When other nine-year-old kids were playing games, she was working at a petrol station. When other teens were studying or going out, she struggled to find a place to sleep on the street. But she overcame these terrible setbacks to win a highly competitive scholarship and gain entry to Harvard University. And her amazing story has inspired a movie, "Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story" shown in late April.

    Liz Murray, a 22.year-old American girl, has been writing a real-life story of willpower and determination. Liz grew up in the shadow of two drug-addicted parents. There was never enough food or warm clothes in the house. Liz was the only member of the family who had a job. Her mother had AIDS and died when Liz was just l5 years old. The effect of that LOSS became a turning point in her life. Connecting the environment in which she had grown up with how her mother had died,she decided to do something about it.

    Liz went back to school. She threw herself into her studies, never telling her teachers that she was homeless. At night, she lived on the streets. ".What drove me to live on had something to do with understanding, by understanding that there was a whole other way of being. I had only experienced a small part of the society,'' she wrote in her book Breaking Night.

    She admitted that she used envy to drive herself on. She used the benefits that come easily to others, such as a safe living environment, to encourage herself that "next to nothing could hold me down".

    She finished high school in just two years and won a full scholarship to study at Harvard University. But Liz decided to leave her top university a couple of months earlier this year in order to take care of her father, who has also developed AIDS."I love my parents so much. They are drug addicts. But I never forget that they love me all the time."

    Liz wants moviegoers to come away with the idea that changing your life is "as simple as making a decision".

    It was in the Victorian Era(维多利亚时期) that the novel became the leading form of literature in English. Most writers were more concerned to meet the tastes of the middle class. The best known works of the period included the works of Charles Dickens and the Bronté sisters and others.

    Charles Dickens came on the literary scene in the 1830s. Dickens wrote vividly about London life and the struggles of the poor. Most of his works were written in a very humorous style, which was popular with readers of all classes.

    The Bronté sisters were English writers of the 1840s and 1850s. They began to write from early childhood. In 1846 they published the first book at their own expense as poets; however, their book attracted little attention, selling only two copies. Then the sisters turned to writing novels, each producing a novel in the following year.

    An interest in rural matters and the changing social and economic situation of the countryside may be seen in the novels of Thomas Hardy and a number of others.

    Literature for children developed as a single style. Some works became well-known, such as those of Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear. Adventure novels were written for adults but are now generally grouped in the list for children. Helen Beatrix Potter was an English author at the end of the Victorian Era, best known for her children's books, which featured animal characters. In her thirties, Potter published the highly successful children's book The Tale of Peter Rabbit in 1902.

    Even nowadays there is a lot of misunderstanding between nationalities. Let's have a look at what the following people have to say.

    Maria Conti: I find the English people insincere, cold and unfriendly. They keep saying "Thank you", "I'm sorry" even when they don't know each other. They are even polite to their own relatives. Except for helping you find your way in the streets, they aren't really friendly and never invite you to their houses.

    Giannis Stinios: On the contrary I found them broad-minded and friendly.I was invited to people's houses and they all showed great interest in my ideas,Greek life and people.In England I learned that it was possible to be warm, friendly and polite at the same time.

    Judy Brown: I lived in both Italy and Greece for a few years.At first there were a few misunderstandings between my foreign friends and myself. For example, I once gave a Greek friend a present for her birthday party.I was rather sorry that she did not unwrap it immediately. What's more, she even didn't thank me until I asked her if she liked it.I've learned from different experiences that a lot of foreigners find our attitude to what we English people call politeness rather insincere. They feel that politeness isn't necessary between friends.

    Sleep deprivation(缺失)is an important hidden factor in lowering the achievement of school pupils, according to researchers carrying out international education tests.

    It is a particular problem in richer countries with sleep experts linking it to the use of mobile phones and computers in bedroom late at night. Sleep deprivation is such a serious problem that lessons have to be dragged down to a lower level to suit sleep-deprived learners, the study found. The international comparison, carried out by Boston College, found the United States to have the highest number of sleep-deprived students, with 73% of 9- and 10-year-olds and 80% of 13- and 14-year-olds identified by their teachers as being negatively affected.

