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　　What are the most successful movies?

　　American movies are the most popular around the world．The most successful movies of the twentieth century was Titanic．People around the world paid almost ＄2 billion, and they saw the famous ship sink again．Titanic was more popular than Star Wars．This Star Wars film made almost ＄1billion in the late 1990s．Close behind this was Jurassic Park, a film about dinosaurs．And it’s interesting that Titanic was also the most expensive film：it cost ＄200 million to make．

　　Which is the world’s most popular sport?

　　The world most popular sport is soccer．It’s more popular than football，basketball or baseball．FIFA has 4.1 million teams，and 200 million players in 190 countries around the world．More than one billion people watch the World Cup Final on TV every four years．In the United States，soccer is not the most popular for spectators(觀眾)，but it is the most popular sport for kids and teens．About 3 million Americans under the age of nineteen play soccer．

　　What are the largest shopping malls?

　　The largest shopping mall in the world is the West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton，Canada．The mall has more than 800 retail(零售)stores, including eight department stores．There is also a 335 room hotel．It's much larger than the second largest mall in the world：this is the mall of America in Bloomington，Minnesota．The US mall has 400 stores．Its amusement attractions include a roller coaster．Some people spend their vacation at this mall．But in the future，the biggest stores probably are going to be on the computer：some online malls already say that they have stores in l00 countries．

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　　Have you ever rubbed your hands together when they get cold? Why do we do that? We do that for friction．Friction happens when two things that aren’t very smooth rub together to make heat energy．The faster you rub two things together, the more friction(and heat)you can make．Let’s discover friction!

　　WHAT YOU’LL NEED：

　　●Soap　　●Water　　●Your hands!

　　WHAT TO DO：

　　1．Make sure your hands are dry．

　　2．Rub your hands together until you feel the heat of your hands．

　　3．Now, use soap and water to get your hands very slippery(滑的)．

　　4．Try to make friction happen while your hands are slippery．

　　5．Please write down what has happened．

　　LET’S TALK!

　　Friction is an energy that happens when two things rub together．When friction happens, it makes heat! When your hands are slippery, they won’t make very much friction and your hands won’t get so hot．

　　DID YOU KNOW?

　　1．Friction happens when you stop your fast running bike．

　　2．Ancient people made fires by rubbing two pieces of wood together．Friction happened though they didn’t know it．

　　Friction is everywhere．Have you ever noticed situations where friction is happening? If not, ask your parents to take you out in a car．If it is not too hot, touch the tires(輪胎)of the car before and after a short drive to see how much warmer they get from friction．

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　　It’s Sunday today．Children don’t go to school on Sundays．But Kate gets up early in the morning．

　　“It’s my birthday．I’m eight years old today．” She thinks．“Where are Dad and Mum? I want to know what they can give me for my birthday．”

　　Her father and mother are not at home．They are going shopping．And now they are talking about what to buy for Kate．

　　Mrs．Green：How about the doll? It looks nice．I think Kate would like the doll．

　　Mr．Green：No, she is not a little girl．I think she’d like a new dress．Girls often like new dresses very much．

　　Mrs．Green：But she has a few new dresses, and some new blouses! Oh, I think she must be very happy to have a box of color pencils and some picture books．Do you think so?

　　Mr．Green：Yes．Let’s go over there and buy them

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　　Do you drive your children to school?

　　Every year，hundreds of children are killed or injured trying to get to and from their school．Many are subjected to unnecessary hazards(碰巧)by inconsiderate(淡漠的)parents who stop their cars outside school entrances to set down or pick up passengers．

　　In an attempt to ensure that children can cross the road to and from their school safely，SCHOOL KEEP CLEAR markings are placed on the road surface outside the school entrance．These markings not only highlight the school entrance to other road users，but also indicate an area that should be kept clear of stationary vehicles．This allows approaching drivers to see a child standing on the pavement waiting to cross and it also allows the child to see the approaching traffic．Parking or stopping in these designated(指定的)areas is potentially dangerous．

　　·Give yourself plenty of time to get to school．

　　·If there is congestion(交通擁擠)near the school，park a little further away and walk．

　　·Do not stop or park on SCHOOL KEEP CLEAR markings，even to set down or pick up passengers．

　　·Avoid(避免)parking on the opposite side of the road to these markings．

　　·Do not reverse(倒車)your car into school entrances in order to turn around．

　　·Do not double park outside schools．

　　School entrances should be kept clear by drivers．Inconsiderate parking could prove very dangerous for children．

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　　Have you ever had an embarrassing(尷尬的)experience? Last week we asked readers to tell us about embarrassing experiences．We received thousands of letters! Here is a selection．

　　My most embarrassing experience happened when I had just left university．I had just started teaching in a Liverpool secondary school．One morning my alarm clock didn’t ring．I woke up at half past eight and school began at nine．I quickly washed, dressed, jumped into my car and rushed to school．When I arrived, the students had already gone into class．I didn’t go to the office, but went straight into class．After two or three minutes the students began laughing, and I couldn’t understand why! Suddenly I looked down and understood．I had put on one black shoe and one brown shoe!

