Hundreds of years ago，a Roman army came north from England to make war on Scotland. The Scots，a brave people，loved their country very much. They fought hard to drive the enemy out of Scotland，but there were too many Romans. It looked as if the Romans would win.

    One night，the leader of Scots marched his soldiers to the top of a hill. "We will rest here tonight，my men,” he said. "Tomorrow we will fight one more battle. We must win or we will die."

    They were all very tired，so they ate their supper quickly and fell asleep. There were four guards on duty, but they were very tired as well and also fell asleep one by one.

    The Romans were not asleep. Quickly they gathered at the foot of the hill. Slowly they climbed up the hillside, taking care not to make a sound. Closer and closer they came to the sleeping Scots. They were almost at the top. A few minutes more，the war would be over. Suddenly，one of them put his foot on a thistle(蓟). He cried out and his sudden cry woke the Scots. In a moment，they were on their feet and ready for battle. The fighting was hard but it did not last long. The Scots wiped out the Romans and saved their country.

    The thistle is not a beautiful plant. It has sharp needles all over it. Few people like it. But the people of Scotland liked it so much that they made it their national flower.

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    Winter is a really fun time of the year—it's great to have snowball fights and build snowmen{#blank#}1{#/blank#} When it's cold outside and you're not prepared, you can feel uncomfortable. Lucky for you, learning how to stay safe is not difficult.

    ●{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Wearing thick clothes is the best way to stay warm in the cold. Depending on where you live and how cold it is, some kids may need more clothes, some less.

    ●Take that hat. You maybe wear a large overcoat and ready to go, but are you forgetting something?{#blank#}3{#/blank#} You'll stay much warmer with a hat than without one—tons of body heat escapes right from your head.

    ●Drink up. Sounds like advice for hot weather, not cold weather, right?{#blank#}4{#/blank#} When you're outside in the cold and breathing hard, your body loses a lot of water through your breath. And the best way to get that water back is to drink up!

    ●Take it easy. Sometimes if you're out having fun, it's easy to forget to pay attention to your body. But if your body temperature drops even 4 or 5 degrees while you're out side, it can make you feel terrible{#blank#}5{#/blank#} And if you ever feel weak, those are signs that you have to take it easy indoors for a while.

A.Love those clothes.

B.Have a snowball fight.

C. Pull a hat onto your head.

D. That's why you need to be careful with your body s signals.

E. Well, the truth is that it's good advice for both kinds of weather.

F. but you have to know how to be safe while you're out having fun.

G. You can stay outside as long as possible to fully enjoy your snow days.

    One of the most exciting and interesting international cities to visit is London, England. Here is a look at four free things to do during a vacation to London.

    Visit the Trafalgar Square

    Built more than 200 years ago, Trafalgar Square is a popular gathering place for locals and travelers, too. The area is close to good shopping and dining opportunities, and there are usually some sorts of public events or celebrations going on there during most weekends.

    Wander Along the Thames

    Visitors wanting to sec some great architecture, attractions and views should spend an afternoon walking along the River Thames. The best place to start is at the world-famous London Bridge crossing over the river and you can walk all the way to Westminster Bridge a short distance away. Travelers doing this will find themselves passing by a great many historic buildings.

    Explore the Local Markets

    While purchasing items at any of the open markets in London is not necessarily free, walking through them to view the merchants（商人）, their products and the other shoppers is of great fun. Some of the popular open markets in London worth visiting include Spitafields Market, Portobello Road Market and Leadenhall Market.

     Visit the British Museum

    One of the top museums in the entire United Kingdom can be found in London, and it charges no admission（人场费）for entry. This museum is so highly regarded that it is not only popular with locals and tourists, it is also seen as a major and valuable scholarly resource.

    Sometimes people call each other “scared-cat”. But have you ever thought about this expression? When a cat is frightened, its heart starts beating faster, its muscles get tense, and there are changes in the chemicals in its blood stream. Although the cat doesn't realize this, its body is getting ready for action. If the danger continues, the animal will do one of two things .It will protect itself, or it will run away as fast as it can.

