【推荐2】The question whether there is life on Mars (火星) has made the public think a lot for more than a century. The closest look showed Mars to be a dusty, cold world, covered by air too thin to breathe. A British spaceship and Europe’s Mars spaceship plan to land on Mars or enter orbit (轨道) around it. One of the NASA’s (美国宇航局) spaceships is expected to land on January 3, the other is going to land on the opposite side of Mars on January 24.

Since 1960, over twenty spaceships sent to Mars have failed. Most have been lost on flying up or landing because those are the most difficult times of any flights.

Scientists wanted to find out whether there was water in Mars. In October, a team of scientists reported that Mars had been a dry wasteland. But weeks later, a second team reported differently that they had found some marks showed clearly that they were made by the rivers. Such marks told us that Mars was a warmer place billions of years ago—just as life first appeared here on Earth. Scientists at once raise a question: if what they said is true, what happened on Mars? Then what about the earth?

Why is it called Mars? You might have asked yourself this before. Well, Mars is the name of the Roman god of war. People have seen the planet as a symbol of war for thousands of years. The ancient Greeks called the planet Ares after their god of war. Chinese people called it the“fire star" for the same reason.

Scientists have been interested in the planet since long before any space tasks. Egyptian scientists first saw Mars in the sky more than 4,000 years ago. Since then, people from all over the world have studied the planet.

Over the years, scientists have continued to study the planet and learned some basic things about it.

Mars is 10 times lighter and about 6 times smaller than Earth. Earth is 93 million miles (about 150 million km) from the sun, while Mars is 142 million miles away. That means it is much colder on Mars. In fact, the average temperature on Mars is - 62℃. Scientists found water on Mars long ago, but because of the low temperatures there, it is frozen. One day on Mars is called a sol and is about 40 minutes longer than one Earth day. The Red Planet's surface gravity is only 37% as strong as Earth's, meaning you would be able to jump nearly two times higher on Mars.

A． Earth               Mars

B． Earth             Mars

C． Earth               Mars

D． Earth               Mars

【推荐1】We have to accept the truth: sometimes, we just want to shout out loud.

For example, we all have days like this: our dog has made a mess on the floor we just cleaned, or our friend called to tell us he or she couldn’t come at the last minute when we had cooked dinner for him or her. We may be really angry but we tried to bear things like those according to ancient Chinese wisdom (智慧). We should shout in a loud voice instead of keeping silent. In fact, it’s good for our health.

“Chinese people have passed on the practice from ancient times to now as a part of traditional medicine.” said Mrs. Li, a 60-year-old woman from Hangzhou. “My parents taught me to do this. It’s a part of our folk (民间的) culture.”

Mrs. Li is member of a group of people who love shouting. Each morning, she and some of her friends climb to top of the hill, and let out loud shouts before starting their daily exercise. They believe that shouting is good exercise for their lungs (肺) and it brings them a lot of fun.

“Sometimes I shout out and other shout back,” said Mrs. Gu, another shouting lover. “It makes you happy. You laugh and then you feel very comfortable.”

Dr. Peter Calafiura, an American doctor, agrees that shouting can have a positive influence on people’s health.

So, next time you start your morning run, why not try to shout out first? It will make you healthier.

【推荐2】Norway(挪威) is close to the North Pole. It is very cold there in winter. There are only a few hours of sunlight every day.

To most people in Norway, skiing is the best way to have fun in winter. Almost everyone skis. Children learn to ski soon after they learn to walk.

Long long ago in Norway, there were no buses or trains. People had to find a way to walk over the niveous snow. Skiing was the right answer! Norwegians have been skiing ever since. Today Norwegians ski just for fun. The whole family may go together on ski trips across the snowy countryside.

Although they love winter, the people in Norway are happy to see summer come. They enjoy the out-of-doors at any time of the year. In summer they swim and sunbathe. Some people go hiking and mountain climbing. The few short summer months are busy ones for Norwegian farmers, too. In summer in the north of Norway, the sun doesn’t set at all for many days. That is why Norway is often called the “Land of the Midnight Sun”．

【推荐3】It is reported that some developed countries have shipped broken parts of computers to China. Last month, Hong Kong officers found 131,000 kilograms of broken computers, TVs and phones sent from Japan.

Things like these are called electronic waste, or e­waste. Dealing with them is not an easy job. Every time an old computer breaks down, it needs to be dealt with safely. What is worse, at present, broken computer parts are usually buried. It may be hundreds of years before they really go in the earth.

Many places in China are polluted by e­-waste. Guiyu in Guangdong Province is one of them. This town is named as “the e­waste capital of the world”. It has to deal with 1.5 million kilograms of e­waste each year, from which it makes 75 million yuan. But it comes at a cost. An environmental group has found the air, the earth and the rivers in Guiyu badly polluted.

Luckily, the Chinese government wants the country to change the situation. This year, China passed a new environmental protection law. Computer companies like Lenovo and Dell will be asked to take back their old computers. Hopefully, the problem with e­waste will be solved in the near future.