Martin Luther King was born in Georgia, U．S．A．When he was a boy, he sang with other children in the church．

　　Little Martin knew that it was very important to love and be kind to others．

　　Although the church was very important to Martin, he was interested in other things, too．He liked sports very much．He was not tall, but he was very strong．The boys in his town often met at Martin's house for a game of football or basketball．

　　Martin liked school and was a very good student．He went to college at fifteen．At first, he didn't know what he wanted to study．He knew the black people didn't have the same rights as the white people, and he also knew that the black people were not as happy as the white people．He wanted to work for the black people．He wanted to help the poor black people．

　　Later he really became a famous man．He was fighting for the men's rights all his life．At the age of thirty-five, Martin Luther King was the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize．He became not only the symbolic leader of American blacks but also a world figure．He was murdered(谋杀)on the evening of April 4, 1968．

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　　Dictionaries say that“spring fever”is a lazy or restless feeling．People usually have the feeling on the first warm day of spring．Everyone has probably felt it at one time or another．people have talked about it for years．

　　Recently, scientists have taken a good look at spring fever．What they found is quite surprising．

　　In many places we live in, the winter months often seem dark and dreary．When spring comes late March, the world becomes colorful．The number of daylight hours grows with each passing day．According to many scientists, all the sunlight sets off chemicals in the brain(大脑)．The chemicals make our feeling change and bring on spring fever．

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　　A survey by baidu．com showed there were 16 million bloggers(写网络日志的人)．Xu Jinglei was one of the first famous people that the website sina．com．invited to open blogs．

　　The web log written by Xu Jinglei is now the world's most popular．Xu, an actress-turned－director, became famous overseas when she won a Best Director Award for the film．A Letter From an Unknown Woman in 2004．

　　Her blog has broken the domestic(国内的)record with more than 10 million visits．

　　Xu updates(更新)her blog every other day．But if she feels very good she sometimes posts two or three articles in a day．

　　Visitors leave thousands of messages about each of her articles, praising(赞扬)her open, free writing style, commenting(评论)on films．

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　　Dear Annie,

　　I have never written a letter to a newspaper before, I have just never felt the need to do such a thing．I have always felt I was quite able to do everything by myself．But now I know I was wrong．

　　Sometimes you really need help in life, I guess．And that's why I'm writing this letter to you．

　　I have a happy family．I love my children and they love me．I'm a mother of three children．I know well how to bring up(带大)children, and two of them are already over twenty, so it is nothing new for me．

　　But now I have a serious problem：the Internet problem．My little son is just sixteen, and I feel he should do a lot of homework now, but he doesn't seem to be interested in it．He can happily spend six or eight hours at a time on the Tnternet every day, He chats with pelple that he has never met before, but speaks little to us．He does lots of useless things on the Internet．And he sees red if you ask him to do his homework．

　　I just want him to be a good student．Now he seldomdoes his lessons at home．I'm afraid he will drop behind in his class soon．His father is a doctor, a very kind man．He never seems to be afraid of his father．

　　What can I do, And don't tell to talk to him．We've tried that and it didn't work．But this is really a big problem in our family．I have tried everything I can think of．I wonder how the Internet is so attractive(有吸引力的)．You're my last hope．Please tell me what I can do!

Yours,

Ellen Smith

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　　A gentleman stopped his car at the door of a flower shop．He planned to order flowers and asked the shopkeeper to deliver them to his mother, who was far away in his hometown．

　　The gentleman saw a little girl crying on the road before he entered the shop．The gentleman asked her：“Why are you crying?”

　　“I want to buy a rose for my mother, but I haven't got enough money,”said the girl．

　　The gentleman took the girl's hand and entered the flower shop．He first ordered the bouquet(花束)for his mother and bought a rose for the girl．

　　When he was walking out of the shop, the gentleman asked the girl if she would like a ride home．

　　“Will you really drive me home?”she asked．

　　“Of course,”the gentleman replied．

　　“Then drive me to my mother．But the place where my mother lives is very far．”

　　The gentleman drove along the mountain road and finally came to the cemetery(墓地)．

　　The little girl put the flower onto a new grave(坟墓)．In order to send a rose to her mother who had died a month before, she had gone on a very long journey．

　　The gentleman drove the girl to her home and then returned to the flower shop．He cancelled(取消)the bouquet and bought a big bunch(束)of fresh flowers instead．He drove directly to his mother's home, a five-hour drive from here．He would send the flowers to his mother in person．

