Most people around the world are right-handed. This also seems to be true in history. In 1799, scientists studied works of art made at different times from 1,500 B.C. to the 1950s. Most of the people shown in these works are right-handed, so the scientists guessed that right-handedness has always been common through history. Today, only about 10% to 15% of the world's population is left-handed.

Why are there more right-handed people than left-handed ones? Scientists now know that a person's two hands each have their own jobs. For most people, the left hand is used to find things or hold things. The right hand is used to work with things. This is because of the different work of the two sides of the brain. The right side of the brain, which makes a person's hands and eyes work together, controls the left hand. The left side of the brain, which controls the right hand, is the centre for thinking and doing problems. These findings show that more artists should be left-handed, and studies have found that left-handedness is twice as common among artists as among people in other jobs.

No one really knows what makes a person become right-handed instead of left-handed. Scientists have found that almost 40% of the people become left-handed because their main brain is damaged when they are born. However, this doesn't happen to everyone, so scientists guess there must be another reason why people become left-handed. One idea is that people usually get right-handed from their parents. If a person does not receive the gene (基因) for right-handedness, he / she may become either right-handed or left-handed according to the chance and the people they work or live with.

Though right-handedness is more common than left-handedness, people no longer think left-handed people are strange or unusual. A long time ago, left-handed children were made to use their right hands like other children, but today they don't have to.

When do children start to talk? If you ask a group of parents when this happened, most will say "around 12 months of age". They will probably, even remember what the children said. Many parents keep a diary of their child's "first words".

We can never predict(预测) what a first word is going to be. Often it's the name for "mummy" or "daddy", but it could just as easily be the word for an animal or a favourite toy. Everything depends on what has most caught the child's attention. But one thing is certain: after the first word, others come quickly. By 18 months, most children have learnt about 50 words. By two, the total has risen to around 200.

Early words are actually one-word sentences. One of the first features (特征) of language a child learns well is to control the rise and fall of the voice to make the difference between saying and questioning. In English, daddy with a high rising tone(声调) means "Is that daddy?" Daddy with a high falling tone means "There's daddy." Of course, only very basic meanings can be communicated using tones alone. So it soon becomes necessary to learn some grammar.

In English, grammar means learning to put words in different orders. Children have to see that mummy push is different from push mummy. They start practising such changes at around 18 months. By two, they have learnt the basic forms of word order, and we hear them saying such things as man kick ball and where daddy go.

What are the parents doing all this time? They're acting as teachers and they always have an active role to play in their child's language learning.

You may have known about many traditional Chinese festivals such as the Spring Festival or the Lantern Festival, but have you ever heard of Dragon Heads-raising Day? 

Dragon Heads-raising Day is also called the Spring Dragon Festival. It is on the second day of the second lunar (农历) month. It's on February 21st this year. It came from an old story. After that day, the Dragon King will wake up from his winter sleep and bring more rain. So that day is the start of spring and farming season. 

One of the most interesting things related to the day is about haircut. People believe that a haircut during the first lunar month is not a good idea. It may bring bad things to your uncles. So people can only cut it on or after Dragon Heads-raising Day. Although it's not true, many people still do it. 

There are also other ways to celebrate this festival. For example, people eat food with dragon names. People call noodles dragon's beard (胡须). Dumplings are dragon's ears and spring rolls (春卷) are dragon's scales (鳞). 

People also do dragon dances and make dragon lanterns. The lanterns stand for people's best wishes and good luck.

Good and bad manners（礼仪） make up the social rules of a country.They are not always easy to learn because they are often not written in books.Let's see some social rules in Britain.

In the past，most British women didn't go to pubs（酒吧） because it was not considered good behavior for a woman.Now both women and men can drink freely in pubs.

Visitors to Britain often see British people wait in line in public places.It is considered impolite to get on a bus without waiting your turn in line.And if you don't wait your turn，the other people in line will probably warn you to line up loudly.

In some countries it is considered bad manners to eat in the street.However，in Britain it is common to see people having a snack while walking down the road.

British people used to be surprised to see young children in restaurants in the evening because children were not usually taken out to restaurants at night.These days children are playing a more active role and they are now accepted in many restaurants at night.

In recent years，many British companies have banned smoking in their offices and even in the whole buildings.Smoking is also banned on the London Underground，in cinemas and theaters and on most buses.It can be seen less and less in public places.It is also considered bad manners to smoke in someone's house without asking the owner.

Social rules are an important part of every country.The British have an expression for these"unwritten rules"：When in Rome，do as the Romans do.

This is a new school in Shenzhen, Guangdong. There are 55 classes from Grade One to Grade Nine. It is big. In this school, the students can sleep in their classroom at noon.

After lunch, students put all the desks and chairs in the middle of the classroom. Then they get beds out of the drawers（抽屉）. At last, all the students find their beds to sleep. After five minutes, the classroom turns into a special（特殊的）bedroom! "It is good to have a rest in the classroom!" said Liu Mingming, a student of Grade Six.

The head teacher Luo Can got the good the idea of the drawer bed. "It can help students learn better in the afternoon.", she said.

"The idea is so great. Good school and good head teacher!" said Chen Hong, one of the parents in the school.