【推荐2】Do you have a lucky number? What is it? Many people have a special number that they hope will bring them good luck.

In Chinese culture, some numbers are believed to be lucky or unlucky based on the Chinese word that the number sounds similar to.

For example, the word for the number 8 sounds similar to the word for “making a fortune”. So, people consider it a very lucky number. Some people will even spend a lot of money to have 8s in their phone number or on their vehicle license plate (车牌照) number. The opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics began at 8:08 pm on Aug 8, 2008.

The number 9 is also a lucky number because of its connection to the emperors of China. There were nine dragons on emperors’ robes (龙袍) and Chinese myth held that the dragon had nine children. The number 9 also stands for “long lasting”. That’s why a man always proposes (求婚) to a woman with 99 or 999 roses.

So what’s an unlucky number in China? One example is 4. Many Chinese people see 4 as an unlucky number because it sounds similar to the character for “death”.

Because of this, many buildings skip (跳过) the fourth floor, and simply call it the fifth floor. In Hong Kong, some buildings even skip all floors numbered with 4, such as 4, 14, 24, 34 and all 40-49 floors. Some buildings also skip the 13th floor, as this is considered an unlucky number in the West. As a result, a building whose highest floor is 50 may have only 35 physical floors.

【推荐3】How quickly can you count from one to ten? Do you use ten different words to do it? Do you depend on your fingers? Many people think that numbers and math are the same all over the world. But scientists have discovered that it is not true.

In the US, people begin counting by extending each finger to count to five. Then they repeat this with the other hand to get to ten. In China, people count by using different finger positions. In this way, a Chinese person can easily count to ten on only one hand.

Besides, scientists have found that cultures and languages are also different when it comes to numbers. Some languages have only a few words for numbers, and others have no words for numbers. Aboriginal (土著的) people in Australia can’t use fingers to stand for numbers. They don’t even have word for numbers. However, they are still able to understand different ideas about numbers.

People of the Piraha tribe (部落) in northwestern Brazil don’t have words for numbers such as “one” or “three”, They are not able to say “five trees” or “ten trees” but can say “some trees”, “more trees,” or “many trees”.

Although all humans are able to understand quantities (数量), not all languages have numbers and not all people use counting. Number words in a certain language are a result of people needing numbers in their daily lives. Now we know that people have different ideas about numbers and math, too.

【推荐2】Some people have to use public transport, some dislike it and still some love it. If everyone has a car and drives anywhere they want to go, there will be serious traffic problems on the road. Luckily, trains are a good form of public transport.

British people use trains a lot. This is especially so for people who are travelling from London to Paris. Every day about 20 trains leave London. They travel at a very high speed and people feel glad that the trains take only 2 hours and 30 minutes to reach Paris. It’s much faster to travel by train than by bus or by car. This is because people have to drive cars or buses very carefully and slowly for many reasons, such as speed limits and traffic jams. However, when you are travelling by train, the speed is almost the same and there is no traffic jam for a train.

Besides, Londoners think taking a train is one of the safest ways of travelling on the ground. Trains take quite a number of quality tests while they are made. More importantly, they have to take many safety checks before they are used on the rail track.

What’s more, trains in Britain are comfortable and provide fine services for their users. When you are on a London train, you will find that the train has comfortable tables and seats where people can sit. They also provide food services and power plugs(插头) for personal computers or mobile phones.

【推荐1】Do you ever have a day when everything seems to go wrong, and nothing seems to go right? Not too long ago I had such a day. I was so down that I didn’t want to do anything. I kept myself at home the whole morning.

I told what I was like to my mother. Mom said, “Sally, I heard Jamie was having a difficult day too. Why don’t you make her some cakes and visit her this afternoon?”

I didn’t really want to, but decided to make some. I made some cakes and put them in a small box. Then I made a card with a sunflower on it and wrote something good with my new pen.

That afternoon I visited my friend’s house. I went to the door and rang the bell. Soon, Jamie came to the door and looked at me in surprise. I said, “I heard you were having a hard day and decided to bring you your favorite cakes. I hope your day goes better.” The look on Jamie’s face was one that I couldn’t put into words. She smiled and said thanks to me. It seemed that her day got brighter.

I got back into the car. I felt a lot better. That day I had the same feeling as someone tried to describe—If a person brings sunshine to others, he can’t keep it from himself.

A squirrel that was nearly killed nine years ago continues to visit the family that saved,raised and later sent her into the wild.

In October 2009,a four-week-old squirrel was almost killed by an owl(猫头鹰). Luckily, a wildlife group saved her and left her in the care of Brantley Harrison and her family in South Carolina. The Harrisons often look after wild animals and later send them back into the wild.

The Harrisons named her Belle. With three other squirrels,Belle stayed in Brantley's care until spring. During her stay,Belle acted similarly to the other squirrels. In April 2010,the squirrels were sent back into the wild. Belle,however, wasn't ready to leave her human family. Within days of being sent into the wild,she started visiting them,looking for treats. Brantley said that the other squirrels also came back over the first few days,but within a week they stopped coming by and began to avoid people.

"Belle usually sits at the front door,waiting for someone to notice her. She comes almost every day," said Brantley. Her husband John often brings Belle nuts as she is usually waiting by the door for him. Actually,Belle has become a member of the family.

For nine years,she continues to visit them. Brantley said,"If Belle can teach at least one person to care for all living things, no matter how big or how small,then we have done what we have set out to."

【推荐2】All about Electric Cars

Electric vehicles(电动车辆) have been around for more than a hundred years. But they have really been liked by a large number of people over the last ten years. More than three million all-electric cars trucks and vans are now on the road worldwide.

Most cars run on gasoline(汽油). Burning gasoline and other fossil fuels(矿物燃料) produces greenhouse gases. Electric vehicles don’t burn gasoline. Instead, strong batteries run their electric engines. So, electric vehicles don’t directly produce greenhouse gases.

Electric vehicles are better for the environment. But they are not perfect. Their batteries often use electricity(电) that was made by burning fossil fuels. But an electric vehicle uses less energy than a vehicle that runs on gasoline. Plus, some of the electricity comes from “greener” sources, such as solar and wind power. And some may soon come from a new source — cow poop(牛粪)! An electric car company has worked together with a large dairy farm. They plan to make electricity using a greenhouse gas from cow poop.

One of the problems for electric vehicles is their limited range. This is how far they can travel before their batteries need another charge(充电). But now their range is improving. Some new electric vehicles can travel almost three times as far as older ones did. Another problem is finding a place to recharge the batteries. But the number of charging stations is going up as well. China now has thousands more charging stations than it did ten years ago. In Sweden, engineers have even designed a road that will charge electric vehicles as they drive along.

【推荐3】Yoga（瑜伽）is a kind of sport. It is very popular around the world now. Everyone, young and old, can do yoga. It’s good for both men and women.

Why do people like yoga? Maybe there are many reasons（原因）. A simple reason is that yoga helps people keep healthy. For many people, that’s may be the answer, but there’s more things that you may be interested in.

Yoga started in India. About 5,000 years ago, people wanted to live a healthy and long life, so this kind of exercise was born. People learned it from one person and taught it to another person- one teacher with one student. Yoga is an Indian word and it means “ joining together” . There are three important things of yoga; exercising, breathing（呼吸）and thinking. Yoga can bring people a sense of peace（一种宁静的感觉）and help them relax.