Imagine, one day, getting out of bed in Beijing and being at your office in Shanghai in only a couple of hours, and then, after a full day of work, going back home to Beijing and having dinner there.

Sounds unusual, doesnˈt it? But itˈs not that unrealistic, with the development of China’s high-speed railway system. And that’s not all. China has an even greater high-speed railway plan—to connect the country with Southeast Asia, and eventually Eastern Europe.

China is negotiating to extend its own high-speed railway network to up to 17 countries in 10 to 15 years, eventually reaching London and Singapore.

China has proposed three such projects. The first would possibly connect Kunming with Singapore via Vietnam and Malaysia. Another could start in Urumqi and go through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and possibly to Germany. The third would start in the northeast and go north through Russia and then into Western Europe.

If China’s plan for the high-speed railway goes forward, people could zip over from London to Beijing in under two days.

The new system would still follow China’s high-speed railway standard. And the trains would be able to go 346 kilometers an hour, almost as fast as some airplanes.

China’s bullet train, the one connecting Wuhan to Guangzhou, already has the world’s fastest average speed. It covers 1,069 kilometers in about three hours.

Of course, there are some technical challenges to overcome. There are so many issues that need to be settled, such as safety, rail gauge (轨距), maintenance of railway tracks. So, it’s important to pay attention to every detail.

But the key issue is really money. China is already spending hundreds of billions of yuan on domestic railway expansion.

China prefers that the other countries pay in natural resources rather than with capital investment. Resources from those countries could stream into China to sustain development.

It’ll be a win-win project. For other countries, the railway network will definitely create more opportunities for business, tourism and so on, not to mention the better communication among those countries.

For China, such a project would not only connect it with the rest of Asia and bring some much-needed resources, but would also help develop China’s far west. We foresee that in the coming decades, millions of people will migrate to the western regions, where the land is empty and resources unused. With high-speed trains, people will set up factories and business centers in the west once and for all. And they’ll trade with Central Asian and Eastern European countries.

From: terri @ wombat. Com. Au

To: (happylizijun) @ yaboo. com. cn

Subject: My school

Hi, Li Zijun,

Thanks very much for your email. I really enjoyed reading it. I think we have a lot in common. I wonder if our school life is similar too.

I go to a big high school inSydneycalled Maylands High School. There are about 1000 students and 80 or so teachers. My class has 25 students in it, which is normal for a Year 11 class. In the junior school there are about 30 students in a class.

In the senior high school we have lots of subjects to choose from, like maths, physics, chemistry, biology, history, German, law, geography, software design, graphic arts and media studies. (Different schools sometime have different optional subjects.) English is a must for everyone and we have to do least three other subjects in Year 11 and 12. At the end of Year 12 we sit for a public exam called the High School Certificate.

As well as school subjects, most of us do other activities at school such as playing a sport, singing in the choir or playing in the school band. We can also belong to clubs, such as the drama club, the chess club and the debating society.

We have a lot of homework to do in senior school to prepare for our exam, so unless I have basketball practice, I usually go straight home and start studying. I arrive home about 4 pm, make myself a snack and work till 6. Then I help the family to make dinner and we all eat together. I’m usually back in my room studying by 8 pm. I stop at about 10 o’clock and watch TV or read a book for half an hour to relax. On Saturdays, I usually go out with my family or with friends and I sleep in till late on Sunday morning. Then it’s back to the books on Sunday afternoon.

How about you? What’s your school life like? Do you have a lot of homework? What do you do to relax when you’re not studying? I’m looking forward to finding out.

Your Australian friend

Terrie

A car needs gas to run and your body also needs food to work for you．Eating the right kind of food is very important．It can keep your body strong，so take care of what you eat． There are four main food groups altogether．The dairy products group has food like milk，cheese and sour milk．The other three groups are the meat and fish group，the fruit and vegetable group，and the bread and rice group．Each meal should have at least one food from all the four main groups．With all these food together you will be given enough energy during the day． It is easy to get into bad eating habits．You may eat your breakfast in a hurry to get to school on time．Or you may not have time for a good lunch．It may seem easy to finish your supper with fish and chips all the time．But you will find yourself tired during these days and you can not think quickly． Watching what you eat will help keep your body healthy and strong．It is also good to take some exercise．It will help you eat more if you take a walk or play games in the open air．Having a good eating habit with some exercise is the key to your health．

It often appears that we have more to gain by speaking than by listening. One big advantage of speaking is that it gives you a chance to control others’ thoughts and actions. Whatever your goal is — to have a boss hire you, to  (1)  others to vote for the person of your  (2)  or to describe the   (3)  that you want your hair cut ... the key to success seems to be the  (4)  to speak well.

