Most American students go to traditional public schools. There are about 88, 000 public schools all over the US. Some students attend charter schools.

    Charter schools are self­ governing. Certain companies operate some charter schools. They are similar in some ways to traditional public schools. They receive tax money just as other public schools do. Charter schools must prove to local or state governments that their students are learning. These governments provide the schools with the agreement called a charter that permits them to operate.

    Charter schools are different because they do not have to obey most laws that govern traditional public schools. Each school can choose its own goals and decide what to teach and how to teach them in their own way. Class size is usually smaller than in traditional public schools.

    The government strongly supports charter schools as a way to re­organize public schools, which are failing to educate students. But some education unions are against charter schools. One teachers' union has just released the results of the first national study, which compared the progress of students in both traditional schools and charter schools.

    The results of the study show that charter school students performed worse on math and reading tests than the students in traditional public schools.

    Some experts say the study is not fair because students in charter schools have more problems than students in traditional schools. Other education experts say the study results would make charter school officials realize that they should help their students make greater progress .

    The vast majority of people can buy pretty much anything they need. Not anything they want, necessarily, but anything they need to achieve a satisfactory degree of creature comfort: clothing, water, shoes and food.

    During my childhood, a Michael Pollan book would have been the prize of my year, were I to find it waiting under my Christmas tree or open it upon my birthday. I also used to be thrilled at receiving necessary things, like simple socks or gloves, as present. Nowadays I have too many gloves. I purchase leather gloves online that appear to be a good deal or just because I like their look.

    Prosperity (富足) is a good thing, right? Yes, of course. But for me, I find that the greater ease with which such a generous gift is purchased, the less significance it has when given. This is why I try harder at gifts.

    My first line of dealing with this problem is simply understanding the effect of a little time spent. Even writing out a thoughtful or funny card goes a lot further than a “cute top” purchased from a popular shopping website.

    Need help? Go to your printer. There's paper in there. Fold one sheet in half and draw a heart on the front. Open it up and fill the card with a poem or a few words of your own. Not only is it obvious that you took the time to select your words and write them down, but now you force the reader to stop for a short time and consider what you were trying to accomplish with them. The effort made by the two of you is the gift.

    No matter how you decide to spend a little more time on your giving, the point is just quite simply that you do. You don't have to give a person a handmade paper boat to get a reaction. But you won't be sorry if you do.

    Six million people visit Grand Canyon in the US every year. For the purpose of helping project Grand Canyon for your fellow visitors and future generations, please follow the guidelines below.

    Camping

    To protect the park, camping is allowed only within permitted campgrounds. Permits are required for overnight camping at the North Rim. Advance booking can be received by mail. Please write: Information Center, P.O. Box 129, Grand Canyon, AZ 86023.

    Fires

    Because of the extreme fire danger, campfires are not allowed except at Mather and Desert View campgrounds. Collection of firewood is not allowed either.

    Hiking（远足）

    Please stay on permitted paths. Otherwise you may destroy desert plants. Pack out what you pack in, so you leave no signs of your visit. It is important to keep in mind that you are in a national park where wildlife exists.

    Weather

    The weather at Grand Canyon can change very quickly. With so much rock, lightning(闪电) causes a particular danger during sudden summer storms These storms also frequently bring floods inside valleys, a danger to hikers. Watch the skies and check daily weather reports.

    Wildlife

    Do not feed park wildlife. There have been a few cases at Grand Canyon National Park where deer(鹿) were purposely shot because there are plastic bags that left them sick and weak. Hungry deer car be danger and have kicked and bitten visitors at Grand Canyon. Some other animals will also beg and bite. For your own safety and the well-being of the animals, please do not feed wildlife, no matter how gentle they may appear.

    Hot spots of drones (无人机) in Australia are getting sensors to automatically identify the aircraft and their pilots. Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) said it would fix the equipment at the nation's airports starting next month. The monitors have been planned for some time, but come in the wake of 72 hours of drone-related disorder at the UK's Gatwick airport last week.

    In 2019, Australia will also start a scheme to register drone owners. The UK is also due to introduce a scheme in November that will require recreational drones weighing 250g (0.55lb) or more to be registered.

    Almost 140,000 air travellers were delayed last week after reports of drone sightings caused huge delays at Gatwick Airport. UK police are still searching for the criminals, although they have also raised the possibility that witness reports of the aircraft were mistaken. The incident “highlights” the need for a drone-spotting capability (能力), CASA spokesman Peter Gibson told the news agency Agence France-Presse. The supervision system would be able to spot the types of drone being flown, read their serial numbers and work out where the pilot was located, he said. Efforts to identify pilots would be aided by the introduction of the registration scheme for commercial and casual drone owners, he added. “2019 will witness severe action towards drone safety,” said Mr. Gibson. As well as airports and other sensitive locations, the drone-spotting systems will be fixed in other places known to be popular with drone owners such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

    Authorities in Australia have expressed worries about the number of drones being flown in controlled areas in recent months. Anyone breaking rules could face fines of up to 10,000 Australian dollars ($7,058; £5,600) as well as checks on the safety of their craft. “In 2019 it could be very expensive doing the wrong thing with your drone,” said Mr. Gibson. Events at Gatwick were discussed by ministers in a Christmas Eve phone conference. It is understood that the Cabinet Office “pushed” the Ministry of Defence and the Home Office to update their relevant regulations. They also discussed defence systems across the UK's airports.

    The U. S. Thanksgiving holiday is symbolized (象征) by its traditional food-roast turkey. But turkey is certainly not from Turkey. In fact, its English name is based on one big mistake. We could say it is a case of mistaken identity. The word "Turkey" has meant "the land of the Turks" since ancient times. In the mid-1500s, the word "turkey" was first used to refer to the bird in the English language.

    The misunderstanding over the word happened because of two similar-looking kinds of birds.

    There is an African bird called the guinea fowl(珍珠鸡). It has dark feathers with white spots and a patch of brown on the back of its neck. Traders brought the guinea fowl to Europe through North Africa. This foreign bird came to Europe through Turkish lands. So, the English thought the bird as a "Turkish chicken".

    When Europeans came to North America, they saw a bird that looked like the guinea fowl. This bird was native to the North American continent. But they thought that it was the guinea fowl, which at that time, was called the "turkey cock", so they gave it the same name.

    Hundreds of years later, we continue to call this North American bird "turkey", even though it has no connection at all with the country Turkey, or even with Europe.

    But English is not the only language with interesting names for this North American bird.

    The Turkish call turkey "hindi", the Turkish name for India. The reference(涉及)to India probably conies from the old wrong idea that the New World was in Eastern Asia.

    The French call it "dinde", a name that also connects the bird to India. "Dinde" means "from India" in the French language. "Turkey" has similar names in several other languages.