A teacher was giving a talk to his students on stress management (管理). He raised a glass of water and asked them, “How _____ do you think this glass of water is?”

The students began to think and ____. Their answers are different, from 20g to 500g.

“It does not matter on the real _____. It depends on how long you hold it. If I hold it for a ____ it is OK. If I hold it for an hour, I will have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you will have to call a _____. It is the exact same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes. What we have to do is to put the glass down, ____ for a while before holding it up again.

“If we carry our burdens (负担) ____, sooner or later, we will not be able to carry on. The burden will become increasingly heavy. We have to ____ the burden every now and then, so that we can be refreshed and are able to carry on.”

So ____ you return home from work tonight, put the burden of work down. Don’t carry it back home. You can pick it up tomorrow.

Whatever burdens you have, let them down for a moment if you can. And learn to ____ ourselves.

Life is short but amazing. Enjoy it!

We did a survey at school today. It was about health habits. I have some good habits, although I have a few bad habits, too.

I usually eat healthy food because my mum and dad are good cooks. When they cook, I often help them. However, I sometimes eat junk food when I’m with my friends. They love candy and chocolate.

I am also very clean and tidy. I often wash my hands and I also take a shower every day. I brush my teeth twice a day. I’m fast so I don’t waste water.

Although I’m thin, I don’t exercise very much and I’m not very strong. When you exercise, it makes your bones stronger. I play ping-pong once a month, but I’m not very good at it. I walk to school every day, but I should do more.

I have lots of good habits, but I need to eat less junk food and exercise more.

Saturday, March 24th

We have arrived in the hot, wet city of Bangkok (曼谷). This is our first trip to Thailand (泰国). All the different smells make us want to try the food. We are going to eat something special for dinner tonight. The hotel we are staying in is cheap and very clean. We plan to stay here for a few days, visit some places in the city, and then travel to Chiang Mai (清迈) in the North.

Tuesday, March 27th

Bangkok is wonderful and surprising! The places are interesting. We visited the famous market which was on water, and saw a lot of fruits and vegetables. Everything is so colorful, and we have taken hundreds of photos already! Later today we will take the train north to Chiang Mai and stay there for two days, and then catch a bus to Chiang Rai (清莱).

Friday, March 30th

Our trip to Chiang Rai was long and boring. We visited a small village in the mountains. The village people here love the quiet life — no computers or phones. They are the kindest people I have ever met. They always smile and say “hello”. Kathy and I can only speak a few words of Thai, so smiling is the best way to show our kindness. I feel good here and hope to be able to come back next year.

“How many common English words were invented by Shakespeare?”

How long did it take people to find the answer to this question 15 years ago? And now! You can goggle (搜索) it and find the answer immediately!

Google is the most popular Internet search engine (引擎) in the world. It was invented by two students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin. They met in 1993, when they were studying computer science at Stanford University, USA. They dreamed of producing something that could also answer any question in seconds.

Internet search engines at that time were slow and gave many websites that weren’t useful. In January 1996, Page and Brin decided to make a better and faster search engine. They thought the results should be based (基于) on the most popular websites.

Nobody would give them money for their project, so they used their own money. They also borrowed money from family and friends. Then, in 1998, they were given a cheque for $100, 000, and they started their own company. The company’s name is Google and their first office was in a friend’s garage (车库).

The google search engine was soon used by thousands of people worldwide because it was fast, easy and correct. By 2002 it was the biggest search engine on the Internet. Now, more questions have been answered by Google than any other Internet service. Google hopes that in the future all the world’s information will be put on the Internet, so that everybody can find everything.

Stonehenge, a rock circle, is not only one of Britain’s most famous historical places but also one of its greatest mysteries.

Every year more than 750, 000 v    76     go there. People like to go to this place especially in June b    77     they want to see the sun rising on the longest day of the year.

For many years, historians believed Stonehenge was a temple (寺庙) where ancient leaders tried to c    78     with the gods. However, historian Paul Stoker thinks this can’t be t    79     because Stonehenge was built so many centuries ago. “The leaders arrived in England much later, ” he pointed out.

Another popular idea is that Stonehenge might be a kind of calendar (日历). The large stones were put together i    80     a certain way.

On midsummer morning, the sun shines directly into the center of the stones. Other people believe the stones have a m    81     purpose. They think the stones can prevent illness and keep people healthy. “As you walk there, you can feel the energy from your feet move up your b    82    . ” said one visitor. No one is sure what Stonehenge was used for, but most agree that the position of the stones must be for a special p    83    . Others think it was built to c    84     a victory over an enemy.

Stonehenge was built slowly over a long period of time. Most historians believe it must be almost 5, 000 years old. One of the greatest mysteries is how it was built because the stones are so big and heavy. In 2001, a group of English volunteers tried to build another Stonehenge, but they couldn’t, “we don’t r    85     know who built Stonehenge,” says Paul Stoker. “And perhaps we might never know, but we do know they must have been hard-working—and great planners!”