    Another    (5)  advantage of speaking is the chance it provides to  (6)  the admiration, respect, or liking of others. Tell jokes, and everyone will think you’re really a   (7)  man. Tell them all you know, and they’ll be   (8)   by your wisdom. But keep quiet, and it seems as if you are a   (9)  person.

    Finally, talking gives you the   (10)  to release (释放) energy in a way that listening can’t. When you’re  (11)  , the chance to talk about your problems can often help you feel better. In the same way, you can often  (12)  your anger by letting it out orally. It is also helpful to  (13)  your excitement with others by talking about it,    (14)   keeping it inside often leaves you feeling as if you might burst.

    While it is true that talking does have many advantages, it’s important to   (15)   that listening can do good to listeners, too. As you’ll soon read, being a good listener is one good way to  (16)  others with their problems; and what better way is there to have others   (17)   you? As for controlling others, it may be true that it’s hard to be persuasive while you’re listening, but your   (18)  to hear others out will often make them open to your ideas  (19)  . Listening is often reciprocal (互惠的). “You get what you   (20)  .”

Everybody sleeps, but what people stay up late to catch or wake up early in order not to miss varies by culture？

From data collected, it seems the things that cause us to lose the most sleep, on average, are sporting events, time changes, and holidays.

Around the world, people changed sleep patterns thanks to the start or end of daylight savings time. Russians, for example, began to wake up about a half-hour later each day after President Vladimir Putin shifted the country permanently to "winter time" starting on October 26.

Russia's other late nights and early mornings generally correspond to public holidays. On New Year's Eve, Russians have the world's latest bedtime, hitting the hay at around 3:30 a. m.

Russians also get up an hour later on International Women's Day, the day for treating and celebrating female relatives.

Similarly, Americans' late nights, late mornings, and longest sleeps fall on three-day weekends.

Canada got the least sleep of the year the night it beat Sweden in the Olympic hockey (冰球) final.

The World Cup is also chiefly responsible for sleep deprivation. The worst night for sleep in the U. K. was the night of the England-Italy match on June 14. Brits stayed up a half-hour later to watch it, and then they woke up earlier than usual the next morning thanks to summer nights, the phenomenon in which the sun barely sets in northern countries in the summertime. That was nothing, though, compared to Germans, Italians, and the French, who stayed up around an hour and a half later on various days throughout the summer to watch the Cup.

It should be made clear that not everyone has a device to record their sleep patterns; in some of these nations, it's likely that only the richest people do. And people who elect to track their sleep may try to get more sleep than the average person. Even if that's the case, though, the above findings are still striking. If the most health-conscious among us have such deep swings in our shut-eye levels throughout the year, how much sleep are the rest of us losing?

What kind of life do you seek for? One that is frustrating and full of complaints every day? Or one that is filled with thankfulness, gratefulness and a positive mind? 

The moment we open our eyes each day, we should be grateful that we are still alive. We are given a brand-new day. We are given another day to love. We are given another day of hope. We are given another chance to do whatever we have failed to accomplish. Those who have chosen to leave this place do not have any second chance. 

   We should be grateful every day. By being grateful, we will treasure the things around us. We will learn to appreciate life in a better way. Treat others better and find ourselves in a better mood every day. When we are thankful and grateful for the things we have, the universe tends to give us more. 

By being thankful and grateful for our personal health, we will focus our attention on it and we would want to have a better well-being for our health. We will want to eat healthier food to nourish our body. After all, the body is the temple of our soul. We have to treat it well so that it can carry us a longer journey in life. 

When we face problems in life, be thankful and grateful too. They are designed specifically for us so that  we will be stronger and wiser. We are like a strong oak tree, facing the harsh weather time to time. After each storm, we will grow stronger and strengthen our foundations for the next harsh weather. 

The year 2013 has come to an end. Have you achieved what you aimed for in the past year? Be grateful for those you have achieved and especially for those you have not—both successes and failures. Failures and mistakes will give you valuable lessons. So, pick yourself up and try again this year. Good luck!

When was the last time your family sat down together to have a dinner?

The speed at which we live today no longer allows for slow eating habits. Most people work long hours. There is lots of fast food and eating out is now on the increase. Often, food is eaten in front of the television in silence, or a child eats alone in front of the computer.

When I was a child, every evening around the same time, one of the children would be asked to set the table, and then weˈd go and wash our hands: before the meal. This was the time of day when we would talk about our day at school. But now things have changed a lot.

A family environment plays an important role for children in learning to communicate with others and understanding table manners, such as waiting for others to finish before leaving the table and not speaking with a mouth full of food. Parents’ likes and dislikes of a certain food will also influence a childˈs own likes and dislikes. Studies have shown that children who often eat with their families have better results at school than children who eat with their families less than twice a week.

