● Our Needs

People are different, but they all have the same needs. Needs are things people must have to live. Our bodies need food and water. We also need air to breathe. We need a place to live to keep us safe. We need clothes to keep us warm. If we did not have these things, we could not survive（生存）.

Needs may be different for people who live in different areas. If you live where it is cold, you may need special clothes to keep you warm. If you live where it is hot, you may need more water.

People have found new ways to meet their needs. Farmers grow food that people eat. They used to plant seeds by hand. They used to pick plants by hand. Now they have machines that so this work.

● Our Wants

Wants are things people would like to have but do not need to live. Suppose you hope to get a football for your birthday. A football is a want. You can live without it.

Sometimes we might want something so much that it feels like a need. We have to make choices, though. If you need a new coat for winter, you might not be able to get the football you want. We must choose what we need over what we want.

Sometimes we must make choices between things we want. Suppose you want to go to a birthday party for your uncle. That day, a friend asks you to go to a movie. The movie is at the same time as the party.

If you choose to go to the party, then what would you give up? What would you give up if you went to the movie?

We are all interested in equality, but while some people try to protect the school and examination system in the name of equality, others, still in the name of equality, want only to destroy it.

Any society which is interested in equality of opportunity（机会）and standards of achievement must regularly test its pupils. The standards may be changed - no examination is perfect - but to have no external(外部的 )tests or examinations would mean the end of equality and of standards. There are groups of people who oppose this view and who do not believe either in external examinations or in any controls in schools or on teachers. This would mean that everything would depend on luck since every pupil would depend on the efficiency（实力）,the ideal and the purpose of each teacher.

Without external examinations, employers will look for employees from the highly respected schools and from families known to them - a form of favoritism will replace equality. At the moment, the bright child from an ill - respected school can show certificates（证书）to prove he or she is suitable for a job, while the lack of a certificate shows the unsuitability of a dull child attending a well - respected school. This defence of excellence and opportunity would disappear if external examinations were taken away, and the bright child from a poor family would be a prisoner of his or her school's fame（名誉）,unable to compete for employment with the child from the favored school.

The opponents（对手）of the examination system suggest that examinations are an evil force because they show differences between pupils. According to these people, there must be no special, different, academic class. They have even suggested that there should be no form of difference in sport or any other area: all jobs or posts should be filled by unsystematic selection. The selection would be made by people who themselves are probably selected by some computer.

These people are not just against school organization, but are at war with the whole idea of modern competitive society and they are using children in schools for their destructive（破坏性的）purposes. There is no reason why we should allow such people to determine the way our schools are organized when it is to the obvious disadvantage of the pupils, of the schools and of our society as a whole.

Most people around the world are right-handed. This also seems to be true in history. In 1799, scientists studied works of art made at different times from 1,500 B.C. to the 1950s. Most of the people shown in these works are right-handed, so the scientists guessed that right-handedness has always been common through history. Today, only about 10% to 15% of the world’s population is left-handed.

    Why are there more right-handed people than left-handed ones? Scientists now know that a person’s two hands each have their own jobs. For most people, the hand is used to find things or hold things. The right hand is used to work with things. This is because of the different work of the two sides of the brain. The right side of the brain, which makes a person’s hands and eyes work together, controls the left hand. The left-side of the brain, which controls the right hand, is the centre for thinking and doing problems. These findings show that more artists should be left-handed, and studies have found that left-handedness is twice as common among artists as among people in other jobs.

    No one really knows what makes a person become right-handed instead of left-handed. Scientists have found that almost 40% of the people become left-handed because their main brain is damaged when they are born. However, this doesn’t happen to everyone, so scientists guess there must be another reason why people become left-handed. One idea is that people usually get right-handed from their parents. If a person does not receive the gene(基因) for right-handedness, he/ she may become either right-handed or left-handed according to the chance and the people they work or live with.

   Though right-handedness is more common than left-handedness, people no longer think left-handed people are strange or unusual. A long time ago, left-handed children were made to use their right hands like other children, but today they don’t have to.

At present, more and more people are crazy about travelling. Why do people travel?  “To see more of the world,” many people would say. But travelling abroad now means much more than that for the growing number of Chinese tourists. Of course it offers us good opportunities to meet people from other countries, learn about their culture and customs.

According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), more than 1 billion people travelled to another country in 2012. In 2012, Chinese people travelled abroad 30 percent more than in 2011. The prosperity (繁荣) of the tourism industry can also bring both our country and foreign countries great economic benefits (经济利益). Chinese people usually join large tourist groups and visit several countries in one trip.

Chinese people don’t just travel for sightseeing. The China International Travel Service Company said that all their tour trips sold out a month before Christmas Day. Stores offered discounts (打折) during that time, so shopping in Europe and the United States is popular among Chinese travellers.

