Snow falls in the Earth's extreme North and South throughout the year. However, the heaviest snowfalls have been reported in the mountains of other areas during winter. Snow is even known to fall near the Equator (赤道), but only on the highest mountains.

    Snow contains much less water than rain, but much of the water the world uses comes from snow. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} In the western United States, mountain snow provides up to seventy-five percent of all surface water supplies.

    Snowfall helps to protect plants and some wild animals from winter weather. Fresh snow is made largely of air trapped among the snow crystals (晶体). Because the air has trouble moving, the movement of heat is limited. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} The surface of the snow takes in, or absorbs, sound waves. As snow grows older or if there have been strong winds, it can become hard and flat. Then, the snow's surface will help to send back sound waves.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} It is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people. Many people die in traffic accidents on roads covered with snow and ice or from being seriously stuck in the winter storm. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}.

    People may not be able to avoid living in areas where it snows often. However, they can avoid becoming victims of snowstorms. People should stop driving and stay at home until the storm has passed. People living in these areas should carry emergency supplies in their vehicle. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. These include food, emergency medical supplies, and extra clothing to stay warm and dry.

B. Snow also influences the movement of sound waves.

C. Melting snow provides water for rivers, electric power stations and agricultural crops.

D. Mountain snowfall is heavier than that in the South and the North Poles.

E. In many places, streets were blocked; houses fell down and supplies were short.

F. Others die from heart attacks caused by too much physical activity out in the cold.

G. Snow may be beautiful, but it can be deadly.

    Lots of people stress out about talking in front of the class or getting laughed at if they make a mistake in front of an audience. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}The “stress hormones" that your body produces at times like these can actually help you focus.

    But when worry and stress about performing get to be too much, these hormones give people that “red alert(紧急状态)” feeling—the one that causes you to feel cold or sweaty, or get butterflies in your stomach. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Be prepared. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Rehearse(排练) as much as you can and practice in front of others at every opportunity. Most of all, think positively. Tell yourself “I'll be OK" or “I can do this" even if you are not 100% sure of it

    Look after yourself. Before big performances it's easy to let taking care of yourself slip as you spend too much time on rehearsals and practice. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Exercise can also help you feel good, and along with sleep and nutrition, is an excellent way of keeping those stress hormones from getting out of control.

    Find out what the experts do. You can find books, DVDs, and online information about how to give your best when you perform, depending on what type of performance you're preparing for. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Or ask the cast of your school play or your drama or music teacher how they beat stage fright. And if your parents or grandparents ever performed, they may have their own secrets to share.

    Traveling abroad during the vacation is the top choice of many Chinese people. But do we have good manners abroad?

    On Feb 25, a report said that a Chinese mother let her child pee (小便) in front of a shop in Tokyo. A journalist came to the mother. Instead of saying sorry, the woman said that her child had peed inside a plastic bag and had not made the floor dirty.

    This case has caused a big discussion about Chinese people' s traveling manners again.

    In recent years, improper behavior has become a real embarrassment for China as overseas tourism increases. With the improvement of living standards, more and more Chinese are traveling abroad. But there are still a number of Chinese lacking in (缺乏) a sense of public manners. For this situation, the Chinese government has suggested proper manners. The National Tourism Administration has made a list of tourists' worst behaviors, including littering, line-jumping, taking off shoes and socks in public, speaking loudly and smoking in non-smoking areas.

    We are going to improve the inner being of every Chinese citizen. “Traveling manners are a turning point.” said an official. And changes have begun to appear. Most people minded their behaviors during this Spring Festival holiday, according to the National Tourism Administration. They kept their voice down, waited in line and respected local rules.

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When a thought has found words

    Poetry is the forgotten child of literature. Few people read it for pleasure and modern poets are looked upon as odd creatures from a strange universe. In Western high schools, poetry is seldom taught because it is considered old-fashioned and not relevant to the needs of today's students.

    In China, however, poetry is still an important part of the curriculum and, with recent changes announced by the Ministry of Education, the number of poems students will have to memorize and recite is being increased from fourteen to seventy-two. Now, before you gasp in horror, let's think about the reasons why studying so many poems, especially ancient poems, is important.

    First of all, poetry is an essential part of traditional Chinese culture. It is a pathway to understanding your history and your society. It is also the key to understanding the thoughts and emotions that are common to everyone but which we may be unable to express—the joy of Li Bai dancing with the moon, for example. Everyone has feelings of joy, love, loneliness, sadness and even anger, and a good poem can put those emotions into words and bring us self-understanding.

