Find Which Direction Is South

    Do you have a good sense of direction? If not, please take with you a compass. But if you forget to take a compass, you can still find your way.

    It's never a good idea to imagine that the family member who was entrusted (委托) with the job of map-reading actually knows where the family is. You can tell by the slightly confused load on their faces that nothing on the ground seems to match the map. Never mind. The sun is shining and it's still morning.If you don't know the exact time, you can still find out where south is, but you'll need to be patient.

    ①Find a straight stick and put it in the ground in a place where you can mark its shadow.

    ②Try to position the stick as vertically(垂直)as you can. You can check this by making a simple plumb line (铅锤线) with a piece of string and weight. You haven't got any string? OK, use a thread from your clothes with a button tied at the end to act as a weight.

    ③Mark the end of the shadow cast by the stick.

    ④Wait approximately half an hour and mark the end of the shadow again.

    ⑤Keep doing this until you have made several marks.

    ⑥The mark nearest the stick will represent the shortest shadow, which is cast at midday, when the sun is highest in the sky and pointing to the exact south.

    ⑦Pick a point in the distance along the line between the shortest shadow and the stick.

    ⑧That point is south of where you are.

    ⑨Now you can turn the map, like you did before, and find which way you should be travelling.

    Are you able to send a letter with pictures and sounds to someone somewhere in the world without a stamp(邮票) on it? Using a computer you can send e-mails quickly and easily. The post is much slower than e-mail. E-mail can send its message to the other side of the world in seconds.

    E-mail is easy to use and it saves time and money. The differences in time in different parts of the world do not matter when sending e-mail. It's twenty-four-hour service(服务) that you can send e-mail at any time of the day or night. No one has to be there to get e-mail. It does not matter if your friends are in beds when you send e-mail to them, or you are seeing a movie at the movie theater when they send e-mail back.

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    The earth moves round the sun , and the moon moves round the earth . When our part of the earth faces the moon , it is night .

    The sun is much bigger than the moon . But sometimes the moon looks bigger than the sun , because it's much nearer to the earth

    The sun is very bright . It gives off very strong light . The moon looks quite bright , too. But it doesn't give off any light at all .

    The moon looks much bigger and brighter than the stars . But actually the stars are much bigger and brighter than the moon . They look smaller than the moon because they're much farther away from us .

    Some Fun and Interesting Facts

    Do you think what color oranges are? The common answer to this question is "Orange". However, the first oranges from Southeast Asia were actually green. Up to now, oranges in warmer areas like Vietnam and Thailand still stay green when they are fully grown.

    There was a man named John Chapman who planted thousands of apple trees. But the apples on those trees were much more bitter(哭的) than the ones you'd find in the supermarket today. John didn't expect has apples to be eaten whole, but rather made hard apple cider(苹果酒).

    Like most four-legged animals, cats have five toes on the front paws, but their back paws only have four toes. Scientists think they four-toe back paws might help them run faster. Do you know any other fun fact about cats?

    Walt Disney might have been the firs it gloves on his characters，as the star Mickey Mouse in 1929's The Opry House（《奥普里之屋》）.Besides being easier to interest, there's another reason why Disney did so "We didn't want him to have mouse hands because he was supposed to be more human." Disney once said.

    We live on Earth. It's our home. But how much do you know about it? Let me tell you something about our Earth.

    The Earth is like a huge ball. Like the other seven planets, the Earth is running around the sun. It's the third nearest one to the sun. It takes the Earth about 365 days to run around the sun. At the same time, the Earth is going around itself. If you are in space, you can see lots of white clouds over the surface of the Earth. Through the clouds, you can see the blue colour of the oceans, and the brown colour of the land. About 70% of the Earth is covered(覆盖)with water.

    Why do we have day and night? When the half of the Earth is facing the sun, it's daytime. As the Earth turns, and this half is away from the sun, night is coming. And it's daytime(白天) for the other half.

    When on the go or traveling, a Disposable(一次性) Toothbrush might be just the product for you, Typically, a Disposable Toothbrush is made out of a plastic material, with toothpaste already on the brush head. Just add water while you are using it. In some new Disposable Toothbrush models, the toothpaste comes automatically(自动地) as you squeeze (挤) the handle of the toothbrush.

    Colgate has upped the competition in the Disposable Toothbrush market by creating a Disposable Toothbrush that you can use at your desk at work, in your car, or after eating at a restaurant. This toothbrush is called the Colgate Wisp, and is about the size of an index finger. The toothbrush can get to those places that are hard to reach just like a regular toothbrush. No water is necessary when using this toothbrush, making it very useful and convenient. A pack of four of the Colgate Wisp's run at about $2.99. If you are one of those people that like to brush your teeth throughout the day but hate the hassle of carrying a toothbrush and toothpaste around, this is perfect!

    Gadgets.boingboing.net is a website that allows different people to share their thoughts and experiences on a certain product. The website gives a general review on the Colgate Wisp，and following the review, people are able to share their first-hand feelings with readers. This is helpful if you are interested in purchasing the Wisp. Visit their website here: gadgets.boingboing.net.

    However, people throw them away after using them only once. It is a kind of waste and is very bad for the environment. If you travel to Beijing， remember to bring your own things. Starting from June, some hotels in Beijing will no longer provide guests with these disposable goods.