Spend any time in London, England's capital, and you'll quickly gather that it's a multicultural (多元文化的) community. Look around at your fellow passengers on the Tube(地铁) or the bus. They're of every skin color and dress differently to one another. Listen, and you'll hear many other languages besides English spoken. Some of these people, no doubt, will be tourists who are in London to see the sights. But others — in fact probably most — will be living their lives there, along with millions of others.

    Along with white British people, there are Britons from, or with parents and grandparents from, the Caribbean, India, China and most other places. This makes London a fascinating place in which to live. The reason is that when people settle in a place, they don't just buy a house and live there, but bring aspects of the culture of their “old country” with them.

    The most visible sign of this is the number of restaurants offering dishes from different parts of the world. In a city in which it's estimated 250 different languages are spoken, you can expect a similarly wide range of foods to be available. You would expect in one of the world's leading cities to encounter(遇到) French, Italian, Chinese and Indian eateries. But in London you'll also find Polish, Patagonian and Palestinian restaurants.

    However, London's multiculturalism isn't just about food. Many types of people are gathered in one space, but the way they live differently shows in that space. They worship(崇拜) differently, for one thing. Alongside the famous old English churches by Nicholas Hawksmoor and Christopher Wren — responsible for one of the capital's most famous landmark, St Paul's Cathedral—you'll find mosques(清真寺), temples and synagogues (犹太教堂).

    London even speaks its own special kind of English. Language experts created the term “Multicultural London English” to identify the dialect of English that appeared at the end of the last century.

    All of this makes London a very surprising and varied place to call your home. But, in a way, this has long been true. In the 18^th century, the compiler(编纂者) of the first English dictionary, Samuel Johnson, once said: “ He who is tired of London is tired of life.”

    Everyone needs friends. We all like to feel close to someone. It is nice to have a friend to talk，laugh and do things with. Surely，there are times when we need to be alone. We don't always want people around. But we would feel lonely if we never had a friend.

    No two people are the same. Sometimes friends don't get along well，which doesn't mean that they no longer like each other. Most of the time they will go on being friends. Sometimes friends move away，then we feel very sad. We miss them much，but we can call them and write to them. Maybe we would never see them again，and we can make new friends. It is surprising to find out how much we like new people when we get to know them. Families sometimes name their children after a close friend. Many places are named after men and women，if they are friendly to people in a town. Some libraries are named this way. So are some schools. We think of these people when we go to these places.

    There's more good news for people who have friends. They live longer than those people who don't. Why? It could be that they are happier. Being happy helps you stay well. Or it could be just knowing that someone cares. If someone cares about you，you take better care of yourself.

Sharon, Aged 22

    The most important thing to keep in mind when going into high school is to be yourself. Besides, I don't know what your middle school was like, but high school teachers will not care about things such as how much homework you already have in one night. It's best to just learn to deal with things and manage your time wisely so you can achieve everything you need to.

Frank, Aged 21

    I think almost every kid feels both nervous and excited before their first day. You will probably love it. I know I did. You should join some sports or activities that will make your high school experience more enjoyable. Good luck!

Eddie, Aged 20

    When I started high school I was really nervous too, especially since I had been homeschooled all through middle school and didn't really know anyone. I suppose the best advice would be to just relax. The first couple of days can be a little bit hard, but things will become easier before you know it.

David, Aged 19

    I'm not going to lie. The first day is kind of frightening（令人恐惧的）. But you'll get used to it. Don't be afraid of anyone; upperclassmen will pick on you more if you let them know you're afraid. Just take it easy. Making some friends and staying with them will greatly help you get used to high school quickly. After the first week it's really not bad at all. Don't worry.

    Kong Zi, also called Confucius (551B.C-479B.C, and Socrates (苏格拉底) (469B.C-399B.C) lived only a hundred years apart, and during their lifetimes there was no contact between China and Greece, but it is interesting to look at how the world that each of these great philosophers came from shaped their ideas, and how these ideas in turn, shaped their societies.

