Most of us think the telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell.

However, he wasn’t the first person to think of the idea. In fact, an Italian _______ Antonio Meucci was officially recognized (认定) as the inventor few years ago.

Who is Meucci and why wasn’t he _______ for his invention at the time?

Antonio Meucci was born in Italy in 1808. He studied _______ and drawing.He discovered_______ sound could travel through metal cables. When two places were connected with wire, people in those places could hear each other talk.

In 1850, Meucci and his wife, Ester, moved to New York. Meucci was _______ about his wife, because she had become very ill. He needed to keep in touch with her all times. To solve this problem, he connected metal cables between his home and his workshop. This way, they could talk to each other _______.

Meucci invited a group of people to see his new invention. They listened in _______ as the voice of a singer was heard through a wire.   

Unfortunately, only _______ people attended this talk. Even worse, Meucci never applied for patent (专利)on his invention. Meanwhile, Alexander Graham Bell was working _______ the same idea and in 1876 the patent for telephone was given to _________.

In 2002, more than a century after Meucci’s death, his work was finally recognized by the government. He will now be known all over the world as the telephone’s inventor.

Mike was reading in the garden when his mother came. She pointed to something and asked Mike what it was. Mike felt quite ________, but he told her it was a sparrow (麻雀) and got back into reading.

Several minutes later, his mother pointed to the same sparrow and asked the same question again. Mike got a little angry but ________ answered her question. After a little while, his mother did the same thing once more. This time Mike could not ________ his anger. He shouted at her for ________ him again and again.

The old lady silently ________ an old diary, turned to a page and showed it to Mike. Though a little impatient, Mike began to read it.

"Today, I was watering the flowers in the garden when little Mike pointed to a ________ on the grass and asked me what it was. I ________ at him, said it was a sparrow and kissed him. After a while Mike asked me again and I did the same. Pointing to the same sparrow, little Mike asked me what it was twenty times and I ________ answering his question and kissing him every time."

Something gently touched Mike's ________. His face turned red with _________ for being so impatient to his mother and he hugged her tightly.

Your parents have given you many things in their lifetime, but you may not realize that until they are gone.

Have you ever heard of e-waste, which can be produced every day? How do you deal with your computers, MP4 players and mobile phones when they’re broken or you want a new one?

Most people just throw them away. With the development of electric industry, e-waste pollution has become a serious problem. According to the United Nations, people around the world produced 41.8 million tons of e-waste and only recycled 6.6 million tons. The US was the biggest waster, producing 7.1 million tons. China came second, with   6 million tons.

It’s important to pay attention to e-waste. It can either be valuable or harmful. The value of the metals, like gold and silver in the waste around the world, is amazing. And the metals can be reused. But if people throw them away, the toxic Chemicals（有毒化学物质）can get into the earth or air, effecting the environment and people's health.   

Apple, for example, now recycle people’s used products in China when they are buying new ones. The company will test and repair the used ones and sell them at lower prices. To help reduce（减少）e-waste, we can also take computers and phones to see if companies offer recycling programs.

Dubai is a city of big business, expensive hotels, skyscrapers(摩天大楼), and shopping malls.

In the early 20^th century, Dubai was a successful trading port. People from the world stopped in Dubai to do business. But it was still a small city, and most people lived as fishermen and business men. Then in 1966, oil was discovered. This brought a lot of money into the area, and soon Dubai began to change.

Today Dubai is one of the world’s most important business centers. In fact, each year the city gets its money mainly from business, not oil. Recently Dubai has attracted more and more visitors from abroad. They come to relax on its beaches, and every year, millions of people visit just to do some shopping.

Dubai is also one of the world’s fastest-growing cities. Many tall buildings are built in months. The city also has many man-made islands. One of these, the Palm Jumeirah, is like a palm tree(棕榈树) and is very beautiful.

The city is still an amazing mix(混合体) of people from different countries. The people from 150 countries live and work in Dubai, and foreigners now outnumber Dubai natives(本地人) by eight to one!

Many people welcome the city’s growth. But an increasing number of Dubai natives worry about the speed of change. As a Dubai native says, “We must always remember where we came from. Our kids must know we worked very, very hard to get where we are now, and there’s a lot more work to do.”

It’s the lunchtime break at a middle school in Shanghai. No mobile phones can be heard ringing anywhere. The common sight of crowds of children chatting on their phones or sending short message has disappeared.

A grade 8 student said, “I couldn’t concentrate(集中注意力) during classes if the cellphone was with me. I couldn’t help checking if there were messages of missed phone calls. I even played games on the phone sometimes."

The school says they feel the ban is necessary to keep order in class. They even gave out an open letter to remind parents not to let their children bring mobile decision. The school is also flexible(灵活的) in implementing the ban. Those students who live far from school are allowed to bring mobile phones to get in touch with their parents. But they still have to turn them off in classrooms.

Medical experts have also welcomed the school decisions. They say too much dependence on mobile phones can cause many psychological(心里的) problems for school students.

We’ve heard about several “poor students” in the past year. Cui Qingtao, a student from Yunnan, working with his parents on a building site when he got an admission letter (录取通知书) from Peking University.     36     She is a student from Hebei. She was doing her part-time job in a different city when her family got her admission letter from Peking University.

    37     For example, they are all strong and optimistic (乐观的). Li hui said in an interview, " As long as we are alive, there are no problems that cannot be solved, and many people don’t have my experiences.     38     ”   Such an idea makes many adults feel embarrassed. He refused to accept donation money and decided to make money by himself. This is also the common thing that “ poor students “ have.

Whatever kind of values you hold, such personalities are necessary for growth.     39     Not everything goes well all the time. Only being strong and optimistic can one go through difficulties. In fact, living in poor families doesn't promise such good personalities, and living in happiness doesn't promise optimistic attitudes (态度). We like such “poor students ”because they are strong and optimistic.

For them, few can choose their lifestyles.     40     That’s why they are highly praised. Every one of us should learn from them.