When I was seven years old, my family made me an ant farm．First, we put clean sand in a thin glass box．Then we waited for the ants to arrive．

　　After the ants were in the glass farm, they started to make tunnels(地道)．I was amazed that each one knew exactly what to do．Each had its own job．

　　On the fifth day a tragedy(悲剧)happened．I put my face so close to the glass farm that I knocked it over．All the tunnels fell down．Although the ants remained alive after their earthquake, one by one they began to die．I was scared as I watched them give up building their tunnels to carry the bodies to a corner of the farm．

　　My mother said that the ants were dying of sadness．They simply could not stand that their tunnels were gone．

　　Although much time has passed, I still think of that ant farm．Mom had hoped it would teach me about the natural world, but it taught me much more．

　　Over the years, I came to realize the importance of teamwork．Working together, the ants were able to make an amazing world for themselves．I also learned that they should be admired(钦佩)for their hard work．

　　But there was an even larger lesson that I did not realize until recently：Adversity(逆境)is a natural part of life, and must be accepted．Unlike the ants, we cannot give up when we are sad．We have to realize that if a tunnel is gone, we must build another．

　　Giving up, I say, is not a good choice．

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　　A little knowledge can make a difference at a time of life or death．Do you know what to do if you find yourself in an earthquake?

　　#Quickly move under a strong desk, a strong table or along a wall．You can also go into a small room like the bathroom．This will protect you from falling things．Do not get into a lift．

　　#Don't stand near windows, large mirrors(镜子), heavy furniture or fireplaces．

　　0 Move away from buildings and streetlights．These could fall on you．

　　#Squat(蹲下)and protect your head until the shaking stops．

　　#Check, take care of injuries and help make sure people around you are all right．

　　#Watch out for aftershocks．

　　#Protect yourself by wearing long pants, a long-sleeved(长袖的)shirt and strong shoes．

　　#Listen to the radio for the latest information．

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Important tips for better flash(闪光灯、闪光)photos

　　Don't stand too far back from your subject．The flash on most cameras will not cover any subject well over three metres away．Even in non-flash photos many photographers stand too far away from their subjects．As a result, the subjects are small with great areas of unimportant background．

　　Watch the background carefully and be sure there are no mirrors or shiny things to reflect(反射)the flash back to the camera lens(镜头)．

　　When taking pictures of people, ask them not to look into the lens but at a point over your shoulder, because it is very possible that the flash will reflect from their eyes and there will be red eyes in the photo．

　　Try to give the subjects an interesting background．If there is nothing for two metres behind the subject, the background will come out black or very dark．Of course, you don't want an untidy background, because it will take people's attention away from your subject．

　　If taking a picture of a baby, be sure the room is as light as possible so that the flash does not hurt his/her eyes．

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　　Students are leaving the junior high school．What are they taking with them?A lot of things for sure, but the most important thing is friends．

　　We asked some teachers to give us one last lesson．The lesson is proverbs(谚语、格言)about friends．Proverbs teach people about life．Older people often teach proverbs to younger people．Every culture has proverbs．They are short and easy to remember．

　　Mrs Minelli says,“It is important to remember this Sicilian proverb, ' Only your real friends will tell you when your face is dirty．' It means that only good friends tell you when you are making a mistake．”

　　Mr Schmidt says,“I have a favourite proverb about friends．' Friendship is a plant we must water．' It is German．It means that we need to take care of friends like we take care of a garden．“Mr Tulga says,”My grandfather in Turkey told me,' Nobody is so rich that he can throw away a friend．'It means that everyone needs friends．Be good to them．

　　The good news is：there is no test for this lesson．The bad news is．-we will miss you．Goodbye, friends!Don't forget us!

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　　Parents always ask,“How can I get my child to eat fruit and vegetables?”One answer is to teach your children to fill their bodies with colour．Fruits and vegetables come in so many beautiful colours．Every different colour is good for us．

　　What about the colour white?White is not a colour of the rainbow(彩虹)!White bread is not very healthy, but whole wheat bread is good for you．Too much sugar and salt are not good for you．Of course, some white foods, like milk and tofu are very good for you．

　　Finally, remember the most important thing．Parents need to be good examples．You need to eat a rainbow, too!

