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Small Libraries with Big Stories

    In 2009 in Wisconsin, US, Todd Bol came up with an idea to remember his mother. Bol's mother had been a teacher who had loved reading. Bol wanted to share his mother's love of reading with others. He decided to build a wood box and fill it with books. Bol placed the box of books on a post in his front yard (院子) with words "Free Books."

    Soon Bol's neighbours noticed this small box. They began taking the books and putting their own books back. This was the beginning of the Little Free Library. The small library allowed people to "check out" books day or night. It was always open. People didn't need library cards and they could read or return the books whenever. But this library didn't just provide books. It also helped build friendships. As more and more people visited Bol's little library, they began talking with one another. They shared thoughts, ideas, and stories. They got to know one another. Everyone loved the little library.

    Bol's friends and neighbours wanted little libraries of their own. Bol built several and gave them away. One of his friends, Rick Brooks, noticed that the libraries encouraged people to read. He believed that Bol's little libraries could help more than just local friends and neighbours. With these ideas in mind, Bol and Brooks came up with a plan to build more than 2,500 Little Free Libraries around the world.

    To carry out the plan, Bol and Brooks created a website. People can get information about the Little Free Libraries and how to start their own little libraries.

    Because of Bol and Brooks, the Little Free Libraries are encouraging people to read more and to be friendlier. Today there are more than 75,000 Little Free Libraries in 88 countries worldwide.

    There are many different kinds of animals on the earth(地球）. We can see 1 of them in the zoo. Koalas come 2 Australia. They are quiet, friendly and cute. Children like them. They need a 3for a home. Penguins(企鹅）come from 4 .They are quiet and interesting,5 they are not friendly. Giraffes come from Africa. They are interesting 6 exciting. They need a big home. Lions 7 also from Africa. They are exciting but scary. Tigers come from India（印度） and China. They are exciting but scary, too. Lions and tigers need a large place8 live in. Pandas are from China. They're cute and friendly. They9 need a big home.10 are also other animals in the zoo, like bears, monkeys, deer and camels.（骆驼）

    Sometimes, a teacher may ask you to write your reading assignments (任务). Why should we write a reading assignment?

    Having a habit of writing down what you read is a useful tool to develop your comprehension (理解力) and critical-thinking (批判性思维) ability.

How to write a reading assignment?

    Step 1

    State the writer's most important idea. Try your best to get the main idea according to the writer's statements. Write down the important information to increase understanding.

    Step 2

    Use your own words. Imagine you are telling a friend about a great movie you saw or a great book that you read. Speak in your own language, but be sure to use standard English, not slang (俚语).

    Step 3

    Watch for each point and topic sentences the writer uses to support his most important idea. These points form an outline (概述) of your reading assignment.

    Step 4

    Pay attention to details (细节). Examine if the writer provides enough details to support his statements.

    Tell what those details are while writing your reading assignment.

    Step 5

            . You should not talk about the writer's supporting points without first talking about what those points are about.

    Step 6

    Try to use some words or phrases for long lists of items (项目). For example, if you see the following words: swimming, running and beach volleyball, you might just write "summer sports".

    Step 7

    Give up information that seems unimportant in your reading assignment.

    Step 8

    Make your assignment better by adding some more information.

When people refer to Britain, they often use different names such as Britain, Great Britain, England, the Britain Isles, the United Kingdom or the UK. Do they m the same thing?

Strictly speaking, they are all geographical names. The British Isles are made up of two large islands and h of small ones. The two large islands are Great Britain and Ireland. Great Britain is the larger of these two islands. It forms the United Kingdom with Northern Ireland — the northern p of Ireland. So the o name of the UK is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

There are three political divisions on the island of Great Britain: England, S and Wales. England is the largest, the most popular and g speaking, it's the richest section. So people tend to use "England" and "English" when they meet the people from Britain. This-sometimes makes the Scots or the Welsh u.

