Fat and shy, Ben Saunders was the last kid in his class picked for any sports team. "Football, tennis, cricket—anything with a round ball, I was useless," he says now with a laugh. But back then he was the one always made fun of in school gym classes in Devonshire, England.

    It was a mountain bike he received for his 15th birthday that changed him. At first he went biking alone in a nearby forest. Then he began to ride the bike along with a runner friend. Gradually, Saunders set his mind on building up his body, increasing his speed and strength. At the age of 18, he ran his first marathon.

    The following year he met John Ridgway and was hired as an instructor at Ridgway's school of adventure in Scotland, where he learnt about Ridgway's cold-water exploits. Greatly interested, Saunders read all he could about North Pole explorers and adventures, he decided that this would be his future.

    In 2001, after becoming a skillful skier, Saunders started his first long-distance expedition towards the North Pole. It took unbelievable energy. He suffered frostbite(冻疮), ran into a polar bear and pushed his body to the limit, pulling his supply-loaded sled up and over rocky ice.

    Saunders has since become the youngest person to ski alone to the North Pole, and he's skied more of the North Pole by himself than any other British man. His old playmates would not believe the change.

    Next October, Saunders, 27, heads south from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole and back, a 2, 900-kilometre journey that has never been completed on skis.

    I've never posted a story before. However, upon graduating from UC Berkeley, with as much financial support as my family could muster(聚集), I now feel the need to thank my sister Mollie.

    Mollie started out at UC Santa Cruz two years ago, when I was already a junior at Berkeley, at a time when my family could no longer afford to support two college students.

    We both started working to pay for our housing while our parents were still paying our tuition. Then we took out loans for tuition too.

    After one year of college, my sister moved home to San Francisco and took classes at SF City College instead and started working full-time. She did this by choice and let our whole family think that she wanted to move home anyway, and that it was for her as much as for my parents' financial situation.

    Over the past year, I continued to receive any support that my parents could give.

    At my graduation two weeks ago, I commented on the fact that my sister was working full-time as a waitress and asked if she was going to use the money to travel. She said, "No, I'm saving to go back to UC Santa Cruz."

    This probably sounds crazy, but I had completely forgotten that she was saving up for her own college education, and making a sacrifice(牺牲) so that I could finish the last year of mine.

    I forgot because she never complained and actually has made a less than perfect situation enjoyable for herself. Mollie has no idea how much I respect her for this quiet generosity, and for her ability to turn a negative experience into a positive one.

    So…I guess I'll tell her!

Riding School:
    You can start horse-riding at any age. Choose private or group lessons any weekday between 9 a. m. and 8: 30 P. m. （3: 30 p. m. on Saturdays）. There are 10 kilometers of tracks and paths for leisurely rides across farmland and open country. You will need a riding hat.
    Opening Hours: Monday through Friday: 9: 00 a. m. -8: 30 p. m.
    Phone: （412）396-6754  Fax: （412）396-6752
Sailing Club:
    Our Young Sailor's Course leads to the Stage 1 Sailing qualification. You'll learn how to sail safely and the course also covers sailing theory and first aid. Have fun with other course members，afterwards in the clubroom. There are 10 weekly two-hour 1essons （Tuesdays 6 p. m.～8 p. m. ）.    
    Opening Hours: Tuesdays: 6: 00 p. m. -8: 00 p. m.
    Phone: （412）396-6644 Fax: （412）396-6644
Diving Centre:
    Our experienced instructors offer one-month courses in deep-sea diving for beginners. There are two evening lessons a week，in which you learn to breathe underwater and use the equipment safely. You only need  swimming costume and towel. Reduced rates for couples.
    Opening Hours: Monday and Friday: 6: 30 p. m. -8: 30 p. m.
    Phone: （412）396-6312  Fax: （412）396-6706
Medical Center:
    The staff of the Medical Center aim to provide convenient and comprehensive medical care to students and staff of the university. The center is well equipped and the staff here are trained to deal with a broad range of medical problems. Both female and male doctors as well as nursing staff are available for consultation. Also，all kinds of medicines are sold here and are cheaper for students than other drugstores.
    Opening Hours: 24 hours from Monday to Sunday.
    Phone: （412）396--6649  Fax: （412）396-6648
Watersports Club:
    We use a two-kilometer length of river for speedboat racing，and water-skiing，A beginners'course consists of ten 20-minute lessons. You will learn to handle boats safely and confidently，but must be able to swim. The club is in a convenient central position and is open daily from 9 a. m to 4 p. m，with lessons all through the day.
   Opening Hours: Monday through Friday: 9: 00 a. m. -4: 00 p. m.
    Phone: （412）396-6899  Fax: 396-6890

    Can children improve their reading skills by reading to dogs? Researchers at the University of California, Davis, reported that the answer is yes. Just ask Taivion Scott. He began learning to read last year at Stanton Elementary School in Washington, D. C. He struggles with new words, but says it helps when a dog is sitting next to him.

    Izzy has been coming to school for a year with Denise Velasquez, a volunteer with PAL. PAL is People Animals Love, a private group in Washington, D. C. that brings dogs into schools and libraries.

