Sandwich was an Englishman. He lived in the 18th century. Sandwich was rich(有钱的), but he liked to play cards for money. He often played for 24 hours, and didn't even stop to have his meals. He ordered his servants(仆人) to bring him some meat and bread. He put the meat between the two pieces of bread and held the food in his left hand while he played cards with his right hand. People liked Sandwich's idea, and from then on they ate bread and meat as Sandwich did.

    From the name of the man, Sandwich, we have the word of the food "sandwich" today.

    Once there was a parrot on sale in a pet store. It was a beautiful red and blue bird.  It sat on a perch in the middle of the store so that everyone could see it when they came in. The owner was very proud of it and asked a high price for it.

    One day a man went into the store. "That's a beautiful bird," he said to the pet store owner. "But why is it so expensive? Is it an unusual bird?"

    "No, it's not very unusual. It's expensive because it can talk," the pet store owner said.

    "I see. How can I make it talk?" the man asked.

    The pet store owner asked him, "Do you see those strings tied to each of the bird's legs?"

    "Yes," the man answered.

    "Well, you pull those strings," the pet store owner told him."That will make the parrot talk."

    The man asked, "Do you mind if I try?"

    "Not at all," the pet store owner said.

    The man walked up to the parrot and pulled the string on its left leg. The parrot said, "Good morning."

    The man pulled the string on the parrot's right leg. This time the parrot said, "How are you today?"

    "That's not very interesting," said the man."Any parrot could do that." Then he laughed, "But what would happen if I pulled both strings at the same time?"

    "I'll fall off my perch, you fool!"the parrot said.

A new study has suggested that the key to reducing feelings of anger is not venting (letting the angry emotions out) but doing calming activities such as yoga or meditation. 

The study was published in March by Sophie Kjaervik and Brad Bushman from Ohio State University in the US. They wanted to explore the popular theory that venting (expressing) anger is a good way of reducing it. Examples of venting anger include shouting or hitting something like a cushion, so that you let go of the emotion and therefore don't feel it any more. The pair looked at 154 other studies on anger. These involved 10, 189 people, and included a variety of ages and backgrounds. In their study, Kjaervik and Bushman define anger as "an emotional response (反应) to a real or imagined threat (威胁)". They used a theory of emotion (情绪假说) that says emotions are partly felt in your body and partly in your mind. 

The scientists looked at the other studies to see how different activities influenced anger. They found that activities such as running or boxing—which are often thought to be good for dealing with anger—weren't very good at reducing it. In fact, some of these activities actually made it worse because they increased physical responses in the body that are linked to feeling angry. For example, they made people's hearts beat faster. However, activities that decreased physical responses in the body did help to reduce feelings of anger. These included activities that slow the heart rate, such as deep breathing, meditation and yoga. Bushman says activities that increase physical responses may be good for heart health but are "definitely not the best way to reduce anger". 

The team found jogging was most likely to increase anger. However, some heart-rate increasing activities—like ball games and team sports—could reduce anger.

It takes time to practice critical（批判性） thinking, but it's never too late to start. The following steps will help people to become critical thinkers.

Mohamed Nasar, a 58-year-old fisherman has supported his family of five by fishing in the Nile River for 17 years. But he says fishermen like himself catch fewer fish every. year as the Nile has been polluted. It has been filled with plastic bottles, bags and other waste. 

"Most fish are caught in plastic bottles, and they die," said Nasar. 

A local environmental group named "VeryNile" has asked the island's fishermen to use their boats to collect plastic bottles from the river. VeryNile says it buys the bottles at a higher price than the market price offered by traders or recycling factories (回收站).

The initiative (倡议) provides a solution for helping to clean up the Nile, while providing a way to make more money for fishermen like Nasar. 

"This job has helped us a bit. We come and collect about 20 kilos of plastic bottles, and we get about 10 Egyptian pounds (EGP) for each," Nasar said when he sat in his boat collecting bottles. 

Nasar used to make about 100 EGP a day after six hours of fishing. Now only by collecting bottles, he can make 200 EGP every day. 

Another fisherman said cleaner Nile water would-mean more fish. "For one thing, the Nile is cleaner, and for another, the fishermen now have more ways to make money," he said. 

With the help of more than 40 fishermen, over the past year VeryNile has collected around 18 tons of plastic bottles, and most of them were sent to the recycling factory and were made into new things. 

Doing projects is a fun way to learn as I can practise what I have been taught. I enjoy hands-on learning as it keeps me 1 in what I am doing. By putting what I have learnt into practice, I can test my own knowledge to see 2 I have fully understood what was taught. Even if I make 3 , I can learn from them. 

Once, I was given a gardening project for 4 class. For the project, my classmates and I had to grow plants from seeds and note down their progress over a month. Our teacher 5 each of us basil（罗勒叶）seeds to plant in the school garden. Following her instructions, each of us wet some cotton wool, put it in a small container, placed our seeds into the soil and left it in our classroom. We then waited a few 6 for the seeds to come out. I checked my seeds every day and made sure 7 the cotton wool remained wet. My seeds finally 8 in 7 days, like our teacher said it would. 

9 , some of my classmates forgot about their seeds and did not wet the cotton wool every day, so their seeds took 10 to germinate（发芽）. After germination, we placed the seedlings 11 the soil in the school garden and watered them every day. As basil seeds grow easily in tropical climates, the seedlings grew 12 . At the end of the month, most of us had fully-grown basil plants that were ready to be harvested. Our teacher allowed us to harvest the leaves and bring them home. I ended up eating it with some pasta my father made. I really 13 the gardening project as it helped me to familiarize 14 with the different growth stages of plants and how different elements like moisture and sunlight affect its growth. It was very satisfying to enjoy the fruits of my labor. 

Obviously, completing a project successfully 15 build up a teenager's confidence and can give them a sense of achievement, which can not only have a positive impact on their self-esteem but bring in great fun.