Toys and games are fun, but inventing them is serious business. Big toy companies treat it even more serious, because the more toys they sell, the more money they make. They have adults who do nothing but think up new toys. Sometimes they even work in locked rooms so no one can steal their ideas!
But not every new to y is invented that way. Some of the best inventions are made by kids. Thirteen-year-old Casey loved to play golf. He invented a way to make the game more fun. He invented a new golf tee （球座）. It is called the Bio tees. Most golf tees are made from wood, but Casey's tee is made out of recycled paper. It does not harm the environment. Casey started his own company to make his new tee. He's already had orders for millions of them.
Jessica invented a toy when she was only eight. Jessica likes to jump rope. She jumps alone and she jumps with friends. To jump alone, you need a short rope. With friends, you need a long rope. So Jessica invented a new kind of jump rope. The length of Jessica's jump rope can be modified（调整）. It can be made long to jump with friends. Or it can be made short to jump alone. When you finish jumping, you can even turn the jump rope into a belt. Now Jessica has a business to sell her jump ropes.
Do you have a great idea for a new invention？Give your idea a try. It may become the next Bio tee or latest jump ropes.
Eric has rowed (划船! ) across the Pacific Ocean ini a rowboat since he left California in November last year. He has been heading for Australia with only birds, fish, and sharks ever since.
Crossing the Pacific (太平洋) is only part of, the journey. Eric has decided to go all the way around the world using his own energy. He will row, bike, walk and climb the world without help from any motors at all. His plan includes climbing the tallest top on six of the continents (大陆) along the way.
Why would he try to go around the world this way? He explains that he wants to encourage kids to realize their dreams and to get their own goals. He wants to show kids that there might be hard parts along the way, and sometimes they might not even get that final goal. But they can have great adventures (冒险) and learn a lot along the way.
Eric has already faced some difficulties. . For example, winds and waves keep pushing him westward when he wants to go south towards the Solomon Islands. If his luck doesn't change, he will cheerfully change his plan, and aim to land at Papua New Guinea. In one way or another, he's sure he'll get to his next goal: Australia.
When his trip around the world takes him across land, he enjoys meeting people - especially children. He has already visited many schools and shared his story. Eric encourages all kids to set their eyes on a goal and not give up. He says, "With goals, we will make progress, and we will be farther along than when we started, even if we don't get some goals. That's called life!"
①ship ②motor ③bike ④boat ⑤car ⑥ train
Nick is like many other boys in his lown. He goes to school, does his homework, has fun with his friends and likes to do sports. But in his free time from Monday to Friday, Nick does something different. He makes dinner for his mom. dad. and sister. They all like the food Nick makes for dinner.
"I think i's ____ for children to learn how to cook. It isn't only parents' work, " Nick's mother says. "Children need to learn school subjects, but they also need other life skills（技能） to help them in today's world. I teach Nick how to make some easy meals. Now he can use recipes（食谱）in books to make dinner."
"I lose cooking and I think I'm really good at it. No friends around me can cook. I don't know why. It's not difficult and it's great fun!" Nick says.
At first, like other children, Nick is kind of lazy and doesn't help with housework at home. So his mom isn't happy with him. But now. things are different.
Arc you under stress? Well, it is believed that everyone feels stress sometimes. You feel stress when you have a lot of work to do and do not have enough time. You can also feel stress when you have problems that are difficult to deal with. Sometimes, a little stress can be good. But usually, stress is bad.
Too much stress can cause health problems. Stress can make it hard to sleep well. Some people under too much stress even can't sleep all night. It can also make it difficult to finish school work. If you have a health problem, stress can make it worse.
____ You can talk to your parents or a friend about your feelings. Tell them what makes you feel stress. Talking about stress can help you face it bravely and understand it. How can you take away the problem that is making you feel stress? Sometimes, writing down the problem and writing way s to take it away can help.
Exercise is also a good way to help with stress. Different exercise like playing sports or walking, can help you feel better. Make sure that you are taking care of yourself. Getting enough sleep, eating the right kinds of food, and having time to sit are also important.
If you feel that you have too much stress, tell other people and get some help to get away from it.
B . 
C . 
