Skyscrapers are very tall buildings in a city. Looking up at them might make you dizzy (眩晕的). Looking down from them might make you dizzy too. A skyscraper is a wonder (奇观), whether you are looking up or down.

    How can the buildings be so tall? Something that happened during the 1880s made it possible. There were two important things at that time First, a man named William Jenney got the idea of using a steel frame to hold up the walls and floors (钢架支撑墙壁和地面) of a building. Jenney's idea made it possible to build taller buildings, so he is called the "Father of the American skyscraper". Second, the lifts improved They got much faster and safer. That helped people go up and down the tall buildings more easily.

    Back in the 1880s, Jenney's first tall building was 10 stories (楼层) high. But today, some buildings have 100 stories or more. In 2004, Taipei 101, at 101 stories high, became the tallest building in the world. But soon the Burj Khalifa in Dubai overtook (超过) it in 2010. The 828-metre building has 163 stories.

    现在全世界有许多非常高的建筑物。For example，Shanghai Tower in China，One World Trade Centre in the US，Abraj Al-Bait Clock Tower in Saudi Arabia etc All of them are really wonderful，aren't they?

    Do you often use a cellphone? Do you take the subway to school every day? These items make our modern life easier. But do you know how we should behave properly while using them? The following suggestions might be helpful. For cellphone users

    Keep your voice down when you make a phone call in public. Shouting on the phone may make others feel uncomfortable. And you'd better not use it during an appointment（约会）.

    Stop sending messages or playing games with your cellphone at a dinner or a party. It's a good time to communicate（交流）with your family and friends.

    Don't make or answer a call while driving. It is not only very dangerous for both you and your passengers but also against the law. For subway passengers

    You are supposed to wait in line while buying tickets and getting on the subway.

    You're not allowed to eat, drink or smoke on the subway train. The smell and noise may trouble others. It's our duty to keep the train clean and tidy. Besides, smoking is bad for health.

    You can't take pets on the train. As we all know, animals may spread diseases（传播疾病）and get the train dirty.

    You'd better not lie across the subway seats even if the train isn't crowded. Offering your seat to someone who needs it is regarded as good manners.

Titles：Some etiquette in modern life

    Visitors to London often eat in restaurants. The owners and workers in them are all from other countries. The visitors say in these restaurants they don't feel they are in England. Most English people eat at home as much as they can. Sometimes they themselves will think they are in another country when they are in restaurants. When an Englishman goes out of a restaurant, he may find that he doesn't understand why everything is written in French and Italian.

    Most English people think it is better to eat at home, because it is cheaper. They don't want to spend much money on food and they like cooking at home. They like fast food. But for Christmas, they will spend two or three weeks getting ready for it, because they want to have good food.

    Dinosaurs(恐龙)once lived on the earth for a long time. They suddenly disappeared millions of years ago. What happened to them? That's still a mystery. People never stop searching for the answer.

    Some US scientists say it is because there were not enough male(雄性的)dinosaurs. They got this idea after researching crocodiles(鳄鱼).

    Mother crocodiles lay eggs and later baby crocodiles come out. The local temperature decides the sex(性别)of the baby crocodile. When the eggs are at a temperature of 26℃ to 30℃,the babies are all girls; when the temperature is 30℃ to 34℃,there are both boys and girls; when it is 34℃ to 36℃, only boys are born.

    Dinosaurs' babies also came from eggs. So scientists have given us a new picture: millions of years ago, it suddenly became very cold. Almost all dinosaur babies were girls. There were fewer and fewer male dinosaurs. Mother dinosaurs could not give birth to more babies. Finally, these powerful animals disappeared.

    Spending time in a bookshop can be enjoyable. If you go to a good bookshop, no assistant(店员)will come near to you and say, "Can I help you? "You needn't buy anything you don't want. If you want to find some books, the assistant will lead you there and then he or she will go away. He or she seems not to be interested in selling any books at all.

    There is a story about a good bookshop. A student wanted to buy a very useful book in the bookshop. But it was too expensive for him to buy. So every afternoon, he went there to read a little at a time. (One day, however, he couldn't find the book from its usual place. He was leaving when he saw an assistant signing(示意)to him. He was surprised that the assistant pointed to the book in the corner. "I put it there so that people couldn't see it or buy it," said the assistant. Then he left the student to go on with his reading.

    It is a rainy day. A train stops at a small station. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} He looks out of the window and sees a shop. A woman is selling cakes in the shop and the cakes look nice. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} But the shop isn't near the train. The man doesn't want to walk in the rain. Then he sees a boy. The boy is about five years old. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} "Come here, boy!" says the man, "Do you know how much the cake is?" "Two dollars for one." says the boy. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} "One is for you and the other is for me," he says to the boy.

    After a while (过了一会儿), the boy comes back. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} He gives the man two dollars and a piece (块) of cake. "Sorry, there is only one cake left (剩余). I eat one half of the cake and here is the other half for you," says the boy.