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Pillow fighting is moving out of the bedroom and into the boxing ring. The Pillow Fight Championship, or PFC, plans to hold  (it) first live, pay-to-watch event in Florida on January 29.

Steve Williams had the idea of (turn) a children's game into a professional fighting sport. The head of PFC said professional pillow fighting will have the (excite) of hand-to-hand fighting without the violence of mixed martial arts, or MMA, and boxing. He said it is not a joke.

The male and female athletes in January's event come (most) from MMA and boxing. But Williams said the athletes are not going to get (injure). "The fighters don't like to be hurt, and there are a lot of people don't want to see the blood. They want to see good competition, and they just don't want (see) the violence."

Since many people grew up pillow fighting with friends or relatives, Williams  (hope) the new sport will be popular and can attract a large audience, including children.

"You can call it unusual sport, but we think it's going to have main appeal (吸引)," he said. "Think about how they mixed country music rap music and brought these different audiences together. That's what we're doing, and we hope it brings in a different kind of viewers."

It was late July and except for a few thin, white clouds the sky was a bright blue. The sun was 1  on the green grass giving it a golden colour. Birds were 2  flying to and from their homes feeding their 3  growing babies. The air was full of the smell of freshly-cut grass and the sweet smell of 4 . In the field behind my house, I could see sheep 5  grass by the edge of the woods.

Our black cat, Alice was sleeping under the shade (阴凉) of our Maple tree, without noticing the little rabbit that was 6  along in the field behind my home. I could see the trees, flowers, and plants along the side of the 7 . All of this beauty was here for me just as I 8  outside. Filled with all this, my heart felt so 9 . I breathed in the sweet, cool, morning air and walked without 10  in the grass, experiencing nature. I knew that a heat wave was on the way so I wanted to enjoy the comfort of the morning and 11  all of these wonderful gifts of nature creation.

Just then a lovely, yellow butterfly flew down and 12  on a flower right in front of me. It beat its 13  and I smiled. It flew up, circled my face and then was blown away by the gentle 14 . A peace filled me as I received the message of nature. And I 15  nature for this beautiful day, this beautiful world, and this beautiful life.

How Do You Get Better at Speaking English?

Many Learning English fans write to us with this question: How do I get better at speaking English? All right. I'll give some suggestions as following:

Try to speak English each day

Every day, you can speak English anytime and anywhere. Begin by saying "good morning," and "good afternoon or evening" to a family member or a friend. As you travel to your school or work, think about how you feel (like "happy" or "sad") and say it to yourself in English. When you arrive, give greetings to a friend who is also learning English. Speaking English every day will help you get better.

Accept a few mistakes

We all make mistakes. You will probably make some mistakes while learning to speak English. But you can still say how you feel. And you can learn from your mistakes.  Practice saying the words many times so you can say them correctly the next time.

Learn some skills

Another way to practice speaking is to read a story from our website and listen to the audio. Stop after a few sentences. Listen again, and notice how the speaker's voice goes up and down.

Practice speaking with a partner

With a friend, choose a conversation from Let's Learn English. Use a phone to record and listen to yourself. Do you say the words the same way as Anna and her friends? Next week, we will talk about continuing a conversation in English.

A. Speak up loudly and bravely.

B. You may ask, "How are you feeling today?"

C. Ask your friend or teacher to correct them.

D. Keep on doing it, even if you can only speak for a short time.

E. Repeat the sentences and make your voice change the same way.

F. And then, act it out with your friend when you know it well enough.

G. Speaking English plays an important role in communication with natives.

In February, the U. S. stated that its Mars explorer, Perseverance, landed successfully on the Red Planet. Perseverance is on a task to collect Martian soil and rocks as part of a search for signs of ancient life.

Perseverance landed in an area of Mars called Jezero Crater. Scientists believe the area has a large ancient lakebed. NASA considers the area a promising place to find possible signs of microbial life.

Perseverance carried to Mars a small experimental helicopter (直升机) named Ingenuity. In April, NASA said Ingenuity had successfully completed a takeoff and landing on the planet. It said the flight was historic; it marked the first time any flying machines had performed a powered, controlled flight on another planet.

In July, British billionaire Richard Branson entered into space on a rocket plane built by Virgin Galactic, the space tourism company he created. Branson joined two pilots and three other task experts on the flight. Virgin Galactic aims to fly private citizens to the edge of space to experience a few minutes of weightlessness and observe Earth.

A little over a week later, American billionaire Jeff Bezos flew to the edge of space on a rocket built by his company, Blue Origin. Three other people took the quick trip with him: Bezo's brother, a Dutch teenager and an 82-year-old pilot.

The flights by Branson and Bezos officially started a new industry that promises any citizen the chance to visit space. Such trips will be costly, however. Virgin Galactic's price for a single flight is $250,000. Blue Origin has not publicly announced its price. Both businesses have built operating bases, called "spaceports", in the countryside areas of the U. S.

And earlier this month, Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa arrived for a 12-day stay at the International Space Station (ISS). The businessman arrived along with an assistant aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. The price of that trip has not been made public, but some reports guess it costs up to $50 million.

