Five steps to better handwriting

    Some kids love handwriting, but others hate when it's time to put their pen to paper. Maybe they are worried about their handwriting. Are you one of them? {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Here are five steps that really work!

    Get a great grasp

    Try this — hold your pencil at the top and try to write your name. Pretty hard? But when you hold your pencil the correct way, writing is much easier. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Hold it in place with your thumb, and your index (食指) and middle fingers.

Let the lines be your guide

    Lined paper is your friend! Those lines can help you create letters that are the right size and proportion (均衡). {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Also be sure to fill up the lined space completely. Those capital letters should be from the bottom line to the top one.

Slow down

    If your writing is hard to read, try slowing down a little. If you rush, it's hard to control where you stop and start your letters.

    Lower the pressure (压力)

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}That makes it harder to make the smooth lines. Try easing up and don't hold the pencil too tightly.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    Lots of games require you to write or draw pictures. So even though it's not schoolwork, you're still using the skills you need to control your pen better.

A. Play games

B. Ask for more advice

C. So “a” should be half the height of a capital “A”.

D. You've been writing since you were a little kid.

E. Some kids press down really hard when they write.、

F. The good news is that just about everyone can improve their handwriting.

G. The best way to hold a pen or pencil is to let it rest next to the base of your thumb.

                           How to Make Friends

    Having friends may well keep you healthier and help you deal with difficulties better. It is not very hard to make friends. Continue reading to find out how to make friends.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} There are many ways to do this—talking about the weather (“At least it's not raining like last week!”), asking for help or saying words of praise (“I love your shoes.”).

    Introduce yourself at the end of the conversation. It can be as simple as saying “Oh, by the way, my name is ...” {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Remember his or her name!

    Join a sports team. As long as you enjoy the sport, you don't have to be really good at playing a sport in order to make friends with others.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} If you play the guitar or sing, try joining a band.

    Be a good listener.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Ask questions about their interests, and just take the time to learn more about them.

    Encourage your friend. A very good friend encourages their friend.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Never make fun or laugh at your friend in front of others. If someone is making fun of them, a good friend will come to save their friend.

A. Start a conversation.

B. Find out common interests.

C. But a sports team isn't the only way.

D. The key to being a good friend is the ability to keep secrets.

E. They will remain with them in both good as well as bad times.

F. Once you introduce yourself, the other person will do the same.

G. Listen carefully to what people say, and remember important information about them.

    Why should mankind explore space? Why should money, time and effort be spent exploring and researching something with so few apparent benefits? Why should resources be spent on space rather than on conditions and people on Earth? These are questions that, understandably, are very often asked.

    Perhaps the best answer lies in our genetic makeup as human beings. What drove our ancestors to move from the trees into the plains, and on into all possible areas and environments? The wider the spread of a species, the better its chance of survival. Perhaps the best reason for exploring space is this genetic tendency to expand wherever possible.

    Nearly every successful civilization has explored, because by doing so, any dangers in surrounding areas can be identified and prepared for. Without knowledge, we may be completely destroyed by the danger. With knowledge, we can lessen its effects.

    Exploration also allows minerals and other potential resources to be found. Even if we have no immediate need of them, they will perhaps be useful later. Resources may be more than physical possessions. Knowledge or techniques have been acquired through exploration. The techniques may have medical applications which can improve the length or quality of our lives. We have already benefited from other spin­offs including improvements in earthquake prediction, in satellites forweather forecasting and in communications systems. Even non­stick pans and mirrored sunglasses are by­products(副产品) of technological developments in the space industry!

    While many resources are spent on what seems a small return, the exploration of space allows creative, brave and intelligent members of our species to focus on what may serve to save us. While space may hold many wonders and explanations of how the universe was formed or how it works, it also holds dangers. The danger exists, but knowledge can help human beings to survive. Without the ability to reach out across space, the chance to save ourselves might not exist.

    While Earth is the only planet known to support life, surely the adaptive ability of humans would allow us to live on other planets. It is true that the lifestyle would be different, but human life and cultures have adapted in the past and surely could in the future.

    When introducing American universities, some of the first institutions to mention are the Ivy League schools. Originally, the Ivy League was an athletic conference made up of 8 private institutes of higher learning in northeastern United States. However, as time went on, these schools also became known for their excellence in academics besides athletics. Included in the Ivy League schools are Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania, Yale University, and Harvard University. These 8 schools have been recognized as some of the best colleges and universities in the United States.

