【推荐1】Dyslexia（阅读困难症）is a condition that influences one’s ability to read, write, spell, and listen. Someone with dyslexia has a hard time making the connection between the way letters look and the sounds of words. Though learning may be more difficult for kids with dyslexia, it doesn’t mean that they aren’t smart. It means they have trouble translating what they see, hear, or write into meaningful information.

So, what causes dyslexia? Scientists believe a trouble in the brain makes decoding（编译）languages difficult for some people. Although there is no way to cure it, some doctors think that if caught early, dyslexia can be improved. One way to do this is by teaching readers to practise reading those words aloud. Many dyslexia people discover their own ways, such as listening to books on tapes or asking for more time to complete tests.

【推荐2】No one wants to work at a messy desk. But does a messy desktop (桌面) actually mean that? Not all disorders mean you mess everything up.

People who prefer a messy desk have their own ideas. Some think it makes them comfortable. Some believe it helps them focus more easily. Messy tables can make it easier to focus on the tasks, just like some writers can write patiently (有耐心地) in a noisy place. Others may be the people who want to do things perfectly (完美地). For those who strive for perfection (完美), tasks are either 100% or 0% done. So they usually put away the less important things and do the most important ones perfectly, which leads to paper mountains on the desktop.

Many people are described as untidy, careless and slow because of messy desktops. However, when we see the desks of Albert Einstein or Mark Twain, things might change. Clearly, the world welcomes uniformity (一致) and order, and it also never refuses regular (有规律的) disorder.

Research shows that people working with a messy desktop are probably more creative and like to take risks. For example, in an experiment (实验) done by Kathleen Vohs, people in the messy group came up with more interesting and creative ideas about the new uses of ping-pong balls than a organized one. Vohs says, “Messy environments seem to make people to think up fresh ideas.”

But a messy desk might not be the best choice all the time. When you need new ideas, a messy desk might be a good choice; but when you want to do a task quickly and successfully, it seems better to make a desk clean and tidy.

【推荐3】

“What’s the name of the man living next door? I can’t remember it right now.” Have you ever heard your grandparents ask questions like this? Usually, we think old people’s memories (记忆力) become bad because their brains (大脑) can’t work quickly. But a team of German scientists has a different idea.

“The human brain works slower in old age,” said scientist Michael Ramscar, “but only because they have kept much more information over time.”

The findings are a result (结果) of many computer simulations (模拟) of learning and memory. Scientists let the computers read words and learn new things each day. When the computer “reads” only so much, its result in memory tests is the same as that of a young man. But if the computer learns much more than that, its result is the same as that of an older man. It is slower because more information makes the computer’s database (数据库) grow and the computer has more data to work with —it takes time. This is the same as old people.

   Think about this. A man knows two persons’ birthdays. Another man knows the birthdays of 2,000 people, but can only match the right man to the right birthday nine times out of ten. Can you say that the first man has a better memory than the second one? The fact is that “The larger the library you have in your head, the longer it usually takes to find a word,” Benedict Carey, a science reporter for the New York Times, wrote in a report about the study.

【推荐1】Anne and Joseph are talking about an interesting question. Why do some people change their names? There can be many reasons. Hanna changed her name to Anne because she thought it would be easier for people to remember. On the other hand, Joseph is thinking about changing his name to an unusual name because he wants to be different.

People have a lot of reasons for changing their names. Film stars, singers, sportsmen and some other famous people often change their names because they want names that are not ordinary(普通的), or that have a special sound. They chose the “new name” for themselves instead of the name their parents gave them when they were born.

Some people have another reason for changing their names. They have moved to a new country and want to use a name that is usual there. For example, Li Kaiming changed his name to Ken Lee when he moved to the United States. He uses the name Ken at his job and at school. But with his family and Chinese friends, he uses Li Kaiming. For some people, using different names makes life easier in their new country.

In many countries, a woman changes her family name to her husband’s after she gets married（结婚）. But today, many women are keeping their own family name and not using their husband’s. Sometimes, women use their own name in some situations(情况) and their husband’s in other situations. And some use both their own name and their husband’s.

【推荐3】We all waste food, you and me, every day, millions of tons of it. In China, enough food is wasted in restaurants every year to feed 200 million people. And the amount (数量) of food wasted by Chinese consumers (消费者) is increasing fast. So our nation is being encouraged to stop wasting food.

So what should Chinese consumers do to prevent food waste?

♦ Keep a kitchen diary

All of us should keep a kitchen diary, and we can know that how much food we waste at home. The first thing for us to do is to stop throwing away food that we can still eat. We should eat everything we buy and if we cannot, we should buy less.

