3 . How can you remember a song from your childhood to this day? Why do your teachers use songs to teach you English? It seems there is a scientific reason for this.

Researchers are now studying the relationship between music and remembering a foreign language. They find that remembering words in a song is the best way to remember even the most difficult language.

"Singing could be a new way of learning a foreign language. The brain likes to remember things when they are used in a catchy and meaningful way, "said Dr. Karen Ludke. The findings may help those who have difficulty learning foreign languages. On his blog, Dr. Ludke writes, "A listen-and-repeat singing method can support foreign language learning, and open the door for future research in this area."

Many language teachers know the value of using music and singing. Hua Zhuying, a teacher at a Chinese language school in Washington D. C. depends heavily on songs in teaching Chinese. She says, "I use music all the time to teach children Chinese. For little kids usually we use English songs but teach them the Chinese lyrics（歌词）. So it's easy for them to start because they know the music. Not only does it work, but it is fun for the kids." "Sometimes, I think if I were taught English that way, maybe I would speak much better English than now," Hua Zhuying adds.

Our brain likes music, especially for remembering. So, if you still have problems in learning a language, why not try singing it out?

4 . Yuan Longping, a great scientist, is the first person to develop a kind of hybrid rice （杂交水稻） which helps fight hunger in China.

Food was a big problem in China in the past. This was because China had 22 percent of the world's population, but only 7 percent of its farmland. In the 1960s, China suffered （遭受）serious hunger. Millions of people died because they had no food. As an agronomy （农学） teacher, Yuan was very sad to see this. “How can I help them have enough food?” he thought. He decided to work on a kind of hybrid rice. It has a high output（产量）.

At that time, other scientists didn't think hybrid rice was worth studying. But Yuan and his team worked on it every day. They took very good care of their rice seeds.

At last, in 1973, they grew a new kind of hybrid rice. This rice is strong. Farmers can grow it in many different kinds of farmland and also in bad weather. It can also fight disease. Its output was much greater than common kinds of nice. With the new kind, about 70,000,000 people could have food every year.

Yuan solved the food problem in China. But he is still working on rice. Before he retires （退休）, he hopes to grow rice in the sea!

5 . Valerie noticed that her daddy was going bald day by day. This worried her.

"Daddy, every day you have less hair. Why is that?"

Her father smiled, "Round here there's a little hair thief, and he visits my head during the night. He pulls out my hairs as many as he likes. And nobody can catch him!"

That night, Valerie stayed awake. As soon as she heard her father's first snoring（打鼾), she took a hammer(锤子)and went into her parents' bedroom. Being afraid of the thief running away, she slowly tiptoed in. When she arrived, she began to watch her father's head carefully, hoping to catch the hair thief as soon as he appeared. Before long, she saw a shadow on her daddy's head. With all her strength, she swung the hammer down.

Thwack! Her father yelped and jumped out of his bed. The lump(肿块)on his head was already big, and growing. He turned the light on, and saw Valerie holding her hammer in the air.

"I nearly got him, Daddy! I thought I hit him, but it looks like he escaped!"

Meanwhile, they woke Valerie's mother up. Seeing the lump on her husband's head, she laughed out loud. "Well, that's what happens when you tell silly stories, "she said.

So Valerie's father had to explain to her that the hair thief didn't exist, and that going bald is something that just happens naturally to most daddies. There he sat, realizing how important it was not to tell children tall tales. And Valerie still worried about her daddy, but she did something else. She bought her daddy a very nice sleeping hat.

6 . “Without music, life would be a mistake,” famous German philosopher(学家) Friendrich Nietzsche said over a century ago. Music is a big part of our lives. But in recent years, some US schools have cut music classes to control budgets.

For example, Chicago public schools hurt arts education when it fired over 1, 000 teachers. Among them, 10 percent of the teachers taught art or music, according to The Washington Times. In fact, this is not just a problem in the US. In other countries, such as China and the UK, music classes are not thought to be as important as ones like science, math and history. That’s partly because music is not seen as a very important life skill, and it isn't tested. Many students are busy with schoolwork, so parents and students choose to focus on subjects that are tested more often.

However, learning music is beneficial in many ways.

