Natural disasters can hit anywhere, anytime, and being prepared is the key to staying safe. Earthquakes, typhoons (台风), and floods are common natural disasters that can cause terrible damage (破坏) and bring serious threats (威胁) to safety.

Earthquakes suddenly shake the ground, often without warning. To stay safe during an earthquake, people had better “Drop, Cover, and Hold On” until the shaking stops. You can find a strong table to hide under and hold on.

Typhoons, known as hurricanes or cyclones in other parts of the world, can lead to strong winds and too much rain. Before a typhoon arrives, storing necessary things like food, water, and batteries is important.

Floods can happen when rivers run over because of too much rain. To prepare well, avoid building homes in the areas where floods often happen and place important electrical appliances (电器) up off the ground in your home. Having an emergency plan is also a must.

By understanding these disasters and taking action, communities and people can reduce the risk of harm and recover (恢复) more quickly after disasters happen.

2 . What do you do with your pocket money? Buy game machines or sports shoes? Hang out with your friends? To save it or to spend it, that is a question.

Actually, it’s meaningful to save your pocket money because you never know what is going on tomorrow. For example, if you lose your bike, you need to buy a new one. However, without enough pocket money to spend on a new bike, you have to walk. Therefore, how can you manage your pocket money wisely?

Create a budget. List your incomes (收入) and costs, and think about how to spend the money. Then make a plan to buy some necessary things.

Open a bank account. Parents can put pocket money directly into your bank account. A bank can be magic! You put your money in it and your money will grow in a month. Why? It’s because the bank pays you interest. Big banks usually have an interest rate (利率) of 1.5 percent for a year.

Try second-hand products. Does being environment-friendly while saving money sound like a good choice to you? Then try second-hand products. They are cheaper than the new ones, which can help you save money. There is a highly recommended website for second-hand products.

So, you are able to get experience of dealing with banks and deciding whether to save or spend your money. These are all steps towards becoming a financially (经济上) independent adult and looking after your own money.

4 . Lin Tao, a young boy in Shenyang, realized the value of voluntary work after doing community service.

Last month, his school organized a volunteering event. He repulsed to take part at first, because he thought it was meaningless. All the other classmates signed up for the event actively and his teacher encouraged him to join them. Therefore, he decided to have a try.

The event was held at a local park, where students got together to clean up litter, plant trees and paint walls. Lin Tao thought the work was boring and tiring. However, under the instructions of the teacher, all the students kept working hard. They worked tirelessly even though the sun was shining brightly and the day was hot. Passers-by stopped to admire their work and even some adults joined in to help.

By the afternoon, the students changed the park completely. Every corner of the park was free from rubbish and the park looked cleaner than before. The students sat down on the freshly cleaned chairs, tired but happy with their work. They not only made the park a better place but also got a sense of achievement.

After the event, Lin Tao volunteered as often as he could, whether taking a part-time job at a food bank or helping younger students with studies. Through volunteering, Lin Tao helped his community and he was on the way to being a role model.

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5 . Have you ever thought of living in weightless conditions in space? Do you want to go through daily life as an astronaut in the space station? In fact, ordinary people have no chance of this kind.

James, a university student whose childhood dream was to be an astronaut, managed to take part in an important project carried out in a lab in his university. He was chosen to be a group leader of eight students. They had to live in the closed lab where the living condition was similar to that in the space station.

James was proud to be an “astronaut” and couldn’t wait for it. After several days in the lab, he and his group members found that the daily life there was more difficult than expected. Growing crops (庄稼) was one of their daily tasks. However, no crops came up though they tried to do everything they could. The students worked together day and night to find the solution. One day when they found one crop came up, James couldn’t help crying with cheers. Everything seemed to go smoothly, and before long, 30 kinds of crops were able to grow.

The students were also required to record their health like blood pressure every day. They were watched by scientists outside. Luckily, the students kept healthy until the end. The aim of the whole project was to collect useful information to better living conditions for astronauts in space. In total, James’ group stayed in the lab for 200 days. This set a world record for the longest stay in a simulative (模拟的) space station.

