【推荐1】A primary school in rural (农村) China provides free meals for its students.

There are more than 1,000 teachers and students in Jingwai Mingde Primary School in Xuanwei, Yunnan province. With 10 hectares of farmland, the school plants vegetables and raises pigs and chickens itself. The produce is used to feed the students. And it has fed itself for 16 years.

Each class has a piece of land to plant vegetables or raise animals. Students do farm work during the class twice a week with the help of the teachers.

The school has set up a greenhouse with fruit trees for students to learn about nature, instead of listening to teachers in the classroom. There is also a zoo in the school. It keeps sika deer, ostriches (鸵鸟) and other animals to help students get along with animals.

“The farm work helps the students build excellent characters,” said school headteacher Lei Yingfei. “They all like it very much.”

Do you like the school? Do you want to experience the colorful school life-growing vegetables on your own, eating healthily and playing with animals? You can do all these at school!

【推荐2】As one of the most famous schools in the world, Eton College is for boys between the ages of thirteen and eighteen.

Eton College was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI. At the very beginning, Henry wanted children from poor families to study here. But later more and more children from rich families entered the school.

In the past, all of the British private schools were single-sex, but recently many have changed. However, Eton maintains (维持) the boy school system. Eton’s subjects are more difficult than those of an ordinary school. Besides, students must study classical literature (文学). In recent years, in order to catch up with the global development, Eton has paid more attention to subjects like mathematics and language. Students there must also study a foreign language.

As a tradition, students in Eton are asked to wear white shirts, tuxedos (燕尾服) and black trousers. Of this century, the traditional black hat has not been worn by them. In recent years, Eton has made other changes. First, it gives special prizes to the excellent students who don’t have much money to enter the school. Second, foreign students are allowed to study to improve Eton’s international image. At present, among the 1,270 students of the whole school, 50 are foreigners. Third, it will provide foreign language courses like Russian and Japanese for higher-grade student.

【推荐3】“I hate school and I’m not going back!” Do you feel this way? Lots of kids do. Usually this feeling doesn’t last long. But what happens if you feel this way too much? School is a fact of life and getting an education(教育) can help you build the kind of future life you want. So let’s talk about school and what to do when you don’t like it.

If you don’t like school, the first step is to find out why. You might not like school because you don’t have enough friends, or maybe you don’t get along with your teachers. Sometimes it’s a big problem with your classes and schoolwork. Maybe the work is too easy and you get bored, or maybe the work is too hard, or you don’t feel as smart as other kids. You may be falling behind(落后), and it may seem like you will never catch up.

When you know why you don’t like school, you can start taking steps to make things better. It’s a good idea to talk to your parents and teachers about your problems with school. If you have difficulties with your schoolwork, you need special help from your teachers. Try not to let the problems go on too long. It’s easier to catch up on one unit than the whole book! Another good idea is to write down your feelings about school in your diary. It’s a great way to let out bad feelings, and you don’t have to share what you’ve written with others.

How is everything(一切) going with you and Dad?I’m writing to tell you something about my school life in China.

First,I want to say China is a great country.In my class there are 16 girls and 18 boys.They are from some other countries.They are all very nice.

In the morning,I don’t have classes,but I need to do sports.And in the afternoon,I have Chinese from 1:30 to 3:30.Chinese is a very interesting language.Now I have some Chinese friends.They are friendly to me and I can talk to them in Chinese.From 3:40 to 5:40,I have science.But I don’t like it because my science teacher teaches it in Chinese.I can’t totally(完全地) get it.

I miss(想念) you very much!

Yours,

Peter

【推荐2】Classes in American schools are smaller than ours. Most classes have no more than thirty students. Most students in the US don’t wear school uniforms (校服). In American school, students have classes for six hours. Their classes are English writing, math, history, science, PE, music and art. They don’t have group exercises each day. If they see our exercises, they would think we were very strange!

American students don’t have to worry about passing exams all the time, so they can spend time in and out of school doing things they enjoy. They do different things for fun, like playing sports, making music or surfing the Web.

Many American teachers think that just studying hard isn’t enough to make a good student. They encourage students to become well-rounded (成熟的) by trying lots of different things.

【推荐3】From Tuesday to Friday Mr. White goes to night school. He wants to learn English. It's Wednesday morning. Mr. White is going to the bus stop. Now he's waiting for the bus.

The bus is coming. Mr. White gets on the bus. He stands next to two old women. The men in front of them are sitting. Two men get up and give the women their seats. The   old women take the seats and say, "Thank you very much. It's very nice of you."

【推荐1】What Will Our Life Be Like in 2040?

Welcome to your future life!

You get up in the morning and look into the mirror. Your face is young-looking, In 2040, medical science is better than ever. Many people your age could live to be 150, so at 40, you’re not old at all. And your parents just had an anti-aging nanotechnology(纳米技术) treatment. Now, all three of you look the same age!

You say to your shirt: “Turn red.” It changes from blue to red. In 2040, “smart clothes” contain particles(分子) much smaller than the cells(细胞) in your body. The particles can be programmed to change your clothes’ color or shape.

You walk into the kitchen. You grab the milk, but a voice says, “You shouldn’t drink that!” Your fridge has read the small computer chip(芯片) on the milk’s label(商标). And it knows the milk is old. In 2040, every food item in the grocery store has a small chip.

