Everyone likes living in a clean and comfortable environment. If the environment(环境) are bad， it will affect our body， and make us not feel well. Sometimes we may be terribly ill. At that time we don't want to work， and we have to stay in bed and rest at home. So the environment is very important to us.

    It's germs(微生物) that makes us ill. There are germs everywhere. They are very small and you can't find them with your own eyes， but you can see them with a microscope（显微镜）They are very small and there may be hundreds of them on a very small thing， Germs can always be found in dirty water. When we look at dirty water under the microscope， we shall see them in it. Germs can also be found in air and dust（灰尘）. If you cut your finger， some of the dust from the floor may go into it， and you will have much pain in it. Sometimes the germs will go into all of your bodies， and you will have pain everywhere.

    To keep us healthy， we should try our best to make our environment cleaner and tidier. This needs us to work together.

    What is DIY? Why do many people like it? Yang Chen works for a computer business in Beijing. He enjoys his work, but it is not easy for him to relax(放松) after work. One day when he saw many toy dogs in a toy shop, he had an idea. "Why not make them myself?" Then he began to make model planes, model ships and something else. He was interested in it because it brings him lots of fun and makes life colourful. So what is DIY? Yes, it is making or creating (创造) things by yourselves, with your own hands.

    It may take much time, but some people, now known as DIYers—do-it-yourselfers, enjoy doing it very much. They enjoy it because it is fun. And they also say it helps them save money, too. What's more, they think it is a good way to protect the environment (环境). It is a kind of green life. In fact, DIY is not a modern thing in China. Many people remember when it was once a way of life in the past. During the 1960s and 1970s, when there were not enough living things for people to live on, they had to use their own hands to do many things. If you wanted something, you had to do it yourself, and if you needed something, you made it yourself.

    Times have changed and DIY also has different meanings.

    International travelers, whether traveling for business or pleasure, will find themselves alone from time to time. Here are a few ways to meet new people and perhaps even get new travel chances.

{#blank#}1{#/blank#}⑴Be polite and friendly. Remember to put yourself in social situations. Restaurants, shops and parks are all great places to meet people. If you want to make local friends in a country, stay near the places the locals often visit.

{#blank#}2{#/blank#}⑵Keep a small photo album in your bag when you travel. Photos of family, friends and pets will help your new friends learn more about you. They will share their similar experiences with you, and it will help you learn more about your new friends.

{#blank#}3{#/blank#}⑶Can you help your new friends improve their Chinese? Can you cook a traditional Chinese meal? By sharing your experiences, you can have a close relationship with your new friends that they won't soon forget.

{#blank#}4{#/blank#}⑷Many foreigners love Chinese goods but have to pay a lot when buying them in homeland, so you'd better prepare some gifts such as silks, tea and china (瓷器). They are always popular.

{#blank#}5{#/blank#}⑸If you and your new friends get along well, you can give them your information and plan to live in each other's house for your next trip. Then you can visit their countries and stay in their houses while they stay in yours. In this way you will improve your friendship and live like a local abroad, but pay less for traveling.

    Lu Xun was an excellent writer and thinker of modern China. He took part in the May

    Fourth New Culture Movement of 1919. He could be said to have laid the foundation(基础)of modern literature(文学)in China. You couldn't believe that he almost became a doctor! So how did Lu Xun give up the study of medicine and take up writing？

    When he was young, his father fell badly ill, and little Lu Xun bought medicine for him.

    But the medicine bought from a quack doctor(庸医)did his father no good at all, and his father died. With a deep sadness and great anger, Lu Xun promised to study the most modern medical skills and help people through medicine. He studied hard, and was accepted to study in Sendai Medical College in Japan.

    However, one event changed Lu Xun's life. One day, the teacher played a film of news in class. In the film, Japanese soldiers were preparing to kill a Chinese while some Chinese were watching it with great interest, as if it had nothing to do with them. After that, Lu Xun thought he should treat the numb(麻木的)spirits of Chinese.

    For this reason, he gave up the study of medicine and moved to Tokyo. He produced a magazine with some friends there. As a writer. Lu Xun hoped that he could save Chinese people with his pen. Many of his works were translated into the leading languages, including English, Russian, German, French and Japanese.