When Sammie Vance was eight, she learned about Buddy Benches from a video. The video showed the way these benches are 1 on playgrounds. "If somebody is 2 they can sit on the bench, " Sammie explains. "Another person can3 them and invite them to play. "
Sammie thought her school could use a Buddy Bench and provide a place for those 4 , so she and her mom set up a meeting with the headmaster. They learned of a local company that recycles plastic bottle caps into benches. Sammie liked the idea of a Buddy Bench that would help5 and the environment. Her headmaster liked the idea, too.
Sammie created a comic （漫画） that showed 6 a Buddy Bench works. She and her mom posted it on social media to ask friends and family to save caps. They also took the 7 to local businesses to ask for their help.
As word spread, collection bins at school and around the community were filled up 8 I got caps from 50 states in two months, " she says. She needed 400 pounds of caps to make one bench. The project 9 more than 1, 200 pounds!
After reaching the goal, Sammie set a new one—"Buddy Benches everywhere"!So far, she has had 10 caps to donate （捐赠） 100 benches to schools and organizations in 12 states. She continues to collect caps to share with kids working toward their own Buddy Benches.
You have been used to the learning environment in your middle school, and it feels like home. So it is not always easy to say "bye—bye" to middle school. The schoolwork may become more difficult and require greater skills. Most students need support. What can you do?Here are some suggestions：
Understand what kind of learner you are. Do you need silence to focus （专注）?Then make sure the TV is not on when you are studying. Some students focus better in the morning; others at night. Find the right time so that your efforts will work well.
Learn to be better organized （规划）. It might be helpful when you get used to making a to—do list of all your schoolwork. Try to divide your work. This will create smaller, more manageable tasks out of the larger ones.
Form good reading habits. Read every day—the more, the better. It doesn't matter what you read. Newspapers provide plenty of news. And the information you get from newspapers is usually official and true.
Old friendships might last and new ones will develop. Hope you will feel confident and perform well in high school!
A. High school life can be enjoyable.
B. Reading newspapers is a good choice.
C. Provide yourself with a quiet learning environment at home.
D. Big projects seem less difficult if they are done step by step.
E. After entering high school, you may face some new challenges.
英语课上老师问你最喜欢哪个季节, 你可以这样回答： .
One afternoon last year, I walked with one of my friends along the road in my home—town. He was not a clever student but studied harder than all of us when we were at school. We were all encouraged by him at that time. And now, he is an excellent worker in his company. That day l came to visit him and wanted to ask him for help because I had some trouble with my work.
At first, we talked about the past happy life in the school while eating. Then I talked with my friend as we were walking. When we came to a wide bridge, we met a blind man who went to the same direction as ours. Because he needed to find the way with the stick in his hand, he walked very slowly. Since I was in trouble, I didn't pay much attention to him. I talked about my five job—hopping experiences within two years and complained the trouble I was still going through. My friend just listened to me, nodded and smiled, and he kept mute all along the way.
After a while, when I looked forward, I found that the blind man walked farther than we did. I couldn't believe it. I asked, "How did the blind man walk farther than we did?" My friend said, "Because he put his whole heart into walking. He was trying his best to walk and that's the only thing he did. "
That was for sure. He just kept walking, but I was always talking and complaining while walking.
a. I talked with my friend as we were walking.
b. I walked with one of my friends along the road.
c. I found that the blind man walked farther than we did.
d. We met a blind man who went to the same direction as ours.
e. My friend told me that the blind man just kept walking and I was always talking while walking.
Chat GPT is back in the headlines!Open AI, the company behind the popular chatbot, has now introduced a powerful new language model：GPT—4.
On March 14, GPT—4 showed the world how smarter it is than the previous GPT—3. 5. One of its best new features is that it can understand pictures. For example, if you show a picture of a phone using the wrong charger（充电器）, GPT—4 can tell why the picture looks strange or funny.
But GPT—4's developments don't stop there. The new language model can code （用代码编写） classic games like Tetris（俄罗斯方块） in a matter of minutes, and produce the code and layout（布局） for a website based on a hand—made drawing. It can also change the tone（语气） and style based on what you ask it to do. GPT4 is much better than the older GPT at passing tests, which may worry teachers. According to CNN, GPT—4 did really well on a law school test, with a score in the top 10 percent of test takers. But GPT—3. 5 only got a score in the bottom 10 percent.
GPT—4 will also see greater use as a tool to power other apps and services. For example, the language learning app Duolingo plans to use GPT—4 in their upcoming （即将到来的） Duolingo Max function. Users can learn language by talking with AI. Another app, Be My Eyes, will have a digital assistant to help blind people better understand the world around them. The government of Iceland also plans to use GPT—4 to protect the Icelandic language.
There are still problems with the new language model, however. GPT—4 still struggles to get completely correct answers, especially with newer information after September 2021. GPT—4 also sometimes " hallucinates". meaning that it will insist（坚持） that wrong information is true.
Super space seeds
Since humans sent the first satellite（卫星）to space in the 1950s, scientists have been studying an important topic：how to grow food in space if humans will one day live there. A recent experiment（实验）at the Tiangong space station makes a big step forward.
Chinese astronauts have successfully grown rice seedlings（幼苗）during the Shenzhou XIV mission. "The rice seedlings are growing very well, " said Zheng Huiqiong, a researcher from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Since the rice experiment began on July 29, the seedlings of the tall shoot rice variety（高杆水稻品种）have reached a height of 30 centimeters. The seedlings of the dwarf rice variety（矮杆水稻品种）have grown to 5 centimeters, China Daily reported on Aug 30.
While there have been other rice experiments in space, this one is the first of its kind to produce the complete life cycle of a plant—it begins with a seed and ends with a mature（成熟的）plant producing new seeds.
Such food—growing experiments are not just for astronauts. They can also solve food problems on Earth. By sending seeds to space, we can create mutated（突变的）seeds, thanks to microgravity（微重力）, lack of air and cosmic rays（宇宙射线）. The seeds can then produce higher yields（产量）on Earth.
For more than 30 years, China has developed over 260 new types of seeds in space. They are planted every year in fields that cover tens of millions of hectares（公顷）.
According to Yao Tong, an engineer from Hainan Aerospace Engineering Breeding Research Center（海南航天工程育种研发中心）, 30 percent of strawberries sold in Beijing are "space strawberries", which are as big as eggs. The center has also produced "space tomatoes" with yields increased by 30 percent, and "space bananas" with a growth cycle（生长周期）shortened from 13 months to 9 months.
a. To feed astronauts.
b. To study microgravity.
c. To increase yields on Earth.
d. To research on cosmic rays.
Why is setting goals important?Because goals can help you do and experience everything you want in life. Instead of just letting life happen to you, goals /ə'laʊ/ you to make your life happen.
Successful people in life imagine how their life should be and set lots of goals. By setting goals you are taking / kən'trəʊl/ of your life. It's like having a sign to show you where you want to go. Think of it this way. There are two drivers. One has a place to go to clearly in mind. He can （sure） drive straight there without any wasted time. other has no goal, or a map. He starts off at the same time from the same place. But he drives aimlessly around, never getting anywhere, just using up oil. driver do you want to be?The answer is obvious（显而易见的）.
（win） in life set goals and follow through on them. They decide what they want in life and then get there by setting goals and （make） plans. A miserable（碌碌无为的） person usually just lets his own life happen accident. Goals aren't hard to set and they aren't /dɪfikəlt/ to reach. It's up to you to find out what your goals really （be）. You are the one who must decide what to achieve and in what direction to aim your life.
