Find Which Direction Is South

    Do you have a good sense of direction? If not, please take with you a compass. But if you forget to take a compass, you can still find your way.

    It's never a good idea to imagine that the family member who was entrusted (委托) with the job of map-reading actually knows where the family is. You can tell by the slightly confused load on their faces that nothing on the ground seems to match the map. Never mind. The sun is shining and it's still morning.If you don't know the exact time, you can still find out where south is, but you'll need to be patient.

    ①Find a straight stick and put it in the ground in a place where you can mark its shadow.

    ②Try to position the stick as vertically(垂直)as you can. You can check this by making a simple plumb line (铅锤线) with a piece of string and weight. You haven't got any string? OK, use a thread from your clothes with a button tied at the end to act as a weight.

    ③Mark the end of the shadow cast by the stick.

    ④Wait approximately half an hour and mark the end of the shadow again.

    ⑤Keep doing this until you have made several marks.

    ⑥The mark nearest the stick will represent the shortest shadow, which is cast at midday, when the sun is highest in the sky and pointing to the exact south.

    ⑦Pick a point in the distance along the line between the shortest shadow and the stick.

    ⑧That point is south of where you are.

    ⑨Now you can turn the map, like you did before, and find which way you should be travelling.

    Rubbish is a major kind of environmental pollution. Each person produces about 2kg of rubbish a day. We are making waste products faster than nature can break them down. And we are using up resources(资源)faster than they can he replaced(取代).

    This adds up to trouble for the environment. Where does all that rubbish go? What can be done to help dispose of(处理)rubbish? How can we make less rubbish?

    Rubbish isn't just the smelly rotting fruits, vegetables or meat that we throw away(抛弃) in our homes Those are only a small part of all tile stuff we throw away. We create other kinds of waste, in construction, mining and in our factories.

    Did you ever wonder what happens to your rubbish? Most is burned(燃烧)or buried in landfills(垃圾填埋场). Less than a quarter of our waste is recycled(回收).

    With a population of 1.3 billion(十亿), rubbish is a big problem for China. Chinese city create around 148 million tons of rubbish every year. The amount is growing at around 10 percent each year.

    Once we used about 3 billion plastic shopping bags everyday in China. The result was a great waste of resources and serious pollution. So we did something about that. Now we use more cloth bags and shopping baskets when we shop.

    In the coming years China will build waste-to-energy plants in cities to clean up the rubbish. But there's a lot more that needs to be done. And you can play a role.

    If you're ever apart from your children, a new study says just talking on the phone will help just as much as a hug(拥抱).

    If you're a parent who spends long hours on the job, you probably feel sorry for spending so much time away from your kids. But the results of a new study show that a mother's voice alone can be just as comforting to an anxious child as physical contact(接触).

    In an experiment, researchers from the University of Wisconsin Madison asked a group of girls between the ages of 7 and 12 to solve math problems in front of judges—a stressful situation for anyone. Before the girls were set to give their answers, the researchers measured their levels of two hormones(荷尔蒙): cortisol, which goes up during stressful periods, and oxytocin, the "love" hormone, which goes down at the same time.

    After the girls finished the problems, some of them got to meet up with their mothers right away. The moms came in and hugged the girls. Another group of the girls didn't see their mothers, but received phone calls from them, in which their mothers told them how well they'd done. The final group had no contact with their mothers, but instead watched an animal movie, March of the Penguins.

    Finally, the girls' hormone levels were measured again. Although the movie was interesting, it did nothing to reduce the children's anxiety—but, surprisingly, both the physical contact and phone calls from their mothers had the same effect on reducing the girls' stress levels.

    So, no matter how old you are, if you're feeling stressed about something in your life, a phone call to Mom might be just the key to help you feel better.

Word box: location 地点

 Do you know the grass in the picture? It is a kind of grass for cats. It is good for your cat. Are you a cat lover? Do you want your cat to be healthy? Then you can plant this kind of grass at home. Please find the following steps. 

 What you need:

A small planter (花盆)

 Potting soil (盆栽土)

 Water

 Seeds (种子) ( You can buy them at any plant store. )

▲:

 Fill the planter with the soil. Water the soil until it is a little wet. Throw seeds across the top layer (层) of the soil, and then press (按) them into the soil. Water the soil again. Keep the soil wet until the seeds begin to sprout (发芽) — about one or two weeks. Then water is needed 、 When your seeds grow tall enough, you can invite your cat to taste it. 

Nowadays, we can call our friends from a thousand kilometres away. We can talk to each other with telephones or computers. Developments of technology have brought us {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(close) together than ever before. 

It is, of course,{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(popular) and quickest way of communication. However, do we ever think about what we are losing? As someone who {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (like) writing and receiving letters, I often feel sad that so few people now give letter writing a fair chance. 

You might consider letter writing to be out- of- date,{#blank#}4{#/blank#} I believe we should all write and send letters more often. To begin with, there is lots of love in a handwritten letter. This is why texting or calling doesn't feel as {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(special) as writing. These days, we focus on getting things done in the{#blank#}6{#/blank#} (fast) way. Handwritten letters, however, can make receivers feel much{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(warm) because they take time for us to prepare. When we receive a letter, we feel we are {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (real) loved, remembered and missed. In fact, the process of writing a letter can make us feel happy too. When we sit down and focus on what we are writing, we allow {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(we) to take a break from the stress of our lives. 

Moreover, while texts come and go, letters can be {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (keep) forever. We can always go back and read them again. By keeping a letter, we keep a part of that person and his or her relationship with us. So pick up your pen! Let's bring back the art of letter writing.