A new school term begins, Is anything new at your school? Sichuan students are getting an extra (額外的)hour to sleep in the morning.
This year, Sichuan schools decided that students should start classes later. This should help them feel less tired, For Junior high schools, the first classes will begin no earlier than 8:30 am.
The changes have made students happy.
Liu Xian, 15, said his class was excited by the news on the first day of school. “It’s so good we can get up later!” said Liu.
Liu studies in Chengdu No.4 Middle School. He used to get up at 6:40 am. Now he can get up at 7:40 am because class doesn’t start until 8:40 am.
Wu Hongli, 15, said the new timetable is good for her health. “I used to drink coffee every night or I would feel to sleepy to finish my homework, ”said Wu. “Now I can finish it without coffee.”She used to get up at 6:30 am. Now she can get up at 7:30 am.
Wu Hongli’s mother was happy, too. She thought more sleep would help her daughter grow taller.
But some parents worried that more sleep would mean less learning. There used to be five classes in the morning. Now there are only four.
Many teachers, though, say the changes will help students learn better.
“Students used to doze(瞌睡)for the first two classes in the morning,”said Wu Zongping, an English teacher at Chendu No.12 Middle School. “But now they look fine and they learn much better than before.”
【小題1】What made the Sichuan middle school students happy?

When I was about 12, I had an enemy, a girl who liked to point out my shortcomings(缺點(diǎn)). Sometimes she said I was thin. Sometimes she said I was lazy. Sometimes she said I wasn’t a good student. Sometimes she said I talked too much, and so on. I tried to put up with(忍受) her as long as I could. At last, I became very angry. I ran to my father with tears in my eyes.
He listened to me quietly, and then he asked, “Are the things she said true or not? Mary, didn’t you ever wonder what you’re really like? Go and make a list of everything she said and mark the points that are true. Pay no attention to the other things she said.”
I did as he told me and to my surprise, I discovered that about half the things were true.
I brought the list back to my dad. He refused to take it. “That’s just for you,” he said. “You know better than anyone else the truth about yourself. When something said about you is true, you’ll find it will be helpful to you. Don’t shut your ears. Listen to them all, but hear the truth and do what you think is right.”
Many years have passed. The situation often appears in my mind. In our life we often meet with some trouble and we often go to someone and ask for advice. For some advice you will treasure(珍惜) all your life!
【小題1】 What did the writer’s father do after he heard her complaints(抱怨)?

With a hat by his feet, a blind boy sat on the steps of a building. He held up a sign which said, “I’m blind, please help.”
Only a few people put   1  in the hat. A man was walking by. He   2  some coins into the hat. He then turned the sign   3 , wrote some words, put the sign back and left.
Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people   4  to give money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man came to see   5  things were. The boy recognized his footsteps （認(rèn)出他的腳步聲）and asked, “Were you the one who   6  my sign this morning? What did you write?”
The man said, “I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a   7  way.” What he had written was, “Today is a beautiful day,   8 I cannot see it.”
Both the   9  told people that the boy was blind. But the first sign simply   10  people to help by throwing some money into the   11 . The second one, however, told people that they were able to enjoy the   12  of the day, but the boy couldn’t   13  he was blind.
There are at least two lessons we can learn   14  this story. First, be thankful for what you have. Someone else has less. Help them if you can.   15  , be creative. Think differently. There is always a better way!