Color is everywhere in lives. But what does color mean? Why are people more relaxed in green rooms? Why do people do their best in blue gyms? That's the magic of color!

    Scientists from the US did an experiment. They asked two people to go into two different rooms. One went into a room painted in pink, and the other went into a blue room. They had to stay in the rooms for one hour. But they had to guess the time, because they didn't have a watch or any other thing to see the time. In the end, the person in the pink room came out in about 40 to 50 minutes. The person in the blue room came out after 70 to 80 minutes.

    The results show that color can change people's feelings about time. Warm colors make people feel that time is going faster than cool colors.

    The world uses about a thousand million (百万) tons of water a day. Water is a human right and everyone should have their share. Yet more than 700 million people around the world have trouble getting clean, safe water.

    Treating wastewater is a good way to provide fresh water for us. And it also helps the environment by keeping waste out of rivers and oceans. 80% of wastewater around the world is not treated at all, and it is running into oceans. But now we have got the technology to treat and reuse the wastewater.

    While 75% of our planet is covered with water, only about 2% is fresh water—that comes from rivers, lakes, ice and snow. The rest, 98% of the water, is in seas and oceans. It is too salty to drink. Then desalination businesses come in. More than 19,000 factories have been built around the world, mostly in coastal countries. They process (加工) more than 92 million tons of water every day. But the technology they use requires a lot of energy.

    Scientists are working to create a less costly technology. They want to produce 20 times more clean water and make sure everyone has enough. But for now, the world still faces each day with not having enough water for everyone.

Strawberries look nice, but a light pressure can make them out of shape. Nowadays there are many young people who are just like strawberries. They easily break down when they face difficulties. They don't know what to do when they are in trouble. They have a common name —strawberry kids. 

 Why are many students so easy to break down ? Parents and schools are a main reason. Parents do almost everything for them in their daily life, while schools care more about their grades instead of developing their personality (个性）. Liu Yue 13, is from Fujian. His mom hardly criticizes (批评）him and he always feels good about himself. When a teacher criticized him strictly, he felt surprised and sad. He began to doubt his ability.

Students should do something to make themselves mentally strong. An expert said, "When you are in trouble, don't ask for help too quickly. You should try to deal with problems first by yourself." I also advise you to take an active part in sports and social activities. That can make you mentally strong.

Growing up is not just a happy process (过程）. Pains also go along with it. The most important thing is to face the pains bravely and learn from them.

Look at the photo.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} (this) two old people are my grandparents. They are at home. My father{#blank#}2{#/blank#} (be) very busy every week. This woman is my mother. She is my teacher, {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. You can see two girls in the photo. They are my sisters. The two boys are my{#blank#}4{#/blank#} (brother)—Bob and Dave. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}is the girl next to them? It is me!

What does a lifelong learner look like? Lifelong learners never think of themselves as the greatest experts(专家)in anything. They continue to learn and bring a great deal to the groups they belong to. What does a lifelong learner look like? Here are some of their main characteristics(特征). 

They are knowledge seekers. They are always searching for much information on a topic they're interested in and looking for new experience or opportunities to improve their knowledge or skills. 

They are social and self-directed learners. They like taking different courses and taking part in discussions around subjects they are interested in. ____ They also know their own learning styles, and their strengths and weaknesses. They can plan and organize their own learning. 

They are critical(批判性的)thinkers. They always use a lot of ways to analyze(分析)and synthesize(合成)information. From their research they judge the information to see if it is useful for the question at hand. 

They are problem solvers. They will meet different problems while learning. However, they usually see problems as challenges and life experiences and try to stand above them.