Once upon a time, a fox was walking along a road. He saw some beautiful grapes hanging over a high wall. He stopped to look at the grapes. They looked nice to eat .The fox wanted to eat the grapes very much, but he cou1d’t reach them. So he jumped as high as he could. Sometimes his nose touched a grape, but his mouth could not reach it. The fox jumped and jumped until he was very tired．

    Finally he stopped jumping and walked away with his nose held high. He said, “I don't need those grapes. They look nice but I'm sure they are sour.”

    In our daily life, when people can't get something they want, they may say, “The grapes are sour.”

Primary and junior high school students in France will no longer be allowed to use mobile phones in school.

On Dec10,2017, France’s Education Minister(教育部长)Jean- Michel Blanquer said that mobile phones will be banned from schools in France. This rule will go into effect(实施)in September 2018.

Children will be allowed to bring their phones to school, but will not be allowed to use them at any time until they leave school, even during breaks and lunch time.

“These days, the children don’ t play at break time anymore. They are just all in front of their smart phones and from an educational point of view that’s a problem,” Blanquer said.

The number of children who own a cellphone has greatly increased in France over the last few years. More than 8 in 10 teenagers in France had smartphones in 2015, compared to 2 out of 10 in 2011.

While some people have welcomed the rule, a great number of teachers, students and parents are questioning it. Some schools plan to put all the studentsˈ phones in one place and give them back at the end of school. But it’s not easy to do this. Valerie Sipahimalani, the deputy head of a French teaching union, pointed out that many schools have no space to keep the phones and teachers donˈt have the right to search students. Besides, some parents and students believe students should be allowed to use their mobile phones in case of an emergency.

Do you want to know what pets do when their owners leave for work or school each day? That’s the question The Secret Life of Pets (《爱宠大作战》)tries to answer.

The cartoon movie is mainly about Max, a sweet and loyal dog. He lives inside one of the high buildings in New York. Things are going well until his loving owner, Katie, decides to bring home Duke, a careless, untidy dog from the dog pound, where lost cats and dogs are kept until their owners (主人) come to take them home.

Actress Ellie Kemper plays the role of Katie.“ She decides to bring home a new dog because he needs a home but she’s very worried,” said Kemper.

Instead of welcoming each other with open paws, the dogs can’t get along well at first. When the two dogs find themselves on the mean streets of New York City, they have to team up and work together against a cute but criminal(犯罪的) rabbit named Snowball.

“The story is really funny,” Kemper says. The movie also has an important message. “Animals have feelings too,” she says. “That sounds corny, but we should be kind to animals.”

The Secret Lift of Pets hits theaters on July 8, 2016.

People all over the world celebrate the new year. However, not all countries celebrate in the same way, and in some countries, the new year doesn’t begin on the   (1)   date very year.

In many countries, the new year begins on 1st January, but people start celebrating on 31st December, New Year’s Eve. In New York many people go to celebrate in Times Square.   (2)    they’re waiting for the New Year, they listen to music, sing traditional songs and have fun. Just before 12 o’clock, everyone   (3)   down from 10: 10, 9, 8… As soon as it’s 12 o’clock, everyone shouts very   (4)  ， “Happy New Year!”

New Year’s Day is often a family day. Some families get together for a special meal. When the weather is fine, many families go out for a   (5)  .

On New Year’s Day, many people make resolutions for the new year. They   (6)  a list of things, such as “I will help out more with housework. I will work  (7)  at school than others.” or “I won’t spend so much time playing video games.” When they have made   (8)   list, they read it to their family or friends and promise to   (9)   their resolutions.

So it doesn’t matter how they celebrate,   (10)   people in countries all over the world, it’s a time to say goodbye to the old year, and to welcome the new.

On the evening of last Sunday while I was reviewing my lessons in my room, it suddenly began to rain.   (1)   as usual, I stopped to listen to the rhythm（韵律）of the rain. For many years, whenever it rains, I couldn’t   (2)   listening to it and thinking of the garden in which I spent my childhood in my hometown.

  When I was a little girl, my family lived in a big house with a big garden in the countryside. The garden was full of flowers and   (3)  , with some bamboos in front of the wall. Whenever it rained, I   (4)   to sit in the front of the house, listening to the rhythm of the rain and watching the   (5)   raindrops.

  When small drops of rain fall from the heaven in a row, they form(形成)a curtain made up of pearls（珍珠）; when the raindrops   (6)   the ground, a lot of small sprays（水花）will splash（溅出）and then  (7)   slowly.

