Eco City Farms is an educational nonprofit organization. It seeks to empower the community by teaching economic development, job training and a healthier way of living. The group has set up farms near automobile repair businesses and fast food stores in urban neighborhoods.

Social activist Margaret Morgan-Hubbard founded Eco City Farms. She says the lack of fresh produce is a major health problem for children and their families living in Maryland. “What’s critical is that 70 percent of the people in these towns are either overweight, have some illnesses, for example, diabetes, or have other kinds of diet-relatedailmentsbecause they don’t have access to healthy food.”

Eco City Farms offers several programs for agriculture, food and finding jobs with environment-friendly businesses. People can also learn how to cook healthier foods and teach others how to prepare meals. On a recent day, Philip Sidibe demonstrated his cooking skills. He prepared Aloco, apopular food in Cameroon where he grew up. He and other young people not only cook their food, they also grow it in a large garden.

Tameka Barbour-Gaskins lives in Autumn Woods. She says her whole family is eating healthier meals because of the local produce. “I like junk food. I like quick meals. Not easy to just go from eating a certain way all your life to switching over to being healthier.. With the urban garden here, with my son learning, he can help me switch around my style of eating. I want a healthy family.”

Margaret says the urban garden is an agent for change and the young people are its newest supporters. “Our program is about planting seeds. It’s about planting seeds not just in the ground, but in other human beings so that the movement can grow and it’s really exciting because these young people will be working with us throughout the year to help plan the actual farm and to finally own it.”

Maybe you are an average student. You probably think you will never be a top student. This is not necessarily so, however, anyone can become a better student if he or she wants to.

Plan your time carefully. When planning your week, you should make a list of things that you have to do. After that, you should make a schedule of your time. First arrange your time for eating, sleeping, dressing, etc. Then decide a good regular time for studying. Don't forget to set aside enough time for entertainment.

Make good use of your time in class. Take advantage of class time to listen to everything the teachers say. Really listening in class means less work later. Taking class notes will help you remember what the teacher says.

Study regularly. When you get home from school, go over your notes. Review the important point that your teacher has mentioned in class. If you know what teacher is going to discuss the next day, read the material. If you do these things regularly, they will be very helpful.

Develop a good attitude about the tests. The purpose of a test is to show what you have learned about a subject. They help you to remember your new knowledge. The world won't end if you don't pass a test, so don't be overly worried.  

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  I was 13 years old and in the eighth grade. A little while ago, I was walking home from school and saw some writing on a fence of a house. It said, "Happiness is a direction, not a destination." I was tired of studying but just reading this brightened my day a lot.

   I saw the quote everyday while walking home from school and one day I decided to write something on the fence for someone else to see. I took out a pen and wrote one of my favorite quotes down. When I came back to the fence, I saw another quote under mine in the same handwriting as the first one. I added on another, and we kept at this pattern for quite a while.

   One day, I was writing another quote on the fence and the old man, one of my neighbors, who owned the fence, saw me. He came out and I was so afraid. He would be mad at me for my work on his fence. He gave me a sharp glance and then read the quotes on the fence, all 20 or so of them, Without saying a word, he went back inside. I was a bit terrified for a while, afraid to go back to the fence. But when I did, I noticed not more quotes but two words in entirely different handwriting had been added. "Thank you."

    Later, I saw the old man his front yard. He told me how the quotes had been inspiring to him and how glad he was to see young people will have "values". He is now my good friend instead of just my elderly neighbor, and I talk to him a lot and do housework for him. This experience is a big explosion for me. I studied hard and then went to a famous university. Now I'm a successful businessman. I still don't know who wrote that very first quote, but I'd like to say "thank you" to that unknown hero.

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When Lyla, a girl from North Branford, Connecticut, was first diagnosed (诊断) with cancer in 2009, she started painful treatment. “You realize how fragile（脆弱）your life is,” says her dad, Bill Bogardus.

Treatment was tough, but Lyla stayed strong and never gave up. “In 2011, we did a further treatment, and it seemed to have worked,” says her dad. For two years, Lyla did all the things a normal kid would do. But on her last day of first grade, the cancer came back again. “It destroyed her summer holiday,” says Bogardus.

The whole town was shocked by the news. At the school’s 2014 homecoming football game, a group of kids set off fireworks in honor of Lyla. The school district raised money for Lyla’s treatment. They were finding more loving ways to support someone with cancer. At the same time, because Lyla couldn’t go to school very often, her second-grade teacher put a teddy bear in her seat. Her friends would take it everywhere, treating it like a classmate. “When Lyla came in, she would play with the bear, and it was her connection to her class,” Bogardus says.