They don't regard themselves as English and they have a culture and even a l of their own.

Britain has been one of the most important c in the world. About a hundred years ago, Britain ruled an empire (帝国) that had one fourth of the world's people and one fourth of the world's l area.

A very important world problem is the growth of population on the earth. The population of the world today is more than 6,500,000,000. That is a great number and we know it quite well. The important thing is not how large the population of the world is now, but is the rate (速度) of the growth. It is about 1.63% every year after the number of dead people has been taken away.

To give you some ideas of the birth rate, look at the second hand of your watch. Every second, four babies are born in the world. Another baby! Another baby! Another baby! Another baby! You can not speak quickly enough to keep up with the birth rate. The population is growing faster and faster. So it goes on, hour after hour. In one day, people have to find food for over 350,000 mouths more.

This great growth of population will make a big problem by the year 2010—there will be as many as 7,000,000,000 people on the earth! So this is one of the biggest problems that you are going to meet within your life.

Can dogs and cats get along well in the same home? People are thinking about getting a dog for their cat as a friend, but they are worried about that the dog and the cat will fight. A recent research has found that if the cat is taken back home before the dog, and if they are introduced when they are still young (less than 6 months for cats, a year for dogs), it is possible that the two pets will get along swimmingly. In two-thirds of the homes cats and dogs have a good relationship (关系) .

However, there was something unfriendly between the cat and dog in 25% of the homes, while aggression (侵略，好斗) and fighting were found in 10% of the homes. One reason for this is probably that some of their body languages are just different. For example, when a cat turns its head away, it means aggression. while a dog doing the same means submission (顺从).

In homes with cats and dogs living in peace, researchers found a surprising behavior (行为) . They are learning how to talk each other's language. It is a surprise that cats can learn how to talk "Dog", and dogs can learn how to talk "Cat".

The interesting thing is that both cats and dogs seem to become smarter. They can learn to read each other's body languages, suggesting that the two may have more in common (共同的) than was expected (预料) . If they understand each other's body language very well, cats and dogs can play together, and enjoy sleeping together on the sofa.

The importance of this research on cats and dogs may go beyond (超过) pets—to people who don't get along well, including neighbours, workmates at work, and even countries. If cats and dogs can learn to get along, surely people have a good chance.

    People think that a good conversationalist (健谈的人) should be an attentive (专注的) listener. Ask questions that other people will enjoy answering. Encourage them to talk about themselves and what they have done. Diogenes, the Greek philosopher (哲学家) also said, "The reason why we have two ears and only one mouth is so that we may listen more and talk less!"

    Try listening! Here are some examples about listening: (A neighbour of mine is talking about her child) "One evening last week I was sitting with Hannah, and she said to me, 'You are a smart Mum!' And I said, 'Why do you say that suddenly?' And she said, 'Although you are always busy, you always stop what you are doing to listen to me.'"

    "You have to force your buyer to talk, to enter the conversation, if you expect successful sale, the only way you can do this is to stop talking yourself and listen." (From How to Talk Your Way to Success in Selling) Airline employees are taught how to listen to complaints. If they are able to show sympathy (同情心) and to listen for long enough, the passengers' problems will begin to seem less important.

    Psychologists (心理学家) and doctors also know that listening is part of their job. If they listen with care and concern, the patient may even solve the problem himself! Here is some advice they give：

    ⒈Show the other person that you are listening.

    ⒉Look at them.

    ⒊Smile and nod quite often.

    ⒋Shake your head or raise your eyebrows if you don't follow what they are saying.

    ⒌Don't tap your foot because this will show impatience.

    ⒍Don't look at your watch unless you really have to know the time.

    A good listener has the ability to make people feel good, and is as valuable at a party as a good talker. But just listening isn't enough. One should listen intelligently by trying to find out what the other person would really like to talk about.

    In autumn, it gets cold. Some birds like wild geese(大雁) fly 1 for the winter, flying in a "V" formation (队形).