    In literacy(读写能力) tests there were 76% of 9- and 10-year-olds lacking sleep. This was much higher than the international average of 47% of primary pupils needing more sleep and 57% among the secondary age group.

    Other countries with the most sleep-deprived youngsters were New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Australia, England, Ireland and France. High-performing Finland is also among the most lacking in sleep. Countries with the best records for getting enough sleep include Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Japan and Malta.

The analysis was part of the huge date-gathering process for global education rankings, the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study(TIMSS)and Progress in International Reading Literacy Study(PIRLS)

    “I think we underestimate the impact of sleep. Our data show that across countries internationally, on average, children who have more sleep achieve higher in maths, science and reading. That is exactly what our data show,” says Chad Minnich of the TIMSS and PIRLS International Study Center.

    “It's the same link for children who are lacking basic nutrition,” says Mr Minnich, based at the Lynch School of Education, Boston College. “If you are unable to concentrate, to attend mentally, you are unable to achieve at your best level, because your mind and body are in need of something more basic. Sleep is a fundamental need for all children. If teachers report such large proportions of children suffering from lack of sleep, it's having a significant impact. But worse than that, teachers are having to adjust their instruction based on those children who are suffering from a lack of sleep. The children who are suffering from a lack of sleep are driving down instruction.”

    That means that even the children who are getting enough sleep are still suffering from this sleep-related lowering.

    There is a very long list of rules for the New York City subway. Don't put your feet on a seat, don't carry open cups of coffee or soda, don't take more than one seat... Those are just a few of the rules. There are hundreds more.

    With so many rules, why is it still unpleasant to ride the subway?

    Some people think that the problem is that no one enforces the rules. Other passengers sometimes try to enforce rules. But you can't rely on them because New Yorkers have unwritten rules against talking to strangers and making eye contact with strangers. How can you tell someone to take her shopping bags off the seat and throw away her Coke without talking to her or looking at her? It is difficult.

    There are other New Yorkers who think that the subway is unpleasant because there are not enough rules. One rider wrote a letter to The New York Times a couple of weeks ago suggesting a few more subway rules. Here are some of the rules that she would like to see:

    —Don't lean on the poles. You prevent other people from holding on. They can fall down.

    —Talk quietly. The trains are already too noisy.

    —Give your seat to elderly passengers or to parents with small children.

    If those unwritten rules of etiquette are written down, will the rude people be more likely to follow them? It doesn't make sense to make more rules that no one will enforce.

    The real problem is that we are forgetting how to be nice to each other. It is embarrassing that we need a rule to tell us to give our seat to elderly passengers. Nobody should need to be reminded to do that.

    I say we stop talking about the rules and try to remember our manners. Let's be nice to each other not because a police officer might tell us to get off the train, but because it is the right thing to do. Then New York City would be more civilized —both above ground and below.

St. Patrick's Day, Ireland's National Day, is celebrated on 17th March every year, marking the anniversary of the day on which he passed away. St. Patrick is the most famous saint of Ireland. Born in Roman Britain, he was enslaved in Ireland at the age of 16, but he successfully escaped. Later, he returned to Ireland and brought his religious beliefs to its people.

On St Patrick's Day, Iris h families would traditionally attend church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon. People would dance, drink, and feast on traditional meals of Irish bacon and cabbage. The Irish have observed this day as a religious holiday for over 1,000 years.

Interestingly, however, the first parade held to celebrate St Patrick's Day took place not in Ireland but in the United States. On 17th March 1762, Irish soldiers serving in the English army marched through New York City. Along with their music, the parade helped the soldiers reconnect with their Irish roots, as well as with fellow Irishmen serving in the English army.

Over 100 St. Patrick's Day parades happen across the U. S., with New York City and Boston hosting the biggest. In 1848, New York Irish Aid societies joined to create the official New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade, the world's oldest civilian（平民的） parade and the largest in the U. S. It draws over 150,000 participants and nearly 3 million spectators（观众）, lasting over five hours. Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Savannah also celebrate the day with major parades.

Today, people of all background s celebrate St Patrick's Day, especially throughout the United States, Canada and Australia. It is also celebrated in many other locations far from Ireland, including Japan, Singapore, and Russia.