My mom is pretty cool. She is always trying to come up with ways to give the environment a helping hand. One day, she brought a green 1 to work. At lunch, she shared the cake 2 friends. Everyone liked it. They were all surprised how she made it.
The story goes back a few weeks. Our city 3 a new recycling program—families were supposed to separate food rubbish from the other kitchen waste.
My 4 loves fruit. My father especially loves watermelons. He 5 a lot of them in the summer. The skin (果皮) always ends up in the rubbish. That's almost half the weight of a watermelon!
After a lot of thinking, my mom found a 6 way to use all the melon skins. She brought out the blender (搅拌器) and cut the melon skins into small pieces. 7 she blended them, she got a whole cup of green watermelon juice. Then, she mixed the juice with flour (面粉). From there, she 8 made her delicious GREEN cake.
What a great product of the melon eating! And it was nature friendly too. From now on, my mom doesn't need to 9 the heavy waste from eating melons. And everyone always wants more of her 10 cake.
Since April 13, 2023, the China-Laos Railway (中老铁路) has started cross-border (跨境的) passenger service. The railway starts in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province, and runs south through Yuxi, Pu'er, Xishuangbanna, and the border town of Mohan in China. Then, it goes through Boten, Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng before reaching Vientiane, the capital of Laos. Now, it takes only 2 hours and 46 minutes to travel from Kunming to Pu'er, 3 hours and 24 minutes from Kunming to Xishuangbanna, 10 hours and 30 minutes from Kunming to Vientiane.
Traveling by China-Laos Railway is an exciting way to enjoy the unusual scenery (风景) and rich cultures along the line. On arriving in Kunming, travelers can visit the Stone Forest, Dianchi Lake and Dounan Flower Market. After getting off at Pu'er Station, tourists can experience the ancient tea-horse road in southern Yunnan and enjoy the tea gardens within half an hour by car. Starting from Xishuangbanna Station, visitors can reach the Wild Elephant Valley and Olive Dam within an hour by car.
If you are going to visit Yunnan and Laos, traveling by China-Laos Railway will be a great choice.
The summer vacation is on the way! Spend time on your computers or on your mobile phones? Stay at home and watch TV? Why don't you join one of the following clubs to develop your new interests and hobbies?
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DANCE CLUB Like to dance? Come and join our club. Members meet from 2 pm to 5 pm on Mondays to practice dancing. There will be a big show in the end and your parents will be invited to watch your wonderful performance. |
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COOKING CLUB Can you cook? No? Do you like cooking? Yes? Our club is the most popular one with more than 50 members. Members meet at 9 am every Sunday to learn to cook a dish. Then you can taste the delicious food cooked by yourself with your partners. Of course, you can also put your works on WeChat. |
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PHOTOGRAPHY CLUB The club is perfect for students who love taking pictures. Members take courses on Fridays, from 9 am to 11 am. You will enjoy photos that top photographers have taken in the courses. The best teachers from art schools will also teach you how to take wonderful photos. |
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CHESS CLUB If you are interested in improving your creativity and problem-solving ability, you can't miss the chess club. Members meet at 2:30 pm on Wednesdays to play and study chess together. You will learn more about the knowledge and skills of playing chess. |
A young man with excellent grades wanted to get a job in a big company. He met the manager for the interview. The manager asked, "Who paid for your education?"
"My parents." The young man replied.
"Where do they work?"
"They work as clothes cleaners."
Then, the manager asked the young man to show his hands. He found the young man's hands were so smooth, and asked, "Have you ever helped your parents wash the clothes?"
"Never."
"Now go home and clean your parents' hands, then see me tomorrow morning."
The young man felt upset. When he got home, he asked his parents to let him clean their hands. They felt strange but happy. While the young man was cleaning their hands, he found his parents' hands were so wrinkled (起皱的), and there were so many bruises (瘀伤) in their hands. His tears fell. After cleaning his parents' hands, he quietly washed all the rest of clothes.
The next morning, he went to the manager's office. The manager asked him, "Can you tell me what you did and learned yesterday in your house?" He told the manager all he did with tears in his eyes and added, "Now I know what appreciation (感激) is. Without my parents, I would not be who I am today... By helping my parents, I realize how much they've done for me. And I also realize the importance and value of helping one's family."
The manager smiled and said, "This is what I'm looking for."
Nature is amazing! Take a close look at the world of insects (昆虫), you'll discover many unbelievable things. Consider butterflies, for example. They have beautiful, colorful wings, and strong, fantastic flying skills. On summer days, you always see them flying freely over flower gardens and wild fields.
But
did you know how butterflies become the flying insects? It's one of the amazing wonders of nature. In the beginning, female butterflies lay a small and colorful egg on a leaf or stem (茎) of a plant.
It's hard to believe that the egg will become something completely different in a few days. It becomes a walking insect. This insect is called caterpillar. It now has legs, eyes and a large body. A new life has begun. The caterpillar can eat, walk and see. But it is still not a butterfly.
Soon, after growing big, the caterpillar makes a cover for itself. It covers itself in the nice protective blanket (保护层) and goes to sleep. This stage is known as the "pupa (蛹)" stage.
After a period of time, the blanket breaks and a wet, weak butterfly appears. It now has six legs, a mouth, eyes and wings. Shortly, the wings fill with blood, and the beautiful, colorful butterfly spreads its wings and flies away.
After a few weeks, this adult butterfly lays her eggs, and the cycle begins all over again.
This is just one example of the wonders of nature. Look around the natural world, and you will learn many truly amazing things.
① It becomes a pupa. ② It becomes a walking insect.
③ Female butterflies lay an egg. ④ It spreads wings and flies away.
Reading is a lifelong journey. Put yourself into a world of books and get lost in another world—but where do you start?
◆ Ask a librarian (图书管理员).
The best people to throw your questions are librarians! If you tell a librarian what you've read before and what you liked or disliked about it, they will suggest some possible books for you to try.
◆ Make a change.
You may get used to reading history books or you just take an interest in science fictions. What about the books about culture? You'll never know until you try. Give a new style a chance and you may enter a whole new world of reading.
◆ Read reviews.
Book reviews can help you decide if a book is for you. There are usually short reviews on the covers of books. Some websites provide book suggestions from writers, parents and teachers. Some people's opinions about the books are very interesting. Their ideas may help you get a right pick.
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Reading something comfortable might be your first choice. But why not challenge yourself to read something more complicated (复杂的)? It is a good way of pushing yourself to improve your reading skills.
A. Challenge yourself.
B. They are cool book brains.
C. You can also read reviews online.
D. Let me tell you how to write book reviews.
E. Changing into a new style of book is not easy.
F. Here are some suggestions to pick a great book.
G. Developing good reading habits takes a long time.
