At 18, many American young people go off on their own. They go away to college or find full-time jobs, and they often pay for their own apartments. Some get married and start families. This independence（独立) is learned from childhood.
     From an early age, American children learn to do things by themselves. Children as young as 2 begin to put away their toys and dress themselves. At 3, many children do simple chores like setting the table.
     Using money in the right way is also taught early. As soon as a child understands the value of money, he or she receives a weekly allowance. This is used for things the child wants, like toys or treats. The child can spend or save it, usually with little help or advice from parents. If the child wants more money, it must be earned by doing extra chores.
     Children are taught early in life to think for themselves. They are allowed to make some decisions and make mistakes. Failure often teaches more than success.

A Friend Saves Your Life

    Valentine's Day（情人节） is on February 14th every year. On this day, people send valentines to their loved ones. Valentine's Day is a special time to tell how much you care about（在乎） a person.

    Many people send candy in hearted shaped（心形的） boxes to people they love. Flowers are also presents that people send on Valentine's Day. Valentine cards with words are often used（被使用） by many people.

    Can you guess who gets the greatest number of Valentine cards in the USA each year? Is It mother or father, sister or brother? Is it uncle or aunt? Is it the special friend? No, it isn't!

    Mothers get a lot of cards, but school teachers get the most each year. Do you know who sends the most? Children do. Children send five times（倍） as many on February 14th as adults do.

    In Chinese culture, people believe some numbers are lucky or unlucky. This is to see what Chinese character the number sounds like. For example, the Chinese word for the number 8 sounds like the word for “making a fortune”. So, people think it is a very lucky number. Some people spend a lot of money to have 8s in their phone numbers. The opening time of the Beijing Olympics began at 8:08 p.m. on August 8, 2008.

    The number 9 is also a lucky number. It is something to do with the emperors of China. There were nine dragons on emperors' robes(龙袍). Today, 9 often stands for “long lasting”. That's why close friends always use 99 or 999 to describe their friendship.

    So what's a “bad luck” number in China? It might be 4. Many Chinese people see 4 as a “bad luck” number. Because it sounds like the Chinese character for “death”.

    Because of this, many buildings don't have the fourth floor, and just call it the fifth floor. In Hong Kong, some buildings even don't have all floors numbered with 4, such as, 4、14、24、34 and all 40-49 floors. Some buildings also don't have the 13^th floor as 13 is an unlucky number in the West. Now a question for you: How many floors are actually there if a building's highest floor is numbered 50?

    Many scientists think that the earth is getting warmer and warmer. If the change continues, the natural world and human society will face danger. Scientists believe human activity is responsible for the climate change. We produce too many greenhouse gases. They keep heat in the air and make the earth warm.

    Many of the world's governments agree. And they want to solve the problem. So from December 7 to 18, 2009, they held a conference in Copenhagen, Denmark to talk about global warming and climate change.

    Representatives(代表) from 192 countries and regions went to the meeting. Although they have not reached an agreement, the Copenhagen Accord(《哥本哈根协议》) was an important beginning to save the earth. It was made by a small group of countries including China, the US, India, Brazil and South Africa. Some other countries at the conference also showed support.

    What are the key points of the Copenhagen Accord? The accord limits global temperature increases to 20C by 2050 compared to pre-1850. Scientists think it could help the world to avoid serious climate change.

    The accord also says that developed countries must promise to cut greenhouse gas emissions(排放) to the UN by January 31, 2010. The accord asks developed countries to give money to help developing countries.

    Many countries and organizations are disappointed that the conference didn't reach a legal document(法律约定). And they think the accord is not clear enough about its goals.

    African leaders are worried that the goal of a 20C global temperature increase isn't good enough, because it will mean a much higher increase in temperature across Africa. This could cause big problems like food and water shortages across the continent.

    Still, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon believes the conference was an "improvement".