A 13-year-old American has made a cheap machine that can help blind people read.

The blind canreadby using Braille – a system of small bumps (隆起物) that the blind touch to read the letters. The machine that makes these small bumps usually costs at least $2,000. It is called Braille writer. The American schoolboy, Shubham Banerjee, made a new Braille writer from a Lego tool that lets people create robots. Banerjee has called his new machine the Braigo – a combination (组合) of the words Braille and Lego. It costs just $ 350. It works by changing electronic text into Braille and then printing it using a computer or mobile machine.

Banerjee designed (设计) his Braigo last year for a school science exhibition. Since then, he has caught the interest of Silicon Valley in the USA. The big technology company Intel spent money on Banerjee's machine last November, but they did not say how much money they put in. Banerjee also got $35, 000 from his father to help him start the project. His father works as a computer engineer (工程师) at Intel. He spoke about why he gave so much money to his son, saying:”We as parents started to be interested more, thinking that he's on to something and this invention has to continue.” Banerjee told the AP News: “My dream would probably be having most of the blind people…using my Braigo.”

    I' m ready to do my first jump 10 months after a skydiving (特技跳伞) accident. I can't wait! That accident almost killed (杀死) me and it made me stay in hospital for half a year. During the boring long days, I didn't feel good. "How could I live without my favourite sport?" I thought.

    It all started one evening after a nine-to-five day. I was sitting at home when an ad (广告)came on the television. "Try skydiving," it said. The next day, I went to the skydiving school in my town, At the end of the day's lessons, ] knew I found the right sport for me.

    I will never forget my first jump. Five of us walked to the runway and got into a plane. I was afraid, but the others were talking and smiling, and I started to feel a little relaxed. It was a beautiful, cloudless day and the sun was just going down. Soon it was time to jump. As I jumped from the plane, I shouted. But then everything became quiet (安静的). It was the most wonderful four minutes of my life.

    From the first jump, I was hooked. I started spending all my free time skydiving. It became my reason (理由) for living. Things were going really well. Then an accident happened on my 104th jump. I broke my both legs, right arm and nose. I stayed in hospital for six months, but I still couldn't forget skydiving.

    My mother couldn't understand why the only reason I wanted to get better was to go skydiving again. But for me, skydiving is life, and life is skydiving.

    Tom and Mike are good friends. They are good to kids. They want to find summer jobs. One day Tom tells Mike that Beidaihe Kids Summer Camp needs help with sports, music and computers. They are both very glad to hear this.

    Tom can play basketball and volleyball, and he can swim, too. Mike can play the violin, the drums and the guitar, and he also likes soccer. Tom and Mike like computers very much. Can they join the Summer Camp?

①Eating good food and getting proper exercise are important to stay healthy. Getting enough sleep is important, too. Experts say that teenagers between the ages of 15 and 20 need 8 to 10 hours of sleep each night. 

②Your body needs to take a rest from all the activities it has done during the day. Your brain needs a rest, too. You are likely to get sick easier without enough sleep. 

③You have a "24-hour clock" inside your body that tells you when to be awake and when to go to sleep.  ▲  Blue light that comes from the Sun tells your brain to keep you awake during the day. When there is no blue light at night, the brain tells the body that it's time for sleep. 

④There are many things that stop the brain from telling your body when it's time to sleep. One of these is blue light at night. Today, people spend a lot of time watching television or looking at screens on computers or smart phones. These devices (装置) give off blue light. If you look at them at night, the blue light can trick your body into thinking it's daytime. Then it is more difficult to go to sleep.

⑤What should you do to get good sleep? Experts say that you shouldn't look at screens that give off blue light for at least one hour before going to sleep. 

⑥ Do not watch TV or use anything with a computer screen in bed. If you need to do something to fall asleep, it is better to read a book. Also, keep your bedroom as dark as you can. This will help you sleep well. 

The girls spent the rest of the day preparing a play. The sisters often performed plays for their friends. A lot of girls arrived about six o' clock and took their places in the big bedroom. The play was a great success. Everybody enjoyed it very much. The girls were still laughing and clapping when Hannah came in and said," Supper is ready."

A surprise was waiting for them on the dining room table- dishes of ice cream, pink and white, fresh fruit, cakes and real French chocolates. And in the middle of all this delicious food there were four vases of beautiful flowers. The girls couldn't believe their eyes.

" Did the fairies bring the supper?" asked Amy.

" No, Santa Claus brought it," said Beth.

" Mother did it," Meg said.

" No! Aun t March sent it!" cried Jo.

" You are all wrong," said Mrs. March." Old Mr. Laurence sent it."

" The Laurence boy's grandfather!" Said Meg." Why did he do that? We don't know him!"

" Hannah told one of his servants(仆人) the story of the Hummels. Mr. Laurence was sorry to hear about your poor Christmas breakfast, so he decided to give you a surprise."

" My mother says he's very proud," said one of the girls at the table." She says that he doesn't like mixing with his neighbors. His grandson has to stay in the house and study all day. We invited him to a party once, but he didn't come. He's very shy."

"I am going to talk to him one day," said Jo." He needs to have some fun. I am going to invite him to our next play!"

 From Little Women

Many foreigners move to China because of a strong interest in its culture. One man has turned 1 interest into love and this love made him write many books about China. He is William, an American who has lived in China for 33 years, his Chinese name is Pan and he 2 Lao Pan in China.

3 1988, Lao Pan first came to China and worked as a teacher at a university. But Lao Pan did not begin 4 China until he and his family took a 3 month drive around the county. These experiences in China gave him ideas for his books. Since then he 5 thirteen books about China. These books give the world a fuller picture of China and Lao Pan is proud of what he is doing.

Lao Pan's new book 6 his forty seven letters to his family back in America. The letters show China's development in 7 periods. Lao Pan 8 says he loves China so much because of its people. He sees it as 9 life long task to let more westerners know what China is like. He will continue telling the nation's 10 to the world