    2 do they fly in a "`V" formation? Because they can save energy. So they can fly more 3. And the trip will also be safer because they are travelling with the help of one another.

    When a wild goose falls 4 the formation; it won't try to go alone but will quickly get back into formation. When the head wild goose gets tired, it 5 and another wild goose flies the point (位置). They just take turns to lead (领头). When the wild goose gets 6 or is wounded (受伤), another two wild geese fall down with it. They follow the wild goose to 7 it and give it help. They stay with the weak wild goose 8 it is able to fly or till it dies.

    If we 9 from wild geese, we can stay in formation with people in the same direction (方向). If we humans (人类) have the sense (意识) of the wild 10, we can stand by each other. And life will be much happier.

    Like many words, "smart" has lots of meanings.

    For example, "smart" can describe a well-dressed person. We can also use "smart" as a verb, meaning "to feel pain". But the most usual meaning of "smart" is "to be very good at learning and understanding things". So when students do well at school and get good grades, we say they are "smart".

Being smart, however, goes out of classrooms. People can be smart in different ways. If they have been in school for many years and have learned a lot, people may call them "books-mart". Such people often know the names of great thinkers, scientists and other famous people in history. They know facts and information that other people don't know. However, sometimes such people are not smart when it comes to life skills. Then, people who are good at solving life problems are "street-smart". They may not have read many books, but they have the ability to use their experience.

    Then, it may surprise you that "getting smart" is not good. "Getting smart" means "being rude or impolite". It's very common to hear parents say to their children, "Don't get smart with me." And that's not the only "smart" expression that can get you into trouble. We often use "smart" with "off" together. In class, there is a student who has a really smart mouth. He gives the teacher smart answers in class too many times. The teacher may say, "Do not smart off in class!"

The Walla Walla Wallaby Foundation

Welcome to the Walla Walla Wallaby Foundation of America, Washington chapter. Here you will find news, photos, and other resources about the wallaby. In addition, our site's unique (独特的) features for members include profile pages, discussion forums (论坛), and other contents. We are the world's best wallaby support group.

For over 20 years, the Walla Walla Wallaby Foundation has served the Walla Walla community through education and outreach on behalf of the wallaby.

    Air travel makes some people very nervous. The crowds, the noise and flying itself can cause unease (不安). But there are classes people can take to help them overcome the fear of flying. And there is similar training for service dogs that suffer the same problem.

    Service dogs almost never leave the side of the people they care for. You will see them working on buses, trains and other public systems. But the busy environment found at an airport can cause dogs ants in their pants even the best trained working ones. People with disabilities depend on their dogs. They want the animals to safely guide them through safety areas. They also need the dogs to remain calm on duty on the airplane, even when the flying is not smooth. This takes special training.

    The Air Hollywood K9 Flight School is one place where such help can be found. The school has a piece of equipment (设备) that provides the sights, sounds and even the feel of an airplane in flight. Dog trainers say training is based on a simple rule: preparation. Dogs need to be trained gradually to the environment, to loud noises, to sounds and other dogs so that when this experience happens to them on a daily basis, they're able to act in a way that they're used to acting and that they don't get excitable. Dog owners who attended the training at Air Hollywood K9 Flight School say they now feel much more at ease about future flights. Their dogs also seem ready for take—off.

No one knows who invented the pencils or when it happened. A Swiss described a pencil in a book in 1565. He said it was a piece of wood with lead (铅) inside it. Pencils weren't popular. Then, in 1795, someone started making pencils from graphite (石墨), and they became very popular. Today, people still make pencils in the same way. They put it inside a piece of wood. One pencil can write 50, 000 English words or make a line 55 kilometers long.

Before the pencils were widely used, people used bird feathers (羽毛) as pens. When people wrote with feather pens, they had to put the point into ink after every few letters. Next, someone invented a fountain pen(自来水笔) that could hold ink inside it. A fountain pen can write a few pages before you have to fill it again.

