Frank was a very talkative little boy. Whenever he saw a new thing, he asked a great many questions about it. His mother was very_______. When there was time to answer his questions, she would do so.

The first time Frank saw an hourglass (沙漏), he was very ______, but he did not know what it was. His mother said, “An hourglass is made in the shape of the figure 8. The sand is put in at one end and runs through a small hole in the ______. As much sand is put into the glass as will run through in an hour…”

Frank watched the little stream of sand. He was very impatient, ______ it would not run faster. “Let me ______ it, Mother,” said he. “It is lazy, and will never get through.”

“Oh yes, it ______, my son,” said his mother. “The sand moves by little and little, but it moves all the time…”

“At night, the ______ in the hourglass has run through twelve times. When you look at the hands of the clock, you think they go very ______, and so they do, but they never stop. The hour hand of the clock has moved all around its great face. This is because the hands of the clock ______ working every minute. They do not stop to think how much they have to do, and ______ it will take them to do it.”

Frank seemed to understand something.

The great sale is coming this weekend. Come on! Choose some interesting books from our online bookstore.

	One day, Mr popper receives a box with a penguin （企鹅）inside! He names it Cook and helps him find a wife. When the Cooks have ten cute baby penguins, Mr popper starts to worry about raising them.
	Are you interested in fine art? This book can help you understand art in an easy way. It shows different art styles. Also, you can enjoy many great artworks and learn about the life stories of forty artists.
	Little Nutbrown Hare is very cute in the book. He shows his father how much he loves him. Then the father also shows that he loves Little Nutbrown Hare much more.

He was the only gray cub (狼崽) of the she-wolf. The other cubs had red in their hair. He was gray like his father. He was the strongest cub. He showed more anger than his brothers and sisters. He made more noises.

He was a carnivorous animal. He came of a breed of meat-killers and meat-eaters. His father and mother lived wholly upon meat. In his first months of life, he lived on mother’s milk, which was transformed directly from meat. And now, at a month old, when his eyes had been open for but a week he was beginning himself to eat meat.

There came a time when there was no meat. For many days the cubs did not eat. They were too weak and tired to play. One-Eye, the cub’s father, was killed in the fight over food. Even the she-wolf left the cave to find meat, but there was nothing. One by one, the cubs died. Only the she-wolf and the gray cub were left.

One day the gray cub ran out of the cave to hunt for his own food. He met a weasel (黄鼠狼) of his size. The rat-like animal ran at him and bit his throat. He was nearly dead when the she-wolf arrived just in time to kill and eat it.

The gray cub was not good at hunting yet, and still needed food from his mother. One day, the she-wolf brought him a lynx (猞猁) kitten. While eating, he heard great noise. The kitten’s mother had followed the she-wolf here. The she-wolf and the she-lynx started to fight, and they would fight to the death. This was enough to give the she-wolf the chance she needed. The lynx was dead, but the she-wolf was badly hurt. For a week, she did not move. The gray cub had to find food for both of them.

Without his mother to take care of him, he learnt what life was about. Without meat there was no life. Animals had to eat other animals to survive. The law was: EAT OR BE EATEN.

(—Taken from White Fang)

What do you usually do in your free time? Do you watch short videos on some apps? According to the China Internet Network Information Center, the number of short video users reached 773 million in March, 2020. That is, about 86% of all Chinese Internet users are watching or making short videos, or both! If you say short videos are only popular in China, you’re wrong. TikTok has more than 800 million users around the world.

Many users like short videos. They say the videos not only make them relax, but also teach them useful skills. “I love watching Lao Qiao’s short videos on my phone,” Francis, one of the short video users, says. “Lao Qiao is a famous cook and his videos are my favourite ones. From his videos, people can learn how to make Shanxi noodles in no time at all.” However, quite a few people think short videos aren’t that good. “There are many other ways to relax, like watching movies, reading books and playing sports, ” they say. “All of them are more meaningful to people.”

What’s more, if people start watching the short videos, they can hardly stop. There are always new ones waiting for them, so they always spend hours on them. Some educators say people shouldn’t spend much time on short videos. “Most of them are just for fun,” they say. “They don’t teach people to think or to improve themselves. It’s not good for the people, and not good for society, either.”

In the past 200 years, more than 130 kinds of animals have become extinct (灭绝的). One of these extinct kinds is the passenger pigeon. At one time there were     46     these birds in North America, but now there are none. The last one     47     in the Cincinnati Zoo in 1914. Another extinct animal is the cape lion. The animal has been extinct since 1860. What     48     animals to become extinct? Too much hunting is one cause, and pollution is     49    . Governments around the world have begun to     50     in danger. In the United States, the US Fish and Wildlife Service is responsible for endangered animals. It has listed nearly 200 kinds of endangered animals in North America.

Shaunese Alexander and her four children-Destiny, Trinity, Serenity, and Joshua live in Maryland, the US. They are the founders (创始人) of Popcorn Munchies, one of the fastest-growing popcorn brands in the country.

It all started when the kids, especially Joshua, realized that they loved eating popcorn while watching movies at home. Their mom finally bought a popcorn machine so that they could make popcorn similar to how it’s done in movie theaters by themselves.

Shortly after, they were experimenting with recipes (食谱) and decided on the best one, caramel (焦糖), “It was so good,” Shaunese says, “that we decided to share it with neighbors, friends, and family. They loved it so much that we began receiving more and more requests to make it.”

When the COVID-19 pandemic began, the kids had no other choice but to stay at home and be bored. But Shaunese did not let their valuable time go to waste. She encouraged them to improve their skills and learn the whole process from start to finish. Shaunese also encouraged them to start their own popcorn business and learn to be little entrepreneurs.

Not long after, Popcorn Munchies was born!

When their business officially started, it went well. They quickly began receiving orders from all over the country and sending the popcorn to customers. They also made personal deliveries (递送) to local customers living nearby. So far, the business has been a success with so many orders. For the children, it has especially been a good thing to work with their mom and also to see their hard work pay off. And no doubt, the business lessons they are learning will turn them all into future entrepreneurs a bigger level when they get older.

76. 假如你是来自阳光中学的Jane，看到红山动物园要招募志愿者，想要加入，请根据下方表格的提示，写一封自荐信，加入动物园俱乐部，以便更好地贡献自己的力量。

Yours sincerely,

Jane