At the age of 16, Julia left school and worked at a restaurant. For many years, she was only interested in making money. Then one day she had a serious car accident which changed her life. "I had a terrible car accident in August 1996. It took me 10 months to recover (康复) from the accident. During that time, I realized I wanted to find a more meaningful reason for being here in this world, " said Julia.
As soon as she recovered, Julia gave up working at the restaurant and traveled to California. One day she found a big company wanted to cut down part of a forest. In the forest there were lots of redwood trees. One of the trees was more than 1 , 000 years old.
Then Julia learned a group called Our Earth was trying to save the redwood forest from the company. They decided to find someone to live in a redwood tree and hoped this would stop the company from cutting the trees down. Julia volunteered.
Julia lived in the tree for over two years without ever going down. It was cold and wet in a redwood tree. There were even very serious winter storms while Julia was in the tree.
Finally the company decided to protect the trees Julia lived in. They agreed never to cut down the big redwood tree or the trees around it. When Julia put her feet on the earth, she began to cry. But she continued to do other things to protect the environment.
On the first day of school，our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn't already know.I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder.I turned around to find a wrinkled，little old lady with a smile.She said， "Hi，handsome!My name is Rose.I'm eighty-seven years old.Can I give you a hug？"
I laughed and warmly responded， "Of course you may!" She gave me a giant squeeze （拥抱）. "Why are you in college at such a young，innocent （幼稚的） age？" I asked.
She jokingly replied， "I'm here to meet a rich husband，get married，have a couple of children，and then retire and travel."
"No，seriously？" I asked.I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age.
"I always dreamed of having a college education and now I'm getting one!" she told me.
After class we walked to the Student Union building and shared a chocolate milkshake.We became instant friends.Every day of the next three months we would leave class together and talk nonstop.I was always attracted listening to this "time machine" as she shared her wisdom and experience with me.
Over the course of the year，Rose became a campus icon （校园偶像） and she easily made friends wherever she went.She loved to dress up and enjoyed the attention from other students.She was living it up.
At the end of the term，we invited Rose to speak at a student gathering.I'll never forget what she taught us. "We do not stop playing because we are old；we grow old because we stop playing.There are only four secrets to staying young，being happy，and achieving success.You have to laugh and find humor every day.You've got to have a dream.When you lose your dreams，you die.There are so many people walking around who are dead，and they don't even know it." she said.
"There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up.Anybody can grow older.That doesn't take any talent or ability，" she added. "But growing up requires finding opportunities in change.Have no regrets.The elderly usually don't have regrets for what we did，but rather for things we did not do. "
She concluded her speech by courageously singing The Rose.She challenged each of us to study the lyrics （歌词） and live them out in our daily life.
At the year's end Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years.We'd always keep her in mind because it is the wonderful woman who taught us by example that it's never too late to be all you can possibly be.
a.Rose graduated from college.
b.Rose gave an encouraging speech.
c.Rose and the writer became friends.
d.Rose introduced herself to the writer.
e.Rose became popular among students.
f.Rose greeted the writer with a big hug.
When Oxford University Press (出版社) chose "rizz" as its 2023 Word of the Year, many people asked, "Rizz? Is there such a word?" At the same time, many young English speakers laughed out loud "Jeepers, haven't you ever heard of rizz?"
Rizz means the ability to attract a person. Are you good at making friends? Do your classmates often laugh loudly at your jokes? Then you probably have rizz. As in "to rizz up someone", it means to attract someone. The word first appeared on social media as teen slang (俚语) and became popular after the Spider-Man actor Tom Holland said he had "no rizz." ★
★ "Jeepers" is another. People use it to express shock. And the word "tea" is no longer just a "drink". It also means "gossip (闲聊)." Similarly, here in China, words like "xianyanbao" have a new meaning. Teens are also saying "dazi" ( pal or friend ) and "qimengle" (What?)．
These changes show that both English and Chinese are alive. A health language, researchers say, should always see new words being created, words being borrowed from other languages and old words taking on new meanings. The changes also show that young people have more influences on society.
