In ancient Greece, Socrates was a knowledgeable philosopher(哲学家). One day one person met him and said, "Do you know what I just heard about your friend?". "Hold on a minute," Socrates replied. "Before telling me anything I'd like you to pass a little test. It's called the Triple Filter Test(三重过滤测试). Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you're going to say. That's why I call it the Triple Filter Test. The first filter is truth. Have you made absolutely(完全地) sure that what you are about to tell me is true? ""No," the man said, "actually I just heard about it and…". "All right," said Socrates. "So you don't know whether it's true or not. Now let's try the second filter, the filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my friend something good?" "No, on the contrary…". "So, "Socrates continued, "you want to tell me something bad about him, but you're not certain it's true. You may still pass the test though, because there's one filter left: the filter of Usefulness(有益性). Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?" "No, not really." "Well," said Socrates, "if what you want to tell me is neither true nor good nor even useful, why tell it to me?"

    Last summer holiday, I got a job working at a coffee shop.

    One rainy day, one of my regular customers(顾客)came in. He looked upset. He said he wanted to get in bed, pull the sheets（波单）up over his head, and stay there for a few years. I knew that he was unhappy.

    Before he left, I handed him a bag along with his iced coffee. He was surprised, since he hadn't ordered anything but coffee. I had given him his favorite type of doughnut(油炸图饼).

    "It's on me, "I told him." Have a nice day."

    He smiled and thanked me before heading into the rain.

    The next day, it was still raining. I spent my afternoon hanging out the window handing people their orders. I was wet and cold. Worse, no one was tipping(给小费)that day.

    In the evening, the customer from the day before drove up to the window. He handed me a pink rose and a note. He said that not many people took time to care about others today. With a friendly wave, he drove away.

    I ran to the back of the shop and read the note. It read：Christine, Thanks for being so sweet, kind yesterday. It is so nice to meet someone who's so nice. Please don't change your ways!

    Have a great day!

——Hank

    After that, whenever I felt upset, I thought of Hank and his kindness. Then I would smile, hold my head up high, clear my throat and ask politely, "How can I help you？"

 There are many deserts on the earth. And the following are some facts you may find interesting.

What are deserts like?

 Deserts can be hot and dry places. Rain may not fall there for months or years. Some deserts are sandy and stony. Deserts can also be very wind y places. The wind can change the shape of the deserts. It moves sand around from place to place.

 Temperatures in the desert can vary greatly. During the daytime, the temperature may reach 40℃ even in the shade. At night, deserts can become very cold. In winter, there may even be a frost early in the morning.

Living in the desert

 The camel is sometimes called" the ship of the desert". It stores food in its hump and can go for days without water. It has large feet which help it not to fall into the soft sand. Its long eyelashes keep out the sand during sandstorms.

 An oasis(绿洲) is an area of the desert where water may be found. People and animals visit an oasis for water and food. Plants grow at an oasis. Some farmers are able to grow crops here.

The Arabian Desert

 The Arabian Desert lies between the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf. Oil under parts of the desert has made some countries in the area very rich. The government has spent money building fine cities with lovely parks and lakes, and people live a comfortable life there.

When I was in seventh grade，I was shy，quiet and so was easily bullied（受欺负）

In an art lesson，just while the teacher was out，a big boy took away my pencil case，he took my schoolbag and pulled it towards him. I pulled back the schoolbag from his hand and for the first time，I pushed him away and hit him on the back. In the rest of the lesson，"Peter，are you OK? "

"Yes，"I answered. 

"No，you are not. Come to my office after class. "he said. 

There we had a long talk. He made me smile and I became confident again. He taught me some life lessons，and said，"Get up，but remember you are stronger inside，and if the bullies see this

I remembered these words. From then on，every time as I walked to school，I put my head high in the way

How do people from all over the world spend their free time? Let's have a look. 

⊙Internet

People from Canada spend about 43. 5 hours online every week, 8 hours longer than Americans. Canada has long cold winters, so people spend lots of time at home. 

⊙Outdoors

People from New Zealand spend most of their free time outdoors. The countryside there is great for mountain climbing and water sports. 

⊙Bars

Spain has a lot of bars（酒馆）. In Spain, a bar is for families, not just drinkers. It's a meeting place and often an eating place. When none of your family or friends are free, you can still go to a bar by yourself. People around you in the bar may ask you to join them. 

⊙Museums

The UK has six of the top 20 most visited museums in the world, such as the National Gallery, the British Museum and Tate Modern. 

⊙Parties

As for parties, most people will think of Brazil. Its carnival（狂欢节） is famous all around the world. Bangkok and Berlin are two of the best cities for partying. In Bangkok, you can meet friendly people and visit great night clubs. In Berlin, you can enjoy beautiful music on the streets. 

⊙Exercising

In Greece and Estonia, over 80 percent of people exercise every day. The Olympic sports are very popular in these two countries, but Estonia has a very special game: ice cricket（冰上板球）!

When you think of milk tea, maybe your face wears a big smile. When you hear traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), do you still keep your smile? But today, some interesting TCM drinks, are getting more and more popular with the young. 

Healthymilk tea comes. Tongrentang in Beijing started in 1669 and mainly sold traditional Chinese medicine to middle-aged and old people in the past. Now more young people accept the drinks from Tongrentang, after it began to sell the special milk tea with Chinese medicine ingredients(成分) in it. 

Plum syrup(酸梅汤) can make you happy and healthy. Some other famous TCM hospitals in Zhejiang Province served the plum syrup this summer. It is made from simple and clean ingredients without too much sugar. This goes with today's Chinese people's need for delicious but healthy cold drinks in hot summer. 

▲ Many young people like to make their own drinks. For example, there is a kind of home-made drink. People add some Gouqi berries to soft drinks(不含酒精的饮料) like Coca Cola. They say they feel stronger even after staying up late, as soon as they drink it. Many young people believe the Chinese traditional medicine can help make the Cola healthier. That's why more TCM soft drinks successfully make young people interested. 

However, can these TCM drinks really help you to stay healthy as we think? Can everyone drink them every day? That is still a question. Every medicine has its own side effect(副作用). Not everyone needs to take medicine. If necessary, take the doctor's advice instead of drinking without thinking twice.