Humans have learnt many things from nature. These things have helped us in our daily life. The latest thing is self-repairing clothing.

    Scientists have developed a special way for clothing to repair rips and tears by itself, without the need for sewing. It works with materials such as cotton, linen and wool. The scientists are from the Naval Research Office and Pennsylvania State University in the USA. Scientists Dr Walter Dressick and Dr Melik Demirel looked at how a squid can cling on to things so well. The research team found a protein in the rings of teeth that cover the suckers on a squid. The protein is similar to the one found in the silk that spiders use to make spider webs. It is very strong and elastic.

    The new protein has been developed as part of a coating, which is put on clothes. When the coating is dipped in water, the area around the rip or tear joins together in less than a minute. This could help clothes last longer and save money for us. It could also be useful for military and survival clothes. People like soldiers and mountaineers would be safer if they had clothes that could be repaired quickly and easily. Professor Demirel spoke about the invention. He said," The coatings are thin, less than a micron, so they wouldn't be noticed in everyday wear." Then he added, "Even thin, they increase the overall strength of the material. For the first time, we are making self-healing textiles."

    Where weredominoes (多米诺骨牌) from?Modern dominoes first showed up in Italy during the 18th century. But it isbelieved that the earliest dominoes were Chinese playing cards. Italianmissionaries (传教士) in China may have brought the gameto Europe. Do you think so?

    Do youlike to play with dominoes? Dominoes are small rectangular (长方形的) pieces made of wood orplastic (塑料). People can place dominoes in differentshapes. Then, they push one domino down and the rest of the dominoes fall oneby one. It is interesting to watch.

    Butplacing dominoes is hard. To make sure the dominoes fall smoothly, the spacebetween each domino is important. According to domino—play. com, if a domino is about 4cm long, then the space between two dominoes should be1—2 cm. If the space is too big, the dominoes will stop falling halfway.If the space is too small, the dominoes will fall too quickly and won't lookinteresting.

    Beginnerscan start by putting dominoes in a straight line. This is the easiest shape.Professional (专业的) playerscan place dominoes in many other shapes, including big circles, beautifulflowers and even famous paintings.

What did people do to communicate in ancient times? Here are some very interesting answers to this question.

Alphorns（阿尔卑斯长号角） were once used to communicate in the mountains in Switzerland. They are very long and they are very heavy, too. So, alphorns are hard work to blow. Then why use them? Well, they make a loud sound which travels much further than the human voice. Herdsmen（牧民） used them to call cows in the distance for milking. At sunset, alphorns were also used to send a message down to villagers that all was well. These days, they're mostly used as musical instruments.

The people of La Gomera, an island in Europe, have their own special way of sending messages from mountain to mountain. They use a whistled（口哨） language called el silbo, which comes from their language Spanish. Whistling can be heard within five kilorneters, which means it can be used across much greater distances than shouting. El silbo can be used for all kinds of messages, including greetings and announcements. El silbo is used a lot less than it used to be, but primary school students in La Gomera have to leave it.

Did you know it 's also possible to send messages without making a noise? This is called visual communication, and it includes the use of flags and even smoke. Long ago, soldiers along the Great Wall of China used smoke as a warning. If they noticed the enemy from their signal（信号） tower, they lit a smoky fire. When soldiers in other towers saw the smoke signal, they lit fires, too. In this way, messages about the enemy's arrival could travel as far as 800 km in just a few hours.

①Are you a shy person? Do you expect to become outgoing? Being outgoing can help a lot in your life. In fact, being outgoing is not as hard as you think. Here is some advice on how to become outgoing.

②You can start to try becoming outgoing when you stay with your friends. But the real challenge(挑战) comes when you meet strangers or new friends. Smile at them, and usually they will smile at you, too. You may find it easy to start talking in this way.

③Start a talk positively(积极地). Try to speak first. Simple greetings such as" Hello!"" How is it going?" and" It's a little cloudy today, isn't it?" are a good start. After that, you can talk more. For example, you can talk about the latest news. But you'd better read some news in newspapers and have your own ideas first. Or you may find that you won't have much to say.

④The best way to become outgoing is to go out. It is also a very important step. Usually those who like to do the same things can get to know each other better. If you like playing sports, go to a sports club. You may make many new friends there if you get over your shyness.

The traditional Chinese Lunar Calenda r divides the year into 24 solar terms. Great Heat(大暑), the 12th solar term of the year, begins this year on July 22 and ends on August 7. During Great Heat, most parts of China enter the hottest season of the year. The following are some things you should know about Great Heat.

A season of harvesting and planting

During Great Heat, the sunshine, high temperatures, and heavy rainfall are good for agricultural crops. But like Slight Heat, many natural calamities such as floods, droughts(干旱) and typhoons also happen during Great Heat. Therefore, it's important to harvest and plant in time to avoid setbacks(挫折) caused by natural disasters.

Sending the Great Heat ship in Zhejiang

The ship is filled with various animals for sacrifice (祭祀) such as pigs, sheep, chickens, fish and shrimps. More than 50 fishermen take turns carrying the ship as they march through the streets. The drums are played and fireworks are lit. Both sides of the streets are filled with people praying for blessings. After a series of ceremonies, the ship is finally carried to the wharf(码头). Then, the ship is pulled out of the fishing port and burned at sea. People carry out this ritual(典礼) to pray for good harvests(收成) and health.

Eating litchi and Mizao in Fujian

On the day of Great Heat, there is a custom of eating litchi and Mizao in Putian, Fujian Province, as a celebration of Great Heat. Litchi is a nutritious fruit. People usually soak litchi in cold well water first and eat it. Mizao is made of fermented(已发酵的) rice. On the day of Great Heat, people cook it with brown sugar.

School years around the world