Why does a large education nation like China have so few world renowned scientists as the US? Educationists from China and the US try to find out the answer to questions like this at a forum on the basic education strategy.

  The forum, held recently, was jointly organized by the Education Development Research Center of the Ministry of Education in China and the Postgraduate School of the University of Pennsylvania in the US. It aims to find out similarities and differences that exist between two countries in their educational system.

  While some educationists in China keep a doubtful eye to the country’s educational system in recent years. Their American counterparts give a positive answer to the basic education in China, saying that it is still one of the best in the world.

  An American educationist told reporters that the basic education in the US was criticized in recent years due to its political tendency. On the contrary, Chinese government’s stress on basic education and qualified teachers has set a good example.

  At primary and middle school, pupils in China did better in math and science lessons than the US pupils. However, few grow to be world “masters”. Why? Educationists attributed this to China’s stress on examination rather than students’ interest.

  Deputy Director of the postgraduate school of Pennsylvania University said American teachers encouraged students to focus on their strong points. In China, students are driven to study to pass the entrance examination test and they do not pay much attention to their own interest.

  At the forum, director of the Education Development Research Center Mr. Zhang said in the future, the research center would make its middle and long-term basic education strategy by taking some references from other countries including the US.

He also revealed that for a long time in the future, China would make a breakthrough in setting the policy for quality education.

Most people want to be happy, but few know how to find happiness. Money and success alone do not bring lasting happiness. Aristotle, a Greek thinker, said, “Happiness depends upon ourselves.” In other words, we make our own happiness. Here are a few suggestions to help you be happier.

 The first secret of happiness is to enjoy the simple things in life. Too often, we spend so much time thinking about the future, for example, getting into the college or getting a good job, which we fail to enjoy the present. You should enjoy life’s simple pleasures, such as reading a good book, listening to your favorite music, or spending time with close friends. People who have several close friends often live happier and healthier lives.

 Another secret to living a happy life is to be active, and have hobbies where you forget your problems and time. Many people experience this when dancing, or playing a sport, such as swimming. You can forget about your problems and only think about the activity.

 Finally, many people find happiness in helping others. Studies show that people feel good when they spend their time helping others. If you want to feel happier, do good things for someone. You can help a friend with his or her studies, go shopping to buy food for an elderly person, or simply help out around the house by washing the dishes.

Knowing the best way to study will help you to be a better student. By using your time properly, you can do your homework more quickly. Learning to study is not difficult.

The first thing to remember is that you must be willing to learn. It doesn’t mean that you must always like the subject. It does mean, however, that you must be wil1ing to do whatever is necessary to learn. Try to understand why it is important and how it will help you now and later to do and learn other things. Knowing mathematics facts will be useful in your whole life. Knowing how to spell makes any kind of writing easier.  Sometimes subject that you think is going to be uninteresting will be exciting when you begin to work at it and understand it more clearly. Learning things can be fun if you are willing to work with them.

Here’s some advice for you: have a certain time each day and a quiet place with good lighting for study, so that you can concentrate on your study without interruptions(中断); have everything ready before you sit down to study, a dictionary, paper, a pen and books; be sure you understand what you should learn before you start; read carefully and pay special attention to the most important things; when memorizing, first find out the main parts and then recite the whole thing; check your homework after you finish it; never forget the importance of review and preview.

 Happiness is for everyone. You don’t need to care about those people who have beautiful houses with large gardens and swimming pools or those who have nice cars and a lot of money and s o on. Why? Because those who have big houses may often feel lonely and those who have cars may want to walk on the country roads at their free time. In fact， happiness is always around you if you put your heart into it. When you are in trouble at school， your friends will help you; when you study hard at your lessons， your parent s are always taking good care of your life and your health; when you get success， your friends will say congratulations to you; when you do something wrong， people around you will help you to correct it. And when you do something good to others， you will feel happy， too. All these are your happiness. If you notice them， you can see that happiness is always around you. 　　Happiness is not the same as money. It is a feeling of your heart. When you are poor， you can also say you are very happy， because you have something else that can’t be bought with money. When you meet with difficulties， you can say loudly you are very happy， because you have more chances to challenge yourself. So you cannot always say you are poor and you have bad luck. As the saying goes， life is like a revolving(旋转 ) door. When it closes， it also opens. If you take every chance you get， you can be a happy and lucky person. 　

A

When you make a mistake, big or small, cherish it like it’s the most precious thing in the world. Because in some ways, it is.

Most of usfeel bad when we make mistakes, beat ourselves up about it, feel like failures, get mad at ourselves.

And that’s only natural: most of us have been taught from a young age that mistakes are bad, that we should try to avoid mistakes. We’ve been scolded when we make mistakes—at home, school and work. Maybe not always, but probably enough times to make feeling bad about mistakes an unconscious reaction.

Yet without mistakes, we could not learn or grow. If you think about it that way, mistakes should be cherished and celebrated for being one of the most amazing things in the world: they make learning possible; they make growth and improvement possible.

By trial anderror—trying things, making mistakes, and learning from those mistakes—we have figured out how to make electric light, to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, to fly.

Mistakes make walking possible for the smallesttoddler, make speech possible, make works of genius possible.

Think abouthow we learn: we don’t just consume information about something and instantly know it or know how to do it. You don’t just read about painting, or writing, or computer programming, or baking, or playing the piano, and know how to do them right away. Instead, you get information about something, from reading or from another person or from observing, then you make mistakes and repeat, making mistakes, learning from those mistakes, until you’ve pretty much learned how to do something. That’s how we learn as babies and toddlers, and how we learn as adults. Mistakes are how we learn to do something new—because if you succeed at something, it’s probably something you already knew how to do. You haven’t really grown much from that success—at most it’s the last step on your journey, not the whole journey. Most of the journey was made up of mistakes, if it’s a good journey.

