Benjamin Banneker was born a few months before another great American—George Washington. Benjamin was black, but he was not a slave (奴隶). He and his mother and his grandmother were free. Benjamin's grandmother came from England. In America she got a job and worked for many years to pay for her boat trip across the ocean. After working many years, she saved enough money to buy a farm. Benjamin lived with her for a while. She taught him to read, write and do arithmetic (算术).

    Benjamin's neighbours knew that he was clever. They were not surprised when he built a large wooden clock. He made each piece after studying a small pocket watch. The clock made him famous, for it was one of the first clocks built in America. People from other places began to send hard problems of all kinds to Benjamin to settle.

    Thomas Jefferson heard of Benjamin Banneker's ability to settle hard problems. He asked Banneker to help build the city that was to be the capital of the United States—Washington, D.C. Banneker worked hard on the plans for the city. He marked where the streets and buildings—the Capitol (美国国会大厦), the White House, and many other places should be built.

    Later, L' Enfant, the Frenchman who had designed the new city, had a quarrel, and went back to France in anger. He took all of the plans away. The workmen couldn't build without any plans to follow.

    For a while it seemed that the plans for the capital might have to be changed, but Benjamin Banneker remembered the plans he had helped draw. He drew each again as he had built each piece of his clock.

    If it weren't for Benjamin Banneker, Washington,

    D.C might look very different from the way it does today.

When somebody thinks of traveling, one of the first things that come to his mind is the beach. Beaches are among the favorite destinations (目的地) of many people. Here is a list of some must-see beaches.

Kauna'oa Bay, Hawaii

An amazing place in Hawaii, Kanuna'oa Bay is a crescent-shaped (月牙形的) beach that is famous for its clear, blue water and palm trees along its shores. This beach is best for travelers who love sunbathing, swimming and surfing. Located on this island is a historical hotel which gives the beach "Mauna Kea Beach" as its nickname (绰号).

Langkawi, Malaysia

Also known as "the land of one's wishes", the island of Langkawi is one of the best in Malaysia. It is known for white sand beaches with sandy bays (海湾). The beaches are also surrounded (围绕) by mountains of green forests.

St. Barts, France

Located in the Caribbean Sea, St. Barts is a world-class beach that is famous for its sand and greenish-blue waters. Rocks surround and protect the island as well as provide one of the best diving (潜水) opportunities for tourists. The beaches are rarely crowded, so it is perfect for travelers. It is one of the most visited places by rich travelers because of its beauty.

Fraser Island, Australia

This heritage (遗产) island in Queensland, Australia is a World Heritage site that is known to be the largest sand island in the world. It is also popular for its sand dunes (沙丘), forests and plants near its shores. The dunes are surrounded by grass and plants. This sand island is thought to be a paradise by tourists.

Whether yellow, red or white, the onion is a vegetable that you may not know well. The list of its uses in cooking is endless. People have used onions to add flavor(味道) to their foods for thousands of years. Besides onions' great taste, they are very good for you. They have special chemicals(化学物质) that improve your ability to fight off sickness and you have fewer chances of getting a disease. 

No matter how good onions are for you, it is difficult to cut an onion without your eyes filling with tears! When you cut into an onion, irritating(刺激性的) chemicals inside the onion will get into the air. They touch your whole eyes and cause pain. Your eyes make tears to wash away the chemicals and protect your eyes. 

Luckily, cooks and scientists have discovered some ways to keep you from crying when you cut up onions：

Cut the onion under running water. The water will wash away the chemicals before they can reach your eyes. 

Use a fan to blow air over the onion as you cut it. The air will blow the chemicals away from your eyes. 

Put the onion in a fridge for an hour before cutting. This helps make the chemicals in the onion move slowly, so they may not ever reach your eyes. 

If you try out these good ideas and still cry while cutting onions, don't worry. Scientists think if you cut more onions, your body will become more resilient to the onion's chemicals. So the tears will not last long. If you think about how healthy onions are, you might even call those tears "happy tears"．

Farmers Need Help

А group of UK farmers started a campaign (运动) asking large supermarkets to stop "farmwashing", which means using labels (标签) to make shoppers think the food is from small UK farms. The campaign, called Farmers Against Farmwashing, wants UK supermarkets to supports local farmers. 

The farmers said that supermarkets are using farm-style names to make the shoppers think that the food is from the UK farms. But in fact, they are from large farms outside UK. In July, a survey (调查) of 202 farmers showed that 61% were worried and they might give up their farms in 18 months because they were not making enough money. Only 25% of them believed that supermarkets would help them. Still others worried that if they spoke out their worries, the local supermarket would not do business with them. 

 ★ . А survey of supermarket shoppers showed that 74% of them wanted honesty about where their food was coming from. 67% of them felt angry when they found out that supermarkets can use the word "farm" on the food even if it doesn't come from one. 

To start the campaign, the farmers sent an open letter to the bosses of some UK supermarkets. The letter was signed (签名) by more than 100 people. The farmers also asked the shoppers to choose the food to see if they are supporting the local farms. 

Guy Watson, who is leading the campaign, said farmers already had problems of changeable weather and rising costs (money that farmers put into growing and making food), they really need help. He said, "it's time for supermarkets and people to listen."

In our school, all students have their favourite subjects. But students in different grades like different subjects. 

In Grade Seven, students' favourite subject is always Chinese, because it's their mother tongue and it's easy for them. And most of them don't like English. They think English is very difficult, because it's different from Chinese. And they like PE and music, too. Students at this age like playing sports. They can play soccer, basketball in PE classes. Why is music welcome? Most of them think music is relaxing. 

In Grade Eight, some students like maths very much. But they aren't very good at maths, because maths in Grade Eight is a little difficult. They need to do exercises for a long time. Students in Grade Eight also like science and geography. They can learn a lot from science. And they also say they seem (似乎) to go around China in geography classes. 

In Grade Nine, English is some students' favourite subject. It's useful. Students often talk with friends in English after school. They even watch English programs on TV to learn more.