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　　When Rita was a little girl, her dream was to become a firefighter．The reason was simple－her father was once a firefighter．Sadly, when she was 14, her father died and she was never able to work with him．However, Rita's story didn't end there．That's why I think of her as a true hero．She is very strong-minded and never gives up．That makes her such a good firefighter．

　　Every day, she must be ready to deal with emergencies(紧急事件)like fighting fires, rescuing people in accidents or helping sick people．Sometimes Rita works nine to eleven days a month on 24-hour shifts．She also has a family to take care of．Her husband is a firefighter, too．

　　Rita remembers the first time that she fought a fire．She was awoken early in the morning by the alarm(警报)．She said she was very nervous but did what she should do．

　　When I asked Rita what made her happy, she replied,“Helping people and saving lives．”It shows us what a true hero is．She's always glad to do anything for anyone in need．Among the 140 firefighters in her station, Rita is one of the only three women．

　　I think she's great and I have learnt a lot from her．We could never live without the people who are always glad to help others．

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　　Did you know the following facts about water?

　　●There is about the same amount of water on Earth now as there was millions of years ago．

　　●Nearly 97 percent of all the world's water is salty or otherwise undrinkable．Another 2 percent is ice．Then there only leaves 1 percent for all our needs．

　　●Water regulates(调节)the Earth's temperature．It also regulates the temperature of the human body!

　　●More water is used in the bathroom than any other place in the home．

　　●A dripping faucet(龙头)can waste up to 7,570 L of water a year．

　　Amazing?Then why not help to save water?You should know that whether at home or at school, you can do things like this to save water：

　　◆Turn off the water in your bathroom while you brush your teeth．

　　◆Take shorter showers．

　　◆Don't let the water run constantly(不间断地)while you're washing dishes．

　　◆Fill a bottle with tap water and put it in the fridge, rather than running the water every time you want a cold drink!

　　◆Repair dripping faucets．

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　　People have long thought that dinosaurs were brown or gray in color．To examine is one important way to find out the answer．The word“examine”is to look at or consider something in detail in order to discover something about them．After examining the remains(遗骸)of a dinosaur, scientists say they have found evidence it had bright-coloured feathers．The findings were printed in Science magazine．

　　American and Chinese scientists did careful research and re-built the feathers of a flightless dinosaur．The small, two-legged creature(生物)lived about one hundred-fifty million years ago．It would have weighed only about one hundred ten grams．The dinosaur's remains were discovered in Liaoning Province in China．Researchers studied melanosomes(黑素体)in the feathers．These melanosomes are small, color-producing things, and they formed as the dinosaur was developing．The researchers compared them to the melanosomes that control the colour of feathers on modern birds．They were then able to make out the colors of the dinosaur feathers．The dinosaur appeared to have a dark gray or black body．The top of the creature was light brown in color．And, it had bright white wings．Each of the feathers had black on the end．

　　Richard Prum, a biologist at Yale University, says the melanosomes were in very good condition．He says the dinosaur would be a beautiful creature if it were still alive．

　　The discovery is useful to scientists in another way．It helps them better understand not only how dinosaurs looked but also how they lived in their daily life．Some researchers plan to use this way to study the colours of other feathered dinosaurs．

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　　National Poetry(诗歌)Month is held in the United States every April．This year is the 15th celebration of the event．Poets, schools, publishers, booksellers and libraries will hold readings, competitions, book displays, educational events and other activities during National Poetry Month．The organizer's goal is to bring attention to the great work of poets(诗人)in the past and today．It also wants Americans to know the pleasure of reading poetry．And it wants poetry to be a more important part of school educational programs．

　　The United States Library of Congress(国会)chooses an official poet, called the Poet Laureate(桂冠), every one to two years．Many of them have created new ways to celebrate National Poetry Month．For example, in April of 1998, Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky asked Americans to send in their favorite poems．Thousands of men, women and children did．The Favorite Poem Project collected video of Americans from all backgrounds, ages and places reading their favorite poems and talking about them．

　　Ted Kooser served as Poet Laureate from 2004 to 2006．Mr Kooser has family in the news business．So his poetry project was connected to the media(媒体)．Ted Kooser started a weekly poetry column he provided free to newspapers and online media．He uses poems by current poets．Most of the poems are short and not complex．Mr Kooser's project is called American Life in Poetry．He started it in 2005．He said he wanted to show common Americans that there is something in poetry for them．

　　The Poet Laureate, Kay Ryan, opened this year's National Poetry Month April first with a call to American colleges．Miz Ryan has been teaching English in local colleges for thirty years．So she focused her poetry project on college students．She also helped organize a poetry writing competition among college students．Perhaps a future Poet Laureate is among the student writers．