Men have always wondered about the earth they live on and about the ①_____ above them.

    When early men looked at the night sky, they asked themselves a lot of questions. They looked at the moon, and wondered what this strange bright object in the sky was. They did not understand why it changed its shape from night to night. They looked at the stars and planets. They also wondered why some of them changed their positions, while others did not.

    ②他们也思考地球的形状。 Most early people believed the earth was flat.

    ③In different parts of the world, there were different ideas about the universe. The ancient Greeks were the first people to study the universe(宇宙) more scientifically. In the sixth century BC Pythagoras put forward the idea that the world was round. However, he could not explain why people at the bottom of the world did not fall off.

    It was not until the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries that scientists found the answers to some important questions. ④With the help of Galileo's telescope, people could see the sky more clearly, and find the positions of the stars and planets. Finally in 1665, Isaac Newton explained to the world what gravity (重力) was and people at last understood why they did not fall off the earth.

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.

    Mr. Tanaka is a teacher in a city of Japan. He usually visits many countries during his holidays. He speaks English very well. Then he wants to learn Chinese and goes to China. So he goes to evening classes and has Chinese lessons. He studies very hard.

    He has a lot of friends. They often talk with each other and help each other. He often tells his friends that he does not have any trouble with Chinese but the Chinese have a lot.

    It's a must-eat fruit in Southeast Asia. People there call it "King of Fruits" Many love it so much that they eat it at every meal. "what's it?" you may ask. It is the durian (榴莲).

    The durian can only grow in hot places. Its name "durian" comes from the Malay word "duff". It means "thorn (刺)".

    The durian is the most famous fruit in Southeast Asia. It looks big and dangerous and has a very strong smell (浓烈的气味).有许多不同种类的榴莲 They come in different sizes. A durian can grow up to 30cm long, and usually it can be as heavy as 1 to 3kg.

    The greatest thing about the durian is its inside (内部). When you open it up, a very strong smell comes out. Some people love this smell, but others don't like it! In Singapore, people cannot bring a durian into a hotel room or onto a city train. And they can't bring a durian onto some planes either.

    Although the durian has a strong smell, it tastes quite good. It tastes soft (软的) and sweet. Some animals living in the forest like it!

    Jia Meng used to keep a diary in Chinese. But one year ago, the 14-year-old girl from Heilongjiang Province began to write her diary in English, because Jia found her mother was reading her diary secretly. She changed the language because her mother can't read English. “It's like killing two birds with one stone.” said Jia, “My private things become safe and my English improves a lot.”

    Jia's mother is not the only mom who reads her child's diary. Recently, Renmin University of China had a survey among over 23,000 parents. The results show that 40% of parents read their children's sectects. That's why many teenagers try to find ways to protect their privacy(隐私).

    Wu Lei, 15, of Shanxi, keeps a diary, too. But he doesn't write it on paper. He writes online which he thinks is perfectly safe because his parents know nothing about the Internet.

    Lu Huan, 13, of Guangdong, said her parents always secretly listened to the talk between her friends and her on the telephone in their room. To solve this problem, Lu asked her parents to buy her a mobile phone.

    “Parents want to know what is going on in their children's lives,” said Shao Xiazhen, a teenage expert in Beijing. “But sometimes they go about it the wrong way.” Shao suggested to teenagers that instead of hiding their secrets, talking to parents should be a better solution. “If your parents know that you are safe, they'll let you keep your secrets.”

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