5 .

If music makes you smarter and exercise helps you to think, surely exercising to music can turn you into a clever person.

A team of scientists from Ohio State University did experiments on 33 volunteers who were getting better from heart disease after operations. They found those volunteers who exercised while listening to Italian musician Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons did much better on language ability tests than without music. It is also used in medical fields for patients who have had head hurts because of its moderate tempo (舒缓的节拍).

“Exercise seems to cause good changes in the nerve system (神经系统) and these changes may improve the learning ability of people with heart disease,” said the psychologist Charles Emery, who led the study. “And listening to music is thought to enhance understanding. We just wanted to put the two results together,” he added.

The volunteers said they felt better after exercising with or without music. But their improvement on the test doubled after listening to music during exercise. The study has shown that music can be good for health and education. It helps reduce stress and sadness, relax or sleep better, wake up the body and improve memory and thoughts.

Scientists have been studying the results of exercise to music on learning and understanding since the early 1950s. A study shows that students who often exorcise to Mozart’s music get higher marks in an IQ test. With important exams drawing near, your parents will not probably (很可能) allow you to listen to music or play sports. But perhaps now you have good reasons to discuss it with them.

6 . Does talking in front of people make you shy? If so, you are not alone. Many people in the world have the same problem and want to make a change. However it takes time and effort (努力) to solve the problem.     1    

Find out the cause of your shyness. Do you become shy in front of new listeners? Please try to find out what you think of before the shyness comes out. You’re okay being around your family, right? Are they different from the strangers around you? Of course not.     2    

Put your attention on others. For most of us, when we think we will feel nervous if we speak up or stand out, we become shy.     3     When you stop paying attention to yourself, you stop worrying about yourself.

    4     You have got used to hearing your own voice. Record your voice just like you are having conversations with others. At the beginning you’ll feel like an actor, but soon it will become a habit. After doing it for some time, you will be able to voice your opinions bravely.

Stop comparing (比较) yourself with others. The more you compare yourself with others, the more you will feel shy because you may think you are not good enough.     5     Everyone else must have his own confidence problems too.

7 . Emma looked sadly out of the window of the bus. Only 50 miles outside town was the farm where she grew up. She thought about the farm all the time, especially the animals.

When her family sold the farm and moved to nearby town, Emma was excited. But when she got to the new school, she felt out of place. She had few classmates to talk to.

The bus came to a stop. “Welcome to the Nature Center,” her teacher said. “A guide will tell us something about the animals, and then you’ll help to feed the baby squirrels. Now, I want everyone to find a partner (搭档).”

Emma didn’t have any friends yet. Who would be her partner? Emma got close to Julia, a talkative and outgoing girl. “Could I be your partner?” Emma asked uncertainly.

“Sure,” said Julia warmly.

Together, the girls walked into the center. After the guide’s introduction to the animals, a keeper showed them how to hold the bottle of milk for baby squirrels.Then the girls started to feed their own baby squirrels.

After the babies finished eating, the keeper asked, “Would you like to help feed the adult squirrels, too?”

Emma was quick to volunteer, but when the keeper opened the first cage, a squirrel inside jumped out. Emma was calm, held out her hand, made quiet sounds, and then quickly got it.

“Wow! You are so brave!” Julia said. “You’re always so quiet. I thought you were afraid of everything.”

“I know that we have to stay calm when animals are afraid or excited.”

The keeper nodded in agreement and asked Emma, “Would you like to volunteer to help out with the animals at the center?”

“Cool! I would love to work here! That’s a great chance!” Emma replied cheerfully.

That afternoon, in the bus on the way back to school, Emma sat next to Julia, her new friend. The feeling of happiness washed over her.

8 . In traditional Chinese performing arts, there are many classic roles, like sheng, dan, jing, mo and chou. Most people usually pay little attention to chou. However, it is a very important part in traditional Chinese operas. The reason is that it joins beauty and ugliness together perfectly. In the past, the chou performer was the first one to get dressed and have his make-up done.

Usually there are two kinds of chou on the stage, wen chou and wu chou. Wen chou often has a white patch (小块) painted around his nose and takes the roles of fisherman, boatman, servant and so on. The other kind is wu chou. Wu chou performers often wear tight clothing (紧身衣) and move quickly. They are good at martial arts (武术) and can jump several meters high. They usually express themselves in loud voices and play humorous roles, for example, kind thieves.

Chou performers often make people laugh by their spoken parts and body language, instead of singing skills. Whether they look ugly or beautiful, whether the roles they play are officials or thieves on the stage, chou roles are all humorous characters in funny faces. They use the roles of chou to bring out the good qualities in people. Maybe it is the charm (魅力) of traditional Chinese operas.

Next time, when you are enjoying a traditional Chinese opera, you can probably understand the different beauty behind it.

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9 .

COMMUNITY CLEAN-UP

Who: West End Residents (居民)

Where: Corner of Ocean view & Maryland Avenue

When: 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 17th

Please join your neighbors. We’ll be painting and planting the flower boxes on Ocean view, cleaning up our parks and picking up the rubbish along the beach entrances (入口).

What You’ll Need:

We’ll be offering the paint, soil, plants, bags and gloves. You can also bring along whatever you might have. And of course, wear some protective clothes!

Not Good at Working in Groups.

That’s fine. We know not everyone likes to work in groups. If this is you, you can simply pick up around your block or plant flowers in front of your house.

But I’m a West End Business. How Can I Help?

That’s awesome (很好的)! You can play along too. Wash your sidewalk. Plant some flowers. Dress up your windows. Do as much as what you can. We’ll all be better off because of our common efforts (努力).

We’ll see you on Saturday! Any questions, email menallyjohn@ gmail.com.

10 . Some children are afraid to go to the dentist (牙医), but not me. I am a boy of eight and I have a funny dentist. His name is Dr. Toothy Smile. I don’t think that is his real name, but     1    .

He has a cool waiting room. It has video games and a big toy box. Dr. Toothy Smile always wears funny hats. Sometimes he has his face painted. He says funny things like “Are you married yet?” and “    2    .” That makes me laugh. One time, he told me this joke, “What has lots of teeth but never goes to the dentist? A comb (梳子)!” When I laughed,     3    . It didn’t hurt at all! He also uses interesting ways to teach me how to take care of my teeth. Before I leave,     4    . Last week he gave me a toy ship, and I liked it very much.