Joy always rides her bike to school. It's four miles to school and it takes her about fifteen minutes. Joy likes riding to school. She says it's good for her health.

    Edward usually goes to school by bus. He likes talking with his friends on the bus. It's about ten minutes' journey (旅程) to school by bus.

    Mary's home is near the school. She usually walks to school. It's about five minutes' walk. Mary says she likes taking walks after meal.

    It is not easy for people to sail (航海) around the world in quite small boats. Sometimes the weather gets bad. Accidents(事故) can happen easily and quickly.

    One family once had an accident. A big fish swam under their boat and bit holes(洞) in it. Sea­ water came in and the boat soon went down. Luckily these people had another small boat—a lifeboat, so they all got into the lifeboat. They lived in the boat for many days. They ate and slept, and always hoped. At last people in a ship saved them.

    How do people live in a very small lifeboat for a long time? They must be strong in every way. They must have a hope, and they must have a strong desire(愿望)to live. People cannot drink seawater. If they drink a lot of seawater, they will quickly die. They must catch rainwater and drink it. They must also catch fish and birds for food. Lifeboats do not often carry cookers. So people cannot cook their food in the lifeboats. Raw (生的) fish and birds are not very nice but they are their only food. They must eat raw food, or they will die.

    Tony have a compass. he likes it very much. It points the directions.

A compass shows the directions on the face. "N" on its face is for the north. "E" is for the east. "W" is for the west. "S" is for the south. "NE" is for the northeast. "SW" is for the southwest. "SE" is for the southeast.

    Then what is "NW" for?

    What will happen if you don't eat your breakfast? A short time age, A. test was given in the United States. People of different ages, from 12 to 83, were asked to have A. test. During the test, these people were given all kinds of breakfast and sometimes they got no breakfast at al. Scientists wanted to see how well their bodies worked when they had different kinds of breakfast.

    The results show that if a person eats a right breakfast, he or she will work better than if he or she has no, breakfast. If a student has fruit, eggs, bread and milk before going to school, he will learn more quickly and listen more carefully in class.

    The results also show that having no breakfast will not help you lose weight. This is because people become so hungry at noon that they eat too much for lunch. So they will gain (增加)weight instead of losing weight.

Information cards

    If you are visiting England, you will notice that the English have many customs (风俗) and traditions (传统) that are different from those in China. Here's a guide to visiting England. It provides help for anyone who visit England for the first time.

    Standing in the queue

    English people like to form queues. They think it is the fair way to behave. People wait in a queue in shops or at bus stops. People will think you are rude if you don't join the queue.

    Please, Thank you, Excuse me and Sorry

    It is good manners to say "Please" and "Thank you". If someone is in your way, say "Excuse me" and they will move. If you bump into someone or you are in their way, say "Sorry". They will probably say sorry, too, even if it was your mistake. Saying sorry does not always mean you are wrong. Sometimes it is a polite thing to say.

    Meeting a new person

    When people meet for the first time, the usual custom is to shake hands. The next time you meet that person, you can just say hello. English people don't usually hug or kiss if they don't know each other really well.

    Talking to people

    English people find it difficult to start conversations with strangers. If you are on buses or trains, they usually sit as far away from other people as possible. If you want to start a conversation, the topic that English people are always happy to talk about is the weather. So you need to be able to say "Isn't it warm (sunny/windy/wet/foggy) today?" or "Do you think it's going to rain/clear up?" Avoid topics such as politics, religion or how much people earn!

    Just behave politely. Remember: When you are in England, just do as the English people do!