    Something like this also happens to people. When we are excited, angry or seared by other feelings, our bodies go through many physical changes. Our hearts beat faster, and our muscles get tense. All of these changes make us more alert and ready to react. We, too, get ready to defend ourselves or run.

    Human beings, however, have a problem that animals never face. If we give way to our feelings and let them take over, we can get into trouble. Have you ever said something in anger or hit somebody and regretted it later? Have you ever shouted at a teacher, told someone you were lonely, or said you were in love, and then wished later you had kept your mouth shut? It isn't always clever to express your feelings freely.

    Does this mean that it's smarter always to hide our feelings? No! If you keep feelings of anger, sadness hidden away or bottled up inside, your body stays tense. Physical illnesses can develop, and you can feel disturbed badly inside. It can actually be bad for your health. It isn't good to keep pleasant feelings inside either; all feelings need to be expressed.

    Feelings that you keep all bottled up inside, don't just go away. It's as if you bought some bananas and put them in a cupboard. You might not be able to see them, but before you'd smell them. And if you opened the cupboard, chances are that you'd see little fruit flies flying all over them. They are bad.

    You can try to treat feelings as if they were bananas in the cupboard. You can hide them and you can pretend they don't exist, but they'll still be around. And at last you'll have to deal with them, just like those bananas.

Dear Graham,

    My partner and I have recently lost a pet quite suddenly. Normal life is continuing with so much sadness for my pet meant so much to me. Lots of people won't understand my feeling this way about the death of an animal. This obviously isn't the first time someone in my life has passed away: when I was younger we lost elderly relatives who I loved very much, and naturally much-loved family pets died occasionally too. But this has hit me so much harder. I put so much love into the relationship and I'm just finding it hard to get my head around the fact that it's gone.

    Thank you for taking the time to read this.

ANON, VIA EMAIL

Dear Anon,

    Something you loved deeply has gone from your life, so of course you are sad. We love our pets differently from family members or friends and part of that is because we know they will probably die before us. Our time with our dogs or cats is precious precisely because we understand it is limited.

    As humans, we go through most of life understanding we would die one day. But animals don't. We are the keeper of the secret. Of course, living a life unencumbered(不受妨碍) by thoughts of death means that our pets, in general, lead very simple, happy lives. It's one of the reasons why they are such a joy to be round. You are, of course, correct when you say that many people don't understand your grief, so don't talk to them. Share your feelings with like-minded souls. I'm sure a simple search online will reveal many practical advice for moving on.

    And when you are ready, you can welcome another animal into your life and then you will enjoy happiness again.

GRAHAM, VIA EMAIL

    "You can use me as a last resort(选择), and if nobody else volunteers, then I will do it." This was an actual reply from a parent after I put out a request for volunteers for my kids' lacrosse(长曲棍球) club.

    I guess that there's probably some demanding work schedule, or social anxiety around stepping up to help for an unknown sport. She may just need a little persuading. So I try again and tug at the heartstrings. I mention the single parent with four kids running the show and I talk about the dad coaching a team that his kids aren't even on … At this point the unwilling parent speaks up, "Alright. Yes, I'll do it."

    I'm secretly relieved because I know there's real power in sharing volunteer responsibilities among many. The unwilling parent organizes the meal schedule, sends out emails, and collects money for end-of-season gifts. Somewhere along the way, the same parent ends up becoming an invaluable member of the team. The coach is able to focus on the kids while the other parents are relieved to be off the hook for another season. Handing out sliced oranges to bloodthirsty kids can be as exciting as watching your own kid score a goal.

    Still, most of us volunteers breathe a sigh of relief when the season comes to a close. That relief is coupled with a deep understanding of why the same people keep coming back for more: Connecting to the community(社区) as you freely give your time, money, skills, or services provides a real joy. Volunteering just feels so good.

    In that sense, I'm pretty sure volunteering is more of a selfish act than I'd freely like to admit. However, if others benefit in the process, and I get some reward too, does it really matter where my motivation lies?