    Harvard University is a private institution located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The university includes a number of graduate and professional schools, as well as a college for undergraduates. In 2012, Harvard ranked number one in US News' ranking of national universities again. Founded in 1636, Harvard is the oldest institute of higher education in the United States. It can be said that first there was Harvard, then the United States of America. Also, Harvard's library contains the oldest collection of books in the United States as well as the largest private collection in the world. Harvard has also been described by Forbes Magazine as one of the "billionaire universities" as of their recent list of 469 billionaires, 50 received a degree from Harvard.

    Harvard College (the institute for undergraduate students) is one of the most famous schools in the United States. It offers over 40 undergraduate fields of study, including astrophysics(天体物理学), mathematics, neurobiology(神经生物学), etc. And the financial aid program there is amazing. Even though the tuition is about $ 37,576, and there are other expenses throughout the year, about 70% of undergraduate students received financial aid. Out of those students, over 90% of them had their full need met. And the policies for international students are the same for U.S. citizens.

    Harvard College is very selective, as it only admits about 6% of their applicants. For admission into Harvard College, it is required that students take the SAT or the ACT, as well as SAT Subject Tests. Harvard will also look at other factors during admission such as your application essay, high school transcript, work experience, GPA (Grade Point Average), your interview, recommendations, and most importantly, your character and personal qualities.

    Before the 1830s, most newspapers were sold through annual subscriptions in America, usually $8 to $10 a year. Today $8 or $10 seems a small amount of money, but at that time these amounts were forbidding to most citizens. Accordingly, newspapers were read almost only by rich people in politics or the trades. In addition, most newspapers had little in them that would appeal to a mass audience. They were dull and visually forbidding. But the revolution that was taking place in the 1830s would change all that.

    The trend, then, was toward the "penny paper" ­a term referring to papers made widely available to the public. It meant any inexpensive newspaper; perhaps more importantly it meant newspapers that could be bought in single copies on the street.

    This development did not take place overnight. It had been possible(but not easy)to buy single copies of newspapers before 1830, but this usually meant the reader had to go down to the printer's office to purchase a copy. Street sales were almost unknown. However, within a few years, street sales of newspapers would be commonplace in eastern cities. At first the price of single copies was seldom a penny­usually two or three cents was charged­and some of the older well­known papers charged five or six cents. But the phrase "penny paper" caught the public's fancy, and soon there would be papers that did indeed sell for only a penny.

    This new trend of newspapers for "the man on the street" did not begin well. Some of the early ventures(企业)were immediate failures. Publishers already in business, people who were owners of successful papers, had little desire to change the tradition. It took a few youthful and daring businessmen to get the ball rolling.

    Humans and elephants don't always get along. In Africa and Asia, elephants damage equipment, farmers' crops, and natural habitat for other species. If an elephant becomes a problem, humans may kill it. So local people and animal protectionists are trying to find better ways to keep elephants away from sensitive places. Now, researchers think they have a good tool to prevent elephants: honeybee pheromones (信息素).

    “Elephants dislike being stung(叮咬) in the trunk, because it's an extremely sensitive organ. Imagine being stung in your nose by a bee, and multiply that a few thousand times.” said Mark Wright, a professor at the University of Hawaii.

    Kenyan farmers have long known that if they hang live beehives (蜂箱) around their farms, they will drive elephants away. The problem is how to manage hundreds of thousands of hives, if you have a huge area to protect. And then the idea came up to look at the alarm pheromones, which are chemicals that the bees release to launch an attack on something that's damaging the hive.

    So the researchers tested out an artificial mixture of chemicals that imitates (模仿) honey bees' alarm pheromones. The researchers hung white socks treated with the artificial mixture as well as untreated control socks around an elephant watering hole, and then observed the animals' behavior. “Elephants are really curious creatures. They'll walk along and see something like a sock hanging on a branch. If it's not treated with the alarm pheromones, they'll pick it up, throw it around, and try to taste it, things like that. And in the case of the treated ones, they would show immediate signs of unease or uncertainty, and they'd eventually back off from them.”

    In order to avoid the elephants more effectively, the researchers plan to make the pheromone mixture purer. That way, elephants will stay far away from wherever they should not be going-and both elephants and humans can coexist a bit more peacefully.