Benjamin Banneker was born a few months before another great American—George Washington. Benjamin was black, but he was not a slave (奴隶). He and his mother and his grandmother were free. Benjamin's grandmother came from England. In America she got a job and worked for many years to pay for her boat trip across the ocean. After working many years, she saved enough money to buy a farm. Benjamin lived with her for a while. She taught him to read, write and do arithmetic (算术).

    Benjamin's neighbours knew that he was clever. They were not surprised when he built a large wooden clock. He made each piece after studying a small pocket watch. The clock made him famous, for it was one of the first clocks built in America. People from other places began to send hard problems of all kinds to Benjamin to settle.

    Thomas Jefferson heard of Benjamin Banneker's ability to settle hard problems. He asked Banneker to help build the city that was to be the capital of the United States—Washington, D.C. Banneker worked hard on the plans for the city. He marked where the streets and buildings—the Capitol (美国国会大厦), the White House, and many other places should be built.

    Later, L' Enfant, the Frenchman who had designed the new city, had a quarrel, and went back to France in anger. He took all of the plans away. The workmen couldn't build without any plans to follow.

    For a while it seemed that the plans for the capital might have to be changed, but Benjamin Banneker remembered the plans he had helped draw. He drew each again as he had built each piece of his clock.

    If it weren't for Benjamin Banneker, Washington,

    D.C might look very different from the way it does today.

Are you interested in robots? If so, try out robot Little Q at our science center from August Ist to August 6th. Little Q is a cute robot with a round head, two big eyes and two long legs. It's like a big toy that our children will love. 

Medicine Label（标签）

No one can be happy all the time. You may become unhappy sometimes. Do you know what to do with that? Maybe you can do the following things. They can help you become happy again.

For many people, their first plane trip is not very good. The following will help you have a good trip.

The first and most important thing is to be EARLY! Call the airport 4 hours earlier and make sure that the flight (航班) is still on time. Get to the airport 2 hours early. This will give you much time to get your boarding pass (登机证) and pass the security check (安检).

Be sure to take something to chew (咀嚼) when you are in the air. Taking a book with you can help you kill your flight time. You also need to take some special things like glasses or medicine, because you may need them on your trip. Take the ID card and enough money with you. Because you need them when having a trip.

When you get on the plane, make sure that you are in the right seat. Don't be afraid when the plane is taking off (起飞). Take-off may be a difficult part of your trip. When it is over, you can release (解开) your seat belt (安全带), and you can go to the lavatory (卫生间) if you want.

Wish you a happy flight!

Mmm... chocolate smells so good. They make our mouth water. Where does chocolate come from?

Chocolate is made {#blank#}1{#/blank#} cacao (可可豆). Scientists {#blank#}2{#/blank#}( think) cacao came from Central America to Mexico {#blank#}3{#/blank#}3,900 years ago. But now scientists from Canada found that people in some {#blank#}4{#/blank#}( country ) of South America grew cacao. They firstly grew over 5,000 years ago.

Chocolate is popular around {#blank#}5{#/blank#} world. Let's {#blank#}6{#/blank#}( learn) more about this snack(零食).

The color of dark chocolate is dark brown. It has more cocoa butter(可可油). Cocoa butter is good for  {#blank#}7{#/blank#}( we) teeth(牙齿). White chocolate is very sweet. There {#blank#}8{#/blank#}( be) not any cacao in it. Many people think it is not a {#blank#}9{#/blank#}( really) chocolate. Milk chocolate has a mild flavor(淡味). It is light brown. It tastes sweet.

Some scientists say chocolate has too much sugar (糖 ) and this can give people bad teeth,{#blank#}10{#/blank#} others say eating chocolate makes people feel happy. Also, dark chocolate has less sugar and

fat. It is good for the heart. Guess what? I want to have a box of dark chocolate now!