More and more people around the world are joining in dangerous sports. Some people climbed the highest mountains; some traveled into unknown parts of the world; some sailed small boats across the largest sea. Now some people begin to look for new excitement.

Bungee jumping (蹦极) and motorcycle racing (摩托车赛) are quite dangerous sports. Bungee jumping only lasts for a few minutes or even seconds. You jump from a high place, about 200 meters above the ground, and there is a rubber band (橡胶带子) tied to your legs. When you jump down, the rubber band pulls you up. About 2,000,000 people around the world have tried bungee jumping.

Why do people join in these dangerous sports. Some scientists say that it is because modern life has become safe and it is not interesting. In the past, people lived in danger. They had to go out and look for food, and life was like a fight but was interesting.

Many people think that there is little excitement in life. They live and work in safe places, buy food in shops, and there are doctors and hospitals to look after them if they become ill.

Many people say that they are working too many hours. They don’t have enough time to relax or stay with their family.

Work hours are different from one country to another. In France, people spend about 1646 hours a year at work. In Japan, however, people work about 2159 hours a year. That means a Japanese worker works 513 more hours a year than a French worker.   

Why do people work so many hours? Some people work extra hours because they want to make more money. However, many companies don’t pay overtime. Their workers don’t get more pay for more work. These people think it’s their duty to work more hours. Some are afraid of losing their job if they don’t work more hours.
    Many people say that their vacations are too short. In France, people get five weeks of paid vacation a year. In Germany, they get from four to six weeks and in the United States, two weeks. One study shows fewer than half of workers used all their vacation days. In Great Britain, there is a saying, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull(迟钝的) boy.＂If that is true, there must be a lot of dull people in the world.

Primary and junior high school students in France will no longer be allowed to use mobile phones in school.

On Dec10,2017, France’s Education Minister(教育部长)Jean- Michel Blanquer said that mobile phones will be banned from schools in France. This rule will go into effect(实施)in September 2018.

Children will be allowed to bring their phones to school, but will not be allowed to use them at any time until they leave school, even during breaks and lunch time.

“These days, the children don’ t play at break time anymore. They are just all in front of their smart phones and from an educational point of view that’s a problem,” Blanquer said.

The number of children who own a cellphone has greatly increased in France over the last few years. More than 8 in 10 teenagers in France had smartphones in 2015, compared to 2 out of 10 in 2011.

While some people have welcomed the rule, a great number of teachers, students and parents are questioning it. Some schools plan to put all the studentsˈ phones in one place and give them back at the end of school. But it’s not easy to do this. Valerie Sipahimalani, the deputy head of a French teaching union, pointed out that many schools have no space to keep the phones and teachers donˈt have the right to search students. Besides, some parents and students believe students should be allowed to use their mobile phones in case of an emergency.

A lot of kids dream of becoming Internet stars. Every day, they post videos online and hope to become the next Internet stars.

  Kids who find success online don’t always have special talents. Lis Marie Johnson once posted a funny video of herself eating something. More than a million people watched it! Should you try to become an Internet star? The followings may help you decide.

  Bethany Mota is one of YouTube’s biggest stars. She was 13 when she started posting videos about clothes and more. Today, she’s 20, and she has over 9 million fans.

  People who post the most popular videos on YouTube can make thousands of dollars. Experts have guessed that Bethany makes about $40000 a month. She also has her own clothing line (服装品牌). Bethany won a Teen Choice award, and she appeared on the TV show Dancing with the stars.

  There’s another benefit to being an Internet star. “I’m my own boss.” Bethany said.

  On the other hand, putting videos of yourself on the Internet can be hazardous . Being bullied (欺负) online is one of the biggest risks. A few years ago, a girl named Rebecca Black posted a music video called “Friday”. Many people hated it. Rebecca was bullied so badly that she left school without finishing her study.

  Becoming an Internet star isn’t easy, either. In fact, very few people make any money on the Internet. And making videos takes a lot of time and hard work. Bethany says that even a five-minute video takes days to create. That doesn’t leave much time for school work, friends…or just being a kid.

