A serious earthquake can be a terrible experience, and it is easy to forget safety measures(措施) in disorder(混乱). Fortunately, most earthquake safety measures are common sense, but if you forget everything else, re­member the following instructions: drop, cover, and hold on. Also, most of earthquake deaths hap­pen after the earthquake, so remember that the danger does not end when the shaking does!

     If you stay indoors during an earthquake, move away from unsupported areas and windows. Try to get under a doorway or another area of the building which is held up by strong beams(梁).  Stay under a table or desk only if it is very strong. Do not rush to lifts, because it is far safer to stay where you are. Cover your head with your arms around it and curl (蜷缩) into a ball, and wait for the shaking to stop.

     If you stay outdoors during an earthquake, move to an area which is as open as possible. Don't move to build­ings, electric poles and other objects which may fall during an earthquake and injure you. Protect your head and stay low to the ground till the shaking ends and it is safe to move.

     After an earthquake, many buildings are less strong, although they appear safe. If you stay indoors, move people from the building quickly and help disabled or injured people. Once outdoors, move well away from the building so that if it falls down, you will not be injured. Wait till public safety officials an­nounce that it is safe to stay indoors.

     By planning ahead and keeping calm during an earthquake, you can greatly increase your chances of survival(生存) without injury.

    What is the most popular fast food today? Potato chips? Hamburgers? Or Sandwiches?Walk into almost any supermarket or corner store in America and you will see potato chips．Americans are the biggest eaters of potato chips and people in many other parts of the world enjoy them too．Do you know where this very popular fast food comes from?

    One day, almost 150 years ago, a cook in an expensive restaurant in New York State was preparing popular food—French fries．A customer in the restaurant didn't like the French fries, and complained(抱怨)because they were too thick．The cook cut some potatoes into thinner pieces and fried them．The waiter brought them to the customer．The customer tasted them, and asked to see the cook because he was still not satisfied ．

    The cook went to speak to the customer．The customer complained loudly about the chips again．The cook became very angry because the customer was so rude．He decided to play a trick(戏弄)on the customer．He cut some potatoes so thin that the customer wouldn't be able to pick them up．To the cook's surprise, the customer loved the new chips, and soon other customers wanted them too．People went home to tell their friends about this new food．The chips became so popular that the cook opened his own restaurant．

Dear Edward,

    How are you doing? I just visited Machu Picchu in Peru today. I've never seen such a great place before. This place is so amazing that I want to share my feelings with you.

    When I first got to Machu Picchu, I felt like I was walking in the sky. Even the clouds were just under my feet. Do you know how high Machu Picchu is? I was surprised that it was at about 2,500m. How could people build a city on such a high mountain? It must have been very difficult to move stones there.

    Before the Europeans arrived, the Incas (印加人) were the last and the most modern society in the Andes (安第斯山). The Incas were afraid that the Spanish would find them, so they built Machu Picchu on an Andes plain (平地) as a secret city in the 14th or 15th century. As a result, the Spanish never found Machu Picchu.

    An American explorer discovered Machu Picchu in 1911. For a long time before that, nobody even knew Machu Picchu was there. After Machu Picchu was found, it was called “The Lost City of the Incas”. It is still a mystery why and how Machu Picchu was left and forgotten by everyone.

    I just had a wonderful day. Especially, I will never forget the “goodbye boy” who was a local boy dressed in traditional Inca clothes. When we went down the mountain by bus, the boy waved goodbye to us until we were out of sight (视线). He shouted some words at us too, and I guess, it meant, “Goodbye, come back again soon!” Why don't you visit Machu Picchu someday? I am sure you will love this place as much as I do.

Yours truly,

Lynn

    Can plants eat people? Probably not, but there are many plants that eat meat. Some of them are big. And they can eat small animals. One famous meat-eating plant is the Venus flytrap(捕蝇草).

    The Venus flytrap is a very strange plant. It grows in dry parts of the United States. Its leaves are like the pages of a book. They can open and close very quickly. Inside the leaves, there are three small hairs. If a fly touches one of the hairs, the leaf closes quickly. The fly cannot get out. In about half an hour, the leaf presses the fly until it is dead. Then, the plant covers the fly. Slowly, the plant eats the fly.

    Why do plants do it? Most plants get what they need from the sun, the air, and the ground. In some places, the ground is very poor. It doesn't have all these important things, especially nitrogen(氮). Animal meat has a lot of nitrogen, so some plants eat meat to get what they need. Let's hope that some of the bigger plants don't get the same idea!

    There are many colours in nature. But do you know if a colour has weight? I think you'll say "no". But I am afraid you are wrong. If you don't believe, you may do a small experiment.

    First, put two objects with the same weight into two boxes. Then, cover the box. Third, wrap(包裹) one box with a red piece of paper, the other with a white piece of paper. OK. Now hold the boxes with your hand one by one. It is certain that you will think the red one is a little heavier. Why do you think so? A scientist found that different colours have different weight in a man's mind. So he did many tests and at last he got the result. That is to say, every colour has its own weight in our mind and their order(顺序) is the same. The heaviest colour is red, then blue, green, orange, yellow and white.

    The scientist told us that colours also have smell. Can you smell the colour? Of course not. Then why did the scientist say so? That is because every colour stands for a kind of light with a certain wavelength (波长). It reaches our brain(大脑) through sense organs(感觉器官).

    According to this discovery, scientists say that people accept the colours they like, and refuse the colours they hate. So your body and mind will be healthy by using the colors you like. Or you'll be nervous or even get ill. For example, if you stay in a room with red windows, wallpapers and furniture for two hours, you'll feel you have been there for four hours. But if the room is blue, you'll feel you have been there for only an hour. Another example, if a person walks out of a red room and into a blue room, his temperature will fall. That means our body temperature will change with different colours.