It’s likely that you have received some junk (垃圾) messages and calls from strangers. Your personal information is leaked (泄露). In the digital era, there is a lot of personal information.     1    

How is your personal information leaked?

It begins with information collection. People scan a QR code (二维码) to order food in a restaurant, but it asks for phone numbers. In some companies, fingerprints often need to be recognized to do some business work.     2     They can get phone books, photos, and positions. However, the collected personal information may be leaked for marketing or other uses.

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If personal information falls into wrong hands, it will probably lead to some serious results such as online bullying or telecom fraud (电信诈骗). For example, if your social media account is stolen, a cheat may mimic (模仿) you to talk with your parents or friends and ask for money.

How can we protect personal information?

Although many laws have come into effect in China, it’s important to raise awareness of protecting personal information. Think twice before sharing personal information online, especially on social media.     4     Above all, do not click uncertain messages or emails.

Confucius was a wise man in ancient China. He is such     1     great thinker that many people still know about him and his ideas.

“Ren” was considered to be the     2     (important) among Confucius’ ideas. This special word means being kind and caring about     3     happens in the world. Confucius also talked about “Li”, which means knowing the way to act     4     (proper) in different situations.

Confucius started a school     5     (spread) his ideas and thoughts. He believed that everyone, whether rich or poor, should have a chance to learn. This idea changed the way people thought about education.

The book, The Analects (《论语》), records many of the things that Confucius said. His students wrote     6     (they) down so that other people could learn from him too. In modern times, The Analects     7     (use) almost every day by lots of people because it has wise advice that can help us in our lives.

One idea Confucius had about learning was that it never stops. He said that if people wanted to get improvement, they should check themselves three    8     (time) a day. This is a very important idea, because the world is always changing and we need to keep up     9     it.

Confucius’ ideas     10     (be) around in people’s everyday lives since they appeared. They become more and more popular in Western countries and South Asia.

Every student was preparing for the Sports Day in the school. When Jeff decided to join in the 1,500-meter race, the other students felt amazed. Jeff was too ________ and running was very difficult for him. Although he ________, he didn’t improve at all because he was over-weight.

On a training day, Jeff fell down and some classmates played a joke on him. He felt sad and wanted to give up. At that time, his teacher, Betty, ________ the situation and came over to stop their bad behaviors.

“Jeff, do you know how a ________ flies high in the sky?” Betty asked softly.

Jeff looked up with his watery eyes and ________, “The wind lifts it up?”

Betty ________. “You are right. The kite can fly higher and higher only if the wind blows strongly. Similarly, you have to face the ________ in your life just like the kite and the wind.” Jeff understood what Betty said and focused more on ________.

On the Sports Day, Jeff managed to ________ the race and surprisingly won the third place. All the classmates cheered for him and felt ________ about what they had done before.

Remember: It’s not about never falling; it’s about getting up bravely every time you fall.

10 . This was the big game. The boys were ________ and excited. It was a clear night, and my son Andy’s baseball team, which had ________ all year, had shocked the better teams by making it to this championship game. The atmosphere was ________ : the other team’s slugger (强击手), a big kid, was like a snake, dangerous and ready to ________ .

Nervously, I looked out Andy’s way. I was ________ to see Andy looking straight up at the night sky! Obviously he wasn’t ________ on the game. I was horrified that he wouldn’t even know the ball was coming.

“Come on, Andy. ________ out there,” I said to myself.

Thank goodness the big kid made a mistake. We (Andy and I) had been ________ , and our team still led by one run.

Andy ran up to me at the ________ . I was about to ________ him when he said loudly, “Did you see that shooting star?”

Andy’s eyes were glowing (发光) with ________ . I paused.

“Yes,” I said. “Well, one inning (局) to go. Hit a home run (全垒打)!”

“Okay!” said Andy, and he ran back to his ________ .

I suddenly realized it was nice my son would take time out to ________ the wonder and beauty in life. You might be surprised by the beauty you can find when you least ________ it. Andy hit a triple in that last inning. But I still wish I had ________ that shooting star, too.