I walked to Mrs. Windsor's house and waited outside. She was working with another student, and I was not supposed to bother them by ringing the bell. I stood against the wall and daydreamed what I'd rather be doing. I had been tutored enough to read, understand, and even write some musical compositions, but I just didn't have a gift for it. Mrs. Windsor had offered to give me the lessons for free, so I felt my duty to try.

    The door opened and Wendy Barton came out. I walked in, sat down on the piano bench and began to sort through my sheet music. Today Mrs. Windsor introduced her niece Pasha to teach me. With a smile, Pasha sat beside me on the piano bench, opened my sheet music to the beginning page and asked me to play. I arranged my fingers on the keys. Then I frowned(皱眉) and concentrated to make the notes on the page match the finger movements. I had to admit I was a rather mechanical (呆板的) pianist.

    After about a page or two, Pasha gently put her hand on top of mine as if to calm my fingers. There was a long pause. "What are you hearing in the music?" I looked at her rather strangely and admitted I didn't know what she meant. "Like a story. Here, let me try and you listen," Pasha advised.

    She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting her fingers dance lightly over the keys. Then, she began to play. "See, it begins here beside some kind of river. Hear the water flowing beside you?"

    Her fingers rose and fell gently on the keys. "Now the princess appears and she's picking flowers from the water's edge." A happy piece of music filled the air in time to Pasha's dancing fingers. "Oh, but she slips!" The music changed. "And our princess is being carried off by the fast-flowing stream. Quickly, the princess' horse sees her plight (困境) and races to the river's edge where he swims out to let her catch hold of him. Luckily, they make it to the bank." Pasha said.

    I played many pieces of music that afternoon, finding the stories in the music and learning that sometimes it takes a friend to pull you out of the river onto dry land again.

World War II began when the UK and France declared war on Germany, after German troops led by Adolf Hitler had invaded Poland on 1 September 1939 to claim land there as their own. Hitler had already invaded Austria and Czechoslovakia, so the war began over his plan to take more land for Germany.

The Siege of Leningrad is a famous event during World War II. For 900 days—from 8 September 1941 to 27 January 1944—the city of Leningrad in Russia was surrounded by German troops. That meant everyone inside the city had to stay there, and that there wasn't any way for food or other sources like medicine to get in. Many hundreds of thousands of people died during this time because there wasn't enough food or heating to go around, but the people who lived in Leningrad refused to surrender to the Germans.

In 1940, the French port of Dunkirk was the location of a big turning point for the Allie：in World War II. Hitler's armies bombed Dunkirk heavily, and many Allied troops were waiting on the beach to be rescued because they didn't have the resources they needed to fight back. From 26 May to 4 June, over 550, 000 troops were ferried to safety across the English Channel-the code name for this was 'Operation Dynamo'. Some British civilians（people who weren't in the army）even used their own boats to help save as many people as they could. The rescue operation helped to boost morale (士气) in Britain, where they really needed some good news. This helped in going into the next major event in World War II, the Battle of Britain.

June 6, 1944 is also known as D-Day. On that day, the Allied forces launched a huge invasion of land that Adolf Hitler's Nazi troops had taken over. It all began with boats and boats full of Allied troops landing on beaches in the French region of Normandy. They broke through the German defences and carried on fighting them back through Europe for the next 11 months until they reached Berlin, where Hitler was then hiding.

    Teens and younger children are reading a lot less for fun, according to a Common Sense Media report published Monday.

    While the decline over the past decade is steep for teen readers, some data in the report shows that reading remains a big part of many children's lives, and indicates how parents might help encourage more reading.

    According to the report's key findings, “the proportion (比例) who say they 'hardly ever' read for fun has gone from 8 percent of 13-year-olds and 9 percent of 17-year-olds in 1984 to 22 percent and 27 percent respectively today.”

    The report data shows that pleasure reading levels for younger children, ages 2-8, remain largely the same. But the amount of time spent in reading each session has declined, from closer to an hour or more to closer to a half hour per session.

    When it comes to technology and reading, the report does little to counsel(建议) parents looking for data about the effect of e-readers and tablets on reading. It does point out that many parents still limit electronic reading, mainly due to concerns about increased screen time.

    The most hopeful data shared in the report shows clear evidence of parents serving as examples and important guides for their kids when it comes to reading. Data shows that kids and teens who do read frequently, compared to infrequent readers, have more books in the home, more books purchased for them, parents who read more often, and parents who set aside time for them to read.

