Do you want to know about students in other countries? On April 8, there was a report about the lives of high school students in China, Japan, South Korea and the US.

Who studies hardest?

Chinese students spend the most time studying. About half of Chinese students spend more than two hours on their homework every day. That's much more than students of the US(26.4%), Japan (8.2%) and South Korea(5.2%).

Who sleeps most often in class?

Japanese students fall asleep in class most often. About 45% of them sometimes doze off(打瞌睡) in class. In South Korea, it's 32%; in the US, 21% and 5% in China.

 Who is the most distracted(分心的 ) ?

 American students are not only the most active in class, but also the most distracted.64.2% of them talk with friends in class; 46.9% of them eat snacks in class; and 38.9% of them send e-mails or read unrelated(无关的) books in class.

What do they do after school?

In their spare time, most Chinese students study or surf the Internet. Most American students hang out with their friends. Most Japanese students do physical exercises. Most Korean students watch TV.

News Review

Head- on Train Crash  On May 18， two trains had a head-on crash（相撞）near New York City. Over 250 people were on the trains then. About 60people were hurt， but no deaths were reported.

Travel Time  Tourists came together to theTaishanMountain， on May1. Over 180，000tourists visited the place of great interest from April 29 to May 1， during the three-day holiday.

Brave Volunteer   Liao Zhi， a dance teacher from Chengdu who lost her 1-year-old daughter and her legs in the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake， arrived in Ya’an 13 hours after the earthquake. The dancer said she had had a terrible time herself and knew what people needed most， so she decided to come and offer help.

Tomato Competition   A tomato competition was held in Huainan，AnhuiProvince， on April 16. The best tomatoes were chosen according to their shape， color and taste. The competition hoped to encourage the farmers to grow better tomatoes.

US First Lady Michelle Obama, along with her mother and two daughters made their first trip to China from March 20 to March 26. They went toBeijing,Xi’anand Chengdu.

In a speech at Peking University, Mrs Obama encouraged students to study abroad. “It’s not enough to get good grades in school,” she said in the speech. “It is better to travel 10,000 miles than to read 10,000 books. The experiences in other countries help make our life successful. By learning each other’s languages and by showing such curiosity (好奇) and respect (尊重) for each other’s cultures, you are building bridges of understanding and bonds of friendship,” she said. The US is the top destination (目的地) for Chinese students. More than 200,000 Chinese students are now studying in the US. In 2009, US President Barack Obama announced (宣布) his goal of sending 100,000 students to China. Since then, more than 68,000USstudents have come to China. What’s more, many kids in the US are now studying Chinese. “Learning Chinese is a cool thing in school. It is good for our future,” said Mason Grabowski, 1445, a student from Chicago. “It is a hard language, but it is never too early to start learning it.”

AlphaGo is a computer program to play Go (围棋).It’s an AI program developed by Google DeepMind in London.

In the early days, AlphaGo could not win a single game, even against amateur (业余的) players. However,in recent years the AI program has developed fast. It is learning all the time.

In October 2015, AlphaGo beat European Go champion Fan Hui, a 2-dan professional (职业的) player.

The score was 5 to 0. Although Fan Hui is not a world- class player, the result of the game was greatly surprising. This was the first time that a computer Go program had beaten a professional human player without handicaps(让子).

In March 2016, Man vs. Machines Go was held in Seoul, South Korea. In the match, AlphaGo played against Lee Se-dol, a 9-dan professional player from South Korea. In the end, AlphaGo beat the world-class player Lee Se-dol. During the five-game match, AlphaGo won four matches, and only lost the fourth game. It has become the first computer program to beat a top-level Go player without handicaps. Now AlphaGo is the second inGo Rating (排名) of the world.

DeepMind developers hope Ke Jie will  take on AlphaGo in the next Man vs. Machines Go. Ke Jie, an eighteen-year-old boy from China, is the No.1 in Go Rating of the world now. He thinks AlphaGo can teach itself and develops better and better, but he believes he is the one to beat AlphaGo.

A reporter from China Daily interviewed 300 people and made a survey: One hundred were from 11 to 18 years old. One hundred were from 19 to 26 years old. One hundred were from 27 to 35. We asked them what they liked to do on weekend evening. Please look at the chart.

Favorite activities to do (by age)

What should you take in with you when you take an exam? Pen, pencil, eraser, ruler..., and don’t forget a bottle of water!

According to a study at the British Psychological (心理学的) Society Annual Conference held in London, if students bring water into exams, they may improve their grades by up to 10 percent.

Scientists at the University of East London and the University of Westminster, UK, did a study on 447 students. Only 25 percent of them brought something to drink to the exam hall.

Scientists then compared their exam results with their normal schoolwork grades. They found that all those who had brought drinks with them got better grades by 2 to 10 percent.

It is unclear why drinking water improves exam results. But scientists say having enough water in our bodies could have a helpful influence on our brains. Drinking water may alsocut down onanxiety(焦虑) , according to Chris Pawson, PhD, of the University of East London.

"Whatever the explanation, it is clear that students should try hard to stay hydrated(含水的)with water during exams," he said.

So next time, when you are going to have a big exam, try bringing a bottle of water with you. Who knows - it may help you pass the exam!

    China had 246.6million people under the age of 14 in 2009, and that is 18.5 percent of the population, the public and government have paid more attention to protecting children. Han Hong , a popular singer, is a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People ‘s Political Consultative Conference(中国人民政治协商会议全国委员会).She proposed (提议)that the State should take measures to protect the children , especially the poor and homeless ones .She suggested that the government could set up a special club to deal with children’s problems. The singer also advised to deal with social problems so that they don’t affect children. Han also said the State should consider doing something to children if parents often fail to protect them. Han’s thoughts were welcomed by Liu Huawen. Lin is a researcher .She researches in the rights of children. “It’s very necessary to set up a special government club to work for children,” Liu told China Dail.

      This was an exciting time for all the Chinese. The Chinese capital beat Almaty by just 44 votes（投票） to 40 , with one abstention (弃权) . The vote was conducted（进行） twice , first electronically and then by papers , after the electronic system was broken Beijing and Zhangjiakou got the right to host the twenty-fourth Winter Olympic Games . The Games will be held in March 2022 during the Lunar New Year. Chinese President of the IOC this evening , expressing thanks for its trust and support in selecting Beijing and Zhangjiakou .

        Why can we become the final winner? There’s a splendid Olympic slogan . The central idea of Beijing’s bid for the 2022 Winter Olympic is“athlete-centered , sustainable (持续的) development(投标) , thrifty principle (节俭原则)”. One of the key words for Beijing’s bid is thrifty .        

       According to officials from the Committee , the total operational budge（运作预算）t for the Committee , the total operational budget for the city’s potential（潜能） 2022 Winter Games amounts to 1.56 billion US dollars . And within this project , only six percent would come from government subsidies (补贴) . Ticket prices are also cheap, and people will be able to catch many of the events for as low as 8 dollars. And ticket prices for the opening and closing ceremonies would range from 118 to 787 dollars.

 After winning the 2022 Winter Olympics, Beijing becomes the first city to host both summer and Winter Olympic Games. The city is ready to welcome all the people around the world.