    Poems can also express beauty. In a few short lines, even something commonplace can become beautiful. Here is a poem called "Fog" by Carl Sandberg: The fog comes / on silent haunches (弓腰蹲着) / and then moves on. Yes, fog does move smoothly, silently and mysteriously like a cat, and Sandberg captures that feeling and image, and makes it beautiful.

    Of course, to really appreciate poetry, it has to be really aloud. After all, a poem is really just a song without music. Most ancient poetry, especially Western poetry, was actually spoken before it was written. Take Homer's Iliad (伊利亚德), the story of the Trojan War (特洛伊战争), for example. That epic saga (史诗般的故事) of Helen's kidnapping and the war that followed was apparently told for hundreds of years in palaces, taverns (客栈) and on street corners before Homer wrote it down and was given credit for it.

    The American poet Robert Frost said, "Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words." And poems are very concise—there is not a wasted word. You are lucky that you now have seventy-two poems to learn!

Taping and bracing ankles

    Ankle sprains(踝关节扭伤) are the most common sports-related injuries in the United States. If there was an easy way of decreasing the number and severity of these injuries, that would be great. For this very reason, the practice of taping and bracing ankles was introduced decades ago.

    How, then, do taped or braced ankles decrease the incidence and severity of sprains in athletes? One explanation for how it works comes from a study which found that taped athletes had improved proprioception(本体感受), which is the body's ability to know how fast the ankle and foot are moving and if they are starting to roll over or not. When they were compared, the athletes with taped ankles had better proprioception both before and after exercise compared with athletes using no tape. The tape's traction(拉力)or pressure on the skin of the foot and ankle helped improve sensitivity and proprioception, resulting in fewer ankle sprains.

    Another common concern often expressed by the public is that lengthened practice of taping or bracing ankles results in weak ankles that then tend to get injured more easily; this would be a strong case against taping or bracing ankles. However, a scientific study looked at the effects of consistent ankle brace use on the peroneus longus muscle. It is an important stabilizer(稳定装置)of the ankle, particularly against inversion, the most common type of ankle injury. This study showed that the peroneus longus muscle's ability to do its job was not changed by the long-term wearing of an ankle brace.

    Many studies have been completed to compare taping ankles and bracing ankles to try to determine which one is better. Most have shown that braces are slightly more effective than tape, but that both are better than no support at all. One study found that simply wearing high-top sneakers instead of low-tops prevented some ankle injuries and that high-tops plus tape had more than 50% fewer injuries than low-tops plus tape.

    So whether it's on the field or on the court, the tape or brace is an important piece of athletic equipment just like your helmet or mouth guard.

Study in Canada

    Why Canada?

    Canadians place a premium(保险) on education and demand first-rate schools. Canada is among the top three countries in the Organization for Economic. International students who graduate from Canadian universities land successful and promising careers.

    Ranked as #1 in the World

    For the past several years, a United Nations survey has found Canada to be the best place in the world to live in. Conducted every year, the survey evaluates quality of life in 174 countries, using over 200 performance indicators. Canada earned particularly high marks for its access to education, high life expectancy(长寿), and low crime and violence rates.

    Canadian Education is Competitively Priced

    Tuition fees for international students in Canada are comparatively much lower than in any other English speaking country

    More than 800000 Canadians trace their roots back to India!

    High Standard of Living

    Canadians enjoy a standard of living among the highest in the world. More than 65 per cent of Canadians own their own homes, with a higher percentage owning durable goods. Canadians are proud of their world-famous and highly advanced broadcasting system which includes more than 1,000 AM and FM radio stations and some 719 television stations to serve, entertain and educate the listening and viewing audience.

    The vast majority of Canada's population of more than 30 million people lives in urban areas.

    Welcoming & Beautiful Environment

    All major urban centers have a variety of shopping malls, restaurants, theaters, art galleries and museums. Canadian cities provide numerous parks, gardens and beaches for public use, as well as excellent sports and recreation facilities. Canadians place a high value on their natural environment.

    Canada is well-known as a safe, just and peaceful society. Canadian crime rates have been falling steadily since the 1990s. In 1997, Canada's police-reported crime rate decreased for the sixth year in a row, falling by five per cent. Violent crimes declined for the fifth year in a row in 1997 and Canada's homicide (杀人) rate now accounts for less than one percent of all reported violent incidents. Unlike its US neighbors to the south, firearms are strictly controlled and generally are not permitted in Canada.

    Canada is a country with two official languages, English and French. The vast majority (75 per cent) of Canada's French-speaking inhabitants(居民) live in Québec(魁北克), which is located in the eastern part of the country but there are French-speaking communities throughout  the country.

    Internationally, it is estimated that more than 800 million people speak English and 250 million speak French. Canada offers superior English as a Second Language (ESL) and French as Second Language (FSL) training for students wishing to learn either or both languages.