Black Friday

    Thanksgiving Day is always on a Thursday. The day after it has been known as Black Friday. It is the start of the holiday shopping season, and it has been the busiest shopping day of the year in the US since 2005.

    Most stores offer big sales on Black Friday. They open their doors quite early in the morning. They try to attract shoppers with big discounts（打折）. Some items（商品）like TVs and cloths are much cheaper than usual. Stores may even lose money on these items. They hope that shoppers will buy gifts for other people while they are in the store.

    Black Friday is a great time to go shopping. However, there are problems. The biggest one is that there are not enough low-priced items. Each store may only have a few. These items are in great need, so people stand in long lines to get them. They may wait for three to four hours before a store opens. They may be hoping to get a low price on a TV or computer, but not everybody can get one. Some people leave, disappointed.

The situation makes people worried. Some Black Friday events have been crazy. There have been fights over toys among shoppers. Some workers have even been hurt by large crowds. But most Black Friday events are safe and fun. Still, if you plan to go, you will expect large crowds and a bit of pushing.

Now people all over the country take part in Black Friday events. It is even spreading to other parts of the world. Stores have held Black Friday events in the UK, Australia, and Brazil since 2012. In Mexico, stores offer a weekend of discounts every year. They call it ‘El Buen Fin’, which means ‘the good weekend’ in Spanish. I guess people everywhere like to buy things on sale.

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In almost every big university in the United States, football is a favourite sport. American football is different. Players sometimes kick the ball, but they also throw the ball and run with it. They try to take it to the other end of the field. They have four chances to move the ball ten yards（码）. They can carry it or they can throw it. If they move the ball ten yards, they can try to move it another ten yards. If they move it to the end of the field, they receive six points（点).

    It is difficult to move the ball. Eleven men on the other team try to stop the man with the ball. If he does not move the ball ten yards, his team kicks the ball to the other team.

    Each university wants its own team to win. Many thousands of people come to watch. They all shout for their favourite team. Young men and women come on the field to help the people shout more. They dance and jump while they shout. Each team plays ten or eleven games each season.

　 The season begins in September and ends in November. If a team is very good, it may play another game after the season ends. The best teams play again on January 1, the first day of the New Year. Many people go to see these games and many others watch them on TV.

Research says that husbands do not do their fair share of work around the house. A study from an American university says that men seldom do the same share of housework. Researchers interviewed 182 working couples who became first-time parents. Both husbands and wives worked almost the same number of hours in full-time jobs. However, men did five hours a week less housework than women after their baby was born.

It is a different story for mothers. Becoming a parent added 21 hours a week to a mother’s work. Most of this was looking after her baby. New fathers did not do more work because they did not realize the mother was doing so much more. Another reason is that after a baby is born, fathers follow the “traditional” roles. That is, the mother looks after the baby and the father works outside. This happens even when the mother is working the same number of hours in her job.

To travel around the world is the dream of many adventurous* people. But very few people can afford a global tour because hotels, food and airplane tickets are too expensive. Some people, however, have thought of some ways to realize their dreams.

    Laura Cody and Tanbay Theune, a couple from Britain, decided to travel around the world. They have found a good way to pay for their trips. They look after pets for rich house owners. In exchange, they can stay in the houses for free. They have looked after horses, cows, cats, dogs and fish. In two years, the couple has been to Australia, Germany, Spain and Italy. They have stayed in big cities and small villages. The home owners are usually very generous and have given them food, wine and day trips.

Another person who tries to realize her travel dream is photographer Rhiannon Taylor. She travels around the world to visit, review and take photos of the best hotels. She shares the places she stays and the food she eats on the Internet with tens of thousands of followers.

With these ways of making money, traveling around the world is no longer a dream. More and more young people are thinking creatively to make their dream come true.

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

  It depends．

  Maybe you havejust 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．I just blocked one of my middle school classmates yesterday because she was trying to sellfakegoods(商品) in the friend circle，and I hate it quite much．

  Some people deletethe one's name from friends' list because they no longer want to seeitand they don't want the one to see their "Moments"（动态）in the friend circle ,either. Maybe they post very private pictures or life or thoughts they don't want to share with him or her．

So why you areblocked 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．