Keep in Touch

    You can keep in touch with your friends in many ways. You can call them. You can send letters or e-mails to them. You can even use a website like Facebook to keep in touch with them.

    Touch Luck

    "Touch Luck" is used when you feel sympathy(同情) about something bad that has happened to someone. But it is also used when you don't have any sympathy for someone's problems.

    Touch Screen

    You can find touch screens everywhere now, many mobile phones and music players have touch screens. Many ATMs have them, too. They are fun and easy to use! You can use them to buy tickets or shop online.

    Touchdown

    When you watch an American football game, you will hear the word "touchdown". A touchdown happens when a player carries the ball across the other team's goal (球门) line. When a player makes a touchdown, he scores (得分) six points for his team!

    The Midas Touch

    Midas was a king(国王) in an old Greek story. He loved money very much! He wished that everything he touched would turn to gold (金子). His wish came true. Everything he touched –his furniture(家具), his food, and even his daughter-turned to gold.

    It's very common for students' marks to fall. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Sometimes it is only because the exams get harder.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} He or she will be able to help you with the subjects you find difficult. Stop comparing yourself with other people. It does not matter if other students get higher marks than you. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Before each exam, you should go through you notes from class. You should remember the most important things you have written in a shorten form.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} You will be surprised when you find you remember so much. It may take hard work and your marks may not improve straight. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Soon they should begin to climb again.

The Amazing Spider Man

    Spider Man is a hero. People got to know the hero through the Spider Man movie series.

    Now, a new Spider Man movie is coming to our eyes. It has a new name called The Amazing Spider Man. A new director called Marc Webbis directed the movie and a new actor, Andrew Garfield, played Spider Man.

    The Amazing Spider Man is also about the story of Peter Parker, a high school student. His parents left him when he was a boy, and he was raised by his Uncle Ben and Aunt May. Like most teenagers, Peter is trying to figure out who he is and how he got to be the person he is today.

    As Peter finds a briefcase that belonged to his father, he begins to find out why his parents disappeared. The discovery of his father's secret will shape his destiny(命运)of becoming “Spider Man.”Peter will make his choices to use his powers and become a hero.

    Unlike the former one, the new movie focuses on Spider Man developing his abilities in high school, as well as discovering the mystery(秘密)of his parents, or at least what happened to his father.

    The movie is going to come out on July 3, 2012 in 3D.

    Connor Bloom had an amazing two weeks at Stanford University this summer. Eyery part of the experience was amazing. The particle accelerator(粒子加运器), the chance to meet like minded kids from across the world? You guessed it. . .

    Bloom, 14, an eighth-grader at Whitefish Middle School in Montana, US, participated in a special camp at Stanford University. The camp holds many different classes for students who want to challenge(挑战)themselves.

    When Bloom looked online and saw that Stanford was to hold the "Gified Youth" program, he signed up(报名). "I like physics and math. 1like to study new things and find out everything about them, "said Bloom. " That's what made me want to sign up. "

    He handed in his test scores from fifth grade on, wrote an article and got recommendation(推荐)letters from teachers. Bloom stood out among thousands of students and got the invitation.

    Bloom had a great time with 86 students from all over the world. On the first day, they learned college-level math. Over the next four days they got to work in laboratories(实验室). They even touched a dead body to learn about how the human body works.

    In the second week, they saw the school's particle accelerator, "I never saw such a machine before, "said Bloom. " But it was just the mental workout(智力测验)1 was hoping for. "

    Bloom did more than just study for two weeks. He made friends with students from China, India and Japan. He worked together with other students in class to learn better. He spent his free time with kids who were also music fans.

    "Once we got to know each other, we helped each other out, "he said. " We learned a lot from each other. that's for sure. "

The other day, my husband called me to the balcony(阳台). "Come, dear, look at that car!" 

"What's up?" I asked, looking down at the square in front of our apartment building. A driver was trying to park between two cars. 

"That must be a woman," my husband said.

"How do you know?"

"I've watched the car move back and forth twenty times. Men can't be so bad at driving!"

"What if the driver is a man?" I asked.

"I bet you 50 yuan that the driver is a woman!"

We stood on the balcony and watched the car. It felt a little silly. Five minutes later, the car was finally parked perfectly, and a man slowly got out.

"Fifty yuan please," I said to my husband as he silently walked away.

My husband is not alone in looking down on female drivers. On weekends, my friend Lily likes traveling around the city by bus. But she always hesitates to get on a bus if the driver is a woman. "I can't trust a female driver," she told me one day. "Women are not born to drive, you know."

"Sorry, but I don't know," I said. I go to work by bus every day, and I never think female drivers are any worse. In fact, they are often more careful than men. Research also shows that female drivers are 8.8 times less likely to cause accidents than male drivers.

There are not many female bus drivers, though. And in the history of Formula One(一级方程式赛车), only 0.26 percent of drivers have been women. Without role models, many girls may think they are not meant to be good drivers. But the ability to drive has nothing to do with gender. Women can drive well, too. It's time to stop making jokes about female drivers.