So if you value learning, if you value growing and improving, then you should value mistakes. They are amazing things that make a world of brilliance possible.

A

After The Super Girl was shown on TV, it was loved by millions of people, especially the young people. It becomes a hot topic among people. Here are some of their opinions

China is a developing country and women now show their abilities as freely as men do. The modern world is a stage for them to show who they are and what they want.

                                  — Nancy , 14

                                                  The Super Girls

One of the girls looks like Jolin Tsai (蔡依林) . In Singapore, a show of this kind is called Superstar. I think the competition like this is a good chance for the young girls with the dreams of stage. As for The Super Girl, I hope I can see one international super star coming out from this year's competition .

                                  —Linda , 16

I am worried about these super girls. They are educated in different ways. At their ages, they should be spending more time at school , not on the stage. What are they learning? And for what?

                                  —John , 15

B

Our environment isn’t as green and beautiful as it should be. There are steel monsters blocking out the sun, blowing out dangerous smoke, and letting out poisonous chemicals into rivers, cars producing harmful waste gas, people throwing out waste in a wrong way and all other kinds of sources that ruin the planet. Facing current environmental problems, people need to do their best to save the Earth.

You can see many big garbage dustbins in the streets. They’re not there for a show, but for you to drop your waste. We should realize that what a little we do does count. So next time you get that urge to throw gum or a chocolate package out of the car window, or “ accidentally” drop as you walk down the street, ask yourself how much waste you’ve been contributing to the environment with that bad habit going on for years.

At home, the first thing we can do to protect the environment is avoid letting water run continuously and make sure that taps(水龙头) are not leaky(泄露的)，which would help greatly in scrimping. Another is to use energy-saving lights, and turn them off before you leave the rooms. It’s not only energy-saving, but also cuts down electricity costs.

Recycling is a method to make items reusable. Many things you want to throw out can be made into new products through the reproducing process. Use your imagination to come up with ways on things that you can use again.

Pass the message of simple ways to save the environment on to kids. Starting with kids is a good way of teaching the message early in their lives, in the hope that they can carry it forward as they grow older.

With environmental protection awareness in mind, we can do what we can, for the results are to have a big effect on the planet. As long as we do our part, the world is one small step closer to being saved.

Wisdom is not only that you have knowledge, but also that you can apply your knowledge in sensible ways. Whenever you’re struggling with a life situation, having the wisdom to navigate（航行）the rough waters can be emotionally life-saving. But how to find wisdom when you need it? Try the following ways to find knowledge and wisdom that will enrich your life.

  Contact your parents.Although you might not currently have the type of relationship where you willingly seek guidance from your parents, it’s never too late to start. Your relationship with your parents will be promoted and you'll experience one of the most rewarding emotional connections possible in life. Seek out your parents for some important information such as big life decisions.

  Consider relevant past experiences.As wisdom is connected with experiences, think about how you’ve dealt with a similar situation. Maybe your girlfriend just broke off your engagement. Think about something related to that type of situation that you’ve been through in the past.

Talk with friends you respect.They may offer some insight from their own experiences that could be of great help to you now. Therefore, learn from their stories and experiences.

  Use technology.Although this might sound a bit strange, advances in technology have enabled us to seek and find all kinds of knowledge and information. ITunes University offers hundreds of courses that provide knowledge and wisdom.

  Let yourself become inspired.Whenever you take in new and fascinating information, you never know what will happen. If you’re looking for inspiration, check out the websites to explore some information that is new and inspiring.

  You’ll enrich your life in ways you haven’t even considered when you find wisdom using these strategies.

Why doesn’t the unemployment rate ever reach zero? Economists, who generally believe that supply tends to meet demand, have long thought about this question. Even in good times, i.e. not now, there are people who can’t find work. And even in bad times, i.e. now, there are job openings. With over 14 million people out of work and looking for a job, you would think every available job would be filled. But that’s not the case. Not now and not ever.

      On Monday, the Nobel Prize committee awarded the prize for economics to the three scholars who have done the most to explain this phenomenon. Two of the winners are Americans, Peter Diamond of MIT and Dale Mortensen of Northwestern. The third winner is Christopher Pissarides, who teaches at the London School of Economics and was born on Cyprus.

      Like most of economists, what they have found about why the jobless and ready-employers don’t find each other seems obvious. You have to find out there is job opening you are interested in. Employers need to get resumes. It takes a while for both employers and employees to make the decision that this is what they want. And these guys came up with a framework to study the problem of why people stay unemployed longer than they should and what can be done about it.

      So what would today’s Nobel Prize winners do to solve the current problem of the unemployed? And does the awarding of the prize contribute to the politicians’ lowering joblessness?

      Speaking from his north London home, Pissarides told The Associated Press the announcement came as “a complete surprise” though his work had already helped shape thinking on both sides of the Atlantic.

      For example, the New Deal for Young People, a British government policy aimed at getting 18-24-year-olds back on the job market after long periods of unemployment, “It is very much based on our work,” he said.

      “One of the key things we found is that it is important to make sure that people do not stay unemployed too long so they don’t lose their feel for the labor force,” Pissarides told reporters in London. “The ways of dealing with this need not be expensive training – it could be as simple as providing work experience.”