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.

Animals

   Corona viruses are common in animals. Sometimes, animals get infected (感染的) with these viruses which may then spread to human beings. To protect yourself, you should not visit live animal markets or have direct contact with wild animals. Stay away from raw meat, animal organs and other undercooked animal products.

   When an infectious pet was found in Hong Kong, some may wonder if one can get virus from their pets. Until today, there is no evidence that a dog, cat or any pet can transmit (传播) COVID-19. Please do not kill or give up pets!

Touching surface with virus

   Studies suggest that COVID-19 virus may stay on surfaces for a few hours or up to several days. However, the number may change under different conditions such as type of surface, temperature or the environment.

   If you think a surface may be infected, clean it with ethyl alcohol (酒精). After touching it, clean your hands with alcohol or wash them with soap and water. Avoid touching your eyes, mouth, or nose.

Package(包裹)

   Before delivering to your home, a package has been moved, travelled, and exposed to different conditions and temperature. Therefore, the possibility of being infectious because of your package from COVID-19-reported areas is rather low. There is no need to send your package back.

Smoking

   An article posted on Wechat recently says that cigarette can protect smokers from COVID-19 and thus make cigarettes sell very well. It is an online rumor (谣言)! As has been known, smoking harms people's health. It weakens the immune system and worsens diabetes and blood pressure. No smoking is still a must!

Transportation

   According to Feng Luzhao, an expert from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the major routes of transmission are still through respiratory droplets and direct contact. In order to protect yourself in underground station, wearing a mask and keeping your hands clean are good ways. People are also encouraged to use a personal transportation card or pay for the ticket via an app. After taking public transportation, washing hands is necessary.

Every school has its own rules.The rules change from one school to another.There are also some rules that look strange or funny to us.Here are some funny school rules.

Japan：Most schools demand（要求） that students wear uniforms，such as sports suits or skirts.They also demand that girls' white socks should be folded（折叠）（某种） way and boys' heads should be shared（剃）.

The US：At some US schools，students must have a pair of indoor shoes to change into every day.Chewing gum（口香糖） is not allowed（允许），because it is difficult to clean up.

Britain：Strange hairstyles（奇怪的发型）are not allowed at some British schools.But they might（可能）allow students to wear certain hairstyles during the World Cup.

How much do you know about Shanghai? Shanghai is one of 1 in the world. If you enjoy 2 new places, you can't miss it.

The Site of the First National Congress of the CPC is in the centre of Shanghai. Here, you can learn 3 the history of the CPC.

The Bund is where old Shanghai meets new Shanghai. If you walk along the Bund, you 4 beautiful old buildings. The Pudong New Area, just across the Huangpu River, has 5 modern buildings. At night, these tall buildings 6 the sky in every direction.

Yu Garden is a traditional garden. There 7 beautiful buildings, bridges, ponds and a fountain. You can buy different snacks just outside 8 garden.

Welcome to Shanghai!

Hello, everyone. I am Eric, a student in No. I Middle School. Now let me tell you about my favorite teacher. 

My favorite teacher is Mrs. Plath. She is my English teacher. She is my friend John's aunt, too. She is good to every student in my class. Everyone likes her. She gives us some interesting homework. It's relaxing for me to do the homework. 

Now Mrs. Plath is 40. She has many things to do. She has three classes a day. And she helps in the reading club after school. She helps children read and makes them love books. 

I think good teachers can make students love school. They have a good influence (影响) on their students. Mrs. Plath is a good teacher. I want to thank her. I want to be a teacher like her. 

 You and your family are planning a picnic for tomorrow. But you want to 1 the weather forecast(预报) first to see whether there will be rain or not. Your father turns on the television and the family listens to the2 make the weather report.

" It will be partly cloudy tomorrow morning,3 clear by early afternoon. The highest temperature tomorrow will be 25 degrees."

As there will be no rain, the whole family feels 4 . Without the weather forecast, you would not know this, and you would just have to take your 5 . But now, you can plan your picnic 6 worrying whether it will rain or not.

The man you can 7 for this is Cleveland Abbe. He is known 8 the father of the weather bureau(局). He was the first person to publish(出版)9 weather forecasts in the United States. Abbe began his daily weather bulletins(简报) in 1869. He was the first 10 forecaster of the US Weather Service. Because he often forecast probable storms, Abbe earned the nickname of" Old Probabilities".