In a high mountain area in central Utah stands the world’s oldest, heaviest and largest tree, Pando. And it’s dying!

Pando means “I spread” in Latin and it’s a name that makes sense. Pando is a big group of trees that all grow from the same roots (根). They look separate but are all connected underground by their roots. With all these roots connected, the whole group of trees can share water and food.

________. In summer, animals (mule deer and cattle) feed on the new leaves, making it difficult for the trees to grow. The number of mule deer has even increased because their natural enemies (mountain lions, bears) have disappeared. The second problem is from people. Hikers and campers like this area because of the colorful leaves in autumn. But getting too close and stepping on the new growth has made Pando smaller and thinner over the last 50 years.

Protecting Pando is challenging. Putting fences (栅栏) around it to keep animals away has helped new growth. But deer are smart, and they’ve found ways to get through the fences. Other efforts have included cutting or burning part of Pando to encourage new growth. Pando grows back very quickly after a forest fire, and these fires do not reach temperatures that would kill its root system.

Michael Grant, one of the scientists who helped name Pando, warns if the trees are in trouble, the whole ecosystem will be in danger too. We need to make people understand the long-term effects of our actions.

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①700 years before the Wright brothers began experimenting with human flight, the Chinese had already got its secrets—with kites.

②Kites may have been invented in China as early as 500 B.C.E. While some kites were flown for fun, other kites provided key technologies for daily life. Chinese fishermen used kites to carry their lines far out to sea. Sailors used them to take a measurement of the wind.

③The Chinese craftsmen were very clever! They made their kites from bamboo and silk, and they came in all kinds of cool shapes, like 80-foot-long dragons. These kites showed off ancient China’s great technology. Their wings and tails could even move! As Chinese engineers experimented to make the kites fly even higher, they discovered the science of aerodynamics (空气动力学). They made the wings of their kites work like airfoils (机翼)—the same design used in modern planes.

④And the man-carriers were the most amazing Chinese kites. Ancient Chinese people may have made them a common sight by the 1200s. The kites were much larger than a small airplane. They were made from strong bamboo poles tied together and then covered with silk. During wars, Chinese scouts used man-carrying kites to fly high in the sky and spy on their enemies—similar to modern spy planes.

⑤In the late 1200s, the Italian businessman and explorer Marco Polo was amazed by what he saw in China, and he wrote a detailed description. When he returned to Italy, most people refused to believe him. They could not imagine that a person could fly.

⑥Centuries passed before Europeans learned the secrets—often by flying kites imported from China. In 1804, an English engineer, Sir George Cayley, built the first model airplanes. He used kites to make the wings. About 100 years later, American inventors, including the Wright brothers, also found ideas for their flight experiments by flying kites first.

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The Man in the Moon was quite lonely, and often he looked down upon the earth. One day he saw someone sailing up through the air. He was told everything was lovely on the earth, especially the pease porridge in a town called Norwich.

It made him more anxious to visit the earth. So, on a bright day, he slid (滑行) down a strong beam of moonlight. He slid faster and faster, and finally fell on the earth. He looked around curiously. Soon, the Man in the Moon—I mean the Man started to make a brisk walk to Norwich for the famous porridge there. After a long journey, he stopped at one house and asked politely, “Is this the town of Norwich?”

“Surely this is,” replied a woman.

“Could I get some cold pease porridge—the nicest porridge in the world?”

“Sure,” she answered, “come inside, I’ll give you a bowl.” The Man was so hungry that he took a big spoonful. But immediately he shouted, and began dancing around the room crazily. The porridge that was cold to earth people, was hot to him, and it had burned his mouth to blisters (水疱)!

“Why?!” the Man screamed to the woman, “Your porridge is so hot. It has burned me.”

“Nonsense!” she tried the porridge and found it very cold.

She ate what had blistered his mouth! The Man felt so frightened that he ran away as fast as possible. Seeing him running on the street, the policeman arrested (逮捕) him, and sent him to the judge.

“What is your name?” asked the judge.

“I’m the Man in the Moon.”

“That’s rubbish!” the judge said seriously, “you may be a man, but not in the moon—you’re in Norwich.”

“Well, then, I must be the Man out of the Moon.”

“Very good,” replied the judge, “what were you running for?”

“My mouth. A woman gave me some cold pease porridge, and it burned!”

The judge looked at him in surprise, “This person is clearly crazy. Take him to the hospital!”

“I have to get back to the moon,” thought the Man. On the way, he saw a big balloon was about to fly.

He tried his best to run away and climbed into the basket.The balloon went higher and higher, until finally the Man caught the edge of the moon! The next minute he was the Man in the Moon again!

