What will the weather be like? Some people say they can know what the weather will be like from birds. They kook at birds. When they see birds fly high out to the sea, they say it will be a nice day. For birds donˈt like to fly out when it could rain. When the weather will be bad, sea birds turn back and stay on shore.

A big wind may come with a rain. Birds do not like to fly in a big wind. They may sit in a tree when rain is on the way.

Some people look at different animals on a farm. Other animals can alsotellthe weather. A chicken may make a big noise when rain is on the way. It may run here and there. A frog can show the weather, too. A frog will make a big noise when rain is on the way. It will stay in the water. On a nice day, it will come out up high out of the water.

Many people think that the hump* of the camel is full of water. They think this is the reason that camels do not have to drink very often in the desert*, but they are not right. A camel’s hump is not full of water. It is fat*. The camel’s body can use the fat later when it is hungry, but it does not help the camel go for a long time without* drinking. A camel can do this because it does not sweat* very much.

When people and most other animals get hot, they sweat. Sweat is mostly water from the body. So when people sweat, they lose water and soon have to drink. If they don’t drink water, they die. When a camel gets hot, it does not sweat very much, so it does not lose much of the water in its body. It does not need to drink very often.

LONDON—Scientists have found an unusual way to prevent our planet from overheating: move it to a cooler spot. All you have to do is to send a few comets (彗星) in the direction of Earth, and its orbit (轨道)wil l be changed. Our world will then be sent moving into a safer older part of the solar system.

This idea for improving our climate comes from a group of US NASA (美国航空航天局) engineers and American astronomers. They say their plan could add another six billion years to the useful lifetime of our planet—hopefully doubling its working life.

The plan put forward by Dr. Laughlin, and his colleagues Don Korycansky and Fred Adams, needs carefully directing a comet or asteroid (小行星) so that it passes close by our planet and sends some of its gravitational energy (重力势能) to Earth.

“Earth’s orbital speed would increase as a result and we would move to a higher orbit away from the sun,” Laughlin said.

Engineers would then direct their comet so that it passed close to Jupi ter(木星) or Saturn (土星). The comet would pick up energy from one of these giant planets. Later its orbit would bring it back to Earth, and the process would be repeated.

In the short term, the plan provides an ideal way to worldwide warming, although the team was actually worried about a much greater danger. The sun is certain to heat up in about a billion years and so “seriouslycompromise” our biosphere (生物圈)—by cooking us.

That’s why the group decided to try to save Earth.

The plan has one or two worrying sides, however. For a start, space engineers would have to be very careful about how they directed their asteroid or comet towards Earth. The smallest miscalculation (误算)in orbit could fire it straight at Earth—with deadly results.

There is also the question of the moon. As the present issue of Scientific American magazine points out, if Earth was pushed out of its present location, it is “most likely the moon would be stripped(剥离)away from Earth,” it states. This would greatly change our planet’s climate.

Maybe you are an average (一般的) student. You probably think you will never be a top student (尖子生). However, anyone can become a better student if he or she does his or her best. Here are some tips (技巧) to help you.

Plan your time carefully. You should plan your time for such things aseating, sleeping and dressing. Then make a good, regular time for studying, but don’t forget to set enough time for entertainment (娱乐).

Keep your study quiet and clean. The study should have a desk, a chair and some study materials (资料), but no games, no radio and no television! When you sit down to study, you can put your heart into it. Make good use of your time.

Listen to everything that the teacher says. Listening carefully in class means less work later. Taking notes will help you remember what the teacher says.

After you get home from school, go over your notes. Review the important points. If you know what your teacher is going to discuss next day, read the material. It will help you study better.

Develop a good attitude (态度) to tests. The purpose (目的) of a test is to show what you have learned about a subject. It helps you know what you are not good at. The world will still go on even if (即使) you fail (不及格) in a test, so don’t be too worried.

Body language is a kind of way of communciation. When you use body language to communicate, you don’t speak. Your thoughts, intentions(意图) or feelings are expressed by physical behaviors, such as facial expressions, body posture（姿势）, gestures and eye movements.

 Body language can make yourself understood more easily by others. Waving one’s hand is to say “Goodbye.” A smile and handshake show welcome, and clapping hands means congratulations. Nodding the head means agreement, but shaking the head means disagreement. These gestures are widely accepted both by Chinese and foreigners. Of course, different countries have different body languages. Men in Russia, France and Arab countries kiss each other when they meet, but men in China or Australia shake hands instead of kissing. People in Arab countries like standing close to one another when they are talking, but English people must keep a distance away when they are talking.

 When you use a foreign language , it is very important to know the meanings of gestures and movements in the country. Using the body language correctly will help you to make your stay there much more pleasant and comfortable.

根据短文内容，选择正确答案。

You’ve seen news reports about people who need assistance after natural disaster, or TV programmers about how lonely and isolated older people can get. Maybe you’ve walked past people who are living on the streets．

So what can you do about any of those things,you ask?The answer：You can volunteer．

Volunteering gives you an opportunity to change people’s lives, including your own. Helping others in need is such an important part of life. So how do you go about it?

    Find What’s Right For You.

    Volunteering isn’t like school: Instead of having the choices made for you, you’ve got to pick.You can choose what really interests you and who or what is most deserving of your time.

