Do you think there is a ghost(鬼) in the world? More than 20 years ago, a student jumped from the top of the clock tower in the University of Birmingham. He did this only because he failed his final exam.

   After his death, a superstition(迷信)began: Anyone who walks under the clock tower will have bad luck in his exam. Years later, students there still remembered the story of the tower. Although Birmingham is the second largest city in Britain, the university is green and quiet. The grass around the tower has been worn away by the feet of students who refuse to pass underneath the tower.

   The university had to pave(铺)extra paths, so students could walk to their classrooms without passing under the most terrible area. But, one day just before an important exam, a top student in the university walked under the clock tower because he was lost in thought.

However, he got high marks in the exam the next day. Quickly students all knew about it. Then they realized that the most important thing is working hard. 

   Whenever I go under the clock tower, I will tell myself, “Working hard is the key to success.”

    Typing(打字) is one of the most important and basic work skills of the 21st century. Because mobile phones are now so popular, there is a new kind of typing-thumbing. Thumbing means people use one or more thumbs(拇指) to touch the keys.

    Most people can type between 20 and 35 words a minute. Some typists, however, can work very quickly, at more than 110 words a minute. And people's left hand usually does 56 percent of the typing.

    The most common international English keyboard is QWERTY. People name it after the first letters on the top left side of the keyboard. It is more than 140 years old. Other keyboards include QWERTZ (in Central Europe) and AZERTY (used by most French speakers in Europe). Countries with non-Roman alphabets(字母系统), such as, Arabia, Russia or Japan, have their own keyboards.

    People practise the sentence "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" to make their typing better. That's because it uses every letter of the English alphabet.

    Thumbing and typing can hurt you. RSI (repetitive strain injury) is the name of a medical condition you get if you type too much. However, most people do not understand what RSI is or how serious it can be. Anyone who uses a computer a lot is at risk and should know about RSI.

Why Live Near the River?

Imagine pioneers traveling west in the 1800s. In those days, it was hard to find running water and shops where to buy things. As time went by, most pioneers had to make their homes near a river so that they could get water easily.

How did rivers help people live in the past?

Back in the pioneer days, people grew their own food, caught their own fish, and collected their own water.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}People also used rivers as roads, traveling on boats. Traders shipped goods (货物) to people from other areas.

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When building many factories right next to rivers for the water's power to make machines work, some people choose to live near a river for working. They use the river to ship large goods, and some of them work at these factories where power factories provide electricity for homes and businesses.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

Who wouldn't want to live near a river?

Some people are nervous about living near rivers because rivers can cause floods (洪水). Every once in a while, floodwaters rise higher than a house, ruining (毁坏) many things in the house.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Such waste causes water to smell bad and pollutes the crops (作物) we eat. Water and crops in polluted areas can make people very sick.

How do people decide where to live?

 {#blank#}5{#/blank#}Rivers can provide jobs and fun activities in a beautiful place. However, those living by rivers should be willing to accept possible problems as well.