2 . In October, I told the eight-year-olds in the class I teach in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey, about my plan. “Since all of you have done extra jobs around the house to earn some money,” I said, “then we’ll buy food for a Thanksgiving dinner for someone who might not have a nice dinner otherwise.” I hoped they could experience a sense of their own power to bring change.

I watched them while they walked up and down the supermarket. “Flowers!” Kristine cried. The group rushed towards the holiday plants.

“You can’t eat flowers.”—It was wiser to use any extra money to buy something that could be turned into meals.

“But Mrs Sherlock,” came the begging voice, “we want flowers.”

Defeated finally, I put a pot of “funny” purple mums (菊花) in the cart full of foods. “She’ll like this one,” the children agreed.

An organization had given us the name and address of a needy grandmother who had lived alone for many years. We finally pulled up in front of a small house. A slightly-built woman with a weary face came to the door to welcome us.

My little group ran to get the foods. As, each box was carried in, the old woman kept on saying “Thanks.”-much to her visitors’ pleasure. When Amy put the mums on the counter, the woman seemed surprised. She’s wishing it was a bag of rice, I thought.

We returned to the car. As we fastened our seat belts, we could see the kitchen window. The woman inside waved goodbye, then turned and walked across the room, past the turkey, past the goods, straight to the mums. She put her face in them. When she raised her head, there was a smile on her lips. She was transformed (转变) before our eyes.

The children were quiet. At that moment, they had seen for themselves the power they have to make another’s life better. The children had sensed that sometimes a person needs a pot of funny purple flowers on a dark November day.

3 . Last month, a study was published that examined climate change’s direct effects on the Earth’s seasons. Scientists found a connection between climate change and the temperature and duration of the summer season. Summers in the Northern hemisphere(北半球) could last nearly six months by the year 2100 if global warming continues, according to the study. With the seasons off-balance, there will be harmful effects on human health and agriculture.

Yuping Guan, a physical oceanographer at the State Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and his colleagues combined daily climate data from 1952 to 2011 to get a sense of the start and end of each season in the Northern hemisphere. Over the nearly 60-year period, they discovered that, on average, summers grew from 78 to 95 days, while winters shortened from 76 to 73 days. The spring and autumn seasons also shortened. Guan and his team used the findings from the data to create a model to hypothesize (假设) about how the seasons would possibly change in the future. They found that if left untouched, summers in the Northern hemisphere could last nearly six months, while winters could contract to less than two months.

If the Earth’s seasons continue to shift, it will bring negative effects to human health and agriculture. Longer and hotter summers, for example, can cause mosquitoes and other disease-carrying insects to potentially expand their scope and land in places where they’re usually not found. “Because seasons influence the life cycles of plants and animals, climate change could disturb species’ ability to adapt,” said Scott Sheridan, a climate scientist. “If seasons continue to change, everything isn’t going to change perfectly as they should. If we take the example of flowers coming out of the ground, those flowers could come out, but bees aren’t there to pollinate them yet or they’re already past their peak.” With negative effects like these, human health and agriculture will face hardship while moving forward.

This study further demonstrates how cruel climate change is to humans, plants and animals, reminding us how much we are all connected with the environment we share.

The custom of lighting up flower lamps during the Lantern Festival has a history of over 2,000 years in China. Various kinds of flower lamps with diverse styles are popular in different parts across the country. According to some Chinese folk customs,     1     the fifteenth day of the first lunar month,     2    (witness) by a full moon hanging high above the sky, people will light up various lanterns at night to celebrate. It is the time for the whole family     3     (enjoy) the bright moon, fire firecrackers, guess lantern riddles, eat the rice glue balls and celebrate the holiday     4    (joyful). As a form of art, the Chinese flower lamp combines     5     variety of skills, procedures, decoration methods and raw materials. Typical flower lamp includes the dragon lamp, the palace lamp and the dragon- phoenix lamp, etc.

Today,     6     (economy) development and social progress provide the     7    (motivate) for upgrading designs and creative styles of lamps. Whether paper lamps, electric lamps     8     LED lamps, flower lamps have seen the changes of time.     9     has never changed, however, is craftsmanship. Flower lamp is more than a handicraft; It’s also an inheritance. Watching flower lamps has become a culture, which     10     (pass) down from generation to generation.

10 . I was waiting in a checkout line. A woman and two boys were ahead of me. At the cash desk, a white-haired man had begun to _________ his goods. Then came the question. Sometimes it’s a customer with multiple coupons (优惠券), or someone who forgot to _________ a piece of fruit. Fair enough. One waited.

But today, it was something else. The man didn’t have _________ money. So he began the process of choosing which _________ to keep and which to hand back. He paused over each one before keeping or _________ it. We waited. Longer lines surged ahead.

_________, his _________ came to an end. The man turned back to us as he left, _________ and apologetic. We waved off his chagrin (懊恼). It could happen to anyone.

But I had no idea just how _________ the family of three ahead of me were until their turn came. The woman asked the cashier to add all the __________ goods to her bill as quickly as possible. Then the two boys __________ through the exit with the small bag of groceries. When they returned, it was clear that their mission had been __________.

Then I __________ all it took to witness this flash of __________ was waiting a little longer in a checkout line. I could have caught the bus. But I felt so __________ on my feet that I walked home instead.