    Find What Fits Your Schedule.

    After you’ve discovered what interests you, decide how much time you want to spend and what fits into your schedule.

    Expand your mind.

    Volunteering is a great way to learn new skills— from working as part of a team to setting and reaching goals. It can give you a chance to discover what kinds of things you’

re best at and enjoy the most. Volunteering can provide you with a sense of responsibility because people really depend on you．And it can help you develop a new understanding of people who are different from you— people with disabilities, people in financial problems, sick kids, or the elderly.

   Feel Good.

   Volunteering helps people feel they make a difference— that they do have the power to change things for the better. When people depend on you, it can change the way you look at yourself. You can feel proud of the goals that you’ve achieved. Volunteering is also a great way to get aperspective on your own life.

A habit is any action that we have performed so often that it becomes something we do almost without thinking. Some of them are thought to be bad habits. People spend countless hours and dollars each year trying to drop these bad habits but often fail. Why? Change is hard work and there is no shortcut to achieve it. However, there is still some advice for you to follow.

First, look at why you do it. In other words, what’s the result of doing this thing? If your bad habit is shouting at people when you are unhappy or under pressure, what do you get from it? It may make you feel a little better for the moment. Or maybe you have a bad habit of leaving your homework undone. The result could be that you get more time to spend on the Internet!

Next, take a look on the other hand. What are you losing because of your habit? Shouting at other people is a bad habit because it makes people around you feel bad and unhappy. Leaving your homework undone is a bad habit because you may be punished by your teacher. Having more Internet time means that you are losing the chance to learn the things that you need to learn. When you think that way, you’ll find that it’s not wise to keep your bad habit! Now it is time to make a decision. What will you choose? I’m sure you will choose to do what you think is more important.

      My summer hols wr CWOT. B4. we usd 2 go 2 NY 2C my bro, his GF＆ thr 3 : -@ kids FTF. ILNY, its gr8.

   Can you understand this sentence? If you can't, don't feel too bad: neither could the middle school teacher in England who received this as homework. This is Netspeak: the language of computerized communication found on Internet or cellphones. To newcomers, it looks like a completely foreign language. So, what is the "translation" of the sentence above? My summer holidays were a complete waste of time. Before, we used to go to New York to see my brother, his girlfriend, and their three screaming kids face to face. I love New York; it’s great.

   Schoolteachers and parents say this new form of writing is harming(破坏) the English language. Increasing spelling and grammatical mistakes can be seen in students' writing. They fear the language could become corrupted (面目全非的).

   Everyone should just relax, say linguists (语言学家). They believe Netspeak is in fact more of a good thing. David Crystal, from the UniversityofWales, argues that Netspeak and Internet create a new language use and the almost lost art of diary writing has been picked up again. Geoffrey Nunberg, from Stanford University, agrees. "People get better at writing by writing," he says, "Kids who are now doing text messaging, e-mail, and instant messages will write at least as well as, and possibly better than, their parents."

   Linguist James Milroy says, for centuries, it is believed without exception that young people are hurting the language. And you canbet your bottom dollarthat when today's teenagers become tomorrow's parents, they too will think this way, Milroy argues that languages do not and cannot become "corrupted(堕落的)"; they simply change to meet the new needs.

   However, Netspeakers do agree that it is important to teach young people how to speak and write Standard English. Cynthia Mcvey says, "I can understand Netspeak worries teachers and it's important that they get across to their pupils that text messaging is for fun, but that learning to write proper English is a must for their future.”

   Perhaps we should give teenagers a little more trust anyway.Erin, age 12, says, "I wouldn't use text language in my homework. Texting is just for fun."

Many kids think they are too common. They think they are not the prettiest or smartest. Sometimes kids don’t know how special they are. When they see excellent actors or cool pop stars, they often think: Am I excellent? What am I going to be when I grow up?

Growing up means understanding what you can do and what you can offer to the world. When you are young, you don’t see that. But when you get older, you may know that just by being yourself, you do offer something to other people.

Maybe you aren’t the best, but that doesn’t make you “not special”. Think about your friends. Write down some things that you like about them. Think about why you are friends. You are going to know that in the end, though they aren’t the smartest or the prettiest or the most talented, they are great in their way. And they feel just the same as you!

In fact it is great to be the best at something, but it’s OK if you can’t be the best. If you just live your life and try hard, you are still pretty amazing. And you can make your dream come true.

A famous teacher was speaking to the students at our school. He began his lesson by holding up a￥100 bill. Then he said to the three hundred students, “Who would like this 100 bill?” The students began to put up their hands at once.

Then he said, “I am going give this 100 to one of you, but first, let me do this.” He then made the bill into a ball. Then he said, “Who wants it now?” The hands went back to the air.

“Well,” he said, “what if I do this?” and he dropped it on the floor and stepped on it. He picked up the dirty bill and said, “Who still wants it?” Hands went back into the air.

“My friends,” he said, “you have learned a valuable lesson today. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not go down in value. It was still worth 100!”

Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and stepped on by the chances we take and the things that happen to us. We feel as if we are worth nothing. But remember, no matter what has happened to you, you will never lose your value: you are always valuable to those people who love you. Your value doesn’t come from what you do or whom you know, but WHO YOU ARE.

You are special and valuable. Don’t ever forget it!