  I have been   (8)   interested in watching such a scene. Listening to the rhythm of the rain, I feel calm and peaceful in my heart. This feeling of peace makes me think a lot about life. We are the   (9)   of the earth, and one day we will embrace（拥抱）our mother earth and stay with her forever. Life is short and we should treasure it.

  Listening to the rhythm of the rain, I learn to understand the   (10)   of life.

You may have heard of the famous saying, “East or west, home is the best.”

   What does the word “home” mean to you? How do you say the word in French? In Chinese? In your language? Although people usually know what the word means, it sometimes has no exact translation. It’s not surprising, because the idea of home is “ different from country to country and from person to person”. A home is more than a roof and four walls. It’s the cooking ,eating, talking, playing and sleeping that go on inside. And at home you usually feel safe and relaxed.

   Homes look different in different countries. They also have different things inside. For example, in cold northern Europe, there’s a fire in the living room or kitchen and all the chairs face it, In the south, where the sun shines a lot and it’s more important to keep the heat out, there are small windows and cool stone floors.

   We asked some people about their homes.

   How often do people move house in your country?

   “ In my country many people don’t stay in one place for a very long time. They often move every ten years or so.”

                                                            ------Cheryl, Boston, USA

   What are the features of homes in your country?

   “ In Britain, even in town, there’s always a garden. We have separate bedrooms and living rooms. But we don’t often have balconies. The weather isn’t warm enough!”

                                              ------Pat, Exeter, England

Manners are important to happy relations among people. No one __(1)__ a person with bad manners. A _(2)_ with good manners never laugh at people when they are in trouble. Instead, he __(3)_ to help them. When he asks for something,he says “__(4)__”. And when he receives something, he __(5)_says”Thank you”. He does not interrupt ___(6)__ people when they are talking.He does not talk loudly__(7)_public.When he sneezes or spits, he uses a __(8)_. If you are late, you __(9)__ make an apology to the teacher either at the time __(10)__ after class.

When I was in middle school, I got mad at my parents because they would never give anything to the homeless that passed by us.

On a family vacation in Washington D.C., there was a homeless man down the street. My family  (1)  with our eyes at our feet. On our final day in the city, when my parents went for an evening walk, I ran out of our hotel room  (2)  and ran down to the street to the homeless man.

He looked at me curiously, surely not  (3)  anything from a middle school girl. I asked him what he would have for dinner. He replied he would have hamburgers.

I ran into the grocery(杂货) store down the block and  (4)  five hamburgers and many other foods. I ran back with a grin(咧嘴笑) on my face and  (5)  the grocery bags full of food to him. His  (6)  has been in my mind since then.

I ran back to the  (7)   as soon as possible. When my parents  (8)  , my dad told me he had a story for me. He asked if I still  (9)   the homeless man down the street from our hotel and I shyly nodded. He then told me, with a grin on his face,  (10)  they were returning from their walk the homeless man was  (11)   grocery bags full of food with other homeless people around and they were all smiling and laughing when they  (12)  . I smiled at my dad but never to this day have told him the  (13)  story of the homeless man.

I still haven’t forgotten that man’s smile but I wish I had the  (14)  to do this often. One small  (15)  act by a middle school girl can begin a series of effect of smiles and dignity(尊严). So please, share a smile and give some dignity to the homeless.

 Have you ever wanted to stop eating something sweet but you just couldnˈt?Is the first thing you do when you get home from school to look in the biscuit tin?Can you eat a huge bar of chocolate all by yourself?Can you say"no"to sweets at parties? If you canˈt,then there is a reason…perhaps youˈre a sugar addict(有瘾的人)! Does that sound funny?Well,doctors say that people who eat sweets regularly can easily become addicted to sugar.Whatˈs more,most sugar addicts donˈt even realize that theyˈre addicted!Sugar addiction is serious because it can reallydamageyour health.Doctors say that we should eat food which is healthy such as fresh fruits and vegetables,and that we shouldnˈt eat a lot of sugar,fat or fast food.But sugar addicts canˈt follow this advice.They know they must stop eating sweet food,but they canˈt.So what can you do if you think youˈre addicted to the taste of sugar?Well,here is some advice：   

   Eat some fresh fruits when yon really want something sweet to eat.

   Cut down on sweet food slowly.Donˈt try to stop eating it all at once

   You have to tell your parents.If they know,they will help you.

We know from the passage that we should eat___________ to keep healthy.

You can become addicted to sugar easily if you______________ according to the passage.

The underlined word"damage"means_______.

What can we learn from the passage?

The passage mainly talks about______________.