The traditional Chinese solar calendar divides the whole year into 24 solar terms. “Cold Dew”, also     1     (know) as “Han Lu”in Chinese, falls on October 8 or October 9 each year. Temperatures are much lower and the dew (露水) is     2     (great) at this time.

Here are three things you should know about Cold Dew. Firstly,     3     (eat) pomegranates (石榴) and hawthorns (山楂) that are both ripe during Cold Dew is a tradition. Pomegranates     4     (treasure) for their health benefits while hawthorns are thought to improve blood flow. Besides, Chrysanthemum (菊花) is the symbolic flower of Cold Dew.     5     (prevent) autumn dryness, people in China have the custom of drinking chrysanthemum wine. This is also a tradition of the Double Ninth Festival,     6     often falls around Cold Dew. Finally, it is     7     great time for fishing.     8     the Cold Dew period, temperatures decrease quickly and sunshine doesn’t reach deep water entirely. So fish usually swim to the area where the water is not deep and the temperature is     9     (relative) high. That is why people always say that fishing in shallow water areas in autumn     10     (make) sense.

3 . Jack London, one of America’s major writers of adventure tales, was born in California in 1876. During his life, London worked at many jobs. His broad life experiences would become the background for his writing.

London, loved to read. As a teenager, he spent many hours educating himself at the Oakland, California, public library. He attended college at the University of California at Berkeley, but he stayed for only six months. He though Berkeley was “not lively enough” and wanted to do something more exciting.

London wrote stories about working people and the hard times they had making a living. He knew their problems first hand. He worked as a sailor, farmer, factory employee, railroad worker, and gold prospector, to name just a few of his many jobs.

London grew up near the waterfront in Oakland. He loved the water. When he was fifteen years old, he bought a small sailboat called a sloop. Later he sailed to Japan on a schooner, which is much large sailing boat. Like many people of the time, London caught the Klondike Gold Rush Fever. In 1897, he headed for Alaska. He didn’t find gold, but he discovered something even more valuable. He discovered that people enjoyed listening to the stories he made up with his vivid imagination. London entertained the miners with story after story. Later, using his experiences during the Gold Rush, he created many more colorful stories.

London resolved to live a full, exciting life. He once said, “I would rather be a superb meteor (流星), every atom of me in magnificent glow,than a sleepy and permanent planet.” Each day, he pushed himself. Once London determined that he was going to be a writer,nothing could stop him. His goal was to write at least one thousand words everyday. He refused to stop even when he was sick. In eighteen years, the writer published fifty-one books and hundreds of articles. He was the best-selling and highest-paid author of his day. Many people also considered him to be the best writer. White Fang and The Call of the Wild are his most famous stories and are about surviving in the Alaskan wilderness. Readers can enjoy Jack London’s energy and his talent for telling wonderful stories each time they open one of his novels.

5 . What makes a person a giver or taker? The idea of “give vs. take” take shape in all interactions and relationships of our lives. We’re either giving advice, making time for people, or we’re on the receiving end. We keep changing between the two based on different situations on a daily basis, if not a hourly one.

According to Adam Grant, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, most people are matchers. They make careful observations on takers and make it a point for them to pay something back. They hate to see people who act so generously towards others not receive any rewards. Actually, most matchers will try hard to promote and support givers so that they can get the good they should get.

Is there a gender factor (性别因素) that plays a part in this?

A study led by Hannah Riley Bowles, a professor at Harvard University, focused on this question. She asked 200 senior managers to sit down in pairs where one person would act as the boss and the other as a worker to discuss salary promotions. Male “workers” asked for an average salary of $146k while the females asked for only $141k. But why did they not bargain as hard as the men? Simply because they were more likely to be givers.

As a woman, I do enjoy the act of giving up my time, my knowledge, and my care and attention to others. I don’t expect anything in return, but I do tend to pull myself away when I feel like I’m being taken for granted (理所当然). I also tend to get upset when I see a loved one’s continuous actions of kindness go unnoticed. So, it’s safe to say I’m 50% giver, 35% matcher and 15% taker.

I do know someone, however, who is 99% giver. They’re constantly giving their time, sharing valuable ideas and going our of their way for everyone who crosses their path. Although they’re changed the lives of many people , they rarely see any of it returned. But the universe is slowly repaying them; they’re now extremely successful, well known for what they do.

6 . A club called We Dine Together was formed at Boca High School in Florida last autumn. During each lunch period, ________ make their way around the school courtyard looking for students who are eating ________. They then introduce themselves and get to know the students.

Estimon, who came to the US from Haiti in the first grade, is one of four students who ________ We Dine Together. He said having been the ________ kid before, he knew how it felt to be ________. And he didn’t want any other kid to have ________ problems.

“When I first arrived, I had a great feeling of loneliness, which was more ________ during my lunch break,” said Estimon. “If we don’t try to make that ________, who’s going to do it?”