Learn to Welcome Change

Have you seen new plant life, or felt the days getting lighter and longer? By seeing changes in nature, you can enjoy changes in your own life too.

    31     It may happen when you lose baby teeth and grow new ones, or when a tiny seed grows into a beautiful flower and fades at the end.

    32    We may have to change our daily   habits, like   moving   home, changing school or our favourite foods running out. These changes can feel uncomfortable, but it’s OK to feel sad or disappointed when things happen out of expectation.

    33     When you experience change, it is helpful to talk to someone you trust. Besides, try to notice how you feel in your body and also your thoughts.

    34    Get comfortable, sitting or lying down. Notice your breath-feel how you breathe in and out. Notice your thoughts in the same way —how they are coming and going. Just keep paying attention to how you feel and be kind to yourself.

    35    It can bring new opportunities. And remember, even when things seem difficult, the sun will rise again, flowers will return and there will be new adventures waiting for you.

John’s family moved into their new house a week ago. He didn’t like his bedroom and the ugly wallpaper had to go! When he pulled it off, he saw some ________ on the wall:101477-02:00-4.5ft.

They seemed like a code. John ________ what the numbers meant and who had written them. The first group of numbers may be the date. Could the wallpaper be ________ October 14, 1977? How about the second group?

“John, come here.” Dad called him in the backyard. John ran out and saw a sundial (日晷) there. The sun cast (投射) a shadow across it, showing almost ________ o’clock.

“They could be time!” John said ________. He ran to his bedroom and looked at the wall, “but I don’t understand the ________ part.”

Dad smiled. “Back in the 1970s, they used feet to measure (测量) things, ________ ‘4.5ft’ might be four-and-a-half feet. Let’s ________ what’s at four-and-a-half feet away from the sundial in the direction of two o’clock.” Then John walked step by step to measure.

“Do you think somebody ________ a treasure here?” asked John.

“There’s only one way to know it,” replied Dad. They started to dig. ________, John’s shovel hit something. John knelt down and pulled out an old box. Inside it was a ________ labeled (标记) “1977”.

Then Mum brought her an old tape recorder, put in the tape and played. After a few seconds, a ________ started speaking.“Hello, I’m Jane. I’m 10 years old. It’s October 14, 1977, and this is my time capsule (胶囊). I hope ________ finds it one day to enjoy the music of the 1970s!”

“I knew this song!” Mum shouted and began ________. John, swept up by the joy, laughed and danced along with her.

“I’ll hide my own time capsule with my favourite CDs, like Jane.” said John. It was the moment when John discovered the fun in his new house. Things could be old, but the memories behind them were ________.

Thoughts on Future Life

What will the world look likc in 2045? Last     56     (周五), I went to New York University and talk with four     57     (美国) students, Sorensen, Stark, Abdi and Polley, to get their thoughts on question.

The kids think humans will be able to live on Mars in several years. They     58     (建议) to spend a few years on the red planet to leave the Earth a “rest”. “And when we come back, must try not     59     (污染) our earth so much,” says Stark.

Polley wants to have an iPhone 35 in 2045, “with 35 lenses (镜头) on it.” But for now, she’s okay     60     a phone at all. She understands that phones can bring a lot of problems.

Stark     61     (梦想) to compose music for TV shows one day since he was little. Abdi wants to a business owner. Sorensen thinks about     62     (成为) a lawyer in the future, but he thinks he change his mind. M    63     he’ll work as a doctor. As for Polley, she wants to be a(n)     64     (艺术家) or an engineer.

Many jobs, the kids predict, will be replaced by robots because robots can help. But they believe power to shape the future is in human hands. The world will be a     65     (更好的) place, but of need to work hard, and we all need to learn more things.”

Recently researchers have made a new study, and they find     66     (child) benefit from learning to write by hand. Writing by hand can be more useful to our brain than typing (打字).

    67     study was done by a team at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.     68     (hundred) of volunteers were asked to either write a word on the touch screen or type it on a keyboard.

When volunteers were writing, many areas of the brains were active. This is because handwriting a word requires seeing letters and     69     (use) more skills to shape their brains.     70    , when they were typing, there were little activities in the same parts of the brain. In other words, when you’re typing different letters,     71     (you) fingers have the same simple movement. But when you     72     (write) by hand, you immediately feel that writing letter A is totally different       73     writing letter B.

The result shows that writing can     74     (real) help kids learn, especially when it comes to reading letters. More studies     75     (need) to know whether writing by hand helps kids remember things more than typing does.

76. 学校 English Daily 报刊正在进行一次“我心目中的研学活动”调查。请你写一篇英语短文，谈 谈你理想中的研学活动，包括活动内容安排和理由。

I’d like to have a/an _________________________ (interesting/relaxing/meaningful/…)study tour.______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________