Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa. It is also the second largest lake in the world. It is an important lake because it is one of the sources(源头) for the longest river in the world, the Nile River. Lake Victoria provides a source of water, food, and power(电力) for several African countries. Lake Victoria is a big part of African life.
   Unfortunately, Lake Victoria has a problem. It is shrinking. There are several power stations at Lake Victoria in Uganda. These are on the Nile River, and besides producing power, they keep the water of the lake at a certain level. For the past forty years, that level has been 11.9 meters. Over the last several years, the water level has dropped by about 2.5 meters. There seem to be several reasons for this drop.
   One possible reason is drought(干旱). Drought has been very bad in the area since 2000. Lake Victoria gets all of its water from rain, so the drought means less water in the lake.
   However, some environmentalists believe that the real problem is the power plants(工厂) on Lake Victoria. Uganda depends on those power plants for most of its power, and they made the power plants larger in 2000. Many people believe the power plants have been taking too much water off Lake Victoria. As a result, they have been asked to use less water until Lake Victoria goes back to its old level.
   Whether the low water level is caused by drought or power plants, the result is the same. This is already a poor area of Africa, where many people live a really hard life. People, animals and plants around Lake Victoria will suffer even more from low water levels on the lake. Many people need Lake Victoria for fishing or growing food. Fish need the water to live, and animals need it for water. Plants around the lake will die without the water, and then more animals and people will suffer. Unless the lake fills soon, many people will suffer and die.

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    In Singapore, many school students spend a lot of time on their studies. People always think that good schooling(学业) is the key to success. So, many of these students try their best to get good grades in their tests. They have a lot of homework every day and tests are usually a big problem to them. Sometimes, a few students even have to go to evening classes after school because of the pressure(压力) of the tests.

    Students have many after-school activities to do at school, such as sports games, dance groups, swimming and rock-climbing. On weekends, they have enough time to do what they like. Most students like to listen to pop music. Hollywood films, Hong Kong and Singapore films are very popular, too. Some of them also spend free time surfing the Internet, e-mailing their friends, playing computer games. They sometimes go to cafes, fast food restaurants, shopping centers and big bookstores. They also join in community service(社区服务).

    So life for students in Singapore is not easy but rich and colorful.

    Volleyball is very popular. Today there are more than 46 million(百万) Americans playing volleyball. About 800 million players around the world play volleyball about once a week. Do you like playing volleyball？Let's talk about it.

    Volleyball started in America. In 1895, William G. Morgan blended (融合) basketball, tennis and handball(手球) to make a game for his students. He was a teacher at the Young Men's Christian Association(基督教青年会) in Holyoke, Mass. At first, he just wanted to let the older students in his class exercise. And it was not called volleyball at that time. Now, volleyball is the second most popular sport in America.

    Chinese are also good at playing volleyball. The Chinese Women National Volleyball Team is one of the best teams in the world. They got the first place in the Olympic Games three times(1984, 2004 and 2016). In 2019, they won the Wold Cup for the fifth time.