In the mid 1990s, people started doing business on the Internet. At that time, there were two kinds of companies. First, there were traditional companies which sold things in shops. Then, there were Internet companies which didn't have shops; they sold things only over the net.

    Traditional companies didn't want to lose any business. Quickly, they created their own website and began selling things over the net. These are the so-called "brick and click" companies. Many shops are made of brick, and you click on your mouse to buy things with your computer. That's where the name "brick and click" comes from.

    By the late 1990s, e-businesses like Amazon.com and Buy.com were in trouble. Their profits were not very high, and there was a lot of competition. Many of these businesses lost a lot of money, and in 2000, many e-businesses went out of business.

    Why are "brick and click" companies, like Barnes & Noble, Toys "R" Us, and Walmart so successful? First, many customers know and trust their names. Their websites, like walmart.com, are easy to remember. These companies also have a lot of experience. They know how to run a successful business.

    In the world of e-commerce, companies are fighting for every dollar and every customer. Will "brick and click" companies win the war? Only time will tell.

ClothesDonation (捐赠) Box

    Have youever put your old clothes into the donation box in your neighborhood? If not,you can do it right now because the clothes donation is becoming a trend (趋势) in Urumqi.

    "Fromtime to time, my mother clears out the clothes which I no longer wear. Youknow, we teenagers are growing fast. I think it's a good way to helpothers." Lin Tao, a junior student says.

    "Ioften pick out some of my clothes which are out of style after going shopping.Then I put them into the donation box." Miss Li, a pretty young lady says.

    "Thatseems like a good idea. Some clothes in the box are quite new. People caneither wear them or usethem to make things such as handbags and pencilcases," Mrs Wang, an old woman says, "sometimes I also look throughthe box for some nice clothes."

    However,there are some problems along with the popularity of clothes donation.Recently, a UTV reporter from Focus on the City has made a survey. Here are theresults:

    Some boxesare full of clothes in a short time. There is no more room for people to giveaway clothes.

    Somepeople sell the clothes in the donation box for making money instead of wearingthem.

    Somecommunities set the boxes in unsuitable places. So there are few clothes in it.

    Manyclothes are too old and shabby (破烂的).

   "What's worse," one of the staff in a community added,"we quite often see people throw rubbish into the box when they pass by.We've tried to stop them several times but failed. It has been the most seriousproblem since we set the box."

    In orderto make the donation box work in an efficient (有效的) way, our government is taking action. Clothesdonation will be better-organized and it'll be more convenient for people inneed to take the clothes away.

Several years ago, I spent most of my time at a mental hospital (精神病院) in our town. I found much joy there. At first it was a little scary to be there, but I stayed on, because I had a reason for doing this.

I volunteered in a locked-up (封闭的) environment. To my surprise, I found that a friend of my parents' was a patient in this hospital. I knew, when I was a baby, this woman wanted to keep me because she had no children. I looked after this woman and showed my old photos to her. Finally, she was able to remember some old things, and she said to me one day, "Dear, you should not come here. But I wanted to bring something happy into this woman's life. I learned that because she had no family, she couldn't leave here and go home. So I brought her to my home twice and I still remembered the happy smile on her face.

I have never forgotten this volunteering experience. This woman later passed away. I can't see her anymore, but I'm happy that I have done something to make a difference in another person's life.

I'm Lucy. I am a middle school student now. It seems that my life has changed a lot in the last few years. For example, I was afraid of the sea in the past because I didn't know how to swim.I now I am a good swimmer. I used to be short and was only 150 centimeters tall. But now, I'm ten centimeters taller than before.

As for food, I used to cat meat, but now I eat more vegetables. By the way, I love tomatoes best. When I was younger, I didn't use to read any books, but now I love reading novels, such as Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling. I love the magical world in the novels. When I was in primary school, I used to play football after school, but now I have to go home and do homework. I used to be afraid of exams, but now I think exams are necessary and useful.

In the past, I used to spend most of my time doing homework, but now I have more time to communicate with my parents. Every day when I finish dinner, I do my homework in the bedroom. Then I usually talk about something interesting with my parents.

Are you able to hang (悬挂) clothes? Are you able to put a nail (钉子) into the wall? For many people, doing these things is quite easy. But how do people who have trouble using their hands do these things? Well, they can use artificial (人造的) hands to help them out.

In Suzhou, some engineers are busy making a special hand better. The special hand is helpful and people can control it with the electrical signals (电信号) which come from their bodies.

These engineers hope to make it much better for Xu Min, who lost her right forearm in an accident in 1992. The woman wore the hand to take part in the Cybathlon Challenges in February. She finished tasks like hanging clothes, putting a nail into the wall and taking a nail out of the wall.

"These things are common in our daily lives and people want to test if the special hand, which was created by humans, can work just like a real hand," Xu said. Because she won the competition (比赛) in February, she was more confident about entering the October global finals — Cybathlon2024 in Zurich, Switzerland.

Cybathlon is the top event in the area. The event was first held in 2016. It takes place every four years. The competition tries to create a world without difficulty for people like Xu. In October, the competition will draw many teams from across the world.

Xu was a little nervous about competing with other people and companies from her country and other places. However, she and her team wanted to show their new product and how humans and machines could work together. Xu said she couldn't wait to get the hand ready and start the training.

Early in May, a man took me to a new home at Birtwick Park. The owner called mc"Black Beauty". Here I met my friend, another horse, Ginger. One day, my owner decided to visit some friends. His groom(马夫), James, drove him.

 As evening fell, we stopped at a large hotel. A stableman brought us into the stable(马厩) and two grooms looked after us. One groom, Towler, had a pipc(烟斗) in his mouth.

"Towler, get these horses something to eat. Put your pipe down first!" said the stableman.

"All right," said Towler.

 At night, I felt uncomfortable and woke up. Ginger was coughing. It was dark, and I could see nothing.____ . It was full of smoke(烟) and hard to breathe. I was very afraid.

 The stableman came in and wanted to lead the horses out but they were in fear. Then he tried to pull me out, but I did not want to go. Finally, he left the stable alone.

Certainly, we were very silly, but danger seemed to be all round and there was nobody we could trust. All was strange and unsure.

"Black Beauty, come with me!" James ran to me and said. He always gave us hope. His voice made me calm(镇静的). He put his scarf over my eyes and led me out of the stable. Then, he ran back inside. I shouted at him worriedly when I saw him go. Ginger told me later that she heard my voice and became brave enough to come out. Then I saw James coming out with Ginger.

 The next morning, we felt sad when hearing that two horses died in the stable. Towler was responsible(担责任的) for the fire. The night before,a man saw him in the stable with a pipe in his mouth. At Birtwick Park, the rule was"no pipes in the stable" and it was a very good rule.

(Adapted(改编) From Black Beauty by Anna Sewell)