It was a hot summer evening. Kevin and his brother Alan were _____ soccer in the backyard. After a while, they decided to drink some orange juice and watch TV in the house. ______ the TV was off. Alan tried to turn it back on, but ____ happened. They soon realized that there was no electricity（电）. What could they do? Kevin suggested going outside to do some ______ watching. Without streetlights, the stars were bright and ______ to see. Lying on the grass, they saw different kinds of stars _____ they even saw the planet Mars. Kevin and Alan had never realized ______fantastic the night sky could be.

After watching the stars for an hour, the boys _________ the house. It was very dark except for a few ________ that their parents had lighted. The family spent the night playing cards and telling stories by candlelight. Kevin and Alan had never thought of having such a night ________ electricity like that before. They really enjoyed watching stars.

Tree Climbing Course

The students in the USA started to take tree climbing courses in the 1980s. Now over 1,000 schools offer tree climbing courses to students in the USA.

Xiamen University was the first school in China to teach students to climb trees in 2012.

Suzhou No. 1 Junior High School also offers a tree climbing course to students.

Swimming Course

Starting from 2017, the new students in Tsinghua University need to take a swimming test at the beginning of their university life.

All primary and middle schools in Hainan will set up swimming courses in 2019. This year the government is busy building swimming pools for schools—at least one for each town, hoping that every student will be able to swim before they leave school from 2020 on.

   As a student, you must have met all kinds of teachers. Do you like or hate them? Is there complete understanding between you and them?

At first, I thought Miss Li was nervous and shy. But now, I find she’s kind and patient, and she explains English grammar so clearly that even I can understand it well! She always avoids making you feel stupid. I’ve always hated making mistakes or pronouncing a word incorrectly when I speak English, but Miss Li just smiles, so that I don’t feel that stupid!

Mrs. Chen is very strict and serious. In her class, we don’t dare to say a word unless she asks us to. There are a few students in our class who keep coming to class late, but they’re always on time for Mrs. Chen’s lessons! Some of our classmates don’t like her. But most of us really appreciate(欣赏) her because her teaching is so well organized and clear. Physics will never be my favorite lesson, but I think I’ll do well in the exam with Mrs. Chen teaching me.

Mr. Wu is very popular. He really enjoys teaching Chinese. You can’t imagine what a great teacher he is! He talks loudly and fast and waves his hands about a lot when he gets excited. He’s really understanding and funny. When he thinks we’re getting bored, he will tell us jokes and make us active again. We really respect him a lot.

   Riding a Mobike on the street, you might hear some people speaking Chinese aloud. Turning to the right, you see a Sichuan-style restaurant. After walking into a store, you see that Huawei smartphones are on sale. But you’re not in China — you’re in Manchester in Britain. In fact, you might see similar things in many other cities. Chinese products have been going all over the world.

Some Chinese brands（品牌）are also becoming more popular. It is reported that in many cities in Europe, many stores sell TCL televisions, Haier fridges and Lenovo computers. More than half of US-owned drones（无人机）are Chinese models, according to China Daily. They’re not only made in China, but also designed and developed in the country.

In the past, most Western people thought Chinese products were cheap and unreliable. But now, things have changed greatly. More people trust Chinese brands. “Made in China” becomes cool. “They are beautiful and offer something special that American phones don’t have,” an article on CNN once said about Chinese smartphones.

As it is said, Chinese government has been trying its best to improve its national brands of all kinds to meet the needs of modern life.

   Many people were really surprised last Wednesday when money started falling from the sky. The accident happened on Green Street.

A company clerk（职员）was crossing the busy street with a bag. In the bag, there was 50,000 dollars. She was going to put the money in the bank. Suddenly, a strong wind blew her skirt up. The clerk put her hands on her skirt right away. But she dropped the bag at the same time. The wind blew the money into the air and it fell all over the street. She rushed to pick up all the money she could find at once, and a lot of people came to help her as well. But she could only get back 44,500 dollars.

When the clerk went back to the company, she felt really worried. She thought she had to pay off（偿清）the lost money. However, after she told her boss what had happened, to her surprise, the boss didn’t ask her to pay back the money. Instead, he told her to wear trousers to work from then on.

Reading makes a full man. It’s important and necessary for everyone to read. __________．Reading is a lifelong journey. I hope everyone can read as much as possible in the future.