In December, China is going through a very cold winter. So many people like to go to some countries inSoutheast Asiabecause the weather there is quite pleasant.

The improvement of living standards means more Chinese can travel abroad. But many of them don’t have a sense of public manners. A report by Living Social website in March 2012 even listed Chinese as the world’s second worst tourists.

If you want to change that bad name, remember to avoid the following: littering, spitting, snatching bus seats, line-jumping, taking off shoes in public, talking loudly and smoking in non-smoking areas. Besides, we should learn some necessary manners of foreign countries.

Working after school has become almost a trend (趋势) for teenagers in the U.S.. More than 80 percent of American teenagers work at some point during their high school years. Many teenagers inAustraliaandEuropealso work part-time.

But in general, teenagers in East Asia (亚洲) have not followed this trend. Parents in these cultures encourage their children to study not to“waste” their time working. But is working really a waste of time for teenagers? The answer is unclear. Experts point to both benefits (利益) and pitfalls of teenager employment (工作).

One study showed that teenagers who work more than 15 hours a week have bad grades. They are also less likely to go to college.

But experts haven’t decided that teenager employment should be avoided (避免) after all. They believe that holding a part-time job can teach teenagers about teamwork. Teenagers also learn about managing (安排) their time and money. Employment does bring benefits. Teenagers should be careful, however, to spend less hours working and always put schoolwork first.

Every year, when the Nobel Prize winner list is made public, there are some certain winners who are labeled asunexpectedand surprised. This year, as an American musician, Bob Dylan won the Nobel Prize in Literature. Undoubtedly, he made full expressions of that label as he is the first musician winning this prize.

On the contrary, the modern Japanese writer Murakami Haruki felt sad again even though there is strong support for him. As a favorite candidate(候选人), Murakami Haruki just narrowly missed the Nobel Prize again. Luckily, he is very positive---- readers are the most important and it doesn’t matter whether winning a prize or not.

And Nobel Prize awards the words(授予颁奖词) for Bob Dylan----for having created new poetic expressions in the great American song tradition.

Up to now, Bob has released more than 30 albums. And he has won many other awards such as Oscar Award, Golden Globe Award, Pulitzer Prize and so on. Moreover, he is still a painter and poet.

Lately, the rumors(谣言)flew that Bob refused to accept the Nobel Prize in literature. But Bob doesn’t officially respond on this matter. However, there is still time before the final Nobel Prize awarding day in December. No matter whether Bob will accept the prize or not, his music has already influenced many people across the globe!

Are Sports Important? 

Sports are all around us. We watch and read sports news. There are also sports clubs, and even sports-only channels (频道) on TV. In many countries, players make millions of dollars every year. 

But why are sports so important? They’re only games, right?

Our readers answer:

Vlad (Ukraine乌克兰) 

Sports bring people together. In 2006, our team was able to play in the 2006 World Cup for the first time. Everyone was happy. Rich and poor, old and young, men and women—everyone was in the streets together!

Mike ( U.S.A.) 

Sports bring people together, but they divide them too. Fans of different teams fight all the time—they shout and hit each other. And here’s another example: My brother plays high school baseball. Last week, his team played an important game. At the game, two parents fought about a call. Come on… baseball is only a game! Sports are so competitive (有竞争力的) these days. It’s all about winning. Then the game isn’t fun.

Oba ( South Africa) 

Right now, some of the world’s best soccer players are from African countries, and the 2010 World Cup games will be held in South Africa. Yes, some players make a lot of money—maybe too much, but sporting events (like the World Cup) bring tourists to the countries where sporting events are held and money to the people in these countries. And that is good forAfrica.

The book Harry Potter and the Half-Blood(哈利·波特与混血王子) is warmly welcomed by the children in China. It sells well across China. You can see and hear the advertisements about the book here and there.

First-class Reading,for children should be interesting, and written in their language.

A lot of people like taking a trip with no plans(计划).They think it is very exciting and has more fun. But in fact(实际上), it is not good. Making vacation plans is very important.

First, a vacation plan can make sure that everything goes well. If you visit a place but you don’tbooka hotel, you may have no place to stay at night.

Second, you have lots of things to take with you for a vacation. You need to plan what things you have to buy and what things you need to put in bags. For example, you want to visit one place, but when you arrive at the airport(机场), you forget to bring your ticket! You maybe late for the plane.

Third, making a vacation plan can help you save a lot of money. No one wants to spend more money than they want to. If you surf the Internet before you go on a vacation, you may find some cheap plane tickets and hotel rooms.

Next time when you go on a vacation, try to write down some plans. They can help you have more fun in your vacation