Sadly, Lyla passed away on Christmas in 2016 at nine years old. The mourning (哀悼) color of her funeral was unique (独特的): purple. Even the town wore purple in Lyla’s honor. Throughout the month after her death, people continued showing their support with purple bows (蝴蝶结) on mailboxes, lamp posts, trees, and more. The high school hockey team played a “purple out” game, encouraging guests to dress in Lyla’s favorite color.

“As much as cancer is a terrible thing, the good thing is that you get to feel the love and support of people,” says Bogardus. “It’s not a thing a lot of people will feel in their life.”

It was my dream to become a pop singer when I was a teenager. But I might have never made my dream come true if I hadn’t been encouraged by one of my art teachers.

As a twenty-year-old boy, I was greatly discouraged and resolved to give up my dream. What I always got from people around me was that I’d never become a famous pop singer. Besides, I wasn’t good-looking.

 I wrote an e-mail to my teacher and told him that I wanted to give up singing. My teacher e-mailed me back and we made an appointment to meet on the weekend. We met each other at a cafe near our college and ordered two cups of coffee and some dessert. He talked with me in a relaxing way for a while and then asked me if I had made up my mind. I nodded.

 He opened the suitcase that he brought and took out a few paintings, asking me what I thought about them. Though confused, I looked at them carefully, feeling that they were worthless. “They are not good,” I said. He then took out some other paintings to me. I looked over the second group

of paintings and became surprised at the talent they showed. “These are really good. Who painted them?” I asked.

 “They were all painted by me. But I painted the good ones in my forties. Before that nobody would say I had a gift for painting, but I never cared, for it was my dream to paint. If I had given up at your age, you would never see the good ones,” he said.

 I felt ashamed at what I had though and decided to keep following my dream no matter what happened. I released my first album just a few years later. Now I’m always busy singing all over the country and always say to the young, “Never give up.”

(1) What did the writer want to be when he was a teenager? (No more than 8 words)

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(2)What does the underlined word “resolved” probably mean (1 word)

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(3)Why did the writer’s teacher decide to meet him? (No more than 10 words)

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(4)What did the writer decide to do after hearing his teacher’s advice?(No more than 10 words)

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(5)What can you learn from the passage? (No more than 20 words)

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One summer evening I was sitting by the open window, reading a good science story book. I was so interested in the story I was reading that I did not notice that it was getting dark. When I realized it was too dark for me to read easily, I put the book down and get up to turn on the light. Just then I heard someone crying: "Help! Help!" It seemed to come from the trees at the other end of the yard. I looked out but it was now too dark to see anything clearly. Almost immediately I heard the cry again. It sounded like a child, but I could not imagine what anybody would be doing in our backyard, unless one of the neighborhood children had climbed a tree and had not been able to get down.

   I decided that I ought to go out and have a look in the yard, just in case someone was in trouble. I got a flashlight and a stick, I thought it might be useful. Armed with these, I went out into the yard. Once again I heard the cry and this time there was no doubt that it came from the trees at the far end of the yard. "Who's there?" I called out as I walked across the yard toward the trees. But there was no answer. With the help of my flashlight, I searched all over that end of the yard, including the branches of the trees. There was no sign of anybody or anything. I came to the conclusion that my imagination was playing tricks to me, probably because of the story I was reading about strange creatures on another planet.

  Feeling rather foolish about hunting around in my own backyard with a baseball bat, I went back into the house and put the bat and flashlight away. I had just sat down to read my book again when I was frightened by the cry of "Help! Help!" This time from right behind me. I dropped my book and jumped up. There, sitting on the table was a large green and red bird. It was my neighbor's parrot! While I was out in the yard, the parrot must have seen the light in the living room and come in through the open window.

Stress is a condition that arises due to tension and other related factors. Although modem life has brought about many positive changes in our lives. yet there is one thing it has contributed greatly to, and that is mental and physical stress. Many stressful situations arise in our everyday life and in such situations it becomes hard to remain calm. There are various tips and techniques that can help one overcome stress.

One of the most advocated stress management techniques is breathing exercises. It can be done at any time of the day and at any place. Irregular, shallow breathing is observed when a person is stressed. So one must concentrate or their breathing pattern and try to take deep and regular breaths. Deep breathing is one of the best ways to alleviate stress. When a person takes deep breaths, an extra amount of oxygen enters the body. This inflow (流入) of oxygen helps in relaxing the muscles ,of the body, calming the mind as well as waking up the brain. thereby easing the person's stress that he is going through.

A well-balanced diet is crucial for maintaining healthy and helping to manage stress. A healthy diet involves all the essential nutrition in adequate amounts. Eating a good, healthy and nutritious breakfast is a good way to start your day and keep the energy levels up throughout the day. Eating five small meals instead of three large ones help in keeping a person energized too.     

