When July comes, children know they’ll have ________(1) examinations and the school year will end soon. Boys and girls will have a nearly two months’ holiday, and they’ll leave school ________(2) train or by car to ________(3) to see their fathers and mothers .
The summer holidays are the ________(4) time of the year for most children. The weather is usually good, so one can ________(5) most of his time playing outside. If one lives in the country, he can ________(6) into the woods and in the fields. If one lives in a big town, he can usually go to a park to play.
The best place for a summer holiday is the ________(7). Some children are ________(8) enough to live near the sea. But for the others who do not, if they have the chance to stay at one of the big seaside towns for a week or two, they will talk about it all the following school year.
Now, ________(9) makes children like the seaside so much? I think it is the sand, the sea and the sun, not anything else. Of course, there are ________(10) new things to see, nice things to eat, and interesting things to do. But the feeling of sand under their feet, of salt water on their skin, and the feeling of the warm sun on their backs make them happier.

選詞填空

The road was covered with sand ________ the heavy sandstorm.

A. because of     B. because      C. for          d. as

Sitting on exercise balls brings more than a smile to students and teachers.
Some fourth-graders at Conrad Weiser West Elementary School in Womelsdorf love their new chairs-—probably because they're not really chairs at all.
The kids are sitting on the air-filled balls. But different from those just for exercise, these have small legs that keep them from rolling. Sitting on a chair all day in school can make anyone want to move around. So, more and more teachers are letting students have a ball. By using exercise balls instead of common chairs, teachers find students' posture(姿勢(shì)) and attention improved.
Dotti Pownall, a fifth-grader teacher in West Virginia, has been using balls as chairs since December 2008. "The students love them." she says. Pownall took a survey of her students. She found that 80 percent, thought sitting on the balls helped them concentrate(專注) better:
"Besides, they’re fun,b" says Pownall.
According to WittFitt,b a company that has sold balls to more than 200 schools, they can improve kids' posture and classroom behavior.
Exercise ball chairs are getting popular in classrooms, from preschool to college. Some adults (成人) even use them at work.
Lisa Witt felt so strongly about the use of balls as chairs that she started WittFitt. She said the company not only encourages the use of balls but also educates teachers and students on how to use them. "We sell balls in 24 states in America, three provinces in Canada and Japan." says Witt.
【小題1】Sitting on exercise balls can______.

What’s the red star in the sky through a telescope(望遠(yuǎn)鏡)? It is Mars. Do you want to know more about it? Take the “Mars Orbit Express”!
“Mars Orbit Express” is a space probe (探測(cè)器). It was sent towards Mars by American scientists on August 12th，2005. Its tasks are to study Mars’ atmosphere and return photos to Earth. But before that “Mars Orbit Express” must travel about 100 hundred million kilometers and seven months. It reached Mars’ orbit(軌道)in March，2006.
Mars and Earth have similar weight and size. However，Mars is closer to the sun than Earth. Mars is very cold. The average temperature is below 50℃. The temperature at noon only reaches 20℃ during a Mars day. Its atmosphere is mostly CO2. It has much sand and two moons---Phobos and Deimos.
Scientists think Earth and Mars had similar beginnings 4.6 billion years ago. But while Earth supports millions of lives，Mars becomes bad. “Earth easily could have turned out like that.” said an scientist, “It is important for us to find out why and Mars Orbit Express’ should do that.” “Mars Orbit Express” also would help scientists to learn what might happen to Earth in the future.  “Mars Orbit Express” would work for about four years.
【小題1】 What can you see through a telescope when watching Mars? ________.