It was mid June, and it was very hot. There was a large desert in Africa with no sign of life except a little rose. There was not a bird or tree in ________. The sand became piles of burning coal as the days went by. But the little rose still _______stood in the sun. The sun was very surprised to see the rose’s ability to ________such terrible conditions.

One day, the sun said to the little flower, “Dear, rose! I am the strongest power in this universe. I have the _________to give and take life. Thousands of living things die every day, _______they are not able to stand my heat. But you have been suffering even my hottest rays without any doubt. May I know the reason that gave you this huge__________? ”

“Oh, dear sun,” the little rose said gently, “I don’t know much about this desert. But it appears large and there seems to be ________in the whole world. I begin to feel ________for the loneliness of this desert and decided to help it as possible as I could. And in this process, I never ________anything that made me sad. I just want to be a good friend to the desert and get rid of it loneliness.”

Touched by the little rose’s care for the large desert, the sun offered a __________--millions of other roses that filled the desert with their sweet smells and turned the whole desert into a great oasis(绿洲) of life.

            by Walter D. Wintle    

If you think you're beaten, you are,

If you think you dare not, you don't.   

If you'd like to win but you think you can't,   

It's almost certain you won't.       

If you think you'll lose, you've lost.   

For out of the world we find     

Success begins with a person's will,   

It's all in the state of mind.    

If you think you're outclassed, you are.   

You've got to think height to rise;   

You've got to be sure of yourself,   

Before you can ever win the prize.       

Life's battles don't always go,   

To the stronger or faster man.   

But sooner or later the man who wins,   

Is the one WHO THINKS HE CAN.

“I will think of it.” It is easy to say this, but do you know what great things have come from thinking?

Sir Isaac Newton was sitting in his garden when he saw an apple fall from a tree. He began to think and tried to find out why the apple fell. Then he discovered how the sun, moon, and stars are kept in their places.

A boy named James Watt sat quietly by the fire, watching the lid of the kettle move up and down. He wanted to find out why the steam in the kettle moved the lid. From that time he went on thinking and thinking. And when he became a man, he improved the steam engine so much that it could easily do the work of many horses.

James Ferguson was a poor American boy. Once, seeing the inside of a watch, he wondered. “Why should I not make a watch?” But how could he get the materials to make the mainspring(钟表的主发条)?He soon found he could make it with whalebone(鲸骨). He then made a wooden clock which kept good time. His motto(座右铭)was “I will think of it.” And he made his thoughts useful to himself and the world.

Boys and girls, when you have a difficult lesson to learn, don't lose heart, and don't ask someone for help before helping yourselves. Think, and by thinking you will learn how to think to some purpose.

Remember, I had crashed in the desert a thousand miles from any inhabited place. Yet my little man seemed neither to be hunger nor thirst or fear. When at last I was able to speak, I said to him, “What are you doing here?” And he repeated slowly, as if he was speaking of a great result, “If you please-- draw me a sheep...”

It might seem funny to me. I took out of a sheet of paper and my pen. But I told the little chap(家伙) that I did not know how to draw. He answered, “That doesn’t matter. Draw me a sheep...”

So then I drew a sheep for the first time.

He looked at it carefully and said, “No, this sheep is already very sickly. Make me another.”

So I made another drawing.

My friend smiled gently, “You see yourself, this is not a sheep. This is a ram. It has horns.”

So I did my drawing again. But it was refused too, just like the others.

“This one is too old. I want a sheep that will live a long time.”

By this time I lost my patience, because I was in a hurry to start taking my engine. So I drew this drawing.

And I drew the last one for him. “This is only his box. The sheep you asked for is inside.”

I was very surprised to see a light break over the face of my young judge.

“That is exactly the way I wanted it! Do you think that this sheep will have to have enough grass?”

“Of course,” I said. “It is a very small sheep.”

He smiled, “Not so small--Look! He has gone to sleep...”

And that is how I knew the little prince.

                                                               --An excerpt from The little prince

Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover

Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve loved reading crime and detective (侦探) novels, so I guess it was pretty normal that I started writing them when I was older.

However, my family is very big on having a traditional career   (职业)   and so when I said that I wanted to go to college and study writing, my parents told me that I couldn’t. They told me that I had to study for a degree so that I would achieve a career, and not something as risky as writing.

I suppose I could have studied journalism (新闻) ,but I didn’t want to lose interest in writing because it would be something I would do every day for work, not for pleasure.       

I thought that teaching looked like a pretty good compromise (妥协 ) , especially because of the long holidays.

It was a good choice: by the time I was twenty-five，I’d already finished two novels and had an agent.To be honest, I never meant to keep my being a crime writer a secret or anything, and my friends have always known. One of the reasons most people don’t know is because my agent told me that my name Hazel sounded too much like a romance   (浪漫)   novelist for older women. She suggested Brooke Lane and I thought, “Well, if you think it’ll make me successful, okay,”

I’d totally forgotten about it until I walked into school one day and saw one of my workmates reading my novel. I asked her some questions about it, and it was so clear that she had no idea that I’d written it - she even offered to lend it to me after she’d finished!   

Of course, sometimes I wonder what my students would think if they knew that their teacher was going home on the weekend to write about murders and dead bodies, but I think my parents probably did me a favor: my teaching job keeps me in touch with the real world.

We brush our teeth every day but few people know how well we’re brushing. Today, a French company has introduced an electric toothbrush, which can work wirelessly(无线地) with a smart phone. It’s called the Kolibree toothbrush. It has different models, and will cost from $99 to $200.

Users download an app and connect via Bluetooth, and the Kolibree will record：

The toothbrush will also be able to talk to other apps on your phone, so developers could create a game controlled by your toothbrush. That would be very interesting.

The Kolibree toothbrush was invented by Thomas Serval. He says the idea of inventing it came from his experience as a father. He would come home from work and ask his kids if they had brushed their teeth. They always answered “yes”, but Thomas used to find their toothbrush heads dry. He decided that a kind of brush was needed to tell him how well they brushed their teeth.

Thomas says that one day, it’ll be possible to use a brushing unit with a camera. The camera can even examine holes in your teeth while you brush.

How to Face Grade Nine

We have been here in Grade Nine, one of the most important years of us students, for over two months.Some of us feel good, while some do not. How should we face this year?

First of all,                                                                                   

Face the year bravely. It is you who shape your life and future!