How did people in ancient China change their luck? Most of them would take the exam, Keju, which began during the Sui Dynasty and lasted for 1,300 years before it was ended in the Qing Dynasty.

    Keju, the early “gaokao”, played a very important role in choosing qualified persons to work for the king.

    The Keju exams were mainly based on classical literature(文学) and philo- sophy. Poetry was very important in earlier Keju exams, and later Keju focused more on writing.

    All candidates had to write an article explaining ideas from those books, which was called Eight Part Essay. Two sentences were required at the start of the article, about the main idea of the title, which was called “to clear the topic”. The exams also focused on more practical matters.  

    Most candidates in ancient China had to go a long way to the capital city for the exam. As transportation in ancient times was not developed, they usually went to the capital on foot, and some took several months to reach the capital.

    The exam was held once every three years and it was made up of four levels: the county examination, provincial examination, academy examination and palace examination. Candidates had to first pass one level in order to take part in the next level. Each examination would take from one to three days to finish, and they were locked in a small room and received cold meals.

    On the exam day, candidates had to first go through safety check. They had to let their hair loose so that it could be checked and their trouser legs, shoes and socks, even bottoms were also checked.

    Tears ran down from my eyes as I saw the essay my high school English teacher had just handed back. A big F was written on top. I was hopeless. I was stupid !My face burned with shame when my classmates called me stupid.

    “I'm the only one who doesn't know my ABCs!” I sobbed to Mom.

    “I'll help,” she promised.

    Everyday I sat with her, but to me, cat looked like cta and red was reb. Frustrated, I would return to my bedroom and draw, filling the paper with houses, restaurants and offices.

    “When I grow up, I want my own store,” I told Mom , pointing to my drawings.

    “That's great!” she said, “ but first you have to learn to read.”

Later, I was diagnosed with dyslexia (失读症). So Mom took me to a learning centre, where I was given reading exercises. But I still had a hard time. Finally, I graduated, but I was afraid of my reading skills.

    “I'll never get a job !”  I cried to Mom later again.

    “Don't focus on what you can't do,” she comforted, “ Concentrate on what you really can.”

    But what can I do? I wondered. Suddenly, I thought of the drawings I'd made as a child and my dream of having my own store. I enjoyed sales so much that over the next few years, I tried my hand at other businesses. Today, I watch over seven branches. We have 187 employees and $15 million in sales.

    While I'll never be what my teachers might have wanted, I am a success--on my own terms. The other day a student sent me a card, reading: You gave me so much confidence. I hope to be like you when I am big. Tears of joy filled my eyes. This was my A, and I smiled.

    Is Paperless Office Really Paperless?

    A rising economy increased paper sales by 6 to 7 percent each year in the early to mid-1990s, and the convenience of desktop printing allowed office workers to indulge anything and everything. In 2004, Ms. Dunn, a communications supplies director, said that plain white office paper would see less than a 4 percent growth rate, a primary reason for which is that some 47 percent of the workforce entered the job market after computers had already been introduced to offices.

    For office innovators, the dream of paperless office is an example of high-tech arrogance（傲慢）. Today's office service is overwhelmed By more newspapers than ever before. After decades of development, the American government can finally get rid of the madness on paper. In the past, the demand for paper has been far ahead of growth in the American economy, but the sales have slowed markedly over the past two to three years, despite the good economic conditions.

    “Old habits are hard to break,” says Ms. Dunn. “There are some functions that paper serves where a screen display doesn't work. Those functions are both its strength and its weakness.” Analysts attribute the decline to such factors as advances in digital databases and communication systems. Escaping our craving for paper, however, will be anything but an easy affair.

    “We're finally seeing a reduction in the amount of paper being used per worker in the workplace,” says John Maine, vice president of a paper economic consulting firm. “More information is being transmitted electronically, and an increasing number of people are satisfied that information exists only in electronic form without printing multiple backups.”

    To reduce paper use, some companies are working to combine digital and paper capabilities. For example, Xerox is developing electronic paper: thin digital displays that respond to a stylus, like a pen on paper. Marks can be erased or saved digitally. Even with such technological advances, the increasing amounts of electronic data necessarily require more paper.

    “The information industry today is composed of a thin paper crust surrounding an electronic core,” Mr. Saffo wrote. The growing paper crust is most noticeable, but the hidden electronic core is far larger and growing more rapidly. The result is that we are becoming paperless, but we hardly notice at all. “That's one of the greatest ironies of the information age,” Saffo says. “It's just common sense that the more you talk to someone by phone or computer, it inevitably leads to a face-to-face meeting. The best thing for the aviation industry was the Internet.”

    Researchers in Australia have discovered an effective new method to capture the atmospheric carbon dioxide that is damaging our planet and transform it into something solid, making it much easier to store.

    Carbon capture isn't new, but previous methods call for the gas to be compressed into liquid and then injected underground. Widespread usage of that technology has been locked by economic and environmental concerns due to possible leaks. Instead, in a study published in Nature Communications, the group details their sustainable and cost-effective plan for transforming CO₂ into coal.

    This new process involves a liquid metal catalyst(催化剂)that is efficient in conducting electricity. CO₂ gas is dissolved in a container with some liquid. Once electricity charge is introduced, the CO₂ begins to turn into solid pieces of carbon, which can be collected and stored.

    What makes this particularly unique is that the entire process can occur at room temperature. Previous experiments have only shown a gas to solid conversion at extremely high temperature, which made it impossible on a large scale. Now, the researchers are hoping that their work will be used to create even further when it comes to carbon storage.

    In an interesting side benefit, the solid carbon also works as an electrode(焊条), which opens up a world of possibilities. "A side benefit of the process is that the carbon can hold electrical charge, becoming a super battery, so it could potentially be used as a part in future vehicles," explains Dr. Dorna Estrafilzadeh, a researcher. "The process also produces fuel as a by-product, which could also have industrial applications."

Starting a club of some kind at school can be difficult. But with a good idea, some active friends, and the right knowledge, you can pull it off. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}.

Decide whether you really want to start a club. Once you have strong enough support from your friends and fellow students, you're ready to go.

{#blank#}2{#/blank#}. Find an advisor for your club. Pick someone who will help you organize events for your club.

Find a place. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} If you want to do this,  talk to your headteacher to apply (申请) for a classroom.

Decide when to meet. Decide how often your club should meet, and then pick a convenient time and day when most club members will be free.

Advertise your club at school. Make bright, colorful informative posters (海报) that will attract attention. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}.

Plan volunteering events. You can decide on events yourself, or hold a meeting to get your club's opinion. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

Have fun. What's the point of having a club if it's no fun? Don't take yourself too seriously and be sure to have a sense of humor.
 

Reading is a unique human experience. Just by skimming our eyes over some words, we can {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (mental) travel across time and space. But reading can also be hard, especially when we're faced with a difficult text. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (make) it an easier, more rewarding experience you'd read in print when possible. One reason for doing so is that our eyes are less likely to skim past printed words than those {#blank#}3{#/blank#} screen. Plus, consuming content on a physical page helps the brain make a mental map of the information, {#blank#}4{#/blank#} in turn makes it easier to remember details in future.