Thumbs Down to Texting （屈指发短信）

       Do you have a mobile phone? Do you send text messages to your friends and family?

       Text messaging or “texting” is becoming very popular. But, scientists have discovered that texting can give us problems with our hands. Be careful! Too much texting can cause swelling in our thumbs. Our thumbs were not made for pushing small buttons, over and over. Scientists call this problem RSI. We spoke to a doctor called Harriet Wilson, who treats many sick people with RSI. She says we need to see how much time we are spending in typing text messages. If we are spending more than 10–15 minutes at once, we could have problems in the future.

       As mobile phones develop, they are getting smaller with buttons closer together. Texting with a smaller phone is worse than using a larger phone with bigger buttons. Using a computer keyboard and playing video games can cause the same problem. So more and more people could find themselves with RSI. Among them, most are university students and teenagers, as they do not know the risks of spending so much time using computer, video games and mobile phones. If we don't do something about this, too many young people could grow up in terrible pain.

    It's a rainy Saturday. Mary and her family are spending the afternoon at home. Her uncle and aunt are visiting them.

    Mary's father, Mr Harris, and her uncle and aunt are in the living room. Her father is drawing a picture and her uncle and aunt are watching the news on TV. They are also talking.

    Mary's elder brother, Peter, is in his bedroom playing computer games. He is a computer fan and he spends much time playing on the computer. His younger brother, Jim, is also in the living room. He is playing with his model cars.

    Mary's mother, Mrs Harris, is in the kitchen preparing food for all of them. She is making some hamburgers and orange juice.

    Mary is talking to her friends, Lucy and Tom. They are from another town and want to draw pictures and play with Mary.

    Fluffy, the family cat, is sleeping on the kitchen's sofa. He is a lazy cat. Fluffy eats a lot, and he is a really fat cat.

回答下面5个问题，每题答案不超过8个词。

    To be healthy and happy is important for each of us. Do you want to improve(改善)your health and feel better? Here are some ways.

    Eat whole foods. Eat some healthy foods, such as fruits, vegetables, nuts and a little meat. If you have a healthy eating habit, you'll be happier.

    Exercise. Take up a sport you really like. If you want to keep healthy, try to exercise for 30 minutes a day, twice or three times a week．

    Get enough sleep. It is best to get eight hours' sleep a day. A cup of milk before sleeping may help you get a good sleep.

    Keep yourself busy. This is good because it stops you from having bad habits. To keep yourself busy, you can walk around the house, spend time with your pets, do a sport, or do a hobby you enjoy.

    Spend time with your friends. Spend time and have fun with them. Talk with them, but you shouldn't talk about anything bad. You should stay with the people who are healthy and happy.

    Everyone loves chocolate- kids and grown-ups alike, and no matter what your age is, you are sure to enjoy learning more about chocolate. Read on to learn some fun facts.

    All the chocolate we eat comes from a special plant- the cacao tree. These trees produce a special kind of seeds. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Then they are used to make chocolate.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} So they grow best when under the branches(树枝) of taller trees in the forest. They won't begin to bear fruit, however, until they are at least three to five years old. Cacao trees produce beautiful flowers all the year round. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} A kind of small flies pollinate(对......授粉) these small flowers. These flies are so small that they easily stand on the head of a needle(针状物). They beat their wings very fast—1, 000 beats a second! {#blank#}4{#/blank#} A cacao pod(可可果) has about 30—50 seeds. This is enough to make about seven milk chocolate candy bars!

Dear Tom,

    Most of the time, I just stay at home for my vacation. That's too boring. But I had a special and exciting vacation last summer. My classmates and I made a trip to Mount Tai by bus.

    When we arrived there, it was dark(天黑). At 7 pm, we began to climb the mountain. It took us the whole night to get to the top of the mountain. On the morning of the next day, we enjoyed the beauty of the sunrise on the top. That's wonderful. In the daytime, we visited a temple (寺庙). In the evening, we had a big dinner in a local restaurant together. The food there was delicious but a little expensive.

    I hope you can come to China next year. Then we can visit more interesting places together.

Yours,

Mike