Special homework was given to the students in Grade Four at a primary school in Foshan, Guangdong this April, that is to say, the children must _____________ 100 million grains (颗粒) of rice. A maths teacher Miss Chang asked her students to ______________ the homework in two days. If some students _____________ to finish in time, they would go on counting the rice at the weekend. Some parents thought that if it took a _____________ to count three grains, it would take more than a year to count 100 million grains of rice.

____________, others thought it was a good idea. A parent surnamed Lin said it could   ___________students to use their brains. “I will ____________ my daughter to count 100 or 1,000 grains of rice first, and then _____________ them and multiply (乘以) the figure to reach 100 million grains of rice. So she will have a clear _______________ of the number 100 million,” she said. “The special homework could _____________ help develop children’s patience,” Lin added.

Some Internet users also praised the special homework for encouraging children to __________ new ways to do their homework.

Miss Chang said earlier this week that she hoped the students could learn knowledge _____________ practical activities. She said she was _____________ that 10 of her more than 40 students had finished the special homework by using cups or other _____________ to count the rice. The homework helps students develop their abilities to _____________problems. It’s good for them.

It seems that a cat and a mouse just can’t get along well. Cats always like to catch mice. When a mouse meets a cat, the mouse will try to run away as fast as possible.

Once upon a time, on a sunny fall afternoon, a young mouse ran around for fun under a tall tree by himself. He kicked up a small piece of rock. The rock went up to the air then dropped down hitting a baby cat. The baby cat was only a few weeks old. She looked at the mouse and said to herself, “He must have lots of power because he could kick up a piece of rock to hit me.” She felt scared.

It made the young mouse very proud. He told his friends, the other mice, “Everybody says that a mouse is afraid of a cat, but today a cat was afraid of me.” So the mouse said that he would not run away any more. His friends explained that it was just an accident. The baby cat was too young to know a mouse. When the baby cat grew up to become a big cat, it would be different. So the other mice advised the young mouse that he must still run away when he saw a cat. But the self-important mouse would not take the advice.

One year later, the baby cat grew up and became a big cat. One day, under the same tall tree, when the big cat showed up, all the mice ran away except the young mouse. He remained staying there without moving.

In another minute, the most stupid mouse was killed by the cat without realizing the reason.

In an Italian school, the students are taking a science lesson.

Mr Marco, their teacher, explains, “For part of our lesson today, some of you are going to visit the Lakeside Park to study trees in natural surroundings. You will be looking carefully and thinking about the conditions trees need to grow.”

Mr Marco and the group walk to the woodland where there are many beautiful trees. The students are required to match the trees with the names of three trees on their question paper. Two students try guessing the height of young trees. Then they measure the distance from a young tree to the parent tree by counting their steps between the trees. One of the students reminds them to stay on task and follow the group. The rest of the group see several trees matching the descriptions on their task list and run towards them.

Mr Marco gives the students three large plastic bowls with three labels (标签). The students begin to search under each tree and find things to fill the labelled bowls. They put the things they find into a bowl labelled red birch. Then they find the other two trees, a Tibetan cherry, and a paperbark maple with red and orange curly leaves. Once the students have finished, they relax, draw and make notes.

When the group return to school, Mr Marco gives them special glasses to look through. They begin to sort and order their collections. Two of the students put tiny seeds between two pieces of glass.

They examine them carefully. Two more students pour water into a metal container (容器) to cover some leaves and dead flowers. They put on special gloves to stir the liquid (液体) as the container heats up on a hotplate. Two other students are drawing and taking notes.

Then Mr Marco calls the group together. The group tell the class about the things they saw and the results of their experiments (实验). Mr Marco thanks the group and says he hopes to see the results of their experiments growing in the school garden.

Many schools want to see young children spend more time learning. Some get rid of nap time. They think time spent sleeping is wasted time. And they feel kids may not really need to nap (午睡) anyway.

Ending afternoon naps might be a mistake, though. A new study looked at school nap time. It shows that going without a nap can cause problems for some children. That makes it harder for them to remember what they learn. The new study was done by Rebecca Spencer and Tracy Riggins. Both are scientists who study learning and memory.

Children need less sleep as they get older. However, children are not all the same. They stop needing to nap at different ages. Some stop napping every day by age 4. Others still nap daily at age 6. Also, the need to nap doesn’t just suddenly disappear, Spencer said. It can come and go as children develop. Children grow very quickly. All that growth can be tiring. Children may be fine without naps at one point. A month later, they may need to take naps again.

All children need a good night’s sleep in order to remember and learn. However, some children need more sleep than others. To keep what they’ve learned, these children need to nap during the day. Nighttime sleep just isn’t enough. Riggins and Spencer set out to prove this. They asked children at six preschools to play a memory game. After the children finished the game, some were told to nap. The others were kept from napping. The following morning, the two scientists brought the children back.

They wanted to test how much the children remembered from the day before. They found some big differences. Students who were kept awake forgot more than students who had napped.

Scientist Peg Oliveira has also studied nap time. She says school naps can be particularly important for kids who might be suffering from (遭受) tough times at home. They often get less sleep at home than other kids. Some do not have their own room. Others may be homeless at times.

“Those kids might not be having a solid night of sleep,” Oliveira said. For them, school nap time is extra important.

Last year, my school organized a table-tennis competition for all fourth-year students. I took part in it. My first match was    61    Emilio Ramos, who used a special bat to hit the ball really hard. It came over the net so fast that I    62    saw it. I never stopped running and jumping, and soon I was out of    63    and had very little energy left. I was     64    that Emilio would easily beat me, but then, suddenly, he stopped. He had an injury to    65    left ankle and he needed help from the school nurse. So at last, I won the match surprisingly.

Nowadays, students’ spare time is always full of tiring and boring homework and many students have to attend after-school classes at weekends. Their hobbies     66    out sometimes. Under such great pressure, students are in great need of a hobby. A hobby can make us    67     ourselves. I have been interested in playing badminton since I was six years old. My grandfather taught me how to play it. I think it     68    my lifetime hobby.

I really enjoy the time spent playing badminton. I become more energetic after I play badminton and can put more effort into my studies. At the same time, some students in my class like playing badminton so much that they    69    a team and already taken part in several competitions against other classes.

Badminton has brought me a lot. I think everyone     70    to develop at least one type of hobby which can keep their life full and happy.

Jamie Oliver is one of the Britain’s most talented and successful chefs (厨师). He has always had a passion for food and cooking.    81    This is where he learned much of what he knows today. However it wasn’t until later, while working at the well-known River Café, that he was discovered by people working in television. At just 21, Jamie became famous with his first series television programs that have been shown all over the world.    82    A lot for someone so young to achieve!

As his success grew, Jamie needed a new challenge. He wanted to “give something back” to the cooking business.     83    Many of the young people who came to work there hadn’t done so well at school or had problems finding work, so this was like a second chance for them. 　　　　　　　　　　　
TARGETING SCHOOL FOOD

Realizing that he could create real, positive change through food and cooking, Jamie turned his attention to the food given to British children at school.     84    He knew things needed to change. Understanding the power of television, Jamie based himself in a school cafeteria and proved that with hard work, change was possible. Jamie’sSchoolDinnerswas again shown all over the world.

Jamie also decided to make a difference in people’s homes.    85    In 2010, he also developed a new qualification (资格), “Jamie’s Home Cooking Skills”, which is offered in high schools around the UK and teaches children practical cooking skills and basic food knowledge.