China has a very long history. It has many great traditional skills that have a wide influence (影响). Here we mainly talk about kites.

    The earliest mention of a kite in ancient China dates back to the 5th century BC. It was made of wood and used as a rescue signal (求救信号).

    At the time between 770 and 221 BC, Chinese kites were actually called "muyuan". They were first invented in Shandong Province for military purposes (军事目的). The kites were used to send important messages during the Chu-Han War. During the Tang Dynasty, kites were made of lighter materials, such as bamboo, silk and paper. At that time, people began to fly kites for other purposes. It was believed that letting go of the kite could remove bad luck and illness.

    Today, kite-flying is an interesting and healthy activity in China. There are large kite-flying festivals held throughout the country, and kite makers can show off their skills during the festivals.

    Americans think much about time. From childhood they learn to {#blank#}1{#/blank#} time. They are taught to be on time to go to school, to work and to do everything. When they are having a good time, they time goes easily. When a person is dying, they say he is living on borrowed time.

    Time is money. Time is knowledge. Time is {#blank#}2{#/blank#}in America. A working American has to work hard for eight hours a day or forty hours a week. This is the working time. In his free time, he also works hard for more money. Even on Saturday and Sunday he also works hard as {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. In the street you can hardly see a man walking{#blank#}4{#/blank#}. They walk very fast. In fact, they are running.

    They love time because time can bring them money and lots of things.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}sometimes they also hate time, because they feel they have become servants of the clock.

This month, we went on a five day trip to Xishuangbanna, a beautiful place in the south of Yunnan Province. The weather there is hot and wet. There a {#blank#}1{#/blank#} many kinds of plants and animals. I want to i {#blank#}2{#/blank#} some interesting things we saw to you during our trip.

In the jungle(丛林), we saw a twining(缠绕的)plant. These P {#blank#}3{#/blank#} grow when seeds-seeds mainly from banyan tees (榕树)are moved by animals or wind to some other trees. These seeds gradually grow, developing their own aerial (空气的) roots. Little by lite, they will get themselves around the host tree and f {#blank#}4{#/blank#} kill it, just like a snake kills its enemy.

A {#blank#}5{#/blank#} thing we learned is that when a tree gets big and strong, some of its aerial roots will grow into the ground and develop into a new tee, just like the way cell division (细胞分裂) works. The w {#blank#}6{#/blank#} tree will look like a small forest. I think this is quite a {#blank#}7{#/blank#}.

In the forest, you will sometimes find some red leaves among the green leaves. Why is that?

One reason is that the sunshine is very strong in Yunnan. The trees n {#blank#}8{#/blank#} use all of their leaves in order to do photosynthesis (光合作用) and grow, so the color of some of the leaves c {#blank#}9{#/blank#}to red.

We really enjoyed our trip to Yunnan. We learned a lot about n {#blank#}10{#/blank#} and had a rally fun time. I hope we can take more trips like this in the future.

Many parents like twins(双胞胎) a lot. For many years, people think that twins have a secret language. A lot of parents of twins say that their children have a secret way of talking to each other by using some words they don't understand. "The twin language" was very special in people's minds for a long time. However, a study shows that twins hardly have secret languages. So why do people think that?

When babies are learning to speak, they often make sounds and their parents don't understand them. For example, a child may call a bottle "baba". Since twins are learning the language at the same time, they often make the same mistakes. So, if one of the twins calls a bottle"baba", the other possibly starts to do the same. Soon, the twins are using the same inaccurate word. Parents may think of this as a secret language. In fact, the twins are learning new words like any other child.

A study shows that true secret languages don't happen very often. It happens because babies spend a lot of time alone and don't have many people talking around them.

Some studies show that it often takes longer for twins to begin speaking than for non-twin children. This could be because parents of twins can be busier than parents with just one baby, so they don't have much time to spend with their twin babies. Because twins understand each other's language mistakes, it may take them longer to learn words right.

As twins get older, like many non-twin children, they may make secret words for things they don't want their parents to understand!

Popsicles

Popsicles were invented by 11-year-old Frank Epperson in 1905. He forgot a drink of juice and left it with a stir（搅拌） stick in it outside on a cold night. The next day it was ice. Because of this he couldn't drink it any more, but he could eat it. It tasted good! These ice sticks became popular among kids at school in summer because they were delicious and helped them stay cool.

More than a hundred years later, popsicles are sill one of the best summer treats!

Crayon Holdans

When 11-year-old Cssidss Coldstein needed crayons for a school project, she had a hard time because, there were so many small or broken ones. She found some small clear plastic tubes（管子）at home. Although the tiny tube were usually filled with water to keep flowers fresh, she found that they fit tightly （紧紧地） around the crayons. She was now able to hold them easily. This is how she invented Caryon Holders.

Wristies

When snow gets in kids' gloves and their hands get wet, they feel uncomfortable. 10﹣year﹣old Kathryn Gregoary decided to do something about it. She created the wristies as she wanted to keep her wrists（手腕）warm and dry. Wristies are long gloves with no fingers and they are worn under your coat. They help you when you work in the cold because your hands stay warm while you use your fingers. With her parents' help, Kathryn also opened a small shop where she sold her wristie. And she still runs it today.

All these inventions have one thing in common—the kids were trying to solve problems in their lives. When you meet problems, what would you do？ If the kids can do it , you can do it, too!

Near the North Pole(北极) there are only two seasons: winter and summer. 

{#blank#}1{#/blank#} For over two months you can't see the sun, even at noon. In summer, days are long. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} The temperature is very low near the North Pole. Even in summer the temperature is below 0 ℃.  {#blank#}3{#/blank#}  They make their clothes from the skins(皮) of animals. From the skins they also make hats and shoes.

It's very cold, so people there have to build their houses with skins or snow. 

{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

When they move, they take their tents with them. Sometimes, they build houses of snow. But don't think that these houses must be cold. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} The life near the North Pole is very interesting.