The Internet is becoming important in our life. How much do you know about it?

What is the Internet?

The Internet is a large, world-wide collection (聚集) of computer networks( 网络). A network is a small group of computers put together. The Internet is many different kinds of networks from all over the world. These networks are called the Internet. If you have learned to use the Internet, you can have a lot of interest on the World Wide Web(网)

What is the World Wide Web?

The World Wide Web has been the most popular development of the Internet. The Web is like a big electronic (电子) book with millions of pages. These pages are called homepages. You can find information about almost anything in the world on these pages. For example, you can use the Internet instead of a library to find information for your homework. You can also find information about your favourite sport or film star, talk to your friends or even do some shopping on the pages. Most pages have words, pictures and even sound or music.

What is e-mail?

Electronic mail (e-mail) is a way of sending messages to other people. It' s much quicker and cheaper than sending a letter. If you want to use e-mail, you must have an e-mail address. This address must have letters and dots (点) and an" @ " (means "at"). For example: Lily @ Yahoo, com. Write a message, type a person's e-mail address, then send the message across the Internet. People don't need to use stamps, envelopes  or go to the post office since the invention of the Internet . Quick, easy and interesting — that' s the Internet .

    In many high schools, there are strict rules about using mobile phones. If your phone rings in class, for example, the teacher will be very angry.

    Every mobile phone has a ringtone (铃声). It tells you that someone is calling you. Now, there is a ringtone called "mosquitotone (蚊子铃声)". Using it, students can receive calls and text messages (短信) in class but the teacher will not realize what is happening. How?

    Mosquitotone has a special sound. Only children and teenagers can hear it. As we get older, we are unable to hear some sounds with high frequencies (频率). As a result, a child or teenager can hear the mosquitotone ringtone, but someone of 20 or older can't.

    But sometimes, people over 20 can hear the ringtone. One British student's phone uses mosquitotone. In class, the student's phone rang. The 22-year-old teacher looked at the student and became unhappy. "I heard that. You know the rule: no mobile phone in class."

    Not all the students are interested in mosquitotone. Jerry Jones, a high school student of 17, says, "Using mosquitotone too often is bad for our hearing. I may use it for pleasure, but not in class. It's unfair(不公平的) to the teachers!"

    What do parents think of mosquitotone? "I think it is perfect for places like movie theaters," says Connie Neeson, 44. "Think about it. You're watching a film and someone's mobile phone rings. Mosquitotone is good because many people don't hear it. However, it also has a bad influence（影响） on their study if students use it in class."

    Like you, plants need good things like food, water, and minerals in order to grow. Usually they get these important nutrients(营养) from the rich soil(土壤) in which they're planted. But there's another way to grow plants that doesn't use soil. It's called hydrogenic gardening.

    "Hydrogenic" means "working with water." In a hydrogenic garden, plants grow with their roots in water, not in dirt. The water is filled with special food for the plants that gardeners have carefully measured and prepared.

    Hydrogenic plants grow quickly. In ordinary gardens, plants need time and energy to grow long roots that search the soil for food and water. In a hydrogenic garden, plants can use their energy to grow tall instead. And because there is no soil, there are no weeds and few insect pests(害虫). Gardeners don't need to spray(喷洒) plants with dangerous chemicals. Both the plants and the environment stay healthy. 

    Scientists hope that, one day, hydrogenic gardens may be able to help hungry people all over the world grow enough food-even in countries that have bad soil, or weather that is too hot, too cold, or too dry. And astronauts hope to take hydrogenic gardens with them to the spaceship they fly to Mars, so that they will always have fresh vegetables, and the fun of growing a garden without dirt. 

    Why do we like drinking water from plastic bottles? Some people think it is healthy and clean. Others drink bottled water because it's easy—you can carry it around with you. In hot countries, like Greece, we often buy bottles of cold water in summer.

    However, making lots of plastic is not a good idea for many reasons. First of all, we need a lot of oil for plastic products. We usually use oil as a source(资源) of energy. If we reduced the number of bottles we made, we wouldn't need so much oil. Plastic bottles also pollute the environment. If we recycled all our plastic bottles, we wouldn't need so much space for rubbish dumps. But in Greece, we don't recycle much of the plastic we use. In 2006, Greeks recycled only about 10% of plastic waste. The rest became rubbish on land and in rivers and seas.

    So next time you want to throw away a plastic bottle in the litter bin, stop and think. If you recycled it, you would help the environment. But what can you do when there isn't a recycling bin near you? Well, there are lots of useful ways that you can use your bottles again. For example, an empty bottle makes a great piggy bank for your pocket money, and if you cut a bottle in half, you will have a plant pot. Go green! You can make a difference.

    Hello, my name is Clock. I have a round face. I have three hands. One hand is short, and two hands are long. I don't have arms, but my hands can turn(转动)round and round. I don't have legs, but I can walk(走路). I don't have a mouth, but I can speak. I can wake you up(叫醒). Do you know me? Who am I? Please guess!