This winter, the U. S. state of California received unusually large amounts of rain and snow. Now, people worry that some areas will flood as the snow in the Sierra Nevada Mountains melts (融化).

Ron Caetano lives about half-way between the cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco. He is preparing to leave in case his community, called the Island District, floods.

More than 100 years ago, the Island District area was under a large lake named Tulare Lake. At one time, Tulare Lake was the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River. But reservoirs (水库) and watering systems for agriculture caused it to disappear. However, in very rainy years, farmland can still get covered with water.

Experts say reservoirs near the area will likely receive three times more water than they can hold this year. That means officials must increase the amount of water they release (释放) from the reservoirs. If too much water is released, the area might flood.

The Island District has organized a community network to help prepare for floods. People are placing sandbags close to elderly neighbors' houses to block possible flooding. And they are looking at reports from water officials county officials, and from each other.

California has had very dry weather in recent years. Both cities and farm communities acclaimed this year's winter rains. If the weather gets warmer slowly, the snow will not melt quickly and there may be little or no flooding. But if the weather gets hot quickly, that will bring trouble from too much melting snow.

Officials announced plans to close parts of Yosemite National Park because of threats of flooding. The park is about 270 kilometers east of San Francisco in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Nicholas Pinter is with the University of California, Davis Center for Watershed Sciences. He said the lake's size has always changed because of California's weather. He described the surrounding area this way. "It has been an engineering problem all along," he said. "This is a bathtub (浴缸) with no way out."

At Phoenix Bikes, a bicycle shop, students are learning to repair bikes. Phoenix Bikes sells bikes to the public at their business in Arlington, Virginia. But it also teaches teenagers how to repair bikes.

Most students at Phoenix start in its after-school "earn-a-bike program," at middle and high schools in and around Arlington County. Once a week over a 12-week period, students learn repair skills. They learn how to use tools, fix flat tires, correct the wheels, and change gears (齿轮). The first lesson includes taking the bike apart. By doing this, they learn all the parts of a bike.

In the first few weeks, they work in small groups to repair a bike given to the shop. The bikes often have missing or damaged parts. The finished bike is then given to a person in need from the community. In the last four weeks of the program, students come to the shop to work on one of the given bikes which they can then take home at no cost.

Anthony is a student at nearby Wakefield High School. He just completed his bike. He said it was not in good shape at first but was the kind of bike he was looking for and could be made into something better. He said it had no lights, no front tire, and was without a chain, which controls the gears. He said he joined the program to get better at working with his hands and fixing things.

Phoenix Bikes is teaching 300 to 400 young people this year. Phoenix communicationscoordinator Gage said the classes are fun and let students learn with their hands after sitting in the classroom all day at school. He added that bikes are interesting for teenagers especially because they are a means of transportation and freedom. Learning how to fix a bike can also be a fun challenge, she said.

Online Event: How to be a human

Venue

Online event | Thursday, 8 September 2024 18.00-19.00 BST

Humans are strange creatures. Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder at the age of eight, Camilla created her own handbook for understanding humans.

Camilla Pang, biologist and author

Camilla Pang is the author of the book Explaining Humans, a memoir (自传) that uses scientific principles to understand human behaviour through the lens (视角) of someone who has autism and ADHD. Her latest book Perfectly Weird, Perfectly You is a scientific guide to growing up for children, published in March 2022.

What's included in your ticket:

※Live lecture lasting 60 minutes including Q&A with Camilla Pang

※On-demand access to a recording of the lecture and Q&. A for 12 months

※Extra content from New Scientist

Being Human (Series tickets available)

About the series: What makes us human? What skills and concepts do humans have that separate us from the rest of the animal kingdom? And how did they arise? The "Being human" series from New Scientist will explore the beginnings of all the things that make us human, over the course of four virtual events. The series will feature the following talks:

※Origin of love: Anna Machin 5th May 2024 (now available on-demand)

※The dawn of language: Sverker Johansson 9th June 2024

※The evolution of childhood: Brenna Hassett 7th July 2024

※How to be a human: Dr Camilla Pang 8th September 2024

Save 20% off the standard ticket price by purchasing all 4 live online "Being Human" lectures (also available on-demand) or purchase single tickets for £25 per lecture(early booking rate) to hear from the finest minds in science in 2024.

There was a girl called Cary, who was a new student in Esmarth Vil, a primary school in a small town. 

She was the most hardworking girl at her school. Her marks were higher than the others. She was the best, but nobody wanted to be her friend. Her classmates didn't want to play with her and some even laughed at her. Cary's teacher Jared didn't know that.

One day, Jared set an exam and Robert, a boy who was the king of all the students, signed his exam paper using Cary's name, and changed Cary's name for Robert's quickly after Cary handed in her paper. It wasn't noticed by anybody. When Jared returned all the exam Papers, everybody was shocked. Cary failed the exam, but the others seemed to be happy with that.

