When the Normans built their first simple wooden castles in England，they built them on the top of small hills.The first permanent castles were made of stone and built with thick walls.The main building was usually surrounded by walls which overlooked the moat (护城河)．

     The entrance to the castle was usually over a drawbridge (吊桥) leading to the main gatehouse.The drawbridge could be raised or lowered and an iron grille (栅栏) could be lowered to shut off the entrance to the gatehouse.

     As time went on，the castle builders became more advanced in their techniques.Instead of building a strong central building and surrounding it with walls of lesser strength，they thought out the idea of surrounding a central area with huge walls which could contain all the main rooms of the castle.These walls usually had many towers and these towers were really a series of main buildings along the castle walls.In building these castles they used hill sites whenever possible in order to give the castle a better position.Because the outside world was shut off by a barrier or curtain of defences，they are called “curtain wall” castles.

     With the passing of time there was less need to build strong castles and nobles built manor (庄园) houses.These manor houses often had battlements and iron grilles，but they were built more for comfort and included many of the conveniences and luxuries of the large houses which were being built in the towns.

     Unfortunately，many English castles were damaged or destroyed completely during the Civil Wars of the 1600s.

    Publishers of books for beginning readers are in the business of doing whatever they can to make children develop a love of reading. At times, that means they'll produce books that are more colorful and more packed with pictures. But it turns out that when it comes to learning to read books, more pictures aren't always better.

    In fact, simply having more than one picture on a page can negatively(消极地) affect the ability of preschoolers to learn words from that page, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Sussex. “Storybook reading is a great activity to help children increase their vocabularies,” writes co-author Zoe M. Flack in the University's School of Psychology blog.

    But the illustrations(插图) can affect how well children will learn new words. “For example,” Flack writes, “We know that children learn words better if illustrations are realistic.” Also, studies have shown that adding bells and whistles(哨声) to storybooks may negatively affect learning, according to Jessica S. Horst, Flack's co-author for the study. “We also know that children look within illustrations for the things they hear in the story, so if the story mentions a girl dropping an ice cream, children will look at the ice cream in the illustration.”

    With that in mind, Dr. Horst and Ms. Flack began to wonder what would happen when picture books show many illustrations on a page and how young children who haven't yet learned to read know which illustration to look at while listening to a story. To find out, they read storybooks that displayed either one or two illustrations per page to 36 three-year-old children. As it turns out, children who listened to stories with only one illustration at a time learned twice as many words as children who listened with two or more illustrations.

    Have you got teenage children between 12 and 17? Will they jump at the idea to go to South Africa too? Well, let me help you here. I will give you some great ideas about what teenagers can do in Cape Town and give you reasons why a stay in Cape Town will be cool for them too.

    You will read where to find really interesting activities and how much money you will have to pay for them and also how your children can gain as many great experiences as possible when holidaying or even living in Cape Town.

    Mad about Football — not only for Soccer Fans

Where: Cape Town Stadium (体育场), 15 mins from Cape Town's central business district (CBD). The new visitor center offers several tours. How much does it cost? R45.6 for adults or kids over 12, R17.1 for kids up to 12 and R11.4 per student for school groups. The Biodiversity Garden next to the stadium is interesting as well and can be added into tour at an additional cost.

    Theme Park with more than 23 rides and roller coasters (过山车)

Where: Ratanga Junction, Century City, 20 mins north of Cape Town CBD. Costs: R75 for kids under 1.3m and R152 for kids over 1.3m or adults, open only on school holidays and public holidays.

    Sandboarding

    Where: Atlantis, 45 mins north of Cape Town CBD. Costs: R595 for a half day of fun in the sand.

    Ice skating

    Where: Grand West Casino Complex, Goodwood, 20 mins east of Cape     Town CBD Costs:R35 (including skates)

    Enjoy mini golf

    Where: Several places around Cape Town CBD. Muizenberg Beach Promenade, Green Point Promenade, Durbanville Vodacom Golf Driving Range or try Cave Golf at the V&A Waterfront next to Scratch Patch. Costs: R8.

    Go bowling

    Where: Several places around Cape Town CBD. Costs: R25.

    How about climbing walls

    Where: Observatory, 20 mins south of Cape Towm CBD. Costs: R50.