    As the end of school approaches, and school vacation reading lists loom(逼近) ahead, parents might take this chance to step in and make their own summer reading list and plan a family trip to the library or bookstore.

    Going green seems to be fad (时尚) for a lot of people these days. Whether that is good or bad, we can't really say, but for the two of us, going green is not a fad but a lifestyle.

    On April 22, 2011, we decided to go green every single day for an entire year. This meant doing 365 different green things, and it also meant challenging ourselves to go green beyond easy things. Rather than recycle and reduce our energy, we had to think of 365 different green things to do and this was no easy task.

    With the idea of going green every single day for a year, Our Green Year started. My wife and I decided to educate people about how they could go green in their lives and hoped we could show people all the green things that could be done to help the environment. We wanted to push the message that every little bit helps.

    Over the course of Our Green Year, we completely changed our lifestyle. We now shop at organic(有机的)stores. We consume less meat, choosing green food. We have greatly reduced our buying we don't need. We have given away half of what we owned through websites. Our home is kept clean by vinegar and lemon juice, with no chemical cleaners. We make our own butter, enjoying the smell of home-made fresh bread. In our home office anyone caught doing something ungreen might be punished.

    Our minds have been changed by Our Green Year. We are grateful for the chance to have been able to go green and educate others. We believe that we do have the power to change things and help our planet.

有几幅作品被列为世界上最昂贵的画作。

    When I first came to UK from China at 6, I entered the first grade. . I saw children throw their left over food into the large trash cans — from half-eaten pizzas to untouched burgers. I watched them pour their milk into a white bucket. In China, this was a huge no-no in school. We had to finish everything.

    One day, my first grade teacher announced that we would be having a party and everyone was told to bring something from their country. . My mom stayed up after her long day of work and made many dumplings. She put them in the fridge and woke up early in the morning to steam them and fry them so they would taste extra fresh when I brought them to school. They smelled great and looked golden brown after they were cooked.

    I was so excited to share these with my class and teachers. It was placed in the corner of the table next to all the other delicious food. . One or two kids bravely took a piece and knew what they were because they had it with their parents at a Chinese restaurant. At the end of the party, it was cleanup. My teacher walked up to me and asked, pointing to the dumplings, "Would you like to take these home?" I carefully replied, "No…" . I thought she was going to share it with other teachers, but immediately after I said that, she threw all the dumplings into the trash and continued cleaning. I was confused; what just happened?

    . And today I still witness this frequently in my English fiends. Please eat all your food or take it to go or share it or just get enough so you don't have to throw it away. Thank you.

A. In China, "no" usually means "yes"

B. I got super excited and told my parents

C. It was very impolite to take your gift home

D. This was the biggest culture shock I have experienced

E. When I got home, I shared the experience with my parents

F. Many kids had the cookies and juices and were hesitant to try the dumplings

G. I didn't understand why kids were getting their lunch food and not finishing it

    Jayce began noticing when he was in kindergarten that he looked different from his classmates. They had two arms. He had one.

    It started when one boy 1 him, said his mother, Lewis. He'd return to his home with questions: “Why am I 2? Why me? His mother recalled he was actually mad at God for making him that way and that it was a heavy 3 to his heart.

    Lewis 4 she didn't know what to do at that point. A few weeks later, Lewis turned on the TV to a news story about an eighth grader, Trashaun, becoming an Internet hit after 5 videos of his slam dunks (灌篮), and, like Jayce, he 6 most of his left arm. Lewis called Jayce in. To her surprise, Jayce was immediately 7. At the time, it seemed that watching Trashaun was 8 an inspiring moment for Jayce—he saw a role model with a similar 9. If it had stayed just that, Lewis would have been happy enough. But little did she know that a family friend had already 10 to the newspaper to help set up a 11 with Trashaun to build Jayce's confidence.

    The boys met and instantly 12 with each other as both of them were in the same condition. They rode bikes, took photos, and shot basketball on the court. Instead of spending the whole day feeling 13 for themselves, they had a lot of fun. However, Trashaun did get 14 with Jayce sometimes. They talked about his left arm. He told Jayce he was perfect the way God made him. He also told him not to let anyone 15 him and not to let those words shake his 16.

    Since that meeting, Lewis has seen a noticeable 17 in her son. As for Trashaun, his relationship with Jayce made him 18 to help more kids. “Honestly, it 19 a lot to know that I changed Jayce's life,” Trashaun says. Still, he never dreamed that his 20 would have such an impact. “I just thought my friends would see them, and be like, 'Oh, he dunked it!'”

    He certainly did.