Matt loved science, and he wanted to be the Science Star of the week. Now he was presenting his experiment (实验) in Mrs. Perry’s class.

“Let me show you ________ to keep an egg in the middle of the glass.” Matt dropped an egg into salt water. But it fell to the bottom.

“Look, Matt’s blushing! (脸红)” Coco shouted. Matt covered ________ red face with hands. That evening he ________ The Book of Wonderful Science Experiments. When it came to the last page, he smiled. “This is the right experiment ______ me! It’s impossible to fail this time.”

The next day in front of his class, Matt spread small pieces of paper onto the desk and rubbed (摩擦) a spoon with cloth. “The spoon will lift up the paper.” He raised the spoon, but ________ happened. The paper lay still.

“Matt’s blushing again!” Emily pointed out. Matt was ________ and ran back to his seat with his red face.

“Becoming the Science Star seems so ________,” Matt thought. That night he couldn’t sleep, “I have to make it, but the only thing I could do right was blushing.” Suddenly, a ________ came to his mind.

The following morning, Matt appeared before the class again, ________ his Mickey Mouse ears.

“Mouse ears on the head are your experiment?” Someone ________ and Matt’s face burned.

“No, watch my ________! Blushing is my experiment,” Matt answered. Everyone quieted down.

Matt continued, “When you feel stressed, your blood vessels (血管) in the face open wide and fill the skin with blood, ________ you blush.” He showed a picture of blood vessels. “I’ve ________ many times to control blushing, but now I know it’s a normal part of being human. So the best thing to do is to ________ it.” The class cheered and Matt’s red face lit up the whole classroom.

“Matt is the Science Star of the week,” Mrs Perry announced. Matt walked ________ back to his seat. What a perfect day!

Some years ago, our head teacher, Mrs. Water decided to start a school newspaper, and get as many students as possible to take on the job of producing it and parents, too. She felt the newspaper would help them learn more about school life, through articles on things like sports achievements and art projects, which not all students know about if they’re not taking part. Students took the whole thing very seriously—and we now have a prize-winning newspaper!

Some of my friends joined the newspaper team immediately and enjoyed it. I’d always loved creative writing and drawing cartoons, which I thought would be perfect in the newspaper, so I signed up. My dad, who’s a reporter, was pleased, he thought that even though I wasn’t fond of a job like this, the newspaper would be a great chance for me. And he was right—I loved it! Dad often came along to give advice, which was popular with the students. It was difficult sometimes, if he was busy, but he learned a lot about the school that way.

My first job was writing a report about a sports event, a writing style I’d never tried before. But Dad reminded it was similar in some ways to writing a story, getting information in the right order. Once I’d understood that, there was nothing stopping me and after my first efforts, I developed quite a professional (专业的) style, which was fantastic. Sometimes the team couldn’t use what I’d written, or my cartoons, for whatever reason, but I didn’t mind. And sometimes it was hard to finish articles on time, but I usually got there.

I’m now one of the editors (主编), we decide what goes into the newspaper, so our names no longer appear in print. And it’s stressful sometimes as we don’t have much time, but we try to manage that properly. We also correct mistakes in people’s articles, which we all get used to, and we are doing it without thinking much and in our own schoolwork, too. However, I still put off allowing people outside to give comments (评论) on articles now, and I guess it’s all good experience—at least, that’s what Dad says!

Nobody likes making mistakes. But no one is perfect. If you can learn from mistakes correctly, they can move you forward. If you have made mistakes that harm other people, it is important to offer a sincere apology (道歉) in person. A good apology will probably make the other person forgive (原谅) you. If you refuse to apologize, the person hurt by you will hold it against you.

If you are living a life being afraid to make mistakes, you will spend most of your life doing nothing. There is no harm in making mistakes. It is essential (必要的) part of going forward. The more duties (职责) you take, the more mistakes you will probably make.

Unluckily, it is natural to give justifications (辩解). When you make a mistake, you often first complain about someone else. When mistakes are made, the boss won’t fancy your justifications. Sometimes it is best to say, very simply—“Yes, I made a mistake.”

Mistakes happen for different reasons. To avoid repeating them, you need to understand the main reason. For example, you may have made a mistake by saying some unkind words. If you make mistakes because you are tired, try to get more sleep. If you are stressed, look for ways to relax and stay away from the stress of work.

You should avoid feeling guilty (内疚的) about making mistakes, but at the same time, you should make a decision to lean from them. If you repeat the same mistakes, it shows you aren’t making progress and they cause repeating suffering (痛苦). Often mistakes are caused by bad habits. To avoid making the same mistakes, you need to break bad habits. The sooner, the better.

The Spring Festival is the most important festival for Chinese people.     41    

Do you know why? Here are the reasons why people like to eat dumplings and fish.

With a history of more than 1,800 years, dumplings are considered as a traditional Chinese food.     42     It is said that the more dumplings you eat during the New Year celebrations, the more money you can make in the New Year.

