I was not a lucky child. When I was 3 years old, my parents found I was deaf*.
They talked with many doctors but it didn't help. They wanted me to live like other kids. From the third grade, they put me in a school far from home where all of my classmates had normal* hearing. So I was the only deaf child there. From the first day, the other kids often laughed at me and called me names because of my hearing aid*. I didn't like my new school. My problem was not only from classmates. I also had trouble with most of my schoolwork.
One morning, in her math class, Mrs. Jordan asked us a question. She was. a strict woman with a voice that went through the walls of her little classroom, and you could even hear it out of the classroom.
I read her lips* hard and got an answer. Maybe that was the right one! I raised up my hand and heard Mrs. Jordan call out my name. I stood up, but became afraid again. I could even hear the laugh from some of my classmates. Nervously I answered her question, I would never forget what happened next.
Mrs. Jordan smiled at me and said, "THAT'S RIGHT, STEPHEN!"
For the first time, I became a star. I was so excited! The three words changed my life. From that day I told myself that I would make a place in this world. It would be difficult and hard, but I knew I could make it, just like answering the question in class.
a. I was afraid after I stood up.
b. Mrs. Jordan said three words to me.
c. Mrs. Jordan asked a question in class.
d. I moved to a new school in the third grade.
When children are ill in hospital or at home, they're away from their friends and teachers. They may feel lonely. A small robot may help them. Through the robot, the children can hear and see their teachers and friends.
The robot's name is AV1. Here's about how the robot AV1 works. It sits at the child's desk in the classroom and the child at home uses a tablet(平板电脑) or a phone to start it. At school, the robot becomes his eyes, ears and voice.
The robot has speakers, microphones (麦克风) and cameras. All these make communication between computers and humans easy.
AV1 is large and looks like a human. The robot should be a friend to the children. It can't be just a tiny camera. So the other kids can't pick it up and take it with them. And robots are quite simple and cool. AV1 will help some children feel less lonely while they are not in class.
Tommy hated school and was always looking for excuses(借口)not to go. If he sneezed(打喷嚏), he asked his mother to write to his teacher saying he had a cold. If he had a headache(头痛), he asked his mother to take him to the doctor during school hours. He spent more time at home than he did at school. On the days that he did go to school, he looked for excuses to come home early.
One day he came home from school in the middle of the morning. His father was surprised.
"You're home early," he said. "Is the school finished today?"
"No, dad," Tommy said. "I came home early."
"How did you do that?" his father asked him. "What did you say to the teacher?"
"I told her that I had a new baby brother and that I had to come home and help you."
"But your mother has had twins(双胞胎)," his father said, "a boy and a girl. You've got a baby brother and a baby sister."
"Yes, I know, Dad," Tommy said, "I'm saving up my baby sister for next week."
Alf is a big soccer fan. At school, there are lots of children playing soccer. Alf really wants to be a soccer star, but he thinks he isn't good at soccer. He feels very sad. He always thinks about how to be a great soccer player.
One day, Alf went to watch the school soccer match on the playground with his friend. There were many students watching the match. Suddenly Alf shouted, "Look out!" He jumped up and made a very good save(救球)！
All the soccer players and the coach cheered for him. "What a good save, Alf! You're the best!" His friend said. The soccer coach came to him and said, "Alf, come with me." Alf stood in the goal(球门) and the coach took a shot(射门). It was a good shot, and Alf saved it. Alf saved the next shot, too; and the next one. All the students cheered. Now Alf knows he is a very good goalkeeper. He is good at playing soccer.
Can dolphins (海豚) talk? Maybe they cannot talk with words, but they can talk with sounds. They show their feelings with sounds. Dolphins travel in a group. We call a group of fish a "school". They do not study, but they travel together. Dolphins are mammals (哺乳动物), not fish, but they swim together like fish in a school. Dolphins talk to the other dolphins in the school. They give information to the others. They talk when they are happy, sad or afraid. They say "welcome" when a dolphin comes back to the school. They talk when they play.
They make some sounds above water. They make many more sounds under water. People cannot hear these sounds because they are very, very high. Scientists make tapes of the sounds and study them. Sometimes people catch dolphins for a large aquarium (水族宫). People can watch dolphins in a show. Dolphins do not like to be away from their school in an aquarium. They are sad and lonely. There are many stories about dolphins. They help people. Sometimes they save somebody's life. Dolphins' meat is good, but people do not like to kill them. They say that dolphins bring good luck. Many people believe this.
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| The kangaroo can't walk, but it is good at jumping, It can jump over 6 meters a time, 64km an hour. An adult kangaroo is only 1. 5m tall, but it can jump over a car. |
| | The camel can live without (没有) water for two weeks. It can walk over 320 km in the desert (沙漠) without drinking water. It can do this because it uses the hump (驼峰) to save water. |
| | The chimpanzee is very smart. It is good at learning. In America, there is a chimpanzee called Keke. It learns sign language (手语) and can "talk"with people. |
Helen Keller was born in 1880 in the USA. When she was about 19 months old, she got very ill. After many weeks, the doctor told her parents, "Your daughter is better, but now she can't see and she can't hear." Her mother and her father were very sad. After a few years, things got worse. There was no way for Helen to speak to other people. She heard nothing. She didn't understand anything.
Then one day a teacher came. Her name was Anne Sullivan She lived with Helen and her family. The teacher helped Helen learn words. Helen was a very clever child and soon she learned to spell her first word. When she was older, she went to college.
Helen was a very famous woman when she died. The world remembers her today as a brave and wonderful person. She was blind and deaf, but she found a way to see and hear. It helped many people in the world.
Franz Schubert was a famous musician in the world. But he lived a very hard life and often went hungry.
One day he was very hungry and went to a small restaurant, hoping he might meet some friends there to borrow some money. He looked around the restaurant but found nobody. Then his eyes fell on a paper on one of the tables. On it was a short poem. He read the poem and liked it very much. So he sat down and began to write a piece of music for the poem and took his work to the owner of the restaurant. He only received a piece of beef and potato for it.
Thirty years after his death, this music of the poem by Schubert was worth 40,000 francs. It was played in many big theatres and all the people loved it. It was his famous Berceuse(摇篮曲). Schubert began to be known all over the world.
A lamb (小羊)was on her way home Suddenly a wolf (狼)came up and stopped her. The lamb said, "I know you are going to eat me. But before you eat me, I would like to hear you play the flute(笛子). You can play the flute better than anyone else, even the shepherd(牧羊人)himself. "
The wolf was so happy. And he took out(拿出)his flute and began to play.
The wolf finished one piece. Then the lamb said some good words and asked him to play another(另一个)piece again.
The shepherd and the dogs heard the sound. Then they ran to the lamb and the wolf. They caught the wolf and saved the lamb.
Mr Henry worked in a middle school. He read a lot and could answer all the questions that his students asked.
One Sunday morning, when he was dressing his little son, Jimmy, suddenly the little boy said, "May I ask you a question, Dad?"
"Of course, you may, "answered Mr Henry.
"Are you sure that you can answer it?"
"Don't you believe me? I'm sure I can. "
"Well." said Jimmy. "are there any holes in your socks? Look at them carefully, or you'll be wrong."
It made Mr Henry pay some attention to Jimmy's question. He took off his socks and looked at them carefully. Then he said, "No, there are no holes in them."
"How can you put your feet into them, then?" Jimmy said with a smile.
Immediately(立刻)Mr Henry didn't know how to answer it. After a while he couldn't help laughing. Finally he understood that his son played a joke on him.
