Everybody hates rats. But rats may soon be man's new best friends.

    What happens after an earthquake? We send in rescue (援救) dogs. Why? Because they can smell people. Dogs save lives. They help rescuers to find living people. But dogs are big and they can't get into small space. So now a new research project is using a smaller animal to save lives: the rat.

    How does it work? First, the rat is trained to smell people. When this happens, the rat's brain gives a signal. This is sent to a small radio on its back, and then the rescuers follow the radio signals. When the rat's brain activity jumps, the rescuers know that someone is alive. The rat has smelled that person.

    Although there are already robots which can do this job, rats are better. "Robots' noses don't work well when there are other smells around. Rats are good at that," says a scientist. Rats can also see in the dark. They are cheaper and quicker to train than dogs, and unlike robots, they don't need electricity.

    The "rat project" is not finished, but a scientist says, "It would be fantastic. A rat could get into space we couldn't get to and a rat would get out if it wasn't safe." Perhaps for the first time in history, people will be happy to see a rat in a building (but only after an earthquake, of course).

A little bear is called Herry. He doesn't like brushing1. Every day his mother2to him,

"Herry, it's time for you to brush your teeth and go to bed.""I know, Mom." says Herry unhappily. He goes to the3and turns on the tap(龙头). He keeps water running. His mother thinks he is brushing his teeth.

"Too many teeth! How can I brush all these teeth?" Herry feels sad. "Maybe I can do it tomorrow morning. It is too bad to brush teeth every day." He looks at his4teeth and thinks, "I don't want to brush my teeth today. I can brush them twice tomorrow. That will be OK."

But the next day, he doesn't brush his teeth. He always thinks he can do it tomorrow. One morning, when he gets up, he finds all of his teeth have gone5. He cries, "My teeth! My teeth! " His mother comes into his bedroom and says, "What's6?" "I don't have any teeth now, Mom! I7to brush my teeth every day. " He cries again and again. His mother takes him to see the8. The doctor says, "Oh, little bear! I am9to say you can't eat any food now. There aren't any teeth in your mouth."

The little bear cries and cries10. Suddenly he wakes up, "Oh, thank goodness! It is a dream. A terrible dream." He gets up at once and goes to brush his teeth. He tells himself to brush his teeth every day.

Dear Grace Yang,

Thank you for your application (申请) for the position of sales manager.

We would like to invite you for an interview at 10:00 am on Wednesday, 20th September at our office at The Shard, 32 London Bridge Street, London.

You will meet with our head of sales, Susan Park, and the interview will last for about 45minutes. During this time, you will have the opportunity to find out more about the position and learn more about our company.

Please bring your CV(a short document that shows your experience) and references (推荐信) to the interview. You will also need to show your ID card at reception(接待处) to receive a visitor's pass. Please ask for me as soon as you arrive.

If you have any questions or you wish to change the time of the interview, please call me at 555234: or email me by 14th September.

I look forward to meeting you.

Best regards,

Anna Green

Five years ago, my mother, gave birth to a brother for me when I was 8. I have learned a lot from getting along with him. 

After he was born, I almost became a babysitter. I had to amuse him after school. I would make faces and sing to him when he was crying. Sometimes I even carried him everywhere in our yard to refresh him while my parents were busy. What I liked to do best was to feed him when looking after him. How cute he was as he tasted his favorite food! My parents often praised me happily, " As an elder brother, you've made contributions to looking after your younger brother. "

I have got happiness from sharing. When I was young, I was the only child in my family. I could get what I wanted from my parents and get my parents' whole love. I was a "Little Emperor". 

But now, as long as I get something good, I will share it with him. I remembered the year when he was three, he was fond of Rubik's cubes(魔方). I bought one for him with my lucky money as a birthday present When he got the toy, he was so happy that he laughed, hugged me and said, "Brother, I love you!

Thanks for spending these years together, with my family. It has taught me what responsibility means, what unselfishness means and what friendship means. 

Not only should I look after myself, but also I should pay attention to my family and my friends. 

My sister and I are very different.When people meet us both, they are always surprised to learn that we are sisters. This is because we don't look like each other, we have different personalities（性格），and our lifestyles are different.

Do you resemble your brother or sister? My sister and I don't resemble each other at all.I am tall, but she is very short. I have short dark brown hair and green eyes.She has long blonde hair and blue eyes. I am strong, but she is not. I have big hands and feet; her feet and hands are very small.

When we were kids, she was thin, but I was heavy.Now we're both heavy.

We also have opposite personalities.She is always stressed out. I am calmer and more out—going.She is very worried about what other people think and say about her, but I really don't care. When she has a problem, she just worries about it, but when I have a problem, I try to fix（解决）it.She easily gets angry， especially with our mother. But I—am more patient.

Our lifestyles are very different. I love old things and hardly ever go shopping.But she goes shopping twice or more a week. I have cats.She has a dog. I read.She watches TV.

 Don't view people like me as dinosaurs. Yes, we are living in the Information Age, but I have no 1 in saying I can't give up newspapers. Every morning,I read The Seattle Times, The New York Times and USA Today.

I used newspapers to 2 my kids. No, I am not joking. During my eldest son's teenage years, he wouldn't 3 me no matter what I said or how I said it. So I used newspapers. "4 you don' t believe me, just read the paper," I would say. I 5 for my kids any good story with life lessons. I made my 6 through words in black and white. The printed words worked like7 . Immediately, there were no more disagreements or8 .

 Reading newspapers opened my kids' minds in 9 areas. There were, of course, areas I had no knowledge of or things that would never cross my mind to teach. I was10 that my kids, at a young age, understood very complex(复杂的) problems. Every day, they could find reliable stories 11 many different topics in newspapers.

 But newspapers are not only for kids; they are for adults, too. My 85-year-old aunt never finished primary school.12 , she always enjoys reading newspapers and learns a lot every day. "13 did you know that?" I would ask her when she would throw one14 scientific discovery at me. "I read about it in the newspaper," she would always reply.

 We are in the Information Age, but I believe newspapers 15 play an important role in" educating" people of all ages.