♦ Buy only what we need

We should ask for smaller portions (部分) in stores. We should also check how much food we have before buying more. We shouldn’t bring much food we don’t need home even if large posters ask us to do so.

♦ Develop the habit of packing food

Chinese consumers are generous (慷慨的) and friendly. In restaurants, often too much food is ordered and served. So when ordering out, we are supposed to exclude (排除) the food if we don’t plan to eat it. And order smaller servings in restaurants and take home what we cannot finish.

Don’t put it off! Let’s stop food waste today!

The exam comes in July. When the exam finishes, the summer vacation begins. Boys and girls have two months to rest. The summer vacation is the best part of the year for most children. The weather is usually good. They can swim, go to summer camp or visit other places with their parents.

We all know that the beaches are good places to relax. Some children are lucky to live near the sea. They can enjoy the sea at any time. But for the children who live far from the sea, they only go to the beaches for one or two weeks with their parents.

Why do children like spending their summer vacation on the beaches? It is because they like the sand, the sun, the cool wind and the saltwater. There are a lot of new things to see, nice things to eat and exciting things to do.

【推荐2】These years, big changes to city life in China have attracted the world. Among them, four stand out. They are famous as “China’s four great modern inventions”.

【推荐3】Confucianism (儒家思想) has been followed by Chinese people for more than two thousand years. To help people understand how to behave towards others, Confucianism teaches the Five Constants (五常). These are ren, yi, li, zhi and xin. They are general virtues (美德) around the world. The most important two are ren and li.

Ren is the feeling of care and love we should have for others. Confucius explained ren could best be understood as loving others. He is famous for teaching people “What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others”. It is quite similar to what is known in the West as the Golden Rule (treat others as you wish to be treated).

While the meaning of ren is easy to understand, li is a little harder to express. It can be thought of as duty or even respect. Generally, it is the way we should connect with people in our everyday life. In Confucian writings, discussions about li include the proper way to drink tea and how to remember ancestors. While ren is mostly about our opinions and feelings, li is about how we express our opinions and feelings towards others and towards the world around us.

Perhaps the most well-known Confucian virtue is xiao. This is the duty children have to their parents. Xiao means loving, respecting, obeying and taking care of one’s parents in their old age. In Confucianism, xiao is important for a harmonious (和谐的) society: Without it, the whole world would fall into a mess.

【推荐1】The toucan (巨嘴鸟) is a colourful bird. Take a look at these facts about the toucan, and you may learn something you didn't know before!

·Where do they live?

Toucans can be found in the tropical (热带) forests of South America. Their home is in danger. It is advised to avoid buying rainforest wood and to protect the habitat (栖息地) of toucans.

·What do they look like?

Toucans have a black body and white throat. The colourful beak (鸟喙) is about 8 inches long and makes up 1/3 of the bird's total length. It may look pretty big, but thankfully for the toucan, their beaks are not too heavy. It is composed of keratin (角蛋白), which makes it much lighter than you would think just by looking.

·What do they eat and drink?

Toucans use their beak to peel and eat different kinds of fruits, which happens to be the kind of food they eat most often. Sometimes toucans will choose to snack on insects, frogs, or the eggs of other birds. Toucans get most of their watch from the fruits they eat, so they don't need too much extra water.

·Believe it or not!

Toucans don't have very big wings. They have to flag their wings vigorously (强力地) to travel short distance. So you will often find them hopping rather than lying through the air. Toucans can be rather lazy birds and they like to stay in one place generally. They don't fly high up in the sky or very far away from home, and enjoy staying in trees with their delicious fruit to eat. Wild cats are a predator of toucans in the rainforest. Other predators include large birds. Same snakes may attack smaller toucans but typically are more interested in the toucan's eggs instead.

【推荐3】Once upon a time, there lived a kind king. But the king was also very lazy. He would not do anything other than eat and sleep. He became fatter and fatter, and finally found it difficult to move his body— even his feet. The king invited doctors from different parts of his country to make him healthy. But no one could help the king lose weight.

One day, an old man visited the country. He heard about the king's problem. He volunteered to help the king lose some weight. The king decided to let him have a try.

The old man lived far away. He said that the king had to come to him and asked the king to come for treatment the next day. But the king would have to walk there, the old man added.

The king came the next day. However, the old man was not there. His son asked the king to come and meet his father the next day.

The king came every day for two weeks, but he never once saw the old man. But he did notice that he felt a lot lighter. He had lost some weight. He finally realized why the old man had asked him to walk so many times.