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　　One afternoon little David was playing with his friends in the street when he was hit by a motorcycle．He fell and broke his arm．And he was immediately taken to a hospital．There a doctor operated on his arm and put it in a cast(石膏)-David couldn't move it at all．

　　“You must keep your arm in the cast for a month,”the doctor said．“That will give your arm a chance to become healthy again．”

　　At the end of a month David went back to the hospital．The doctor cut the cast and took David's arm out of the cast．

　　“Can you move your arm, David?”he asked．

　　David tried to move his arm．At first it was difficult, but soon he could move it easily．

　　“Yes, it's fine,”he said．“Thank you very much．”

　　“In a few days it will be as good as new,”the doctor said．“Just exercise it a little．”

　　“Will I be able to play the violin?”David asked．

　　The doctor smiled．“Of course you will,”he said．“You'll have no problems．”

　　“That is good news,”David said happily．“Because I couldn't play it at all before．”

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　　Gloria arrived in Barbados on 26 January, 2008 after rowing * across the Atlantic for three months and a half．Gloria was in one of 36 small wooden rowing boats that set off on 7 October, 2007 from Tenerife Island on the Atlantic Rowing Challenge Race*．Each boat was exactly the same design and each one had food for the journey *．There were two people in each boat and their challenge was to row across the Atlantic, a journey of about 3, 360 kilometres．

　　Gloria began the journey with her husband in a small boat．However, after 14 days he became very afraid of the huge ocean and was not able to go on, so he left her with the help of a helping boat．This did not make Gloria give up．Instead, she decided that she would continue by herself．So, for the next hundred days, she rowed her small boat alone and fought against the waves and the winds, and her own fears．

　　When she finally arrived in Barbados, Gloria was not willing to leave her boat although her husband and family were there to greet her．She sat so long in the boat that she could hardly stand, her husband had to carry her off the boat．After that, the first thing she did was to drink a toast * to her small boat, the very special lady．This lady carried her safely through many storms on her long journey and she loved it．

　　Gloria is really a brave woman．She has become the tenth woman in the world to row across the Atlantic．Like the others, she has experienced great joys and terrible things．But a brave person is not always brave,“Sometimes I wanted more than anything to be warm and dry in bed and safe from the storm around me．I wanted to stop being brave,”she said．

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　　There are some stories behind English words．

　　You've spent a lot of time studying how to use English in a proper way．But have you ever wondered why English speakers say some of the things they say?For example, why do they say“an easy task”is“a piece of cake”?Why do the two letters“OK”means“all right”?

　　Many English words and phrases have stories behind them．Sometimes these stories can help us look back into old western history．Let's take a look at a few of the original * common English words and phrases：

　　OK

　　“OK”was an American who lived in the 19th century．His name was“Old Kinderhook”．In one year he was trying to take the place of the leader of his town．His supporters went around the town shouting“OK\OK\”The supporters thought their future leader was“all right”．The expression caught on, and now if something is“all right”, people like to say“OK|”

　　Is your boss nice to you?If not, just be glad you weren't living in the old times．Back to that time, bosses could do anything bad to their men and could even beat* them!That explains why the word“boss”comes from an old German word meaning“to beat”．

　　A famous American writer named Ogden Nash lived in the 1930s．Many readers enjoyed his poems and wrote them down in their notebooks．In one of his poems, Nash wrote,“Her picture's in the papers now, and life's a piece of cake．”His readers found these words interesting and quickly wrote them down．They thought that if one picture in a newspaper could make you famous, wouldn't life be easy?

　　For nearly 70 years,“a piece of cake”has meant any task or activity that is easy．

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　　At first, Betty and Barney felt comfortable in the alien space station．They were not afraid because the aliens were very friendly．They stood around and looked at them．Some of them pointed at Betty and Barney and spoke to each other in a language they didn't know．

　　After about thirty minutes, the aliens began to feel them and to check them．They were very interested in Betty's and Barney's bodies．Then, some of the aliens cut pieces of hair from Betty's and Barney's heads and took small pieces of skin from their bodies．They were like scientists．Why were they doing this?

　　Betty became frightened * when one alien came towards her with a long, thin needle *．It placed the needle over the centre of her stomach and pushed it in．Betty was surprised,“It was a strange feeling．There was no pain,”she said later．

　　Barney had false* teeth which he could take out of his mouth．When the aliens discovered the teeth, they became very interested in them．One by one they came up to Barney and took out his teeth, then put them back in．They did this again and again, and they all made a strange sound when they did this．Barney thought they were laughing．

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　　Scott：Hi, Alan．What're you doing?

　　Alan：I'm reading an ad for a movie．

　　Scott：Relax yourself, aren't you?

　　Alan：Yes．I'm going to a movie．

　　Scott：But what's on?

　　Alan：THE VAMPIRE．

　　Scott：Hmm．Scary but interesting．

　　Alan：How about going together?

　　Scott：Sounds great!

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