“USA? Britain? Which country is better to study in?” We often hear such discussion. As China opens its door, studying abroad has become a dream for many Chinese students. They want to learn about the world. It's true that studying abroad can help students develop themselves. Language skills will improve and it may be easier to find a job.
But there are problems that should be considered. Language is the first. Students must spend a lot of time learning another language and getting used to a different culture.
Students must also learn to live without parents' care and deal with all kinds of things they haven't had to do before, like looking after themselves. There are reports about Chinese students abroad sinking in an ocean of difficulties and giving up easily. When they have to take care of themselves, it is hard for the students to study well.
Finally, studying abroad brings a heavy burden (负担) to the family. For most Chinese parents, the cost of studying abroad is very high. But is it worth it?
We know that there are many famous people who succeed in great things through their hard work in China. Liu Xiang is a good example. Once an American teacher invited him there but he refused. He kept training hard with his Chinese teacher. He surprised the world when he won a gold medal at Athens Olympics. So when you wonder which country is better to study in, consider whether studying abroad is the right choice.

    On June 26th, 2000, two scientists, called Francis Collins and Craig Venter, told the world that they could now read the whole “map” of the human body: DNA. DNA is something that all humans have, and it tells the body what to do. DNA is the reason that we look like our mother and father, because we get some of their DNA to make our own. Now we can read some of this “map”, and so we can find out more about how our bodies work.

    People have been trying to understand the human body for a long time. In 1860, Gregory Mendel discovered that there is a special reason why we look the same as other people in our family. It is because of small things called “genes” that we have in our body. In 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick made another discovery and found out that those small parts are really messages written in the DNA with a special language.

    In 1961, Marshall Nirenberg and Johann Matthaei found the first “word” that they could understand in that language, showing how DNA tells the cell to build its parts. This meant that one day we would be able to read all the messages that a human body gets from its parents' bodies. Scientists have now found all the words in DNA map, but we still do not understand what they all do. By understanding what just one “word” means, we can help save people from several diseases. So the more we understand, the more doctors will be able to do.

    Most people hope that this will help to make better medicine and help people who are very ill. Other people worry about that when we learn more words and find out lots of other information, we still use it in the wrong way, just to make people more attractive, or stop sick people getting jobs.

    In the countryside of China, many people are moving to cities to find work. They move because often there isn't much work in the countryside. Services like hospitals and schools are usually not very nice there.

    But in the big cities like London, New York, Paris, people are moving out. They want to live a quiet life. They don' t like the city because it is noise and dirty (脏的)in cities. The traffic is heavy. Living in the cities costs too much. They want a big house with a garden and fresh air. So they move the countryside with clean water and green trees. There, they begin new lives and try to make new friends.

    April 22 is Earth Day. Everyone on earth should care about and protect the earth! The earth has warmed by about 1 °F over the past 100 years, but why and how? Well, scientists are not quite sure. Maybe the earth gets warmer and warmer on its own. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    First, greenhouse effect(效应) is a very important reason for the change of the earth. People give out too much energy into the air every year. It makes the earth warmer. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Sometimes it becomes too hot and sometimes too cold. Sometimes there is too much rain and sometimes too little. The change of the climate makes the earth warmer. In turn, the warmth of the earth changes the climate, too.

    When the earth becomes warmer, there may be more rain and a rise in sea level. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} On a Pacific island, 100 people have to move to higher ground because the sea is rising. These people can no longer live on the coast. Before that, two islands without people went underwater in 1999. Scientists say that the seas can rise by nearly one metre by 2100.

People can affect the earth's air, land and water. As for us, we can do many things to protect the earth.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} We can tell more people about protecting the earth.

    Nick and his friends were talking about things that can bring them luck.

    "I have a lucky red pen," said Andy. "Every time I take a test, I carry my lucky red pen."

    "I have a lucky coin," said Peter. "Every time I take a test, I carry my lucky coin."

    Nick thought for a moment, and said, "My blue socks."

    "Blue socks?" the boys were surprised and asked together.

    Nick said that every time he wore his blue socks to school before a test, he got a good mark.

    The next day Nick had a Chinese test. He was sad because he couldn't find his blue socks.

    "Mom!" shouted Nick. "Where my blue socks? I have a Chinese test today, and I need to wear them."

    "Don't be silly," Nick's mom said. "They need to be washed." "When I wear them, I get a good grade," Nick said.

    "Did you prepare for your test?" asked Mom.

    "Yes."

    Mom encouraged him,"①那就不用担心了。尽你的最大努力吧。"

    A few days later, Nick's teacher told him that he got 95 in his test. ②Nick was so excited that he couldn't wait to tell Mom that he did well in his test.

    Mom said, "It wasn't the blue socks that made you success. In fact, it was made by yourself."

    The survey(调查) shows the reasons why some people in the UK like cycling better. Many people who choose cycling say riding a bicycle to work is healthier than driving. 30% of them give this as a reason. The same number of people say that they cycle to work because it causes less pollution. Fifteen percent of people cycle to work because they don't need to worry about getting a parking space. Thirteen percent of them think cycling is cheaper. Surprisingly, the fewest number of people say that they cycle to work because it is faster than traveling by car. If a person lives near his or her work place, cycling is faster than driving.

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