About 150 years ago the children of a poor farmer who lived in South Africa found a pretty pebble (鹅卵石) on the bank of a river. The pebble shone brightly in spots. The children took the pebble home and showed it to their mother. Then they tossed (扔) it aside. The next day a neighbour saw it and offered to buy it. The children and the mother told him that he could have it for nothing. Who ever heard of selling a pebbleThe pebble turned out to be a large diamond. No one had known that there are diamonds in South Africa. Today a large part of all the diamonds in the world come from a region not far from the place where the children found their bright pebble.Diamonds are crystals of carbon. Carbon is a very common material. Coal, for example, is made up mostly of carbon. But the carbon of coal is not in crystal form. Clear crystals of carbon are very rare.The word "diamond" comes from a Greek word meaning "the unconquerable". The diamond got its name because of its hardness. No other material is so bard. It is used in tools for cutting and drilling into very hard substances. Some saws, for example, have tiny diamonds set in the teeth. The children and their mother gave the pebble to their neighbour and asked nothing for it because()
A. they were good neighbours
B. they didn’t need money
C. they thought it silly to sell a pebble
D. they didn’t know it was a diamond
M: Next word: cafeteria.W: c-a-f-e-t-e-r-i-a. What is Marry doing()
A. Spelling words.
B. Reading aloud.
Consulting a dictionary.
D. Writing Something.
Kindergarten students are typically four or five years of age. In class, they are introduced to the alphabet, numbers, and colours; they study their bodies, their families, and their communities; they listen to stories read aloud; they make art projects; and they learn about holidays, plants, animals, and other topics in science and social studies. Some kindergartens also teach introductory reading and mathematical skills. Kindergartens tend to offer children a foundation for the development of social skills, self-confidence, motivation, and the process of learning.The first kindergarten was started by German educator Friedrich Froebel in 1837 in Blankenburg, Prussia (now part of German). Froebel chose the German term kindergarten (children’s garden) because he intended children in his school to grow as freely as flowers in a garden. Froebel’s kindergarten was based on the then idea that children’s play was significant. At the time, almost no children under the age of seven attended school, but Froebel designed his kindergarten for children between the ages of three and seven. The kindergarten became widely admired for its revolutionary teaching methods, and Froebel’s followers soon established other kindergartens based on his educational philosophy.Froebel developed his own ideas about education by combining his belief in scientific observation with his belief in the interconnection of all things. In addition, Froebel was concerned that the spread of industrialization would negatively affect the family, but he believed that kindergartens could increase the status of mothers and children. Froebel’s ideas became increasingly popular in the 1840s, but because kindergartens were associated with liberalism and free-thinking, they were banned by the Prussian government after the failure of the liberal revolution of 1848. In addition, Froebel was concerned that the spread of industrialization would negatively affect the family, but he believed that()
A. kindergartens could increase the social duties of mothers and children
B. kindergartens were associated with liberalism and free-thinking
C. they would not be banned by the Prussian government in the future
D. kindergartens could increase the social position of mothers and children