The next day, when Cary arrived at school, all the children wanted to be with her and invited her to play with them. Although Cary was surprised, she was happy to play with the other children. During their fun time, Jared suddenly appeared to inform Cary that there had been a mistake, and she hadn't failed.

Jared explained to the students what had happened and punished Robert. After that, they all stopped playing with Cary again. 

Cary couldn't stop crying this time and ran to ask her teacher why she couldn't make friends with good school performance.

注意：1. 续写词数应为150个左右；2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

Jared was sorry to know what had happened to Cary. 

……

After hearing Jared's story, all the children decided to change themselves.

注意：1. 写作词数应为80个左右；2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

The water town of Wuzhen in Tongxiang, Zhejiang province, holds a series of activities full of local elements during the Spring Festival from January to February. 

The most interesting part includes a water market on boats  people sell local delicious food such as spicy salted ducks, smoked sausage, local wine, fruits and lanterns, It leaves a good  (impress) on visitors. About 1, 300 years ago, people in the town began building houses along rivers across the town, and boats  (obvious) became the main vehicles in their daily life. 

The ancient town has also kept  (it) tradition of putting many dining tables together to form a long table on holidays and people of the town eat together  (celebrate) a reunion. Tourists are warmly invited to take part  such kind of long table dining activities featuring hotpot and local liquor during the festival. 

The water town holds a large drama festival and  (organize) art shows every year. Spring Festival galas, theater plays and art shows  (present) during this holiday. The town is about a two-hour drive from Shanghai and  (tourist) from across the nation are  (amaze) at the local celebration.

When I first read the wonderful book The Secret by Rhonda Byrne, I was in Grade 9. I came to know about it from my sister. When I came to Grade 10, I started 1  what I learned from the 2  to my daily life. I have many 3  in my life, and my biggest one was to be a member of our school football team. So I started 4  the scene of being allowed to join the 5  that I had been dreaming about.

Then the day came that my first round to 6  the football team was going to happen. The result came out but 7  I did not succeed in the first round. I was feeling a bit depressed (沮丧) due to much time I spent preparing for it. But, soon I tried to find a(n) 8 . I waited for the second round. Deep inside my mind, I was quite sure that I was going to be a 9  because I had always 10  one particular teaching from the book. That is when something bad happens, something 11  will surely happen.

After six months, the second round was 12  and it became the best day of my life because I had 13  my dream.

From my 14 , the really important things to be noted are to hold on to your dreams and you must have 15  in your ability.

Those who have a go-getter mentality (心态) are seen as the high achievers of this world. Let's learn ways on how to achieve a go-getter attitude.

Bite-sized goals are important. They allow you to experience achievement and therefore allow you to reward yourself, finally contributing to the improvement of your motivation and driving you to achieve more.

Have a clear idea and be intentional (有心的)

, having detailed goals in mind, writing them down, and describing them are some of the first steps to be successful. Being intentional is to be willing to try new things and look for solutions. There is no point in doing something if you're not intentional about what you do. , even a small stone in your path will stop you.

Look at your mistakes as opportunities

It's also important to look at your mistakes as chances to improve yourself. . If, for example, you work on a project that receives unpleasant comments, use those comments to improve your project and present it again.

Find the courage to push yourself towards goals

Allow yourself to be around by active people who believe in and support you, including those who have pushed through challenges and achieved their goals. Take encouragement from them. Also, you can look back and remind yourself of what you've already achieved, and don't undervalue any of them. .

A. Follow your interests

B. Set up bite-sized goals

C. They prove you can do it

D. Knowing where you want to go

E. If you don't want to achieve something

F. When you come across people who are successful

G. Learn from them and quickly put the learning into action

Dry lightning(雷电)can still be harmful even when conditions aren't so dry, said a study published in Geophysical Research Letters last month. Dry lightning during little to no rainfall was previously thought to cause wildfire danger only with less than 2.5mm of rain in a day. A Washington State University-led study of wildfires in the US West found dry lightning caused wildfires despite up to 7.7 mm of rain.

"The rainfall amounts we recorded should help provide a better understanding of just how much rain can cause a fire risk," said Dmitri Kalashnikov, lead author of the study.

The researchers analyzed(分析)cases on more than 4,600 naturally caused fires from 2015 to 2020. They matched 3,726 of those to the lightning strikes that likely started them with the help of National Lightning Detection Network.

The study found that 15.3% of those were holdover fires which burn without smoke, bringing about over a hundred fires each year. Analyzing the rainfall amounts around the time of the lightning strikes showed greater rainfall than previously thought among the earlier found fires ranging from 1.7 mm to 4.6 mm.

While humans still cause most fires either by accident or on purpose, lightning-caused wildfires burn the most areas. Nearly 70% of the wildfire-burned land in the West was from lightning-caused fires according to the study. For example, the largest wildfire burn area in California history took place in August 2020 after dry lightning caused many wildfires at once.

Dry lightning can also start wildfires in places that are hard for firefighters to reach. This study found the places where holdover fires happened repeatedly were in the forested mountains of the Southwest as well as the middle and southern Rocky Mountains. Holdover fires cause the problem because they are so hard to notice.