As parents, you can help children deal with the fear of natural disasters (自然灾害) and help protect them from being hurt by telling them how disasters happen, and what to do when disasters happen. Here are some tips for you:

◆ Find out what disasters are possible in your area by visiting your local library;

◆ Think about where your family should go if your house is destroyed（毁坏）.

◆ Teach children the warning signs and signals in your area and practice what to do if a disaster happens.

◆ Once you know the danger, ask your children to help check the safety in your house. You and your children can also work together on a disaster plan and prepare a disaster box with food, water and necessary tools.

◆ If a disaster does happen, pay attention to your children's behavior. Changes in behavior, for example, acting strangely, mean that your children need help.

◆ Allow children to share their feelings about what has happened such as drawing a picture or writing a story.  

◆ Let friends and neighbors help you if they can.

◆ Continue to tell your children that they are loved.

Are You Right Handed or Left Handed?

    Which hand do you use when write? About 8 to 15 percent of people are left handed. They often have to use tools that are designed for right-handed people. So it is difficult for left-handers to use most tools. If you are right handed, try this experiment: Take a knife with your left hand and try cutting a potato into pieces. Don't be surprised if you feel awkward（别扭的）.

    In the past, people thought it was strange to use the left hand. Young students looked down upon their left-handed classmates. Some children were even punished for using their left hand to write. But these days parents and teachers have accepted that. In almost every school in the world, left-handed students can use their left hand to write.

    What causes people to be left handed or right handed? Experts have searched long and hard on this. They conclude（得出结论） that left-handed people are left handed for the same reason that right-handed people are right handed. One out of every ten people just is a left-handed people are right handed. One out of every ten people just is a left-hander. It's simply like the color of our eyes – some people have brown eyes, while some others have black eyes.

    However, may researchers think that left-handers and right-handers are different in some aspects. Right-handers are more talkative and outgoing than left-handers. Many right-handed people understand spoken words better. For example, after they listen to directions to a supermarket, they can find it easily. Right-handers are good at organizing people, too. They are also better basketball guards. Just ask Yao Ming.

    Research shows that left-handers are creative and artistic. Many famous performers, like Jim Carrey and Paul McCartney, are left handed. Many left-handers learn better visually（在视觉方面）. In art, both Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo were left handed. In music, Ludwig van Beethoven was left handed. In science, you find Newton and Einstein. The left-handed people are also really good at tennis and other single sports.

    If you prefer one hand, but you are still good at writing with the other, you are mixed. Research shows mixed-handers can remember everyday things better than other people. What did you eat for lunch two weeks ago? If you're mixed handed, you can probably remember.

    Our school is a green school．What makes it green？

    First，we have a lot of trees．There are trees in front of and behind every building．Some trees are green only in spring and summer．And some are green all year round．The trees make our school look like a big forest.

    And our school is a green one because we "go green". How do we go green？We have two green days every month．On green days，no students or teachers go to school by car．And we have clean﹣up Day every month．That day，students go to streets to pick up rubbish．Also，we have tree﹣planting Day every spring．We plant young trees on hills．We have three green clubs The members of the clubs look after those trees well．

    Green is not only a colour．It is about life．Please go green with us and make the world a more beautiful place．

    Humans and animals need oxygen to exist. Without it, most living things will die. But where does oxygen come from'? Trees. Trees can take in much carbon dioxide which may be bad for our environment and produce oxygen for us to breathe.

    All people know that trees are important to us. Scientists believe humans cannot live if there are no trees on the Earth.

    Trees are a major source(来源) of food. Apples, oranges, lemons all come from trees.  Humans and animals knew how to get food from trees many years ago.

    In fact, many kinds of important medicine come from trees too. Some special things on trees can be used to produce medicine. Also, trees can make the world beautiful and relaxing. They help protect the soil.

    Light and shadow（影子）are friends. They usually go together. We receive light every day. At the same time, we produce shadow.

    Light cannot shine through you. Your body stops it from passing. There is a dark spot on the ground next to you. The light cannot reach the dark spot. This is your shadow.

    At noon the Sun shines over your head. Your body stops very little light from reaching the ground.

    We love light, especially sunlight. Without sunlight, life on the Earth is impossible. Most of us like to stand in the shadow of a tree in summer. But some people are afraid of their own shadow at night. They do not want to walk in a dark street. They do not want to see the shadow either. But still light and shadow usually go together.

    Since the 1970s, scientists have been searching for ways to link the brain with computers. Brain-computer interface (BCI) technology could help people with disabilities send commands to machines.

    Recently, two researchers, Jose Millan and Michele Tavella from the Federal Polytechnic School in Lausanne, Switzerland, demonstrated(展示) a small robotic wheelchair directed by a person's thoughts.  In the laboratory, Tavella operated the wheelchair just by thinking about moving his left or right hand. He could even talk as he watched the vehicle and guided it with his thoughts.

    "Our brain has billions of nerve cells~ These send signals through the spinal cord(脊髓) to the muscles to give us the ability to move. But spinal cord injuries or other conditions can prevent these weak electrical signals from reaching the muscles," Tavella says. "Our system allows disabled people to communicate with external (外部的) world and also to control devices."

    The researchers designed a special cap for the users. This head cover picks up the signals from the scalp(头皮) and sends them to a computer. The computer interprets (translate) the signals and commands the motorized wheelchair. The wheelchair also has two cameras that identify (find or discover) objects in its paths. They help the computer react to commands from the brain.

    Professor Millan, the team leader, says scientists keep improving the computer software that interprets brain signals and turns them into simple commands. "The practical possibilities that BCI technology offers to disabled people can be grouped in two categories: communication and controlling devices. One example is this wheelchair. "

    He says his team has set two goals. One is testing with real patients, so as to prove that this is a technology they can benefit from. And the other is to guarantee that they can use the technology over long periods of time.