Some people seem to have extraordinary (非凡的）memories. Zheng Aiqiang, a “memory athlete” on TV show Super Brain, can remember 2,660 numbers in just one hour!

    You would think people like this have special brains. But according to a recent study by researchers from the US and the Netherlands, the brain structures（结构）of ordinary people and 23 of the world's leading memory athletes show no difference.

    That's because good memories can be trained. New research in the journal Neuron (神经元期刊) suggests that you can become a super memorizer with just six weeks of hard training.

    Researchers found that technique (技巧）called loci, invented by ancient Greeks, can greatly help improve memory. By using loci, you are using your imagination to improve the brain's memory networks. You can link（关联）something you need to remember with a place that you know very well. For example, to remember a list of numbers, imagine yourself walking through your house. Each thing is linked to a number. For example, zero could be handle（把手）on the door and five could be the painting on the wall.

    In one study, some ordinary people were given 20 minutes to remember 72 words. First they could only remember 26 of them. But when they were taught loci, they could remember 62 words.

    “Not everyone can become a memory champion. But everyone using the technique can improve a lot from the level they're at,” said Boris Konrad, one of the researchers in the study.

    Chinese are very generous when they begin to educate their children. No caring about the money, parents often send their children to the best schools or even abroad to England, the USA or Australia. They also want their children to take extra-course activities where they will either learn a musical instrument or ballet, or other classes that will give them a good start in life. The Chinese believe that the more expensive an education is, the better it is. So parents will spend a large number of money on education. Even poor parents will buy a computer for their child.

    However, what most parents fail to see is that the best education they can give their children is usually very cheap. Parents can see that their children are skilled in some areas while poor in others. What most parents fail to realize is that today's children lack (缺乏) self-respect and self-confidence.

The problem is that parents are only educating their children on how to study well, but parents are not teaching them the most important skills they need to be confident, happy and clever.

    Parents can achieve this by teaching practical skills like cooking, sewing and doing other housework. These activities are teaching a child not only to read, but also to think. And that is more important.

    Healthy eating is important for as. What and how should we eat to be healthy?

    First, we must have enough food, never too much or too little. The food must be clean and we should cook it properly.

    Second, it's very important for us to keep a balanced diet. Different kinds of foods are necessary, such as rice, bread, meat, fish, eggs, milk, fruit and vegetables. Rice and bread give us energy. Meat, fish, eggs and milk help our bones grow. Fruit and vegetables make us healthy.

    Third, we should eat regularly. It's said that half of the students don't have a regular breakfast or don't eat anything in the morning. It is bad for their health. In fact, a good breakfast keeps us strong.

    In short, we should not only eat enough food and healthy food but also eat regularly.

    Have you ever seen a robin(知更鸟)? Robins have dark heads and red chests.

    A good place to see robins is in your own backyard. Robins don't mind being around people. You may also see robins on lawns(草坪) or in parks. They are looking for worms and bugs to eat.

    Early in spring, robins build their nests(巢). They build them in trees. Robins hide the nests in trees so that they will be safe.

    The nests are made of grass, sticks, and mud. The mud makes everything together. The mother robin lays(产蛋) one egg a day for three or four days. She sits on them to keep them warm. The eggs are blue. After the babies come out, both the mother and father feed the babies. The young birds have spots on their chests.

    It was Saturday again. Grace and Karen disliked Saturdays. That was another thing the twins had in common. They shared the same clothes and tied their hair in the same manner. In fact, it was hard for their classmates and teachers to tell the difference between them sometimes.

    Unlike their classmates, they had to get up early at seven every Saturday to prepare for their lessons. Grace had to attend the art lesson and Karen had to attend her ballet lesson. "How I wish I could do something different today," said the twins with one voice. All at once, an idea came to Grace and Karen at the same time. "What about exchanging our roles for a day?" they asked each other. It seemed like a wonderful plan. After giving each other a description of their own friends, Grace put on Karen's ballet dress while Karen put Grace's brushes and paints into her bag. Then they left for their classes.

    When the art lesson started, Karen was lost. Unlike Grace, Karen was poor at drawing. When the art lesson finally ended, Karen didn't dare to hand in her work.

    Meanwhile, Grace had problems in the ballet class as well. As she had no idea about the dance steps, she had to follow her classmates blindly. As a result, she kept knocking into them. Their ballet teacher became impatient with her, "Karen, you should remember the basic steps."

    When Karen and Grace got home, they were tired out. They decided that they would never try to be someone else they were not. It seemed that the grass was not always greener on the other side.

根据短文内容回答下面的五个问题，每题答案不超过7个词。

    It's hard to make friends if you stay at home all the time, so get out of the house and do things that will put you in touch with(接触)other people. It's easier to make friends with them when you find you like the same things as other people.

Don't be afraid to show people what you're really good at. You can talk about the things you like and do best. People will be interested in you if they, hear something interesting about you.

    Look at people in your eyes when you talk to them. That way, they'll find it easier to talk to you, or people may think you're not interested in them and may stop being interested in you.

    Be a good listener. Let people talk about themselves before talking about "me, me, me” You can ask people lots of questions and show that you are interested in their answers.

    Try to make friends with the kind of people you really like, respect(尊敬)and admire(羡慕). You shouldn't just make friends with those people you will meet them easily. Try to be friendly with all kinds of people. That way, you'll have a bigger group of people to choose from. Then you'll be easier to make friends with other people.