When playing music, you need different abilities to work together. It is not as simple as it looks, according to Kenneth Guilmartin of Music Together, an early childhood music development program. For example, when playing the piano, people see music notes and decode them in their brains. They also use their fingers to make sounds. You need to deal with all these things at the same time.

Music has a special connection with science as well. You can see that many scientists are good at playing music: Einstein played the violin, and German physicist Max Planck was talented playing the piano.

7 . It was nearly dark. The sun was dropping down the mountains far away. Little Tom came back home, with tears in his eyes.

“What’s the matter, Tom? How’s your trip?” his mother asked with a big smile. “ I failed. The mountain was so high and full of big or small stones on the way. I still went ahead. But I was tired and it was so late that I had to come back,” Tom cried. “ It doesn’t matter. You are only 14 years old after all. You will have another chance,” his mother said. “But, standing at the top of the mountain is my dream!” Tom said. His father came over and asked, “ Did you see the green trees on your way to the mountain?” “Sure, and there were a lot of beautiful flowers by the side of the road,” Tom replied. “Did you hear the birds singing?” his father asked. “There were many kinds of birds singing in the trees, and the sound was very sweet,” Tom said. “Did you feel the beauty of nature?” his father asked. “Yes, the blue sky, the white clouds, the green trees and the colorful flowers made a nice picture,” Tom answered. “That’s enough!” his father smiled and said, “Please remember, my son. For often, achieving what you expect is not the most important thing. Although you didn’t reach the top of the mountain, you have got a lot on the way.”

It is true that not every goal will be achieved, not every job will end up with a success, and not every dream will come true. The most beautiful scenery is on the way.

8 . Whether you are teaching an elementary Spanish class or passing on Spanish to your children, it is important to teach children good manners. And there are culturally appropriate（恰当的）behaviors that children need to know.

These five behaviors are considered good manners throughout Latin America. Of course, these are good manners in the U.S. too. But they are not given as much attention because the opposite behavior is not considered particularly rude. In Spanish-speaking countries, however, the opposite behavior is negative（负面的）and can change the impression people have of children（and adults）.

All of these good manners can be practiced by children with different language levels.

Good manners to teach kids learning Spanish.

1.When you hand something to someone, put it directly into her hand. Do not toss things at people.

2. Keep your feet on the floor. Do not put your feet on chairs.

3.When you move away from a group of people or leave a room, say Con permiso. Do not just walk away.

4. If someone sneezes, say Salud, which means "take care" in English.

5.When you arrive, greet everyone. When you leave, say goodbye to everyone.

There are lots of resources（资源）for teaching children good manners in Spanish. Many polite behaviors also involve language. Here you will find resources for teaching polite expressions, including books and a song. There are also You Tube videos that teach polite behaviors.

In my experience, kids are interested in what is considered polite behaviors in different cultures, and they want to learn to act appropriately. We work hard to teach them to use Spanish. It is important that they also know how to interact（互动，相互交流）so that others are comfortable and they can make the most of the language they have learned.

9 . There lived a family of four. Every one of them was a soccer lover. While three members of the family liked the Boxton Town team，the boy loved the Boxton Rover team. It was difficult being different from the rest of the family.

They watched the football match together as a family. When the match was between Boxton Town and Boxton Rover，the boy would be in great trouble. He could neither cheer for his favorite team nor could he cry when the opposite team scored.

The boy found it too difficult to support his team. When his team scored，he celebrated it in the bathroom. He cheered even when the opposite team scored as he knew his family would be watching him.

He hid the posters (海报)of his favorite team in his bedroom. He hid the clothes of Boxton Rover team behind those of Boxton Town team. The boy secretly liked his favorite team.Even for his birthday，he was always given the wrong gifts.

The end is very surprising. Now，you have to read it and enjoy. Does the boy change his favorite from being a Boxton Rover fan to a Boxton Town fan? Or does he change his family into fans of Boxton Rover? If you can find the answer，it is a funny short story to read.

Homeless people are young and old men and women.They come from many different places.Some have gone to school，others have not.Some are ill，some are not.In other words，they're all different，but they do have one thing in common：they don't have a good place to live.They need our love most.

Many homeless people stay in homeless shelters(收容所) for a while.Some live in the city parks or streets.Often，homeless shelters help them get food and clothing.They also provide activities for homeless children.