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　　LONDON(Reuters)－British milkman Steve Leech, who saved several shops and flats by putting out a fire with 320 pints of milk, was celebrating Thursday after winning a national bravery award．

　　Leech, 35, named “Hero Milkman” by the National Dairymen’s Association, said that he had noticed smoke coming out of a shop in Cornwall, southern England, while delivering(遞送)milk as usual a year ago．

　　“I saw the flats up above and thought I’d better do something．So I kicked the door in and started pouring milk everywhere,” Lee told Reuters Thursday．

　　“When firemen arrived, the fire was almost out,” he said．Firemen said he had helped save the lives of eight people living in the flats above the shops．

　　“It was hard work opening all those bottles, especially since they have tamper-proof lids．But it was even harder trying to explain to my boss where all the milk had gone．”

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　　Sharks frighten most of us, but Daniel Weaver, a shark scientist, swims with them for a living! We asked him some questions about this unusual job．

　　So Daniel, what’s it like to be a shark scientist?

　　Well, it’s a great job．I often travel to faraway places like South Africa and Fiji to study sharks．On the other hand, a shark scientist sometimes does boring desk work, such as writing reports．Also, shark scientists don’t usually get paid a lot．

　　What qualities(品質(zhì))do you need to become a shark scientist?

　　Shark scientists need to be wise and strong．They enjoy working outdoors and they have to be cool and patient(耐心)．They also have to be quite brave!

　　So do you think it’s a dangerous job?

　　Well, sharks have up to 15 rows of sharp teeth．However, sharks hardly attack(攻擊)humans．There are over 350 kinds of sharks in the world and only about 10 are dangerous to us．In fact, dogs kill more people every year than sharks! Humans kill over 12 million sharks a year for food and sport!

　　How do you become a shark scientist?

　　A shark scientist usually studies Marine Science or Zoology at university．It’s also good to get some work experience in an aquarium(水族館)．In my opinion, I have the best job in the world!

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　　As Sam slowly woke, he got a funny feeling in his stomach．He knew he would have to do something that he had been afraid to do for a long time．

　　The school bus came on time, and he sat with his friend, Billy．They chatted about baseball．It was a great way to get his mind off what he had to do later．As they got close to the school, he could feel his heart beating．His hands were starting to sweat．He hated this!

　　He entered Mrs．Owen’s class．She was smiling, and saying hello to all her students as she did every morning．

　　“Hi, Sam!” she said as he walked in．

　　“Hi,” he said and quickly sat in his seat．Then the class began to take their spelling test．He looked at the clock．The time was near．He hoped he was not first! Mrs．Owens said it was time to begin their special day．

　　“Sam, you’ll be first．” Mrs．Owens said to the class, “Sam has worked very hard on his report on Hawaii, and I know it is very interesting．”

　　Sam nervously greeted his class．Then, he thought about the fun things he had read about surfing, volcanoes, and pineapples in Hawaii, and he started to talk．He talked in front of the whole class, and it was fun．The class clapped as he finished and Mrs．Owens was smiling．It wasn’t terrible at all and he knew he would do better the next time．

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　　“You know, these cups brings to my mind a story I heard,” Mary said to her students．

　　She poured some tea．There were four of them and there were four completely different cups on the tables．

　　“I heard there was a teacher who took all his students for tea．His students were surprised that all the cups on the table were different．They all took a cup and started drinking their tea, each looking at the cups of others．The teacher said, “Did you notice your behavior? You are all looking at each other’s tea cup and some of you even envy(羨慕)the finer cups of others．”

　　“I put the different cups here on purpose．I want to say life is like this tea．You all have the same thing in your cups——tea．And yet you cannot truly enjoy it in your envy of another’s cup．You forget to enjoy your own life when you envy someone else’s life．We all have the same thing——life．We should care more about the tastes of your own life．So now, taste your own tea．Does it matter from which cup it came from?” Mary finished telling her story and her students all sat in silence for a while, enjoying their tea．And it really did not matter a bit from which teacup they drank．

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　　Do you play a musical instrument? If so, you may be getting smarter．A recent study shows that taking music lessons can raise a person’s IQ．

　　Scientists studied 132 children in Canadian schools．At the beginning of the school year, these children took an IQ test．Then they were divided into four groups．One group took singing lessons．Another group took weekly piano lessons．The third group took classes in drams(戲劇)．And the last group did no special activities at all．

