Birthdays are celebrated（庆祝）all over the world. Some ways to celebrate birthdays are rather similar from county to country: candles, cakes, and birthday wishes. But there are also different ways to celebrate birthdays. Here are a few:

   Flags have existed for over 3,000 years. The earliest flags were wooden or metal poles with a carving. About 2,000 years ago pieces of fabric were added to some poles for decoration. Over the next 500 years the free-flying part of the flag became more important.

Love is the most (最) important thing in the world (世界). We need love in. our life and the world also needs love to get better.

When I was a little girl, I thought that my father didn't love me. He let me do everything by myself. I was afraid of darkness (黑暗)，but he let me walk home alone. When I did well in my study, he only said," Be better. "I couldn't understand (明白) him. Where was his love?

But one day, I understood his love. It was a rainy day. School was over. At first I was not happy because I didn't have an umbrella.

But then I saw that my father with a big umbrella walking in the rain. He kept me away from the rain with the umbrella and we ran home together. He was all wet. On that day, I knew my father loved me very much. I understand what love is.

    I have a nice family. My parents love me very much. I have no {#blank#}1{#/blank#}（兄弟）and no sisters. but I have some cousins. This is Kate. She is my {#blank#}2{#/blank#}（叔叔的）daughter. She is a nurse（护士）. She likes{#blank#}3{#/blank#}（蓝色）, and her room is always very {#blank#}4{#/blank#}（整洁的）. She has a cat Mimi. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}（是）she and her cat in the room now? No, they are in the kitchen. And this is John. He is my aunt's son. He likes {#blank#}6{#/blank#}（模型）planes very much. They are{#blank#}7{#/blank#}（到处）.Tom is my aunt's son, too. He is a middle school student. He often helps me with my study. I {#blank#}8{#/blank#}（感谢）him very much for his help. Where is{#blank#}9{#/blank#}（他们的）mother? Oh, she is playing computer games. Two {#blank#}10{#/blank#}（手表）are on the desk, too.

Art class was over,but Sarah sat glued to her chair.She didn't draw anything.Sarah's teacher looked at the blank paper.

"Ah! A polar bear in a snowstorm,"she said.

"Very funny!"said Sarah."I just CAN'T draw!"

Her teacher smiled."Just draw something and see where it takes you."

Sarah grabbed a marker and gave the paper a good,strongjab(戳)."There!"

Her teacher then studied the paper carefully."Hmmm."She pushed the paper toward Sarah and said,"Now  sign(签名)it."

Sarah thought for a moment."Well,maybe I can't draw,but I CAN sign my name."

The next week,when Sarah walked into art class,she was surprised to see what was hanging above her teacher's desk.It was the little dot she had drawn-HER DOT!All framed (装裱)in gold!

"Hmmph!I can make a better dot than THAT!"She opened her never-before-used set of watercolors and set to work.

She painted and painted.

A yellow dot.

A green dot.

A red dot

A blue dot

The blue mixed with the red.She found out that she could make a purple dot.Sarah kept experimenting,creating lots of little dots in many colors.

"If I can make little dots,I can make big dots,too!"Sarah splashed her colors with a bigger brush on bigger paper to make bigger dots.

At the school art show a few weeks later,people loved Sarah's many dots.She found a little boy gazing up at her

"You are really a great artist.I wish I could draw,"he said.

"I bet you can,"said Sarah.

 "ME?No,not me.I can't draw a straight(直的)line with a ruler."

Sarah smiled.She handed the boy a blank sheet of paper."Show me."The boy's pencil shook (发抖)as he drew his line.

Sarah stared at the boy's squiggle(波浪线).And then she said…"Please,sign it."

 For years, scientists have been researching how exposing(暴露) humans to nature may improve their physical and mental health. People are encouraged to visit forests and grow houseplants. Now researchers are also testing whether we can get some of the same benefits from experiencing nature in VR(虚拟现实). 

 Scientists are trying to understand what exactly about nature makes a real difference in health results. One tool that might help is VR, says Hector Alvarez, who wanted to find out if simply seeing nature can relax people. In an experiment, VR allowed him to expose people to the visual(视觉的) experience of nature while controlling temperature, light and air pollution. He is now preparing to publish his research. 

 People can feel safe faster in environments with lots of plants, Hector explains. "That's why I was interested in VR. If it is right that we feel safe faster in nature, it should bring your stress levels down. "

 So far, Hector says, research shows there are some health improvements by experiencing nature in VR. However, they are smaller than those got in the real nature. 

 Gretchen Daily is an environmental scientist at Stanford University. She agrees at parts of this research, especially in situations without nature. But in the long term, connection with nature in the real world can not be replaced. To some degree, Gretchen worries that the idea might take off that VR can replace the real thing. "If that's taken very far, that' ll be really harmful overall because the real thing is necessary in so many ways, " she says. "We just cannot live on a dead planet. "