    Denise Velasquez helped Taivion with his reading. She said, "I pulled Izzy in a little bit, too, so he could feel a little bit closer to her, and then we started to take it one word at a time because a whole book can be overwhelming, but a single word is something you can deal with. "

    Eric Reithel from the PAL programme says he can understand the children because he had problems with reading when he was young. He said, "They feel more confident when reading to a dog; a dog won't tell them that's the wrong word. "

    The Anacostia neighbourhood is the poorest area in Washington, D. C. , and it has the highest crime(犯罪) rate in Washington, D. C. Seventy-five percent of the students here are raised by a single parent, usually a mother. Reading to dogs helps the children with their reading. For example, Melvin Hansberry, one of the children here, says the dogs help him learn big words. He said, "It's like you're reading to your little sister or your brother. "

    Demaris Hamilton, a teacher's assistant, grew up in Anacostia and says the environment in many homes can make it hard for children to learn but when they come here, they get much love and attention.

How to Become a Lifelong Learner

    Learning doesn't stop just because school does. Making a commitment to yourself to learn something new every day, you will not only enjoy what you discover, but you will be able to apply your knowledge to future generations. Here are some steps to become a lifelong learner.

    Learn how you learn.

     Note what learning techniques are most efficient for you and use them as much as possible, such as viewing online tutorials on websites if you're more of a visual learner.

    Try many different things so that you don't box yourself into believing you're only good at a few things. It's probable that you're good at many things, but you won't know until you've tried.

    Look at learning as an exploration and opportunity, not a chore(琐事).

    Don't just force yourself to learn things because they're important or necessary.  Follow your heart, as well as your sense of duty. Do you remember the 8th grade history that you hated so much, with all those names and dates that seemed to mean nothing? The point was to bring you to learn details now that will knit chunks of information together later.

  Read, read, read.

    Reading is a gateway into other worlds and into the minds of your fellow human beings. And reading will help you to learn the discoveries and mistakes of others who have gone before you; reading is, in effect, a shortcut so that you don't have to learn things the hard way.

A. Learn where your talents and interests lie.

B. It was a chore then, but it makes sense, now.

C. Recognise the educational value in whatever you read.

D. Determine your own preferred learning style or styles.

E. Their ways of learning might help you to improve your own.

F. Make friends with your local library and new and used booksellers.

G. Instead, learn things that you need to learn alongside things you love to learn.

    Today I went to my daughter's school and spoke about kindness to 60 kids plus teachers and teachers' assistants. After a small talk about the meaning of kindness, I gave a 1 to the children—I told them to 2 a small story about an act of kindness that they had 3 and how that made them feel. Or if they had 4 an act of kindness, how did that make them feel? In what way had that act 5 them? Then the head teacher, the deputy head and I would 6 the best ones, the ones that would 7 for their feelings of sympathy and 8 toward others.

    When I was waiting for my daughter, I saw some teachers that were at the meeting passing by and I was 9 that they would 10 me if they liked the talk or not, but they didn't say 11.

    Then this little boy came to me and said, "You know, I 12 the meeting today. ""Okay then, are you going to write a lovely 13?" I asked. "I'm not good at writing, "the boy responded. So I 14 that I would be happy if he could 15 write a phrase or two about an act of kindness.

    I didn't have time to talk to him 16 he was in a hurry to meet his friends who were 17 for him, but in my heart that was a(n) 18 act of kindness. The fact that he was able to 19 to talk to me for two minutes and to let me know that he had enjoyed the meeting was worth all the 20 I had put into preparing the talk for them.

    Chinese proverbs are rich and they are still widely used in Chinese people's daily life.  these proverbs there are often interesting stories. For example, the proverb, "plucking up a crop (help)it grow", is based on the following story.

    It is said that a short-tempered man in the Song Dynasty(960—1279)was very anxious to help his rice crop grow up (quick). He was thinking about it day and night. But the crop was growing much (slow) than he expected.

    One day, he came up with an idea  he would pluck up all of his crop a few inches. He did so the next day.

    He was very tired after (do) this for a whole day,  he felt very happy because the crop did "grow"(high).

    His son heard about this and went to see the crop. Unfortunately the leaves of the crop began to wither.

    This proverb is saying we have to let things go in their (nature) course. Being too anxious to help an event develop often (result)in the contrary to our intention.

增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，并在其下面写出该加的词。

删除：把多余的词用斜线(\)划掉。

修改：在错的词下画一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。

注意：1．每处错误及其修改均仅限一词;

2．只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。

    When an English traveller, who spent a few week in Sweden, was about to return to home, he found he had only enough money left to get a ticket to England. Since it was only two-day voyage, he believed he can get home without eating anything. He final bought a ticket with that little money and went to board the ship. He closed his ears to the sound of the lunch bell or refused to go to the place where people had his dinner when dinnertime came. Therefore, he couldn't stand this any longer and went to the dining hall, enjoy the last meal on the ship. He then said, "Waiter, brings me the bill." "Oh, meals are included in the ticket, "said the waiter.

注意：1）词数100左右;

2）可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯;

3）文章开头已给出，不计入总词数。

The Green School Project has become part of the environmental education in our school. However,