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.

    A new research on students' sleeping habits says that more than 70% of students do not get enough sleep.

    Researchers found that primary school students get 9 hours and 10 minutes of sleep a night, junior high school students get 8 hours and 6 minutes, and senior high school students get 7 hours and 9 minutes. None of those hours are enough for each group. Not enough sleep can cause many kinds of problems in children and teenagers.

    In 2007, Shanghai Municipal Education Commission asked primary and middle schools in the city to adjust their timetables so that students could get more sleep. Two years later, a research found that students at schools that adjusted their timetables got more sleep than in 2005.

    The researchers hope that the government will take measures to make students have enough sleep. Students in other places may even less sleep than those in Shanghai.

    While the rest of the city is crowded and noisy, several old men are sitting in their ancient hutong, drinking tea and playing chess. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}.

    Beijing hutongs have a very special place in the rich history of Beijing. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}.

    According to experts, the word hutong comes from the Mongolian language, meaning "well( 井 )". In ancient times, people preferred to gather and live around wells. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} There are other explanations, too. No matter what hutong exactly means, it is commonly agreed that hutongs first appeared in Beijing during the Yuan Dynasty.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} . Nobody knows exactly how many hutongs there are in Beijing today. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}.

    A group of students from the US have been in China for a week. Here is part of their chat history (聊天记录) on WeChat.

20:45

    Hi, everybody! Anything to share today?

20:49

    Yes. I went to a restaurant to have dinner with some friends this evening.

    When we finished the meal, the waiter brought us the bill. It was 270 yuan.

    We gave him 300 yuan and left 30 as a tip(小费) for his service(职务).

To our surprise, he returned us the change!

    Really? How kind he is!

20:53

    @Sunny It's different form that of the US. I worked in a restaurant in my free time. I accepted tips. Well, something interesting happened to me this morning…

20:55

    I couldn't find the bus stop. I came up to a man who was walking near me and showed him the bus number. He nodded and asked me to follow. We walked for about 10 minutes and finally got to the bus stop. I wanted to give him a hug (拥抱) to show thanks, but he just said goodbye and walked away. I couldn't believe that he had taken so much trouble for a stranger(陌生人)!

    It seems that Chinese people don't usually hug.

    I guess so. It's really unforgettable!

21:02

    I agree. The Chinese people I have met these days are all so friendly, polite and helpful. Well will enjoy the rest of our trip for sure.

{#blank#}1{#/blank#}⑴Kate is 9. She likes beautiful clothes very much. She often goes to the clothes store to buy some new clothes for herself(她自己).

{#blank#}2{#/blank#}⑵John is a middle school student. He likes eating fruit and vegetables very much, so he is healthy.

{#blank#}3{#/blank#}⑶This is Jim's family photo. The man in blue is his father. He is a teacher. The woman in yellow is his mother. The baby in the photo is Jim.

{#blank#}4{#/blank#}⑷Frank is my new friend. He likes playing basketball very much and he has five basketballs at home, He plays it very well and often plays it with his classmates after school every day.

{#blank#}5{#/blank#}⑸Look! This is Cindy's bedroom. It's very clean. There is a nice bed in the room. There is a drawer(抽屉) in it, too. The TV is on the desk.

    When all the housewives went to the new supermarket, they had one great hope in mind: to be the lucky customer. Then they did not have to pay for their shopping, for this was what the notice just inside the entrance promised. It said, "Remember, once a week, one of our customers gets free goods. This may be YOUR lucky day!"

    For several weeks, Mrs Read hoped to become a lucky customer, like many of her friends did, and she never gave up hope. Her dear husband tried to advise her not to do so, but he failed. She always dreamed of the day when the manager of the super-market would come up to her and say, "Madam, this is your lucky day. Everything in your basket is free. ”

    One Friday morning, after she had finished her shopping and had taken it to her car, she found that she had forgotten to buy some tea. She dashed（猛冲）back to the supermarket, got the tea, and went towards the cash desk(付款处). As she did so, she saw the manager of the supermarket come up to her, "Madam." he said and held out his hand, "I want to congratulate you! You are the lucky customer and everything you have in your basket is free!"