　　The most embarrassing experience I’ve ever had happened two years ago．After seeing a film, my wife and I had lunch in our favourite restaurant in town．Then we decided to take a walk along the street．The street was very busy and we started holding hands．Suddenly my wife saw a dress that she liked in a shop window, and stopped．I started looking at some watches in the next window．After a minute or two I reached for my wife’s hand．There was a loud scream, and a woman slapped my face．I hadn’t taken my wife’s hand．I’d taken the hand of a complete stranger!

　　My wife and I had decided to buy a new house, and I’d made an appointment to see our bank manager．I’d never met him before and I was a bit nervous．I went into town in my car and I was lucky enough to find a parking space outside the bank．I’d just started reversing(倒車)into the space when another car made its way into it．I was irritated! I opened my window and shouted at the man in the car, I rushed back to the bank．I was ten minutes late for my appointment．I went to the manager’s office, knocked and walked in．The manager was sitting behind his desk．He was the man who had taken my parking space!

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　　There was once a young mouse that lived in a hole in a wall．One day, the young mouse woke up from his sleep and looked out of the hole．As he looked out, a fantastic smell came to his nose．“Cheese!” the mouse said happily to himself．“I’ll go and get it now and have it for breakfast．”

　　But then he remembered his parents’ words．His parents were very clever mice and often said to their son, “Always wait before you go for a piece of cheese．”

　　So the young mouse waited quietly．Then he heard a quiet “Miaow” and he knew the cat was there．He stayed in the hole and said to himself, “I’m glad I listened to my parents and learned to wait．”

　　The next day, he looked out again．He put his nose out of the hole, and the beautiful smell of cheese came to his nose again．He could see the cheese．It was only a few centimetres away．But he sat still and waited quietly．This time he did not hear any cat’s noise．Instead he heard a very quiet “Woof, woof．”

　　“It’s a dog!” he thought．“If the dog is there, the cat won’t be there．I expect the dog has chased the cat away, so I’m safe．” The mouse ran out of the hole and started eating the cheese．He did not see the cat, which caught him and ate him．

　　When the cat finished her meal, she said to herself, “I’m glad I listened to my parents and learned a second language．”

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　　The hardworking blacksmith(鐵匠)Jones used to work all day in his shop．The son of Mr．Smith, a rich neighbor, used to come to see the blacksmith every day and for hours and hours he would enjoy himself watching how tradesman worked．

　　“Young man, why don’t you try your hand to learn to make shoe tacks(鐵釘), even if it is only to pass the time?” said the blacksmith．“Who knows, one day, it may be of use to you．”

　　The lazy boy began to see what he could do．But after a little practice he found that he was becoming very skilled and soon he was making some of the finest tacks．

　　Old Mr．Smith died and the son lost all his things because of the war．He had to leave home and began to live a simple life in a small village in another country．In the village there were a lot of shoemakers who were spending a lot of money buying tacks for their shoes, and sometimes even when they paid high prices, they were not always able to get what they wanted, because in that part of the country soldiers’ shoes were in great need．

　　Our young Mr．Smith, who was finding it difficult to make money, remembered he had learned the art of making tacks and had the sudden idea of making a bargain with the shoemakers．He told them that he would make the tacks if they helped to get him settled(安家)in his workshop．The shoemakers were very glad for the offer．And after a while, young Mr．Smith found that he was soon making the finest tacks in the village．

　　“How funny it seems,” he used to say, “even making tacks can make my life better．My skill is more useful to me than all the riches that I’ve had before．”

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　　After a serious earthquake happened, a father left his wife safely at home and rushed to his son’s school, only to find that the building where his son studied had collapsed and looked like a pancake．

　　He was shocked．He didn’t know what he should do for a while, then he remembered the words he had said to his son, “No matter what happens, I’ll always be there for you! ”And tears began to fill his eyes．He started digging through the ruins(廢墟)．

　　As he was digging, other helpless parents and the firemen arrived and tried to pull him off the ruins, saying, “It’s too late! They’re all dead! There’s nothing you can do! ” To them he replied with one line, “Are you going to help me now?” And then he kept on digging．

　　No one helped, however．He went on alone because he needed to know for himself：“Is my boy alive or is he dead? ” He dug for eight hours…12 hours…24 hours…36 hours…then, in the 39th hour, he pulled back a rock and heard his son’s words．He shouted his son’s name, “ARMAND!” He heard back, “Dad!?! It’s me, Dad! I told the other kids not to worry．I told them that if you were alive, you’d save me and when you saved me, they’d be saved．You promised, ‘No matter what happens, I’ll always be there for you!’ You did it, Dad! ”

　　“What’s going on in there? How is it? ” the father asked．

　　“There are 14 of us left out of 33, Dad．We’re frightened, hungry, thirsty and thankful you’re here．When the building fell down, it made a triangle(三角), and it saved us．”

　　“Come out, boy!”

　　“No, Dad! Let the other kids out first, because I know you’ll get me! No matter what happens, I know you’ll always be there for me!”

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