There are many kinds of 1. transportation now. Which one do you like best, by train, by bus or by plane? Now let's look at these three kinds of transportation. 2.The fastest way to travel is by plane. If you want to save time, 3.乘火车是最好的选择. A plane ticket can also be easier to book, and there are 4.(hundred) of planes leaving half an hour to everywhere. But it is much 5.(expensive) than traveling by train or by car. Many people prefer to traveling together by train. Because the train is cheaper than the plane and you can see the beautiful scenery out of the windows. But sometimes people are very noisy on the train. And it's very small and crowded inside the train. Taking a car is great. You can feel freer in your own car and you can move quickly from place to place at any time you like. 6.But sometimes you may be late because of the heavy traffic  .You have to pay for a car park and petrol . Cars are less comfortable than trains. You can't sleep or relax when you drive. Cars pollute the air more than trains, too.

    If your pen broke at school today, what would you do? You would go to a shop and buy a new one. What if you could simply print out a real, working pen with your 3-D printer without leaving your room?

    Ten years ago people could only see 3-D printing in science fiction movies. But now 3-D printing is here and it's bringing big changes.

    Unlike normal printing that can only copy a 2-D picture with ink. 3-D printing can build almost anything made from material. The printer layers(分层) the material in different shapes to create the object you want to be copied.

    The 3-D printer has been used to make many different things. People have made cups, cars and even an airplane with it. Doctors have been using 3-D printers for several years. People's nervous systems(系统) have been printed out in 3-D form in medical research. Some body parts have been printed and used in hospital. Several months ago, doctors used a 3-D printer to rebuild the face of a person who had a bad accident. In the future, it is expected that the printer will make human organs(器官)to save more lives.

    However there are drawbacks to the printer. At the moment, printing can be quite slow and it's still rather expensive. The average(平均的) price of a household printer is around $1,700, not including the cost of the materials.

    But as the technology develops, it shouldn't be long before disadvantages are improved. Only time will tell where this new technology will take us.

    One American university uses a robot as a teacher to help students with their problems. And none of the students knew that was a robot at the beginning!

    Jill Watson, a robot made in that university, helps the students a lot. When answering their questions, Jill seems to be an excellent teacher. She can give wonderful answers quickly. She sounds natural and usually says good words.

    When someone told the students that their "teacher" was a robot, they all got very surprised.

    "How was it possible? I was talking to a robot?" said Bailey, "She sounds like a common teacher." Another student Jennifer told the newspaper, "We are thinking about choosing Jill Watson to be our best teacher. She is really helpful,"

    Now many students like to ask questions on their school's website. It usually takes teachers too much time to answer them. So the university had such an idea of making Jill Watson. It's a faster way to help the students with their problems.

    Jill can quickly find possible answers in her own computer to the questions and make sure they are all right. After that, she tells the students in an electronic voice that sounds like a famous actress.

    Have you ever had trouble sleeping in a new place? Lots of people do. And now researchers from Brown University in Rhode Island think they know why. They found that one-half of the brain "remains more awake" than the other half when people are trying to sleep in a new place.

    The sleep findings were reported in Current Biology by Brown University. In their report, the researchers said many people report that they have a harder time sleeping the first night at a hotel or other places outside their home. They call it "first-night influence". "In Japan they say, 'If you change your bed, you can't sleep,'" said Yuka Sasaki, one of the report's writers. "You don't sleep very well in a new place. We all know about it."

    The researchers measured brain waves (测量脑波) for 35 volunteers over two nights in a laboratory. The two nights were a week apart(间隔).They found during the first night the left half of the brain was more active than the right half. This was during the first deep-sleep period, the researchers said.

    Sasaki said a lot of questions remain.

    Researchers did not keep measuring brain waves all night long. So, they don't know if the left half keeps "watch" all night, or whether it" works in shifts (轮换) with the right half later in the night" .They also do not know why the brain activity, at least during the first period of deep sleep, is always on the left half.

    For some, this research may be calming. It is good to know that our brain is "looking out for us" in a new place. But it may not help with sleep. That brain activity, at least according to this new research, makes it harder to get the sleep people need to wake up well rested in the morning.

As students, what do you usually do in your life?{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Luckily, here is some advice for you to make it easy. 

{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Most middle school students have two or three hours of homework every day. It is a good idea to make some kinds of homework plans, especially if you want to do sports or other activities after school. 

{#blank#}3{#/blank#} A bedroom, study or any quiet place is good for you to do your homework. But don't study on your comfortable bed, or you might fall asleep there. 

Have some rest. It's not good for students to study for long, so have some rest and you can learn better. 

{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Sometimes you study so hard, but some subjects are still too difficult. You can ask teachers and classmates for help.