The most important of all stress management activities is to manage one's time well. To do this, planning ahead is very essential. Doing the most important tasks first, followed by the lesser important ones. will help too. By being consistent with one's work will help in better time management.

Besides the above activities, it is very important that a person gets adequate sleep every day to stay energized throughout the day. Besides, one should also take steps to prevent stress. All these can help to reduce stress and yield positive outcomes.

(1)What stress management tips are mentioned in the passage? (No more than 10 words)

(2)What does the underlined word "alleviate" in paragraph 2 mean? (No more than 10 words)

(3)What are the benefits of deep breaths? (No more than 15 words)

(4)What is a healthy diet? (No more than 15 words)

(5)How can you deal with your stress?(No more than 20 words)

 Your kids learn a lot from their friends ---- things you can’t teach them, no matter how much you want to. Probably the most important thing kids learn is how to have peer(同龄人) relationships.

As a parent, you can’t do this, because you and your children aren’t equals. To succeed, your children need to learn methods to get what they want. For example, they might simply yankthe toy out of their friends’ hands. If they do that, they may learn that it’s not the best way of getting what they want because it leads to fighting. The successful children will learn that they need to have a good talk with friends, to wait patiently, or to find something else equally fun to play with.

Friends also provide emotional support. You can’t be with your children on the school playground or at the high school dance. Your children’s friends will be the ones to stick up for them and to play games with them. Friends also help your children learn. Friends solve problems together, learn from each other, and pass on knowledge.

Some experts believe that the single biggest predictor of your children’s success later on in life is their ability to make friends. In fact, they claim it’s even more important than IQ and grades. This doesn’t mean that the kids who are most popular in school do the best later on in life. What matters is not the number of friends a child has but the quality of the relationships.

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In the middle of the eighth grade, my brother’s pet fish died. My aunt proposed we buy some chickens. She said they were easy pets that needed only some feed and would give us eggs. The idea of having chickens sounded cool because no one else we knew had them. So we took her suggestion, drove to the farm supply store and chose four chicks.

After coming back, we filled a cardboard box with soft paper and put it in the living room. When the chicks got bigger, we let them outside. However, we couldn’t help bringing them in every couple of hours to play with them. The more they sat on our hands or heads or next to us as we watched TV and did homework, the more we started thinking of them as pets instead of little egg factories. When we grew close to them, we gave each of them a name.

The first time one of our chickens laid an egg, my mom, brother and I argued over who could taste it first. In the end, my mom broke it, put it on the frying pan and cooked it sunny-side up. She decided to divide it into parts for the three of us. The egg tasted much better than supermarket eggs. Now the chickens lay eggs almost every day so we always have plenty of fresh and delicious eggs for breakfast.

Several years ago, when I had to give away my dog, I thought I would not be able to love another pet as much as I loved him. He was like a second younger brother. However, when I fed and held my chickens, it was not so different. I realized that they are just as great as my dog was. It does not matter what kind of animal a pet is – what matters is the love and care that you give and that your pet returns to you.

Thanksgiving remains very much associated with grandparents . More than any other holiday in America, it’s about honoring distant ancestors.

Children may enjoy the gathering or look forward to apple pie. But Thanksgiving activities aren’t centered on kids. There are no candies to collect, gifts to unwrap or eggs to hunt. There’s no staying up past bedtime for fireworks or Father Christmas.

I’ve heard neighbors talk about“going home”for Thanksgiving but“staying home”for Christmas. Even with the“well-known”bad Thanksgiving traffic, people are willing to travel to their parents’or grandparents’. By contrast, with Christmas being so much about kids, parents or grandparents may more often be asked to travel to where their offspring(子孙)live.

As an annual national holiday, Thanksgiving was started to help unify(统一)the country and strengthen family bonds. Thanksgiving celebrations continue to emphasize the hosts, along with earlier generations and the power of tradition. And traditions respond to circumstance. Generational changes, scattered(分散的) relatives and health issues can make it difficult to bring everyone together, or unrealistic to rely on Grandma and Grandpa as hosts.

And then there are the stresses of the holiday: all the cooking , all the cleaning, the headaches of travel and so on . In her book“Overwhelmed,”Brigid Schulte writes of a particular Thanksgiving as a breaking point:“The twenty-pound turkey is still pink and raw, waiting to go in the oven. The table is still not set , and the kitchen, covered in pots and pans, piles of vegetables, and spilled(洒出的)flour, looks like a bomb has hit it .”Yet even so , the day tends to be calmer than the gift-giving craziness to follow in December, and all the candy-colored, children-centered customs of Halloween and Easter.