Regular meal times give children the chance to discuss their problems with family members. They can also learn to respect others around the table. Talking to your children over dinner is the best way of having their trust. Children learn good eating habits from their parents at a very young age. Family meals are important. Prepare them for your children.

I grew up in a very large family, which was also very poor. We could not afford any great meals nor eat out in a restaurant. Our dinners were always very simple, but I enjoyed every minute of the family dinner time. Talks during the dinner time were fun. Grandma usually shared her tips on how to get the cheapest goods in the market and my cousin always told us new jokes he learned from classmates.

Years later, I started my own family with Roy in the U.S. Then we had our two lovely children, Andy and Allie, who are 10 and 8 years old now. We sit at our table and eat, and each person talks about his or her day. It is often during the dinner conversation that I notice the changes in my children. For example, when Andy suddenly refused to talk about his best friend, I knew some fights between the two might be going on and I should pay more attention to Andy's feelings and see whether private talks or help would be needed.

It is also an excellent time to talk to kids about what our jobs are like. Instead of envying the fact that Daddy and mommy can play on the computer the whole day, they can learn something useful, such as responsibilities, team work and the value of hard work.

Having family dinners means I have to devote more time to grocery shopping and cooking, in addition to my busy daily work, but it's worth it. I believe in the power of family dinners.

One summer day my father sent me to buy wire and fencing for our farm in Marion County,South Carolina. At 16, I liked nothing better than getting behind the wheel of our Chevy pickup, but thistimeit made me low in spirits. My father had told me I’d have to ask for credit at the store.

Sixteen is a prideful age, when a young man wants respect, not charity. It was 1976, and the uglyshadow of racismwas still a fact of life. I’d seen my friends ask for credit and then stand, head down, while a store owner questioned whether they were “good for it”. I knew black youths just like me were watched like thieves by the store clerk each time they went into a grocery.

My family was honest. We paid off our debts. But before harvest, cash was short. Would the store owner trust us?

At Davis Brothers General Store,Buck Davisstood behind the register, talking to a middle-aged farmer. When I brought my purchases to the register, I said carefully, “I need to put this on credit.”

The farmer gave me a cynical look.But Buckˈs face didn’t change. “Sure,” he said easily. “Your daddy is always good for it.” He turned to the other man. “This here is one of James William’s sons.”

The farmer nodded in a friendly way. I was filled with pride.James William’s son. Those three words had opened a door to an adult’s respect.

That day I discovered the good name my father and mother had earned brought our whole family the respect of our neighbors. The desire to keep the respect of a good name urged me to become the first in our family to go to university. Eventually, it gave me the initiative to start my own successful public relations firm in Washington, D.C.

Why does nearly everyone instantly look more attractive with sunglasses on? You know you’re at least a little curious. And so was Vanessa Brown, a senior lecturer of art and design at Nottingham Trent University in the U.K. Her research focuses on the meaning we assign to everyday objects, and in her academic book that’s coming out early next year, she explores the cultural and psychological relationship between sunglasses and our modern idea of “cool”. In an e-mail to Science of Us, Brown explained what her research has uncovered about why most of us look better in shades.

Sunglasses do make your face look better. Put on a pair of sunglasses, and there’ll be instantsymmetry（对称）! The dark lenses cover up any non-symmetrical features around your eyes, and research on facial attractiveness shows a clear link between symmetry and our ideas of beauty.

Many of the snap judgments we form about people come from looking them in the eyes. “The eyes are such atremendoussource of information for the human being,” Brown explained. Eye contact helps us form judgments about someone’s intelligence, confidence, and sincerity, and sunglasses keep us literally in the dark about forming thoseperceptionsabout a person. A recent study showed that people who wore sunglasses acted more selfishly and dishonestly than those wearing eyeglasses, which, the researchers argue, suggests that sunglasses cheat us into feeling more unknown.

Sunglasses are a relatively modern everyday accessory. Sales started to pick up in the 1920s, but they didn’t becomecommonplaceuntil about two decades after that. In their early days sunglasses were primarily used during risky water and snow sports, and were also associated with new technologies like airplane travel, which made them seem “daring and thoroughly modern”.

Soon after that, Hollywood stars of the 1950s and 1960s started wearing sunglasses to defend themselves from being recognized by the public or harassed bypaparazzi（狗仔队）, whose flashbulbs would often explode violently, sometimes literally in their faces. But regardless of practicality, movie stars’ adoption of the sunglasses strengthened the link between sunglasses and attractiveness.