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.

    How green are you? Do you know how to be green?

    We all need a healthy environment, but we produce waste every day and it does harm to our environment.Though we are young, we can still do something to help. In fact, even the simplest everyday activities can make a real difference to the environment.Here are some ideas for you.

Reduce

    Reduce means “use less”.Don't waste things.This saves money and reduces pollution and waste going into the environment.Before we buy something new, think whether it is really neces sary or maybe the old one will be just as good! When we do buy things, choose local products if possible, and try not to buy too many things from abroad.

Reuse

    Reuse means "use again".Use things for as long as possible.When we buy things, make sure that they can last a long time.We should look after them so that they will last, and we should repair them if we can instead of throwing them away and buying new ones.Don't use a paper cup or a paper bag.It's better to use a china cup and a lunch box because you can use them again.

Recycle

    Recycle means “change things into something else”.Though it takes energy to change something into something else, it's better than throwing things away or burning them.Find out what can be recycled in your neighborhood and take part in the recycling program.We should also buy products made from recycled materials,such as recycled paper, to help save trees.

    So please remember three words: reduce, reuse and recycle.

New Science and Technology

Look carefully before you cross

    The city of Daye in Hubei Province is using new technology to stop people from crossing against red lights. The city has set up special posts (杆) on its sidewalks. The posts can recognize (识别) human faces. If they catch a person crossing at a red light, they will send water drops at him or her.

High-tech building

    China not only builds things quickly, but also tries to use new and high technology. About twelve years has passed since the opening of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway. About 550 kilometers of the railroad runs over ice-covered earth. When the ice-covered earth gets warm during summer, it can make the railway move. Chinese scientists built special structures to solve this problem.

Musical road in Holland (荷兰)

    In a village of Holland, there is a musical road. With the help of something special, the road can play a song. But if a car drives at a speed of over 60 km/h, the sound will become noisy. The local government thinks it will encourage drivers to control the speed. They will have to slow down in order to hear the song instead of the noise.

    Tigers are very strong and scary. We may see tigers in Europe, Asia and America in the mountains. The tigers live far away from {#blank#}1{#/blank#} houses. They eat birds, hares (野兔) and other small {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. In the day they hide in the dens (巢穴), and at night they go out {#blank#}3{#/blank#} food.

    In {#blank#}4{#/blank#} when tigers are hungry, they will become very {#blank#}5{#/blank#} But now, people cut down many {#blank#}6{#/blank#}, so tigers are losing their homes. Also, some people kill tigers to get {#blank#}7{#/blank#} fur. Some people even buy things made {#blank#}8{#/blank#} tiger bones (虎骨). So the number of tigers {#blank#}9{#/blank#} getting smaller and smaller.

    Animals are our {#blank#}10{#/blank#} friends. In order to protect them, we must build many natural reserves. And we must stop people from hunting.

Every month has its saying. But for some people, every month {#blank#}1{#/blank#} its color. January is white. White symbolizes(象征) a start to the New Year. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} is red and pink. It is the month of love. June is orange, symbolizing the start of summer. But they are not people's favorite months.

So what is their favorite month? October. The {#blank#}3{#/blank#} of October are orange and black. These two colors are also a part of Halloween(万圣节). {#blank#}4{#/blank#} is the color of pumpkins(南瓜) and black is a symbol for night. Just as the great writer L. M. Montgomery says," I'm so {#blank#}5{#/blank#} to live in a world where there are Octobers." 

 Visiting museums can be interesting but tiring. You may spend hours getting there, waiting in a long line for a ticket, and walking with big crowds in the museum. But new kinds of technologies are changing museums and the way people visit them all over the world.

 Thanks to the Google Art Project, you may"walk through" museums while staying at home and enjoying an icy milk shake. It uses Google's Street View technology. You can see how paintings are hung and exhibits(陈列品) are placed as you move virtually (虚拟地) through the museums. You can also read the introductions of the works and download(下载) clear pictures of them. So far 560 museums around the world have joined the project, such as the British Museum in London and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

 Some apps may also make your museum trips more fun. The Palace Museum designed a few apps. One is called Han Xizai's Night Feast. Users can see a big picture of Han's house and take a closer look at the people and the clothes within it by touching the screen. The Museum of Modern Art in New York City also made an app that allows users to draw their own modern art works.

 However, if you still want to visit museums in person, you probably won't be disappointed. Many museums are trying to allow visitors to interact(互动) with the exhibits using 3-D technology. The exhibition in Shenzhen shows a 3-D copy of ancient Chinese bronze chimes(青铜编钟). Visitors can"play" the chimes by simply touching them.

 With new technologies like this, visiting museums has become easier and more fun. So why not try it yourself?