You probably don't think about soil often, but the following report may help you learn about science of soil.

What is soil made of?

Soil is made of sediments (沉积物) and humus(腐殖质). Sediment is small pieces of rock broken down over time by rain, ice, and wind. Sediment is often found in water. Humus comes from decayed(腐烂的) plants and animals. It helps give plants a lot of the food they need to grow.

How does soil form?

Over centuries, rock breaks down into very small pieces.

The rock pieces mix with humus.

The humus gets thicker and thicker over time. Soil is formed(形成)l

How are soils different?

Soils can be different colors and have different textures(质感). Texture is how the surface of an object feels. Color and texture are two features(特征) of soil.

Plants and soil

Plants do not grow well in some soils. Sandy soi1 is too dry. It does not hold water. Soil with too much clay is too thick. Most plants grow well in dark, rich garden soil that has different sediments and a lot of humus in it.

    Americans think much about time. From children they learn to value(珍惜) time. As children they are taught to be on time to go to school, to work and to do everything. When they are having a good time, they say that time flies. When a person is dying(垂死的) , they say he is living on borrowed time.

    Time is money. Time is knowledge(知识). Time is everything in America. A working American has to work hard for eight hours a day or forty hours a week. This is the working time. In his spare(空闲的) time, he also works hard for more money. Even on Saturday or Sunday he also works hard as usual. In the street you can not see that a man walks slowly. They walk very fast. In fact, they are running. They love time because time can bring them money and a lot of things. But sometimes they also hate time, because they feel that they have become servants(仆人) of the clock.

    THE HISTORY OF LIVING IN SPACE

    Space travel is nothing new. The first spacecraft with a human on board blasted into space In 1961. since then, people have not only been travelling to space, but many of them have also lived there for extended periods.

Food

    All the meals on space stations are put together on Earth and sent to the space station, along with the astronauts, by space shuttle. Because the food has to last a long time (sometimes up to three months), a lot of it has to be preserved by dehydration or canning.

    The space station does not have a freezer to preserve food, but It does have a cool room to keep fruit and vegetables fresh.

Astronauts also eat many other foods such as cereals, cereal bars, nuts and dried fruit that do not need any special preparation.

    Eating

    Astronauts have a set timetable each day. This tells them when to do everything, including when to have their meals. At meal preparation time, they start getting their food ready, which often includes adding water to re-hydrate the dehydrated foods.

    Without the help of gravity, sitting down to eat can be tricky. Astronauts sometimes have to strap themselves and their food into place. Because of lack of gravity, astronauts cannot use ground salt and pepper, and all drinks must be taken from bottles. They also have to be careful that crumbs do not fly off and get stuck in vents and instrument panels.

    Humans' Greatest Achievements

    The earth is 4.5 billion years old, but the human race has lived on it for just 200, 000 years. In that short time, we have achieved some amazing things.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} The list is almost endless. The invention of the airplane has changed our lives. The discovery of antibiotics(抗生素) has saved the lives of millions of people. Can you imagine living without electricity？What about the printing press(印刷术)？Without the printing press, you wouldn't be reading this. In the last 50 years, there have been great achievements in communication, such as radio, TV, computer, the Internet, and smartphone (智能手机).{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    What about the arts？The arts have brought pleasure to many people, but are the Beatles and Bach more important than antibiotics？{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Finally, we must not forget humans' early achievements.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} We can't imagine modern life without cooked food and cars.

    What are humans' greatest achievements？To answer the question, we need to decide what we mean by "great"{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Or is it just something that makes us say “Wow”, like the Great Wall？What do you think?

根据短文内容, 从方框中选出五个句子填入文中空缺处, 使短文内容完整正确.

    On the morning of August 2^nd, I was careless and lost my school bag in the reading-room of our school. There were three English books and a pencil-case inside. Will the finder please send it either to the assistant or to myself? Many thanks to the finder. My bedroom is in Room 403, on the fourth floor of our school.

Wei Hua

Information Card

    Everyone has good days and bad days.

    Sometimes, you may feel that you're on top of the world and all the questions on your maths test might seem cays. But sometimes you feel frightened or you lose things, and you cannot focus on your school work.

    For more than 20 years, scientists have suggested that high self-esteem(自尊)is the key to success. They said that kids who feel good about themselves do better in school and have fewer emotional problems than kids who have a low opinion of themselves. , Now, new research shows that focusing just on building self-esteem may not be helpful. In some cases, having high self-esteem can bring bad results if it makes you less likeable(可爱的)or more upset when you fail at something.

    "Forget about self-esteem," says Jennifer Crocker, a psychologist at the University of Michigan, US." It's not the important thing. Crocker's advice may sound a bit strange because it is good to feel good about oneself. Studies show that people with high self-esteem are less likely to be sad, anxious, shy, or lonely than those with low self-esteem.

    But, after reviewing about 18, 000 studies on self-esteem, Roy Laumeister, a psychologist at Florida State University, has found that building up your self-esteem will not necessarily make you a better person. People with high self-esteem tend to think more of themselves while people with low self-esteem are more likely to rely on their friends when they need help.

    Researchers say it is best to listen to and support other people. Set out to create or build something. If you fail at something, try to learn from the experience. "The host therapy(药方)is to know your own weak points, "Vohs says. "It's OK to say, I'm not so good at that, 'and then move on."