Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa. It is also the second largest lake in the world. It is an important lake because it is one of the sources(源头) for the longest river in the world, the Nile River. Lake Victoria provides a source of water, food, and power(电力) for several African countries. Lake Victoria is a big part of African life.
   Unfortunately, Lake Victoria has a problem. It is shrinking. There are several power stations at Lake Victoria in Uganda. These are on the Nile River, and besides producing power, they keep the water of the lake at a certain level. For the past forty years, that level has been 11.9 meters. Over the last several years, the water level has dropped by about 2.5 meters. There seem to be several reasons for this drop.
   One possible reason is drought(干旱). Drought has been very bad in the area since 2000. Lake Victoria gets all of its water from rain, so the drought means less water in the lake.
   However, some environmentalists believe that the real problem is the power plants(工厂) on Lake Victoria. Uganda depends on those power plants for most of its power, and they made the power plants larger in 2000. Many people believe the power plants have been taking too much water off Lake Victoria. As a result, they have been asked to use less water until Lake Victoria goes back to its old level.
   Whether the low water level is caused by drought or power plants, the result is the same. This is already a poor area of Africa, where many people live a really hard life. People, animals and plants around Lake Victoria will suffer even more from low water levels on the lake. Many people need Lake Victoria for fishing or growing food. Fish need the water to live, and animals need it for water. Plants around the lake will die without the water, and then more animals and people will suffer. Unless the lake fills soon, many people will suffer and die.

    Happiness is for everyone. You don't need to worry about people who have beautiful houses with large gardens and swimming pools or those who have nice cars and a lot of money and so on. Why? Because those who have big houses may often feel lonely and those who have cars may want to walk on the country roads in their free time.
    In fact, happiness is always around you if you put your heart into it. When you are in trouble at school, your friends will help you; when you are studying hard at your lessons, your parents are always taking good care of you. When you get success, your friends will say congratulations to you. When you do something wrong, people around you will help you to correct it. All your happiness is always around you.
    Happiness is not the same as money. It is a feeling of your heart. When you are poor, you can also say you are very happy, because you have something else that can't be bought with money. When you meet with difficulties, you can say loudly you are very happy, because you have more chances to challenge yourself. So you should not always say you are poor and you have bad luck. As the saying goes, life is like a revolving(旋转的) door. When it closes, it also opens. If you take every chance you get, you can be a happy and lucky person.

    There are about 7,000,000 people in London. London is one of the big cities in the world. London is famous for many things. People from all over the world come to see the famous buildings. There is a famous clock called Big Ben, too.

    Like many big cities, the traffic is very busy in London. When the work hours begin, over 1,000,000 people use the London underground(地铁), but there are still too many buses and cars on the streets. The air isn't clean.

    For me, the best things about London are the parks. There are five in the middle of the city. But my children's favorite is playing in Hamleys, the biggest toy（玩具） shop in the world.

    In China, the 12^th month of the lunar calendar（阴历）is called layue. The month is full of interesting festivals and customs.

    Laba Festival, which falls on the eighth day of layue, is the first festival in this month. From this day on, people begin to get ready for the Chinese New Year. On Laba Festival, people eat hot Laba porridge.

    There are usually eight things in the porridge: rice, red beans, peas, dried lotus seeds（莲子）, dates（红枣）, and three different kinds of fruits and nuts. The porridge is not just good for your health, but a blessing（祝福）for the coming of Chinese New Year.

    Laba porridge is not the only tasty food in layue. Laba garlic（腊八蒜）is popular in the north.

    People begin to soak garlic in vinegar from that day on, and eat it with dumplings during the Chinese New Year. While in the south, people like making sausages.

    Another major celebration before Spring Festival is xiaonian. It is usually on the 23^rd or 24^th day of the last lunar month. Traditionally it is an important occasion when people offer sacrifices（祭品）to the Kitchen God who looks after the family.

    Don't forget to clean your home. This is also an important thing to do to prepare for the Chinese New Year. It means sweeping away the dust of the old year and welcoming a fresh start.

    Now, the last thing for you to do is to wait for the coming Spring Festival.

    A city without cars would be very strange, right? But Venice is such a city.

    Venice is in the north-east of Italy. It wasn't built on land, like Beijing or Shanghai, but on more than 110 islands. Seawater is everywhere around the city.

    Even so, travel isn't difficult. The waterways have always been the best way to get around. There are 177 waterways and more than 400 bridges that can guide you where you want to go. People in Venice move from place to place by boat. They like to enjoy the scenery and the cool summer night while taking boat trips. They can talk to other people as they go along.

    Venice grew out of small islands in saltwater lakes when some Italians escaped from a war over 1, 500 years ago, and built homes there.

    Water makes the city special, but it is also a big problem. Sometimes tourists will have such strange experiences. One moment they walk across the Rialto Bridge, and there's nothing special but when they come back to the bridge an hour later, it's underwater and everyone is wearing rain shoes.

    Once, people used too much underground water. This made the city get lower little by little. Now the city has gone down by 23 centimetres. Another problem is the rising seawater. The temperature has risen over the years. This has made the ice of the Arctic Ocean (北冰洋) melt (融化).

    Every year, high waters hit the city in autumn and winter. When a lot of water comes, more than half of the city is underwater.

    Scientists are trying different ways to stop the city from getting even lower. The Italian government has asked some of Italy's biggest companies to build the MOST project, which was planned to be built under the seawater to stop the rising water. Anyway, this project is helping solve the problem.