1 . Blowing Up Balloons with CO₂

Chemical reactions (化学反应) make for some great experiments. You can make use of the CO₂(carbon dioxide) given off by a baking soda (小苏打) and lemon juice reaction to blow up your balloon!

What you’ll need:

●Balloon        ●About 40ml of water        ●Soft drink bottle

●Juice from a lemon          ●I teaspoon of baking soda

Instructions:

●Before you begin, make sure that you pull the balloon long to make it as easy as possible to blow up.

●Put the 40ml of water into the soft drink bottle.

●Add the baking soda and mix it with water.

●Put the lemon juice in and quickly put the balloon over the mouth of the bottle.

What’s happening?

If all goes well, then your balloon should inflate! Adding the lemon juice to the baking soda creates a chemical reaction and produces CO₂. The gas rises up and escapes (逸出) through the soft drink bottle. It doesn’t, however, escape the balloon, pushing it outwards and blowing it up.

Hangzhou is a city lying in Zhejiang Province, eastern China.     1     (be) an important southern stop of the Grand Canal that goes to Beijing, the city of Hangzhou is just     2     wonder and must-see scenic place to tourists.

As one of China’s seven ancient     3     (capital), Hangzhou has a history of more than two thousand years. It     4     (describe) by Italian traveler Marco Polo as the finest and most luxurious city in the world. The large number of scenic areas in Hangzhou can satisfy everyone’s     5     (curious). The West Lake scenic area,     6     contains over 60 cultural relic sites and several attractions of natural beauty, is no doubt the most famous. Taking a walk by the lake, you’ll feel the     7     (peace) atmosphere of the city and better understand its time-honored fame as “Heaven on Earth”.

Traveling to Hangzhou is also a chance     8     (experience) the happy and relaxing lifestyles of local people and enjoy delicious Hangzhou’s dishes, like the Beggar’s Chicken, West Lake Fish and Dongpo Pork. At night, the city     9     (have) much to offer. Choosing a tea-house overlooking the West Lake for a pleasant chat over a cup of tea is sure to make you feel     10     (total) relaxed and refreshed.

4 . When it comes to a public library, you usually think of books and computers for people to use. You can even think of educational lectures and concerts that are often held in the library. But few people would expect to have a farm in the library.

But why not? After all, with rising costs, food safety is a community-wide issue. The Cicero Public Library near Syracuse in New York solved this problem by building a farm on its land. When Meg Backus saw all the open space in the library across the street from the building, he realized it could be used to benefit the community.

The farm was created in 2011 and in the beginning, 40 members of the library brought seeds (种子), water, and supplies to see if they could grow food on the land. It turned out that they could. To get the needed supplies for a larger farm, the library began to work with the organization Syracuse Grows Agency.

The community farm donates (捐赠) over 200 pounds of fresh produce (农产品) to local food banks every year. Half of the growing area is used as the Food Educational Garden. The other half is used by growers themselves. During the year, there are educational programs held at the library to teach people how to garden. There are also a lot of gardening books that can be used at the library.

Lauren Rosenstein, a worker of the library, said that she felt like she was giving something back to the community. “You’re really making a difference as a local community because you’re growing the food that people are eating.”

My dad was a cleaner in my school. When I was 12, I decided to study hard to have a life different from his.

One day when Dad asked me to play basketball with him, I just replied, “I’m busy. I want to study well so that I can become a rich man. I don’t want to be a cleaner like you, Dad!” He was shocked (震惊的), but I didn’t care and continued studying hard. Finally, I graduated from high school with honors, and decided it was time to break free from my dad and follow my dreams.

“Dad, I got a scholarship to a law school in California,” I told him. “I’ll leave in 3 days.” My dad was surprised but proud of me. As I left for the airport 3 days later, he said, “Son, wherever you go, welcome back home.” I ignored his words and flew to California.

After I graduated, I found a great job there. Later, I was made manager and earned much money. I no longer remembered my father was a cleaner. I had forgotten my dad, who was still cleaning my school. I seldom answered his calls or wrote back to him. I was busy; I still had a lot more to achieve.

With time, the more success I tasted, somehow, the lonelier I became. I felt especially lonely on my 31st birthday. I kept checking my phone, hoping someone wished me a happy birthday. But there wasn’t a single call or message. Later that evening when I returned home from my office, something in my mailbox drew my attention.

“A letter?” I whispered and saw it was from my father. He never forgot to mail me a letter on my each birthday. However, I never took the trouble to read it. “How did I ignore him?” I thought. I brought the letter home and took out his earlier letters. And I opened one. It read, “Wherever you are, I love you to the last drop of my blood. I wish you a happy life.”

I picked up another letter and read it.

Finally, I arrived at my dad’s house and saw him sitting alone in the yard.