Robert is nine years old and Joanna is seven. They live at Mount Ebenezer. Their father has a big property. In Australia they call a farm a property.

    Robert and Joana like school very much. At school they can talk to their friends, but Robert and Joanna can not see their friends. They live 100,perhaps 300,miles away and like Robert and Joanna, they all go to school by radio.

    Mount Ebenezer is in the centre of Australia. Not many people in “The Centre”, there are no schools with desks and blackboards and no teachers in “The Centre”.  School is a room at home with a two-way radio. When all students answer, lessons begin.

    Think of your teacher 300 miles away!

    China is a country on the move—especially around its Lunar New Year holiday. This year, the holiday crush（客流量） promises to be even heavier than before.

    Government officials estimate that Chinese people will take to the air, roads and railways 3.62 billion times over a 40-day period around the nation's most important holiday this year as people push their way home for family gatherings or to satisfy their new-found passion for travel.

    Getting tickets to all those would-be travelers is a discounting challenge that annually tries patience. And it is the railway system that routinely is most unable to cope. Railways are the transport of choice for low-cost long-distance travel, and that's where the ticketing system routinely falls down.

    Much of the criticism has, focused on the railway's online purchasing system, which has been unable to keep pace with the huge demand and also failed to stop scalpers（票贩子） from ending up with many of the hard-to-find tickets.

    While insisting that online sales were the fairest way to get tickets for travelers, railway officials told reporters that the public need to be patient. Efforts were being made to provide online identity checks that would reduce the ticket scalping problems. While officials had little good news for rail passengers, they did manage to bring a few smiles to those traveling by car as the country's extremely expensive highway tolls （通行费） will be free of charge for the period of the official holiday.

    Gardening can be a very relaxing hobby for many people and this wonderful experience is not just for adults. Children are interested in gardening as well, if given the chance to explore nature and science in this way. Gardening can bring joy to both children and their parents alike, especially when the experience is shared together.

    The time that is spent gardening together builds precious memories within their hearts and minds for years to come. When you are gardening with your children, try to give them their own special area. Keep their area in the center of the best soil and light, as you want to make sure of a successful gardening experience.

    Plastic tools easily break and are difficult to use in the dirt, so when you are gardening with your children, give them real tools to use if possible. Even offering to let them use your tools is a way to admit the worth of the work they are doing. It is also important to talk with your children about the whole process of gardening, from planting to the harvest. They need to understand how things work and the importance of what they are doing.

    Show off the children's gardening work by taking friends and visitors for a walking tour through the garden and point out the children's particular spot. When you give attention to the children's work, this is a great motivation（动机） for children to continue wanting to be involved. Do not force children to take part when they are in a bad mood or if they are becoming bored. Instead, allow them to do something different, like building a scarecrow(稻草人)! This makes the gardening experience even more interesting. As you work together side by side with your children, you will encourage a love of the land in them, as well as creating lasting memories of time spent with you.

    Winter is for working hard, summer is for playing hard. From the Bahamas to Amsterdam, we have several most appealing summer vacation spots for you to choose from.

    The Bahamas

    While there is a risk of getting rained on during hurricane season, June generally sees mild weather, fewer crowds and significantly lower prices. While some resorts (度假胜地) in the Out Islands may close, New Providence and Paradise Island remain open year-round. It's a good choice for families looking for a taste of relaxing island living.

    Mackinac Island, MI

    Mackinac Island, 20 minutes by boat from either the Upper or Lower Peninsula of Michigan, comes alive on summer weekends. Most of its roughly 4 square miles is parkland, suitable for hiking and cycling. Be sure to take in the beautiful architecture―Victorian cottages that date back to just after the Civil War. You can have a taste of times gone by; cars were banned more than a hundred years ago, and horse-drawn carriages are still used to get around today.

    Ocean City, MD

    This East Coast beach town is best known for its boardwalk, which is known for old-school amusement rides. Cycling in the town is also a great pleasure. Grab your wallets and feast on hard-shelled crabs at Hooper's crab house or drink in the sunset with a local beer in hand from Fager's Island Restaurant & Bar's large bayfront decks. Parking is free with your consuming receipt. You can't miss a classic walk along the boardwalk and the taste of Thrasher's vinegar and Old Bay French fries.

    Amsterdam

    Summer is the ideal time to visit this city. The gray skies have lifted, festivals abound and events to enjoy include the Open Garden Days, when visitors can peek (窥视) into the private gardens behind the beautiful Houses that line the famous canals. You can experience urban adventure, crossing Amsterdam's thousands of bridges and waterways by bike and by boat in search of the perfect brown cafe.

    When John was growing up, other kids felt sorry for him. His parents always had him weeding the garden, carrying out the garbage and delivering newspapers. But when John reached adulthood, he was better off than his childhood playmates. He had more job satisfaction, a better marriage and was healthier. Most of all, he was happier. Far happier.

    These are the findings of a 40-year study that followed the lives of 456 teenage boys from Boston. The study showed that those who had worked as boys enjoyed happier and more productive lives than those who had not. "Boys who worked in the home or community gained competence（能力）and came to feel they were worthwhile members of society, " said George Vaillant, the psychologist（心理学家）who made the discovery. "And because they felt good about themselves, others felt good about them."

    Vaillant's study followed these males in great detail. Interviews were repeated at ages 25, 31and 47. Under Vaillant, the researchers compared the men's mental-health scores with their boyhood-activity scores. Points were awarded for part-time jobs, housework, effort in school, and ability to deal with problems.

    The link between what the men had done as boys and how they turned out as adults was surprisingly sharp. Those who had done the most boyhood activities were twice as likely to have warm relations with a wide variety of people, five times as likely to be well paid and 16 times less likely to have been unemployed. The researchers also found that IQ and family social and economic class made no real difference in how the boys turned out.

    Working—at any age—is important. Childhood activities help a child develop responsibility, independence, confidence and competence—the underpinnings（基础）of emotional health. They also help him understand that people must cooperate and work toward common goals. The most competent adults are those who know how to do this. Yet work isn't everything. As Tolstoy once said, "One can live magnificently in this world if one knows how to work and how to love, to work for the person one loves and to love one's work."

"Cool" is a word with many meanings. Its old meaning is used to express a temperature that is a little bit cold. As the world has changed, the word has had many different meanings. 

"Cool" can be used to express feelings of interest in almost anything. When you see a famous car in the street,maybe you will say, "It's cool." You may think, "He's so cool," when you see your favourite footballer. 

We all maximize (扩大) the meaning of "cool". You can use it instead of many words such as "new" or "surprising". Here's an interesting story we can use to show the way the word is used. A teacher asked her students to write about the waterfall (瀑布) they had visited. On one student's paper was just the one sentence, "It's so cool." Maybe he thought it was the best way to show what he saw and felt. 

But the story also shows a scarcity (缺乏) of words. Without "cool", some people have no words to show the same meaning. So it is quite important to keep some credibility (可信性). Can you think of many other words that make your life as colourful as the word "cool"? I can. And I think they are also very cool.