    Neither philosopher lived in times of peace, though there were more wars in Greece than in China. The Chinese states were very large and feudal (封建的), while the Greek city-states were small and urban. The urban environment in which Socrates lived allowed him to be more radical (激进的) than Confucius. Unlike Confucius, Socrates was not asked by rules how to govern effectively. Thus, Socrates was able to be more idealistic, focusing on issues like freedom, and knowledge for its own sake. Confucius, on the other hand, advised those in government service, and many of his students went out to government service.

    Confucius suggested the Golden Rule as a principle for the conduct of life: "Do not do to others what you would not want others to do to you." He assumed that all men were equal at birth, though some had more potential than others, and that it was knowledge that set men apart. Socrates focused on the individual, and thought that the greatest purpose of man was to seek wisdom. Like Confucius, he believed that the superior class should rule the inferior (下层的) classes.

    For Socrates, the family was of no importance, and the community of little importance. For Confucius, however, the family was the center of the society, with family relations considered much more important than political relations.

    Both men are respected much more today than they were in their lifetimes.

    Climate change is perhaps the key issue of our time. Often, however, it is presented to us as being so abstract that it seems impossibly distant. For those of you looking for something a little more concrete, a new report suggests that the effects of climate change may significantly affect coffee.

    The report, put out by The Climate Institute, describes the effects of climate change on various coffee-growing nations and the resultant effects on the plants and those who grow them.

    Coffee Arabica plants, which produce 70% of all commercial coffee, can be adversely affected by even a half-degree change in typical weather conditions. This sensitivity to temperature puts the plant at increased risk of the effects of climate change.

    In Central America the average temperature has risen by a full degree Celsius since 1960. In Ethiopia the average temperature has increased by 1. 3 degrees. This increase is enough to have notable effects on the plants. In Tanzania the productivity per hectare of coffee has fallen by half since the 1960s due to changes in temperature.

    Indeed, studies claim that by 2050 the area of the world suitable for growing coffee will be cut by half. Coffee production is likely to then be pushed to higher elevations (海拔) to take advantage of lower temperatures, but this will not be enough to make up for lost lowland areas.

    Coffee is the second most traded goods by developing nations, and the inability of producer nations to export it could cause dramatic chain reactions in their economies. Millions of people make a living in the production, processing, transport, and sale of coffee; their livelihoods would stand to take a blow as growing areas decrease and prices rise.

    As the temperature keeps rising, your cup of coffee will become much more expensive, and it may also carry an aftertaste bitterer than usual, for all those workers in the coffee belt left without the means to make a living as conditions worsen. Not only that, but the economic effects will cost the West millions in increased foreign aid.

    If you're DIY-minded, you can build your own solar power system. In some cases, you can even build your own solar panels (电池板), although the amount that you can effectively DIY home solar depends on how much you want to power. Making your own solar panel is a time-consuming process and requires some electrical skills. However, it can also be very rewarding-learning to build your own panel is a great way to understand how solarelectricity is generated.

    Before you can build your own solar panels, you first need to understand how solar cells generate electricity. Once you've bought individual solar cells (they can be purchased online), the basic process for building your own solar panel goes like this: Prepare the backing for your panel. Many DIY solar panel builders prefer to use a wooden board as the base for their solar cell. You'll need to drill holes in the board so that the wires for each cell can pass through. Wire your solar cells together. This requires some experience with electrical work. Use a soldering iron (烙铁) to attach wire to the solar cells and then link each of the cells together. Attach cells to your backing. If possible, attach each solar cell to the backing individually. This makes it easier to replace a single cell in the event that becomes damaged or is not operating properly.

    At this point you have a functional solar panel that can produce electricity when the sun shines. However, a solar panel by itself is not useful. If you are trying to generate electricity to power devices in your home, you need to pair your panel with an inverter (换流器) that will turn direct current (DC) power from the sun into the alternating current (AC) power used in most modern electronic devices.