Thumbs Down to Texting （屈指发短信）

       Do you have a mobile phone? Do you send text messages to your friends and family?

       Text messaging or “texting” is becoming very popular. But, scientists have discovered that texting can give us problems with our hands. Be careful! Too much texting can cause swelling in our thumbs. Our thumbs were not made for pushing small buttons, over and over. Scientists call this problem RSI. We spoke to a doctor called Harriet Wilson, who treats many sick people with RSI. She says we need to see how much time we are spending in typing text messages. If we are spending more than 10–15 minutes at once, we could have problems in the future.

       As mobile phones develop, they are getting smaller with buttons closer together. Texting with a smaller phone is worse than using a larger phone with bigger buttons. Using a computer keyboard and playing video games can cause the same problem. So more and more people could find themselves with RSI. Among them, most are university students and teenagers, as they do not know the risks of spending so much time using computer, video games and mobile phones. If we don't do something about this, too many young people could grow up in terrible pain.

    Friends are very important in everyone's life because friends are always there when we need them. It's great to have many friends, and I can't think about my life without my friends.

    My best friend is Lisa. When I first met her, I was five. She is one year older than me. Now she is in the same class with me, in the 8th grade. She is tall and quite thin. She has long curly blond hair and blue eyes. Lisa and I like doing a lot of things together and talking about different things. She always helps me with my math and I sometimes help her with her English and history, I had to do a report(报告)on science once, but I didn't understand(理解) what the teacher said. The next day, I read it in front of the class. But the teacher told me that my report was wrong and my classmates laughed at me. I felt very bad about myself. Lisa was the only one who didn't laugh at me. She tried to be nicer than anybody else and made me happy.

    Lisa is friendly and everybody loves her. I am happy to have a friend like her.

Information Card

    The Backstreet Boys is a well-known rock band in the USA．When their first album（音乐专辑） came out, they got a lot of attention. Young people everywhere loved their songs. Among the band's biggest fans, there was a young boy named Aaron Carter. Aaron had a special reason for taking such an interest in the band. Nick Carter, one of the Backstreet Boys, was Aaron's big brother.

    Even before Nick joined the band, Aaron loved music. From the age of two, Aaron spent lots of time listening to the radio. He sang along with his favorite songs. He made up dances to go with them. That's why Aaron's family was not surprised when Aaron decided to follow Nick into the music world.

    Aaron got off to a fast start. At the age of seven, he joined a band in his hometown of Tampa, Florida. But after two years, Aaron didn't want to be part of a band anymore. He wanted to sing alone. Soon, brother Nick gave Aaron a helping hand. During a Backstreet Boys show in Germany, Aaron sang a song. He did an amazing job! After the show, someone from a record company asked Aaron to make an album. Of course, Aaron said yes!

    Since that day, Aaron has made many popular songs．His songs include" Crush on You" and "I'm Gonna Miss You Forever".

    Aaron has worked hard to become a success. But he never forgets how his brother gave him his start. As Aaaron has said. "If Nick wasn't a singer, then I wouldn't be here."

    The first cartoons appeared in newspapers. They told stories using pictures. The first cartoon film appeared in 1906. It was about humorous faces. In the film, an artist drew pictures of two faces on a blackboard. The faces came to life. They smiled and a small dog jumped through a ring. There were a lot of animals in early cartoons. One famous early cartoon character was Felix the Cat.

    Walt Disney started to make films in the 1920s. Some of his earliest films were about a famous story, Alice in Wonderland, but in Disney's films it was called Alice in Cartoon Land. Walt Disney's most famous cartoon character was Mickey Mouse, first in a black-and-white film without sound, then very soon after that in a talking film and later in colour. A Mickey Mouse film was the first cartoon film with sound to become really popular.

    Today, the popularity of cartoons has risen around the world. People of all ages still show great interest in cartoons.

    Everybody knows that healthy eating habits are important. Here are five good eating habits for you.

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    Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day. You may need even more water when you are exercising.

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    Breakfast is the most important meal of a day. You can have more energy(能量) after eating breakfast.

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    If you don't have enough time to have a big meal, take some bread with you for a quick lunch. Don't eat lunch which has too much oil: If you don't have lunch, that will be bad for your health.

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    We should eat fruit and vegetables every day." Add a banana to your breakfast, have salad for lunch, and eat some vegetables at dinner. If someone doesn't like to eat vegetables, he or she can eat some fruit instead.

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    Try to have dinner at least 3 hours before going to bed. Your body needs time to digest(消化) most of the food before you rest for 8 hours.

Many middle school students don't know how to spend their free time. When they have holidays, they always have nothing to do and feel bored. How can you spend a perfect holiday? Here are some suggestions(建议).

If you like to stay at home, you can do these things. First, you may listen to some light music which helps relax yourself after working for a long time. Second, you can play some indoor(室内的)games such as chess, cards, and able tennis. Third, you can also plant some trees and flowers in your garden to make your home beautiful. Finally, it is also a good way to keep a pet and talk with it. For example, you can chose to keep a dog.

If you don't like to stay at home, you can go for a picnic with your family or friends, take a walk with your parents in a park, or play some sports out of the house. Go out of the house, and you can take some fresh air and keep healthy.

Just have some hobbies(爱好)and you will feel happy during a long holiday.