Some people seem to have extraordinary (非凡的）memories. Zheng Aiqiang, a “memory athlete” on TV show Super Brain, can remember 2,660 numbers in just one hour!

    You would think people like this have special brains. But according to a recent study by researchers from the US and the Netherlands, the brain structures（结构）of ordinary people and 23 of the world's leading memory athletes show no difference.

    That's because good memories can be trained. New research in the journal Neuron (神经元期刊) suggests that you can become a super memorizer with just six weeks of hard training.

    Researchers found that technique (技巧）called loci, invented by ancient Greeks, can greatly help improve memory. By using loci, you are using your imagination to improve the brain's memory networks. You can link（关联）something you need to remember with a place that you know very well. For example, to remember a list of numbers, imagine yourself walking through your house. Each thing is linked to a number. For example, zero could be handle（把手）on the door and five could be the painting on the wall.

    In one study, some ordinary people were given 20 minutes to remember 72 words. First they could only remember 26 of them. But when they were taught loci, they could remember 62 words.

    “Not everyone can become a memory champion. But everyone using the technique can improve a lot from the level they're at,” said Boris Konrad, one of the researchers in the study.

    Nina wants to join the animal protection (保护) club. She writes a letter to the head of the club and tells him about her interests and how she can help the club. Here is her letter:

Dear Mr. Smith,

    I listened to your talk last week and I would like to become a member of the club.

    I am a student and I am in Grade Eight. My favorite subjects are PE and English. I like playing ping pong. Every Monday and Friday, I play ping pong with my classmates. I also like singing and dancing.

    I would like to become a member of the club because I like animals very much. I think it is important for me to do something to protect animals. I want to know more about animals, too. I can participate in (参加) club activities from 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm on Saturdays and Sundays.

    I will be very happy if I can become a member of your club. You can call me at 6543 8895 or email me at nina@126.com.

Yours,

    Nowadays, reading is becoming more and more important, so teachers always encourage(鼓励)their students to read more famous work like The Little Prince, Charlotte's Web and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane and so on .

    Among them, the students like Charlotte's Web best. It's written by American author E.B. White .The novel tells a story of a pig named Wilbur and his friendship with a spider named Charlotte on a farm. When Wilbur is in danger of being killed for his meat by the farmer, Charlotte writes a message to praise（表扬） Wilbur in her web and saves him. Wilbur becomes famous in the village and he is safe in the end. When it came out in 1952, the book was welcomed by adults and children. And it's still very popular today.

    Reading is fun! Besides for fun, we can also analyze (分析) texts to learn more from the texts and more about the texts. One way we can do this is by finding out the theme of the texts.

    The theme of a text is the "big idea" that runs through the text, connecting the characters and events. It is what the writer wants to tell us through the story. Usually the theme of a text isn't told directly, you have to use clues (线索) in the text to find it out. 83 Themes can be ideas like family, friendship, love and so on. The theme might not be just one word, but it might be an idea such as "Friendship is important." There may also be more than one theme in a story. How can we find out the theme of a text? The following steps may help you.

    Read through the whole text, usually characters change as the story goes on, so the theme you get at the beginning might not be true at the end! For this reason, you need to read through the whole text first.

    Find out the clue after reading the whole text, try to answer the following questions. What important events happened during the story? What was the problem? How did the problem get solved? How did the character(s) change? What did the character(s) learn? The answers may help you to get the clues.

    Get the big idea Read again for the writer's purpose of the text by answering the following questions. Was most of the plot(情节) around friendship? Did the characters solve problems with their families? Did the main character learn the importance of friendship? If one of the answers is "yes", you may get the big idea.

    Check the big idea out If you've found a "big idea", go through the text to find the evidence( 证 据 ) that supports this idea in the text. For example, if there was only one small problem with a character's family, then "family" might not be the theme of the text. You might find more evidence for other themes.

    Have you got the way to find out the theme of a text? 84 Get your favorite book quickly and see if you can find the theme out!

    Saving water is an important part of going green. As water becomes less and is polluted (污染的) more, conservation (保护) becomes more and more important. If people keep wasting water, more water needs to be treated and cleaned. This process (过程) needs quite a lot of money.

    As it is said above, cutting down on water usage is one of the most important things you can do for your local environment. That is why more green families are going blue by conserving and harvesting water.

    It may seem like a big concept (概念), but going blue starts with small changes. Something as simple as turning off the tap when you brush your teeth can save a lot of water. Wash your fruits and vegetables in a bowl instead of under a tap to save even more. Make sure that the taps are fully turned off every time you step away.

    Another way of reducing water usage is reducing your dependence on the main water supply. Rainwater harvesting can meet a lot of your home's water needs. Collecting rainwater is a great way to keep your garden green without running the sprinkler (洒水器).