When we look back on 2023, one thing stands out: artificial intelligence (AI)．
Computers have become cleverer than ever. Some AI systems (系统) have "rizzed up" many users with their ability to write long articles, create poems and draw pictures. But they can only use language. Can ChatGPT coin a slang word and make it popular? Can it give a word new meanings? Can it change how we humans speak and write?
You should be proud of your ability to play with words. But while you try to create another slang word, remember to be polite. Also, don't use slang in your compositions - it won't "rizz up" your teachers!
Sharla, Tess, and Lee had to make a volcano（火山） model together. Mrs. Holt put them in a group and they had such a big fight! They had different opinions about the model. By the time they needed to show their project, they didn't get it done.
Mrs. Holt called Sharla, Tess, and Lee to her desk.
"You know we'll finish the last part of our project today, right?" she asked. The girls all nodded.
"Are you ready to finish up?" No one answered.
"Is there a problem?" Mrs. Holt asked, knowing that there was a problem.
Sharla began, "I think the volcano should be smooth."
"And," jumped in Lee, "I think it should look rocky, like a real mountain."
"I see," said Mrs. Holt, "What do you think, Tess?"
"Well, I've been making buildings for the village. I think it would be clean if we could show lava（岩浆） flowing down towards the village."
"That's a great idea. The flowing lava would be smooth. Right, Mrs. Holt?" cut in Sharla.
"Yes, I guess so." Mrs. Holt said.
Sharl a continued, "The other side of the mountain, where there's no lava, would look rocky. Right?"
Tess caught on, "So one side can be smooth, and the other side can be rough. Let's go finish!"
Sharla, Tess, and Lee stood proudly behind their volcano model. Mrs. Holt quieted the class. Then the girls introduced the model excitedly.
Later, Mrs. Holt had a question. "Can you tell us about the steps you went through to complete your project?"
The girls hadn't expected this. Sharla felt her face turn red, but she spoke up.
"At first we didn't agree about what we wanted. It took us a while to make a plan and get it done."
Tess went on, "We thought that everybody had a job to do."
"And everybody has good ideas, even if they're not what you expect," added Lee.
Mrs. Holt looked pleased. The girls learned how to work together, she thought. Not bad.
①Mrs. Holt called the girls to her desk.
②Mrs. Holt was pleased with the girls' work.
③The girls introduced the volcano model.
④The girls shared thoughts on the model with each other.
Mr. White is sixty years old. He always talks about how fast things have changed, and he often says that life in the past was better than it is these days.
Now cities are full of cars. Some families even have two or more cars, so parking is becoming a big problem. The traffic in some cities is getting worse and worse, too. Car drivers drive so fast that there are more traffic accidents.
More and more people are always looking at their mobile phones with their heads down. Mr. White often sees people in the restaurant eating face to face while looking at their own mobile phones. He thinks it is strange that they don't talk to the ones who sit opposite to them during the meal. Some of them even have fun chatting (闲聊) with others on the phone.
Most families own computers now. A study found that children use the Internet more and more. The number of children using the Internet has grown by three times in the past three years. Mr. White's grandson is a middle school student. He often stays up late playing computer games on the Internet. He falls asleep in the early hours of the morning and spend less time doing homework.
Mr White thinks that life was simple and happy, but now it has changed a lot.
① Most families own computers. ②There are more shared bikes now.
③ Accidents happen more often. ④ Some families have two or more cars.
What Does a Lifelong Learner Look Like?
Lifelong learners never think of themselves as the greatest expert in anything. They continue to learn and bring a great deal to the groups they belong to. What does a lifelong learner look like? Here are some of their main characteristics(特征).●They areknowledge seekers. They are always searching for much information on a topic they're interested in and looking for new experience or opportunities to improve their knowledge or skills.
● They are social and self-directed learners. They like taking different courses and taking part in discussions around subjects they are interested in. ▲ They also know their own learning styles, and their strengths and weaknesses. They can plan and organize their own learning.
● They are critical(批判性的) thinkers. They always use a lot of ways to analyze(分析) and synthesize(合成) information. From their research they judge the information to see if it is useful for the question at hand.
●They are problem solvers. They will meet different problems while learning.However,they usually see problems as challenges and life experiences and try to stand above them.
B . 
C . 
D . 