　　At the end of the school year, the 132 children took an IQ test again．In all four groups, the average score went up．However, the piano players’IQs went up 7．0 points on average．The average increase for the other three groups was only 4．3 points．

　　The researchers say that the difference is small and it may not result in better grades for the piano players．However, they still consider the results important．Learning an instrument helps kids becomes better at concentrating and at memorizing things．Therefore, the researchers say, it may be good for brain development in young people．

　　If you have a chance to learn to play a musical instrument, never miss it．Remember it can make you smarter．

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　　Having a part-time job is an important part of growing up for American teenagers．It can teach them important skills that will be useful for the rest of their lives．And many teenagers find that making their own money gives them a sense of pride and freedom．

　　American teenagers are allowed to do part-time jobs at the age of 14．During the school year, teenagers may go to work a few times a week after school, and work for longer at weekends．

　　In summer, top part-time jobs for teenagers include at camps, swimming pools and amusement parks．These jobs are great for those who want to be active and have fun while making money．

　　Some of the most stressful jobs include teaching, nursing, and police work．These skills help to prepare teenagers for their later lives．When they grow up, the students with work experience are more likely to succeed than those without work experience．

　　A favorite job for many teenagers is babysitting, and they can start before the age of 14 if their parents agree．As long as they stay in the house and make sure the kids are okay, babysitters can do their homework, watch TV, or talk on the phone with friends．After the kids go to bed and before the parents come home, babysitters have lots of freedom．

　　It can be stressful to balance school, homework, and a part-time job．However, many American teenagers value their work experience and the skills they get from the job．

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　　Middle school students have far too much homework．They usually have to sit up three or four hours every night doing their homework．Now one school in my hometown has made a rule of limiting(限制)homework．The homework is limited to an hour a day and the students have no homework on the weekend．I think this is an excellent idea that will allow students to live better and healthier lives．

　　Less homework will give students more time to enjoy other pastimes(休閑活動)．I have many books which I received as gifts from my parents and friends．They have been kept there on my shelf for several years! Because of homework, I will have not read a single one of them．With less homework, students will be freer to develop their interests in art, music and other hobbies．

　　More time free from homework will get our physical health better．Many students like sports, but they have little time to play football, basketball, volleyball and so on．They hardly have time to have a trip or take part in any social activities．They must spend so much time solving math problems and doing grammar exercises．Besides, staying up late to finish their homework leaves many students exhausted in the morning．Not getting enough sleep is not only unpleasant; it also makes students more likely(有可能得)to get colds and other illnesses．

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　　Joyce was born in a poor family．Next Friday would be her mother’s birthday．Joyce wanted to buy something for her mother, but she had no money．As an 8-year-old girl, she couldn’t do part-time jobs．What could she do to make enough money for her mother’s birthday present?

　　Suddenly she had an idea．Usually, she would go straight to school, but this morning, she didn’t．She walked along the streets, picking up cardboard(紙板), plastic(塑料)bottles and cans(易拉罐)．When it was time for school, she hid them in the backyard and ran to school as quickly as possible．

　　Eight days later, she decided to sell all the things she had collected because the next day was her mother’s birthday．She had to sell them and buy a birthday present for her mother．In the shop, she bought a beautiful hair pin for her mother．

　　When her mother got the present, she said with tears in her eyes,“This is the best present I’ve ever received．”

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　　Expert(專家)say that students usually need eight to ten hours’ sleep at night, but most Chinese students do not get enough sleep．Some Chinese parents are usually glad to see their children studying late．They will think their children work very hard, but not all parents are happy about this．Once a mother told us that every morning her 10-year-old boy put up one finger(手指)with his eyes still closed, begging(請求)for one more minute to sleep．Like thousands of students “early birds” in China, he has to get up before six every morning．

　　A report shows that without a good night’s sleep, students seem to be weaker(虛弱)than they should be．Many students have fallen asleep during class at one time or another．Too much homework is not the only reason why students stay up late．Some watch TV or play the computer games late into the night．

　　Experts have ever said that the students should develop good study habits．So some clever students never study last, they are able to work well in class．

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A good way to pass an exam is to work hard every day in a year．You may fail in an exam, if you are lazy for most of the year and then work hard only a few days before the exam．If you are free, read stories in English．Speak English whenever you can．A few days before the exam you should go to bed early．Do not go to bed late at night studying．Before you start the exam, read carefully over the question paper, try to understand the meaning of each question．When you have at last finished your exam, read over your answers．Correct(更正)the mistakes if there are any and be sure that you have not missed anything out．

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