Most American students go to traditional public schools. There are about 88, 000 public schools all over the US. Some students attend charter schools.

    Charter schools are self­ governing. Certain companies operate some charter schools. They are similar in some ways to traditional public schools. They receive tax money just as other public schools do. Charter schools must prove to local or state governments that their students are learning. These governments provide the schools with the agreement called a charter that permits them to operate.

    Charter schools are different because they do not have to obey most laws that govern traditional public schools. Each school can choose its own goals and decide what to teach and how to teach them in their own way. Class size is usually smaller than in traditional public schools.

    The government strongly supports charter schools as a way to re­organize public schools, which are failing to educate students. But some education unions are against charter schools. One teachers' union has just released the results of the first national study, which compared the progress of students in both traditional schools and charter schools.

    The results of the study show that charter school students performed worse on math and reading tests than the students in traditional public schools.

    Some experts say the study is not fair because students in charter schools have more problems than students in traditional schools. Other education experts say the study results would make charter school officials realize that they should help their students make greater progress .

    When I was about 12, I had an enemy, a girl who liked to point out my shortcomings(缺点). Week by week her list grew: I was very thin, I wasn't a good student, I talked too much, I was too proud, and so on. I tried to hear all this as long as I could. At last, I became very angry. I ran to my father with tears in my eyes.

    He listened to me quietly, then he asked.“Are the things she says true or not? Janet, didn't you ever wonder what you're really like? Well, you now have that girl's opinion. Go and make a list of everything she said and mark the points that are true. Pay no attention to the other things she said.”

    I did as he told me. To my great surprise, I discovered that about half the things were true. Some of them I couldn't change (like being very thin), but a good number I could—and suddenly I wanted to change. For the first time I go to fairly clear picture of myself.

    I brought the list back to Daddy. He refused to take it.“That's just for you，” he said.“You know better than anyone else the truth about yourself. But you have to learn to listen, not just close your ears in anger and feeling hurt. When something said about you is true, you'll find it will be of help to you. Our world is full of people who think they know your duty. Don't shut your ears. Listen to them all, but hear the truth and do what you know is the right thing to do.”Daddy's advice has returned to me at many important moments. In my life, I've never had a better piece of advice.

    A famous doctor once received a little child who was badly ill. Thanks to his skill and care, his young patient got well and was soon able to get up and run about again.

The child's mother was very much obliged to the doctor, and she called on him to thank him for what he had done for her child. "Doctor," she said, "you have saved my little son. I don't know how to thank you enough. I feel that money alone cannot repay you, so I have made this little purse with my own hands, as a sign of my gratitude. I hope you will accept it." The doctor stood up and said coldly, "Madam, a little present like that is very nice between friends, but a doctor needs to be paid properly for what he has done." The lady was so surprised and hurt so much that she could not reply for a moment. Then she said quietly, "Perhaps you will tell me how much your fee is?"

    "Fifty pounds", he answered.

    The lady opened the little purse and took out four fifty-pound bank notes. She handed one of them to the doctor, and put the other three back into the purse. She put the purse into her handbag and, saying good bye to the doctor, went out of the room.

    If you have a chance to take a walk in a park, look carefully at the people walking their dogs. You'll probably find friendly-looking people with friendly dogs; quiet people with quiet dogs; large men with oversized dogs and long-haired women with long-eared dogs. As you've probably noticed, dogs and their owners look alike. Have you ever wondered why?

    These similarities are so common that researchers have tried to explain them. There are two theories (理论): the convergence (趋同) theory and the selection theory. The convergence theory says that as the owner and the dog spend more time together, they influence each other to the point where they grow similar. In other words, they “converge.” The selection theory, on the other hand, says that owners are interested in dogs that look like them, so they choose those dogs as pets.

    Recently, researchers at the University of California decided to test the two theories by taking pictures of 45 dogs separately from their owners. Then they asked some students to match the dogs' photos with their owners. The students were quite successful with purebred (纯种的) dogs: they correctly matched 16 out of 25 with their owners. However, they had almost no success connecting mixed-breed (杂交的) dogs with their owners. When owners select a purebred dog, they can easily predict (预测) what it will look like later. But that is not true with mixed-breed dogs because it's hard to predict what a mixed-breed dog will look like when it grows up. And since it was the purebreds not the mixed-breeds that looked like their owners, the research seems to prove the “selection theory”.

    But one bit of warning. Although many people look like their dogs, not all dog owners enjoy having the similarity pointed out to them. So, even if the similarity is amazing, don't go up to a stranger and say, “Wow, you look just like your dog!”

    In 2001, British Prime Minister, Tony Blair said," We celebrate the diversity(多样性) in our country, get strength from the cultures and the races that go to make up Britain today."

    People from all cultures and races can be found in every corner of Britain and each person in his or her own way has contributed to making Britain the place it is today.

    If you walk down a street in Britain, especially in the bigger cities, you will usually see people with different hair, skin and eye colors. They may have white, brown or black skin and blonde, brown, black or red hair, with blue, black, brown or green eyes. Many of the people you will see will be British people but they all look different because the people of Britain are a mixed race.

    Britain is and has always been a mixed race society. Early in the British history they were invaded by Romans, Saxons, Vikings and Normans armies and later Africans were brought to Britain by force in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries as slaves or servants. Over the years, thousands of people have been forced by persecution(迫害) or hunger to leave France, Ireland, Russia, and other countries, and have settled in Britain.

    About 8% of the population of Britain today are people from other cultures and races. That is 4.6 million people. According to a BBC report in September 2005, immigration (移民) made up more than half of Britain's population growth from 1991 to 2001.The Guardian newspaper reported in 2007 that the number of immigrants to the UK was 145,000 a year.

    People moving to Britain have brought their own cultures with them and try to keep them alive. An excellent example of this is the Notting Hill Carnival which celebrates the Caribbean culture and is now a very big part of British life today.

    Researchers are often interested in how culture changes over time. All cultures go through periods of change and some cultures change faster than others. For example, in the past 10 years, Chinese culture has changed rapidly as western products have become popular. Other countries, such as France, have created rules to prevent their culture from changing too quickly.

    Even though cultures change at different paces, the causes of cultural change are quite similar around the world. One of these is technology and medicine. In the United States the invention and development of birth control pills and other measures helped parents to limit the size of their families. As a result, families grew smaller and parents could give more attention to fewer children.  On the other hand, new technology has also created emotional distance among families.

    Cultures also change when they come into contact with other cultures. Immigration, for example, often results in cultural change for both immigrants and the host culture. Immigrants often bring with them different ideas, food, music, language, and manners when they move to a new culture. In Canada, for example, the government has a policy of multiculturalism where immigrants are encouraged to share their background cultures with Canadians while adopting and accepting Canadian culture.

    Cultural change can occur due to larger events. For example, economic depression, war, and disaster can endanger societies, which must adapt to these challenges and events. Because of these changes in society, ideas and ways of life also affect the entire culture. For example, during World War II, many American men were sent far off to fight. Consequently, women were suddenly needed to work in the factories. As a result of this change, it is no longer culturally acceptable to believe that they should not have the right to work.