The years from A.D 500 to 1450 are called the Middle ages. Sometimes they are also called the Dark Ages since few people had an education during that time. Still, there were lots of new ideas and inventions. Many of them came from China.

    Which is the tallest mountain on the earth? The answer must come fast—MT Everest, at a height of 29,000 feet.

    But that is only on land. For, if you were to measure (测量) from the bottom (底部) of the ocean. The tallest mountain in the world will probably be Mauna Kea in Hawaii. It is more than 15,748 feet under the sea and another 13.779 feet above it.

    As US scientist Cindy Lee Dover points out that the seafloor is the largest and least known place on the earth. We know more about Mars (火星) and Venus (金星) and the back side of the moon than we know about the seafloor.

    Some people have travelled to the deep water of the ocean to try to find all kinds of unknown animals and plants living in the deep water. Even scientists know very little about them. Many of them perhaps do not even have names. Some of the names given by scientists to newly discovered (被发现) animals are really funny. Among them are the spaghetti worms (意大利面蠕虫), named as such it is found in a tangle (缠结), it is often difficult to make out where one ends and another begins! Just like spaghetti.

International Women's Day is on 8 March every year. On this day people celebrate the{#blank#}1{#/blank#} （achieve） of women all over the world，but also continue to fight for women's equal rights. 

International Women's Day can be traced back to 1908，when women went out onto the streets to say they wanted{#blank#}2{#/blank#} （short） working hours and better pay. In 1910，there was a meeting about women's rights，where a woman{#blank#}3{#/blank#} （call） Clara Zetkin had the idea for an international day for women. The{#blank#}4{#/blank#} （one） International Women's Day happened the next year，in 1911. 

Why do we need a special day for women？Around the world，most countries have a male leader and most businesses have male leaders. Men{#blank#}5{#/blank#} （pay） more than women for doing the same job. In many countries，men also do less work at home and get{#blank#}6{#/blank#} better education. We need change，{#blank#}7{#/blank#} the changes need to start with girls. We need to change things because being equal is a basic human right. 

How is International Women's Day celebrated？People celebrate{#blank#}8{#/blank#} remembering and talking about important women from history and today. People also have special events{#blank#}9{#/blank#} （speak） about all the changes we still need to make. More{#blank#}10{#/blank#} （important），boys and men celebrate this day too. If everyone works together，we can change things faster. 

Every week, I get emails about how to learn English very fast. Someone1 to ask how they can speak excellent English in a short time. And someone writes to ask how to improve their English listening2 .Is it possible to learn English very fast? The answer is yes.3 of course, to make great progress, you need to work very hard.4 first and most important thing you need to have is passion (热情).Why? Because you must study English for 8-14 hours a day and you must be more5 . To improve your English quickly，you must build passion(热情). Remember, passion is 80% of success. The second key to super-fast learning is English input（输入）.You6 spend lots of time listening and reading. It's a good idea7 your radio everywhere. Don't forget to have a book with8 . You should listen to the Mini-Story Lessons and read easy English stories—starting9 books for children. These are my ways of learning English. In fact，most people do not need to improve so fast. Two hours a day of listening and reading10 OK. Good luck!

Taking notes(笔记) is an important part of learning. Students listen to the teacher. They write down the important things. Or they use a computer. These days, many students take a computer to class to type(打字) their notes. 

Some people think that using a computer is better. People type faster than they write. That means they can write more. If you can type fast, you can type every word the teacher says. 

Computers are becoming very common in classrooms. Almost every student in university has a computer small enough to take to class in order to type notes. Fewer students write things down. So there is a trend in schools now to spend less time on teaching kids how to write. Schools are moving away from teaching younger students how to write by hand. Many people see no need for writing by hand. 

However, studies advise that it is good to write things down. When people can't write every word, they have to think about it more. They have to pick out what is important. And the act of writing seems to help them to remember. Studies show that people who write down their notes remember the information better. A new study, done by Princeton University and University of California, found that students who took notes by hand learned more than those who used a computer. In the study, 65 university students listened to the teacher and took notes with pens or computers. Then they did tests about how well they remembered and understood the lesson. Results show that pen users do better than those who take notes with their computers. 

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