is to educate kids about energy use and the different forms of renewable energy. Just like the human teachers, Will can not only answer the kids’ questions, but also react (回应) to their facial expressions. For example, if a student smiles at Will, he will smile back.

The inventor of Will says using a digital human like Will is a great way to send new information to people.

Will has been a great success. He easily captures (吸引) students’ attention and the kids love him. However, no matter how popular Will becomes, he will be unlikely to replace human teachers. For one, Will won’t have as much knowledge as human teachers. And more importantly, there are always unexpected situations in class, and even the smartest digital human won’t know how to deal with them. However, the digital teacher could come in handy as a private teacher, providing kids with one-to-one help on some subjects or topics.

Recently, a very simple sentence, “Amazing, my motherland” has been     46     known in China. As we know, China has     47     quickly these years and it has become     48     the most important countries in the world. Foreigners     49     to this ancient eastern country—China.

Lily, an Australian girl, has lived in China     50     she was sixteen. She is     51     in a university in Nanjing now. Great changes make her amazed. “I think finding jobs is     52     in China than that in Australia. I will work here after I finish my school work in Nanjing.” Lily said.

In Nanjing, we can find new buildings     53    . The great changes are much more than before. The     54     are so surprising. China is developing the trade and the friendship with other countries. China is playing an important role     55     the world.

Do you know crosstalk? It’s also known for its Chinese name Xiangsheng. It is a famous Chinese show in the form of a dialog usually between two people. It came into being in Beijing in the late Qing Dynasty. It began as a form of the street show, and it also borrowed from other arts. No matter what the form is, crosstalk just wants to make people laugh.

Crosstalk is one of China’s most popular performing arts. Modern crosstalk usually has four skills: speaking, imitating (模仿), teasing (逗笑) and singing. Some stories come from everyday life, popular ideas and hot news. Some come from history stories. Crosstalk is full of fun. So if something makes you unhappy, you can enjoy a crosstalk show.

Nowadays, you can watch crosstalk in tea houses and theaters. Of course, you can also listen to it on the radio while taking a walk or driving a car. And you can watch it on TV with your family.

61. 10月4日是世界动物日，你校组织以“I Want to Be a Volunteer of Protecting Animals”为题的英语演讲比赛。假如王明参加比赛，请你以王明的名义写一篇英语演讲推荐自己，内容如下：

I Want to Be a Volunteer of Protecting Animals

Hello, everyone. I’m Wang Ming. I want to be a volunteer of protecting animals. I’m glad to make a speech here.___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Thank you for listening.