    Renowned British physicist Stephen Hawking died peacefully at his home in the British university city of Cambridge in March 14 at age 76.

    Hawking, whose 1988 book "A Brief History of Time" became an unlikely worldwide bestseller and cemented (奠定) his superstar status, dedicated his life to unlocking the secrets of the Universe. He held the post of Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, which is a position that was once held by Sir Isaac Newton.

    Born in 1942 in Oxford, where his parents spent the final months of pregnancy to avoid the bombings of London, Hawking was said to have been a good student although it wasn't until he was in his 20s that his true potential began to really shine through. Having initially wanted to study Mathematics, Stephen Hawking chose, instead, to read natural sciences with emphasis on Physics.

    Having found University life boring, so much so that he joined the University rowing team to relieve the boredom, it was only following an oral examination that he was awarded a first class degree.

    While at Cambridge, Hawking was diagnosed with a motor neurone (神经元）disease. He was initially given two to three years to live. The illness gradually robbed him of mobility, leaving him confined to a wheelchair, almost completely paralysed and unable to speak except through his trademark voice synthesiser (合成器）.

    Stephen Hawking led an incredible and well documented life. He was referred to in many TV programs, films, and even songs, and appeared as himself in a number of programs including Red Dwarf and the Big Bang Theory. His genius and wit won over fans from far beyond the world of astrophysics (天体物理学）, earning comparisons with Albert Einstein and Sir Isaac Newton.

    Here's an idea whose time has come: A flu shot that doesn't require an actual shot.

    For the first time, researchers have tested a flu vaccine patch(疫苗贴) in a human clinical trial and found that it delivered as much protection as a traditional injection(注射) with a needle. Doctors and public health experts have high hopes that it will increase the number of people who get immunized(免疫的) against the flu.

    Seasonal flu is responsible for up to half a million deaths around the world each year according to the World Health Organization. A team led by Georgia Tech engineer Mark Prausnitz has come up with an alternative method that uses "microneedles". These tiny needles are so small that 100 of them, arranged in order on a patch, can fit under your finger. Yet they're big enough to hold vaccine for three types of flu.

    None of the study volunteers had serious side effects. The groups that got patches had mild skin reactions that were not seen in the regular needle group, while the volunteers in the regular needle group were more likely to experience pain. Overall, 70 percent of the volunteers who got vaccine patches said they'd rather use them again than get a traditional flu shot. The study authors declared it a success on all fronts.

    The biggest beneficiaries could be people in low and middle-income countries, where flu vaccines are hard to come by. Reducing pain is nice, but other benefits—the patch costs less, is easier to transport, doesn't require refrigeration, can be self-administered and doesn't cause waste of needles—are even better.

    "Microneedle Patches have the potential to become ideal candidates for vaccination programs," wrote Katja Hoschler and Maria Zambon of Public Health England.

Not long ago, my daughter's shoes {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(damage) with a knife. She burst into tears. I took them to the shoemaker's. The man said he would add more scratches on both shoes as if the openings were made on purpose for a special style. I didn't fully understand him, but I decided to leave the shoes. Two days later I dropped by from work {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(collect) the shoes. I found more scratches on each shoe, but all the openings were patched by red leather and the stitches were twisted. The appearance looked {#blank#}3{#/blank#}( interesting) than ever.

The African penguin is expected to go extinct in the wild in just over a decade, given its current population decline. The main reason is a lack of food caused by disturbance to ocean conditions from global heating and {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(compete) from the commercial fishing industry. According to a study, recently scientists {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(identify) a possible additional cause, one that is an entirely new threat and that further {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(prevent) the penguins from finding food: noise pollution from marine ships in a bay.

Crying is a natural response to emotions. Regardless of{#blank#}7{#/blank#} causes the tears to flow, the physical reaction is usually the same with puffy cheeks and tight eyes {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(lead) to streaming tears down one's face. Despite its stigma(污名), crying can be an act {#blank#}9{#/blank#} relieves tension and clears feelings of negativity and sadness. Crying can communicate our emotions to others and foster greater understanding and compassion. Ultimately, crying is a powerful tool we ought to use to free ourselves {#blank#}10{#/blank#} negativity.