Allie, who also helped organize the club, got emotional while ________ what it was like to sit alone at lunch.

“It’s not a good feeling — you’re ________. And that’s something I don’t want anybody to ________.” said Allie. “Meeting someone who actually ________ and listens to what you have to say really makes a difference.”

Since the club was founded, dozens of ________ and friendship have already been formed between teens who may not have met ________. Estimon and his friends are planning to ________ the success. “We’ll open clubs in schools across the country — no matter where anyone lives, they have the chance to make friends.”

7 . A Cappella Competition

Do you love to sing?

Come and show off your talents at the Chilton Youth A Cappella Competition

October 20th, 11:00-17:00

Edward Greatcoat Theater, Sealey Road, Chilton

Rules

Please remember that this is a cappella (清唱) competition!

No instruments or recorded music will be allowed.

Competitors may sing published or original songs in any style.

Competitors must be between 8 and 15 years old.

There are four categories (类)：

Solo (8 — 11 years old)

Solo (12 — 15 years old)

Group (8 — 11 years old)

Group (12 — 15 years old)

Competitors under 2 years old must stay with a parent or other adult at all times.

Each competitor must pay an entry fee of $10.

Winners will receive $500 and a course of 20 lessons with famous voice teacher Vickie Leonard.

Winners will be decided by three judges from the Chilton School of Music. Their decision is final.

Additional information

Please arrive at the Edward Greatcoat Theater between 9:00 and 10:00 to register, as the competition will start at 11:00. The parking lot has limited spaces so you are advised to come as early as possible.

Shared dressing rooms with showers will be provided for all competitors.

Tickets for the competition are available at the theater from October 1st. There is no charge for these, but again, spaces are limited.

8 . We know more about the surface of the planet Mars than we know about what is at the bottom of Earth’s oceans. Until recently, scientists had mapped only about 20 percent of the sea floor. But our knowledge of the deep sea is changing because of information from satellites. Scientists have produced a new map that provides a detailed picture of the oceans.

The new map is twice as detailed as the map made 20 years ago. David Sandwell is a geophysics professor at the Scripps Institution of Oceangraphy at the University of California. He and other scientists worked on the mapping project. He says they turned to space to look deeper into the ocean.

“The way we’re doing that is to use a satellite altimeter (测高仪) a radar (雷达) to map the topography (地形) of the ocean surface.”

The scientists collected and studied information from two satellites. One was the European Space Agency’s Cryo-2 satellite that was placed in Earth’s orbit to watch sea ice. The other satellite is the American space agancy’s Jason-1, studying the surface of the oceans. Scientists combined the satellite data with images gathered by equipment on ships. The equipment works by sending sound waves through the water. When the sound waves hit something, its existence is confirmed.

The new map shows the sea floor as it has never been seen before. In one place ,three mountain ridges (山脊) join at the same area. “It’s called the Indian Ocean Triple Junction. It’s one of my favorite spots in the ocean. You have three plates — the African plate, and the Indo-Asutralian plate and the Antarctic plate — all connected at this one point in the center of the Indian Ocean,” says David Sandwel.

The map is powerful tool for those interested in protecting the environment and for oil exploration. It also can help ships travel safely and improve scientific projects worldwide. Of course, scientists will make many more discoveries as they examine the new map and the information it provides.

10 . I was ready to pay for my bananas at the grocery one night when fear seized me. My wallet was gone. I could only have left it on the G9 bus, which was now speeding in the dark to some _________ station.

The _________ moment was quickly followed by mental math. How much time and money would it cost to replace the _________ of that little wallet? The credit cards, the driver’s license, the cash, all lost to the bus.

Two hours later, back at my house, I heard a knock on the door. My husband _________ it while I was on the phone in the dining room. “Does Jennifer live here?” I heard a lady say. In my husband’s hand was my wallet, with not a penny _________. She left before I could even make it to the door to offer my thanks.

After sharing the story online, I heard from someone, who _________ the lady as Erin Smith. Without delay, I called to thank her. She said she _________ my wallet on a bus seat. She calculated that going to a stranger’s house was a _________ move, but she decided to take the chance. “If I were in that _________, I would want someone to try to find me,” she said.

This one stranger responded beautifully to my small __________, but she actually wasn’t the only one. Right after Erin __________ my wallet on the bus, she posted a picture of my driver’s license to an online forum (论坛), trying to see if anyone knew me. No sooner did she leave my doorstep than I had __________ from two women whose kids go to my son’s nursery and who recognized my face. I’ve never __________ words with those moms beyond small talk, but they wanted to help. I read that people are more divided than ever, but that’s not how the people I __________ tend to act.

Looking back, I feel blessed someone had wanted to help a stranger. Erin had gone beyond what almost anyone would have done, finding my house on a bitterly cold night, and for that I was extremely __________.