In America, when the eighth graders leave the middle school, they are often worried about moving to the high school．It is a hard time for them, but it can be an exciting one as well．To make it easier, students need to get familiar with their school.

    Even though they've done this already in the middle school, it's still important to find where their classrooms are．Most schools take students to the high school for a visit at the end of their eighth grade year．And, most schools also have a freshman (新生) speech for parents and students before the first year begins．Sometimes the main office will give away a map of the school．This can help students and parents to find different places in the school.

    One way to know your high school more and make new friends is to join a club or play a sport．Schools often offer chances to join different clubs and sports．Fall activities begin in August before the first day of school．If you are not interested in sports, there are clubs for any interest, such as drama, dance, chess, photography, community service, etc．These clubs allow students from different grades．By joining an activity, students can find new friendships, not to mention improving their chances in future college applications(申请)．The school office will have a list of activities offered at the school and information on how to join them.

    What's more, to have a great start to a high school year, students can write down some of their worries, and ask for help from teachers and school workers.

    A man walked into a small Irish pub and ordered three beers. Bartender was surprised, but he served that man three beers. One hour later the man ordered three beers again. The very next day that man ordered three beers again and drank quietly at a table. This repeated several times and shortly after the people of the town were whispering about the man, who was ordering three beers at once.

    A couple of weeks later, the bartender decided to clear this out and inquired: “I do not want to pry, but could you explain, why do you order three beers all the time?” The man replied: “It seems strange, isn't it? You see, my two brothers live abroad at the moment, one – in France and another – in Italy. We have made an agreement, that every time we go to pub each of us will order extra two beers and it will help keeping up the family bond”.

    Soon all the town have heard about the man's answer and liked it a lot. The man became a local celebrity. Residents of the town were telling this story to newcomers or tourists and even invited them to that pub to look at Three Beer Man.

    However, one day the man came to pub and ordered only two beers, not three as usual. The bartender served him with bad feeling. All that evening the man ordered and drank only two beers. The very next day all the town was talking about this news, some people pray for the soul of one of the brothers, others quietly grieve.

    When the man came to pub the next time and ordered two beers again, the bartender asked him: “I would like to offer condolences to you, due to the death of your dear brother”. The man considered this for a moment and then replied: “Oh, you are probably surprised that I order only two beers now? Well, my two brothers are alive and well. It's just because of my decision. I promised myself to give up drinking.”

    The Parthenon(帕特农神庙) in Athens is a building with a long and complex(复杂的) history. Built nearly 2,500 years ago as a temple celebrating the Greek goddess Athena, it was for thousands of years the church of the Virgin Mary of the Athenians, then a mosque (清真寺), and finally a ruin. The building was changed and the sculptures(塑像) much damaged over the centuries. By 1800 only about half of the original sculptural decoration remained.

    Between 1801 and 1805, Lord Elgin, the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire(奥斯曼帝国), which controlled Athens, acting with the full knowledge and permission of the Ottoman authorities，removed about half of the remaining sculptures from the fallen ruins and from the building itself. Lord Elgin loved Greek history and transported the sculptures back to Britain. The arrival of the sculptures in London had a huge effect on the European public, greatly increasing interest in ancient Greek culture and influencing contemporary artistic trends. These sculptures were gained from Lord Elgin by the British Museum in 1816 and since then they have all been on show to the public, free of charge.

    Since the early 1980s, however, the Greek government has argued for the return of all the Parthenon sculptures in the British Museum. They have also challenged the British Museum Board of Trustees' legal title to the sculptures.

    The British Museum, however, insists that it exists to tell the story of cultural achievement throughout the world, from the dawn of human history over two million years ago until the present day. The museum considers itself an important resource for the world: the breadth and depth of its collection allows the world public to re-examine cultural identities and explore the complex network of interconnected world cultures.

    It also says that, within the context of this unparalleled collection, the Parthenon sculptures are an important representation of ancient Athenian civilization. Each year millions of visitors admire the artistry of the sculptures and gain insights on how ancient Greece influenced — and was influenced by — the other civilizations that it came across.

Destination Travels

78 Soho St,

New York, NY

Dear Ms Pierce,

    Thank you for trusting Destination Travels for your honeymoon plans. This letter includes all the information regarding the flights and accommodation arrangements we have already agreed on.

    On arriving at Puerto Rico Int, Airport, a representative of The Caribbean Hotels &Resorts will be waiting for you in order to transfer you to the hotel. The transfer to and from the airport is offered by the hotel as part of your honeymoon package. The reservation has been made for a nine-night stay under your future husband's last name. The price of the newlyweds' suite includes breakfast and one more meal at the hotel restaurant. You can also use all of the hotel facilities—pool, gym, sauna, etc. for free as part of your honeymoon package. In addition, you can take scuba diving or snorkeling classes with the hotels trained staff at a reduced price—40% off.

    Thank you for choosing Destination Travels. We guarantee your honeymoon with us will be an unforgettable experience. To aid us in improving our service, please visit our website at www. destinationtravels.com and complete the questionnaire.

    Destination Travels wish you all the best.

Sincerely.

Rebecca Simms

Customer Service Manager

Destination Travels

    When Shakespeare was twenty-one, he went to London, a very interesting place, to try his fortune.

    There was the famous London Bridge and St. Paul's Cathedral, and palaces and markets and long streets full of shops.

    Then, too, there were the daily crowds where could be seen people from all over the world. Knights, scholars and the highwayman (拦路强盗）or thieves, who had been infamous for their clever robberies, passed by each other.

    Here, also, were noblemen dressed in gold, from Italy and Spain and France; slaves from Spanish America, sea captains and ministers, soldiers and servants—all held by chances or interests within the gray walls which circled London, and whose gates gave welcome to as strange a crowd as could be found in the world.

    Into this curious crowd came Shakespeare, quick to see and eager to learn. And before long all these strange sights were as familiar to him as the faces of his own town's residents. Each one told its story to him so plainly that, as before he had learned the secrets of the fields and woods, so now he learned men and men's interests that make up the great world.

    And he learned these lessons so well that when he came to write his plays, he made such use of them as no writer ever made before or since; for it is the use of this knowledge of the world, combined with his own genius, that makes Shakespeare the greatest dramatist that has ever lived.

From rolling hills to mountain ranges, views make any road trip memorable, but for blin d passengers this is part of the experience they miss. Motor company Ford tries to change that. It teamed up with GTB Rom a and AedoProject—to develop a technology that will give those unfortunate passengers a way to feel nature's beauty through their car windows.

The prototype (原型) of the smart car window has a device with an outside-facing camera. With just a press of a button, the system takes a picture of the current view. The colorful picture is then turned into an image with different shades of grey through, LED lights, which vibrates (震动) differently. As the finger passes over different regions of the image, its shaking movements provide feedback through the sense of touch to the person using it. The smart window also comes with a voice assistant that uses AI to identify the scene and help the passengers get information on what they're seeing.

"As the prototype started taking shape, we realized we were giving birth to a completely new language that would give blind people a new chance to visualize and experience traveling," Federico Russo.-one director of GTBRoma, said. "When the idea was at its first stage, we looked for suppliers all around the world to make it come to life." He believes the technology can be employed not just in cars. "It could be introduced into schools and in stitutions for blind people as a tool that could be used in multiple ways."

The technology may show up in a Ford autonomous vehicle. It's known that the company is testing their technology and future business model and struggling to figure out how an autonomous vehicle gives different passengers the details needed to get from one destination to another. It's unclear when this technology will be made available. However, the idea of building something for the less advanced is indeed a kind and influential action.