It’s time to go to work. In 2040, cars drive themselves. Just tell your “smart car” where to go. On the way, you can call a friend using your jacket sleeve(袖子). Nano-sized “smart technology” is all around you. “Your whole body and surroundings will become part of the same network,” says scientist Ampy Buchholz.

So will all these predictions come true? For new technology to succeed, says futurist Andrew Zolli, “it has to be so much better that it replaces what we have already.” The Internet is one example—what will be the next?

【推荐3】In Canada you can find dogs, cats and horses in almost every family. These are their pets. People love these pets and pets are their good friends. Before they keep them at their houses, they take them to animal hospitals to give them needles（针）so that they won’t carry disease.

They have special animal food stores, though they can get animal food in almost every store. Some people spend about two hundred Canadian dollars a month on animal food.

When you visit people’s homes, they would be very glad to show you their pets. You will also find almost every family has a bird feeder in their garden. All kinds of birds are welcomed to come and have a good meal. They are free to come and go and nobody can kill any animals in Canada. They have a law against killing wild animals. If you kill an animal, you will receive punishment. If an animal gets hurt, people would be very sad about it.

People in Canada have many reasons to like animals. One of them is: when children grow up, they leave their parents because they start their own work and life. Then their parents will feel lonely, but pets can help them. They can be good friends and never leave them alone.

【推荐1】In the countryside in Cambodia, a woman is preparing a meal for her family. She begins by pressing （压平） some garlic （蒜） and cutting up some chicken, and then adds them to a pot of boiling water. Next, she puts in a little salt and some lime （酸橙汁）. Finally, she drops a 200g piece of iron （铁） into the pot, which is shaped like a fish.

Fish is a symbol of luck in Cambodia. However, asking for luck is not why thousands of Cambodians add an iron fish to their food. The fish is actually a new solution （解决方法） to a health problem. Nearly 50% of Cambodians suffer from anemia （贫血）. It results from too little iron in the diet.

When Canadian scientist Christopher Charles visited Cambodia in 2008, he noticed that many people were anemic. Then he got the idea of getting people to place a fish-shaped piece of iron in their pots. As the water boils, the fish releases tiny amounts of iron. Another Canadian, Gavin Armstrong, created the Lucky Iron Fish program. Through the program, 9,000 fish were given out to local families, hospitals, and non-governmental organizations.

Further studies, however, have found that anemia in Cambodia is caused by much more than just short of iron. It appears that the iron fish may not be the complete solution to anemia.

Even if iron fish can't bring an end to anemia, it has a good effect on iron deficiency （缺乏）. Whether Cambodians continue using it or not, the idea could be used in other places where iron deficiency is also a problem.

【推荐2】More than two thirds of the world's polar bears will be wiped out ( 消灭) by 2050, according to a shocking new study. By then, scientists say, global warming will have melted 42 percent of the Arctic sea ice. By 2100, only a very few of these important creatures will be left. The report has been produced by the US Geological (地质学的) Survey. The scientists have publicized their findings in the hope of influencing US Interior Secretary (内政部长), Dirk Kempthorne, who has been asked to put polar bears on the US endangered species list. Polar bears depend on floating sea ice as a platform for hunting seals, which are their main food. Without enough ice, polar bears would be forced to go onto the land, where they are poorly skilled hunters, and would be unlikely to adapt (适应) to the life on the land in time. Experts say few little bears would survive and the stress could make many females unable to get pregnant.

The team of American and Canadian scientists spent six months studying bears, on the ground, from spotter planes (侦察机) and in the lab, using computer models. Some team members fear the result is even worse for the bears than what their report says. They say the Arctic is warming faster than anywhere in the world and much faster than their computers had been forecasting(预测). Satellite observations have showed that the ice has decreased to an all-time(空前的) low.

However, not everyone in the scientific community believes that global warming is happening on such an alarming scale (报警规模). Another investigation has found that polar bears are still being hunted by wealthy “sportsmen” who want their skins and heads. At least ten international companies offer bear-hunting trips.

【推荐3】When shopping for clothes, my mother and I have always disagreed on what fits me well. To me, if it zips(拉上拉锁)，it fits. My mom, however, usually says I need a bigger size.

When I was a teenager, I wanted to dress like my friends, but my body size made it impossible. When mom told me something didn't suit me, or that I needed a bigger size, all I heard was that my body was wrong.

To avoid arguments, we stopped going shopping together. This continued until I got engaged(订婚)and needed to find a wedding dress(婚纱).

I could have just bought it alone, of course, but my mom is my favorite person to hang out with. The idea of looking for a wedding dress without her seemed as scary as taking her with me.

And so the day came. As I tried on a simple white dress, I saw tears in my mom's eyes. "You look beautiful!" she told me. Nothing could have shocked me more.

This one didn't zip up at the back and I did actually need a bigger size, but my mother didn't say that. She just told me how beautiful I looked. At that moment, all those arguments we'd had while shopping in the past were laid to rest. We didn't buy a dress that day. We decided to see more, which I would never have predicted(预见).

A few weeks and many shopping trips later, we found the perfect dress. And during those few weeks, mom and I also found the perfect fit for our shopping relationship.