Two brothers, Ladislao and George Biro, invented the ballpoint pen (圆珠笔) that we all use today. They left their country Hungary (匈牙利) and started making ballpoint pens in England in 1943, during World War II. Later, a French company called Bic bought the Biro brothers' company. Some people call the ballpoint pens "Bics." Australians call them "biros." Whatever we call them, we use them every day.

  
    WeChat is popular among us, but if someone deletes you or blocks (屏蔽)you on，does it mean you've made him or her angry?

    It depends.

    Maybe you have just left messages too often without much valuable  information. For example, the questions are those like ^"how are u?""what are u doing?""do u love me?" too often. You know, people may feel bored after answering such kinds of questions time after time.

​​​​​​​    Another possible reason may be that you've sent something unpleasant to your friend or in your friend circle. T just blocked one of my middle school classmates yesterday because she was trying to sell fake goods in the friend circle, and I hate it quite much.

​​​​​​​    Some people delete the one's name from friends list because they no longer want to see it (maybe ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend) and they don't want the one to see their " Moments"(动态)on WeChat (maybe they publish very private pictures or life or thoughts they don't want to share with him or her.)

​​​​​​​    So why you are blocked may depend on his or her mood or preference (喜好)，and the reasons a person gets blocked are various from person to person. So I suggest you to write an email or make a phone call to that person if he or she really means a lot to you to see why he or she is dissatisfied with you, and to find out how you can make up for the case.

Perfect pronunciation, exact expression and the great impression of being on stage… these were the qualities of the winners' performances at this year's China Daily. And today, we invited the top two winners from the high school to (分享)their tips.

Suen Chung-man, 16, first prize, St Paul's Co-educational College

Suen values using English in (日常的) life. The boy from Hong Kong is taught in Chinese and English at school. But (无论何时) he speaks with his family or classmates, he always uses English. It helps Suen show great(勇气) on the stage which impressed everyone. That made him stand out in the competition.

"I will always have confidence even though there are some mistakes. So try best to trust (我们自己) first." he said. His success shows that you should be(勇敢的). Keep talking, even when you're nervous.

Fan Yuehang, 17, second prize, Nanjing Foreign Language School

Fan suggests learning English in real-life contexts (情景). He tells us that he usually (提高) English through talking with classmates and simply by reading the (标志、招牌) and advertisements he sees in his life. "English learning, especially English (说), requires you to be an all-rounder, " Fan said. "And our life feeds you with beautiful sentences and new ideas you couldn't get in any other way. " He learns English(自然地), happily and easily.

Lily lives with her family in Beijing. She talks about her family in English in class.

In class, students are talking about their hobbies.

A: Hi, Wang Wei. My hobby is making things.

B: My hobby is playing computer games. There are a lot of wonderful games on the Internet.

A: You shouldn't play them long. Why not do something else, like making things, collecting

stamps or gardening? They are all interesting and useful.

B: Really?

A: I enjoy making model ships.

B: Will it cost you much money?

A: No. I often make the models with some waste (废弃的) things.

B: That sounds good.

I'm Leo. There is a great artist in my family. She is Lisa. Lisa likes drawing a lot. Here are her three drawings.

There is an animal in the first drawing. It has two big eyes, a big mouth and two small ears. It has long arms and long legs. It is black and white. There are some apples in its hands. It looks very happy. What is it? I don't know, but Lisa says it is a panda.

There is a woman in the second drawing. She is thin. She has straight blonde hair, a small mouth, a big nose and two big eyes. She looks angry. Who is she? Lisa says she is our mom. But Mom has curly blonde hair, small eyes and a small nose.

There is an animal in the third drawing, too. Its head is an apple. Its hair and tail are leaves(树叶). It has a long mouth, and it is a banana. Its two legs are carrots. What is it? Lisa says it is a horse, but it doesn't look like a horse.

Lisa is really a great artist, isn't she?