Some things can carry messages, for example, a sign at the bus stop helps you to know which bus to take. Signs on the door tell you where to go in or out. Have you ever noticed that there are a lot of signs around you and that you receive messages from them all the time?

    People can communicate on many other ways. An artist can use his drawing to tell about beautiful mountains, about the blue sea and many other things. Books are written to tell you about all the wonderful things in the world and also about people and their ideas.

    Books, magazines, TVs, radios and films all help us to communicate with others. They all help us to know what is going on in the world and what other people are thinking about.

    Liu Wei is very famous in China because he can play the piano with his toes(脚趾).

    One day when Liu Wei was only 10 years old, he played a game with some friends. He lost both his arms because of electricity (电). Liu Wei was very sad when both his arms were cut off after the accident. But soon he had to make a choice. “For people like me, there were only two choices. One was to give up all the dreams which would cause a quick death. The other was to work hard without arms to live an excellent life.” says Liu Wei.

    Liu's dream was to be a pianist. His excellent life included a show on China's Got Talent(中国达人秀) and a wonderful performance playing the beautiful Marriage D'amour with his two feet on the piano. Liu Wei learned to play the piano with his feet. And teaching himself to play the piano with his feet was very hard. Many times he wanted to give it up, but his parents went on encouraging him and he wanted to make his parents proud.

    Maybe you can not believe that Liu Wei is able to play well only with his toes. The audience(观众) were deeply moved and very excited when they watched his performance.

    When Paul was a boy growing up in Utah, he happened to live near a copper smelter, and the chemicals that poured out had made a wasteland out of what used to be a beautiful forest. One day a young visitor looked at this wasteland and called it an awful area. Paul knocked him down. From then on, something happened inside him.

    Years later, Paul was back in the area, and he went to the smelter office. He asked if they had any plans or if they would let him try to bring the trees back. The answer from that big industry was "No".

    Paul then went to college to study the science of plants. He told the teacher about his plans. Unfortunately his teacher says, "It will be a waste of your time to try to do it." Everyone knew that, he was told. Even if he was knowledgeable as he had expected, he wouldn't get his idea accepted.

    Paul later got married and had some kids. But this dream would not die. And then one night he did what he could with what he had. Under the cover of darkness, he went to secretly into the wasteland and started planting.

Every week, he made his secret journey into the wasteland and planted trees and grass. For fifteen years he did this against the common sense. Slowly rabbits appeared. Later the company actually hired Paul to do what he was already doing.

    Now the place is covered with fourteen thousand acres of trees and grass and bushes, and Paul has received almost every environmental award Utah has. It took him so many years until his hair turned white, but he managed to keep that impossible promise he made to himself as a child.

    Each year, many Chinese people go abroad because of all kinds of reasons. They are becoming younger and younger year by year. Even some Chinese parents send their children to foreign countries when they are only in a middle school. They think their children can get a wider view, less academic(学业的) competition or family honor. But life can be hard for young people there. At first, they have to face the cultural differences and language problems. However, these are not always the most difficult things to overcome(克服).To most children, controlling (管理)themselves well is a big challenge when they are studying alone in a strange country. Yu Yang, a 15-year-old student from Guangdong Province studies in a high school in Toronto, Canada. ⑶To his surprise, his teachers there seldom push students to study hard. And usually there isn't too much homework .Students have lots of free time to do some activities. Some of his friends spend their whole year's money in the first two months of the new term. So they have to ask their parents for some more money. On the one hand, studying abroad can help students learn foreign languages quickly and open up their eyes, but on the other hand, some children may feel lonely, become bad, lose themselves, etc. Many problems may happen to them. These are different from their original thoughts. ⑷So parents should think them over before their children go abroad.

    Connor Bloom had an amazing two weeks at Stanford University this summer. Eyery part of the experience was amazing. The particle accelerator(粒子加运器), the chance to meet like minded kids from across the world? You guessed it. . .

    Bloom, 14, an eighth-grader at Whitefish Middle School in Montana, US, participated in a special camp at Stanford University. The camp holds many different classes for students who want to challenge(挑战)themselves.

    When Bloom looked online and saw that Stanford was to hold the "Gified Youth" program, he signed up(报名). "I like physics and math. 1like to study new things and find out everything about them, "said Bloom. " That's what made me want to sign up. "

    He handed in his test scores from fifth grade on, wrote an article and got recommendation(推荐)letters from teachers. Bloom stood out among thousands of students and got the invitation.

    Bloom had a great time with 86 students from all over the world. On the first day, they learned college-level math. Over the next four days they got to work in laboratories(实验室). They even touched a dead body to learn about how the human body works.

    In the second week, they saw the school's particle accelerator, "I never saw such a machine before, "said Bloom. " But it was just the mental workout(智力测验)1 was hoping for. "

    Bloom did more than just study for two weeks. He made friends with students from China, India and Japan. He worked together with other students in class to learn better. He spent his free time with kids who were also music fans.

    "Once we got to know each other, we helped each other out, "he said. " We learned a lot from each other. that's for sure. "