On New Year’s Eve, it is a tradition to eat dumplings with cabbage and carrots, meaning that one’s skin will become nicer and gentler.     43    

In Chinese, fish sounds like surplus (富余).     44    

They think if they have managed to save something at the end of the year, then they can make more in the next year.

Besides, there are rules related to the position of the fish.     45    

People can enjoy the fish only after the one who faces the fish head eats first. The fish shouldn’t be moved. The two people who face the head and tail of the fish should drink together, as this is considered to have a lucky meaning.

What is happiness? Everyone has his own idea. I’d like to share some of my     51     with you. I feel happy when I’m with my family. My parents give me a lot of support. They never compare me with other kids. For me, happiness is having a loving and caring family. I also feel happy while     52     my best to help others. Last week, I visited a special school for students with weak sight or hearing loss. It is difficult for them to write and read Pinyin, so I taught these students how to     53     and write. First, I     54     down “a, o, e...” on the blackboard. Then I taught them to read.     55    , I corrected their mistakes when they practiced. For over three hours, I repeated the same work, but I didn’t feel     56    . My efforts     57     paid off. And I can never forget their smiling faces. As an old saying goes, “The rose is in her hand, the flavor in mine.” And I have     58     to help more people. For me, happiness is also helping others in need.

Most of us use alarm clocks to wake up at the right time for school or we look at our watches to know the right time for the bus or train. However, there is also a “clock” inside our bodies—the biological (生物的) clock—to tell us when to eat, sleep, exercise, and even take medicine. The latest finding shows that we must listen to it.

Eva Green exercised every morning. She woke up at 6:00 am and ran about two miles before she went to work. But Eva’s legs and back started to hurt. So she did some exercise before running. And she tried to run slowly, but the pain didn’t stop. Eva talked to her doctor. The doctor said, “Don’t run in the morning. Exercise later in the day. That is the time when your body is at the right temperature for exercise.” She did as the doctor said, and her legs and back didn’t hurt anymore.

Today, doctors are learning more about the biological clock. They are learning about the importance of time to our bodies. For example, it is best for people to go to sleep on time every night and to eat only when they’re hungry. Also, doctors discover that some illnesses, such as heart attacks, happen most often in the morning. The information tells them that the best time to take heart medicine may be at night. When patients take medicine at night, they may prevent a heart attack in the morning.

Many doctors believe chronobiology (生物钟学) can help us live a healthier life. It may be the right time to listen to these doctors.

Nowadays, a new method is used to decide who are the top students in school. The best students are those who not only get high marks, but also follow the rules and the behavior standards (标准) for middle school students. Here are some of the new rules and standards.

Tell the truth. Have you ever copied someone else’s work on an exam? If you have, don’ t do it again. That’s not the thing an honest student should do. If you have played computer games for two hours in your room, don’t tell your parents you were doing homework. Life is full of the things that you haven’t expected, but it doesn’t matter. Because the real life is like this. Just tell the truth.

Learn to work together with others. It would be more fun when more people work together. Did you fight with your teammates when your basketball team lost? Only working together can make your team stronger. Be friendly to the people you are with. Try to think of others, instead of only yourself.

Be open to new ideas. Have you ever thought that people could live on the moon? Perhaps you’ll discover the second Earth someday. Don’t look down the new ideas. Everyone’s ideas are important. You should welcome them, because new ideas make life better for everyone. If you can reach this standard, you may be the best students someday.

Use the Internet carefully. Some websites on the Internet aren’t for kids, so make sure to visit the web pages that are good for you. A top student visits “Green” websites in normal condition. You can visit the websites for fun or homework. Can’t you find any good websites for children?

On a winter afternoon, we     70     (take) an English exam in the classroom. After the exam, we would enjoy     71     (we) winter holidays. I didn’t worry about the exam because I was both good at English     72     the so-called top student in my class. So I needn’t review English. The teacher went into the classroom several     73     (minute) in advance. Then she gave out the test papers to us. At     74     (one), I felt it was quite easy. However, when I finished half of the paper smoothly, I felt it was becoming more and more difficult. I had ever learned some words but I just couldn’t remember them. What’s     75     (bad), I was influenced by these difficulties and my brain went empty. I knew I would fail the exam. I regretted not preparing well for it and being too     76     (pride) of myself.

It was time to hand in papers. After school, I walked on the way home     77     a heavy heart. The experience has taught me     78     lesson—hard work     79     (be) the only key to good results.

80. “一粥一饭当思来之不易，一丝一缕恒念物力维艰”。勤俭节约是中华民族的优良传统，即使现在我们的生活条件有了极大的提高，我们也不应该浪费资源。假如你是班长李平，上周你们班举行了以“节约食物”为话题的班会，你的英国外教Peter对班会内容很感兴趣。请你根据以下信息给他写一封信，介绍班会的情况，并说说中学生应该如何避免浪费食物，并号召大家共同节约食物。

How are you doing?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Best wishes!

Yours,

Li Ping