The spider (蜘蛛) king held a competition to see who could make the best web (网). Several spiders ______ the competition. Arty could make a web in the shape of flowers. Insects (昆虫) would find Arty’s web ______ and fly to it. Scrawny could complete a wide web fast. Smiley was good at making sticky (黏的) webs so insects couldn’t get away once they ______ Smiley’s web.

As the three finished their webs, the king found it hard to decide who should be the ______ because they were all excellent. Then he     35     to see which web could catch the largest number of insects. Arty’s web caught three insects, but his web were ______. Scrawny’s web caught four insects because it was wide. However, they also broke his web ______. Smiley’s web caught the most insects as it was almost ______ for them to get away from his sticky web, but his web wasn’t beautiful or wide.

Finally, the king said, “You’re all successful in some ways. But I have a(n) ______. Why don’t you work together and create a web with your advantages?”

After the competition, the three worked together to create the best web with their excellent ______. They even set up a school to teach others to make a web so they would build a better spider country.

What difference does global warming (全球变暖) make to people’s lives? Many people may not know how to ______ the question because they don’t see any direct changes in climate.

They mostly live indoors in a city, and their climates are in ______ there. If it rains, they stay inside. If it’s too cold or too hot, they try to change the ______ of the room.

However, for farmers and those living closer to the land, the relation between global warming and them is ______. Although they’re not sure if the changes in weather, bad or good, have anything to do with climate change, they can say over time that things are ______ to seem different. They notice that lowers and other plants are growing earlier in northern parts of the world. This causes them to change ______ times for plants. At the same time, farmers will ______ more natural disasters in the United States, Russia and many other places.

The worst thing about global warming is probably that ______ the warming happens, it makes further warming faster. The high temperature is ______ for the natural environment of many places, such as the Arctic. No matter where we live, we must know about global warming and ______ to fight it. If we don’t do this, the future of our planet will be in danger.

Two years ago, Porter was ten. He knew his father’s friend had cancer. Porter and his father went to see him. Porter made a carrot cake and brought it to him because it was the friend’s favorite treat. Porter’s grandmother also had cancer. Porter felt he should make a difference.

One night Porter talked with his dad and came up with a plan to help people with cancer. They called it “Nothing But Carrot Cake”. They would sell carrot cakes, and the money would go to cancer research.

Porter’s family gave him $ 1 ,000 to get started. That was used to buy some things needed to make the cakes. And then, Porter’s business started. He sold more than 200 cakes and raised over $ 10,000. That was about $ 9,900 more than he had ever thought. “My goal was to raise $ 100. I never thought I’d ever raise that much,” Porter said.

Porter’s dad also encouraged him to join in a competition to draw iced tea. It asked kids to draw a picture of their own favorite flavors (口味). Porter created a flavor and called it “Porter’s Peach”. After he handed in his drawing, a staff person of the activity learned more about him. His story made the leader of the company join the fight against cancer.

Porter will continue helping people in need. “I hope doctors can find better treatments for cancer.”

Are children smarter than adults? The answer is “yes” when they learn new things. A new study shows that kids pick up new knowledge and skills faster than adults.

The study was carried out by famous scientists around the world. In the study, some kids and adults learned the same lessons of new information and skills. The children were 8 to 11 years old. And the adults were 18 to 35 years old. The scientists looked at their GABA (Y-氨基丁酸) levels before, during and after these lessons. GABA is a chemical (化学物质) that our brains produce. It helps us remember newly learned information.

According to the study, the GABA levels in the children’s brains increased quickly during the lessons. This increase lasted for several minutes after the lessons were over. In the adults, however, there was no change in their GABA levels during or after the lessons.

The scientists tested their learning. The results found that the children did learn better. They learned more in the same amount of time than the adults.

This study encourages people to give children more chances to learn new skills. It could also be used to help adults learn faster. “We might develop a new technology, for example, to increase the amount of GABA in adults’ brain,” said one of the scientists.