My friend Mary came to school wearing a brand-new pair of Zee jeans. “Your new Zee jeans are so cute!” I said.

    “My grandma took me clothes shopping last weekend,” Mary said. “The Zee jeans were on sale. They have cool pockets and are unbelievably comfortable. When you're at my house after school, try them on and see for yourself.”

    “Hmm.” I didn't think so. But when I tried them on, I couldn't help agreeing. “I'm totally taking these!” I said. As soon as I got home, I told my mom that I had to get some Zee jeans.

    Mom said, “You already have three pairs of perfectly good jeans. There is no way Dad and I are paying that much for a pair of pants. If you want to buy them with your own money, I would be happy to make a long list of extra chores you can do.”

    “I'll start this minute,” I said.

It took me three weeks to save enough money. I changed kitty litter, watched my little brother and sister, and cleaned refrigerator. The refrigerator cleaning was the worst because one of the shelves fell while I was taking everything out. Food and milk splashed all over the floor. It took me one and a half hour to clean it up!

    Anyway, I finally bought my Zee jeans, and I loved them even more than I thought I would. I loved them half because they had cool pockets and super comfortable, and half because I had worked so hard to earn the money to buy them myself.

    January is a great month. I only need to go to school from the first to the fifteenth. Every year, our school has an art festival. This year it is from January 13^th to January 15^th. All the students and parents can come to the festival. My mother says she can go to the festival with me, but my father can't. He is busy. All people can sing, dance and play games at the festival. After the festival, the term is over. I don't need to go to school and can have a long holiday. My parents and I want to take a trip in Sanya, Hainan. And we want to spend (度过) our Spring Festival(春节)there. We will come back to Beijing on February 15^th. I'm sure we'll enjoy it!

    In Britain you're allowed to drive a car when you're seventeen. You have to get a special two-year driving license before you start. When you're learning, someone with a full license always has to be in the car with you because you aren't allowed to drive the car on the road alone. You don't have to go to a driving school—a friend can teach you. The person with you isn't allowed to take money for the lessons unless he's got a teacher's license. 

    Before you're allowed to have a full license, you have to take a driving test. You can take a test in your own car, but it has to be fit for the road. In the test, you have to drive round for half an hour and then answer a few questions. If you don't pass the test, you're allowed to take it again a few weeks later. In 1970, a woman passed her fortieth test after 212 driving lessons! When you've passed your test, you're allowed to go on driving if you like, and you must be healthy. Britain's oldest driver was a man who drove in 1974 at the age of 100. 

    Before 1904, everyone was allowed to drive, even children. Then from 1904 car drivers had to have a license. But they didn't have to take a test until 1935. In the early days of car driving, before 1978, cars weren't allowed to go faster than four miles an hour, and someone had to lead the car with a red flag.

The World Health Organization (世卫组织) says air pollution makes seven million people lose their lives around the world each year. Even if (即使) polluted air does not kill people, it can make them very ill. 

However, breathing dirty air does more than hurt people's body. It can also affect (影响) their brain and their ability (能力) to think. 

A new study shows that air pollution can cause (引起) a"huge" reduction (降低) in our intel- ligence (智商). The researchers (研究者) reported that long- term exposure (暴露) to air pollution can affect a person's men tal abilities (智力的) in two areas: language (语言) and math. Xi Chen, the researcher of the Yale School of Public Health led the study. He and his team found that breathing pol- luted air can reduce a person's education (教育) level by about one year. 

Chen said that the affect usually is worse for those over 64 years of age, for men and for those with little or no education. "The older persons—— they are more affected. And we find, quite interestingly men are more affected than women. And people working outdoors are more affected than people working indoors. "

The researchers found that the influence of pollution on language ability is even more serious (严重) as people age, especially among men and the less educated. Why are a person's language skills more affected than math? There's an important part in our brain: white matter (脑及脊髓的白质). 

White matter is more connected (连接) with a person's language skills. Studies have shown that air pollution has a great affect on the white matter in the brain. 

Chen said that air pollution did affect the math skills just not as much as their language skills. 

What a difference a day makes！My father and I {#blank#}1{#/blank#} to go to Penang Hill today. We wanted to walk up to the top, but then it started raining a little so we decided to take the train. We waited over an hour {#blank#}2{#/blank#} the train because there were too many people. When we got to the top, it was rainingreally {#blank#}3{#/blank#} . We didn't have an umbrella {#blank#}4{#/blank#} we were wet and cold. It was terrible！And because of the bad weather, we couldn't see {#blank#}5{#/blank#} below. My father didn't bring {#blank#}6{#/blank#} money, so we only had one bowl of rice and some fish. The food tasted great because I was so hungry！