2 . Young Heroes for the Planet

Nowadays, people around the world are working to help our planet. Check out how the three young adults made a difference.

3 . Big snowstorms and cold air swept across the north of China in the first week of November. Many people want to know, “If the earth is getting warmer, how can winter still be so cold?” The answer lies in the difference between local weather and climate (气候).

Climate is how the atmosphere (大气层) acts over a very long time, while weather describes what’s happening in a much shorter time. Even on a day when it is colder than average (平均) in a place, the world as a whole is warmer than average. For example, parts of the United States were 1 to 9 degrees colder than average, but the world as a whole was about 0.9 degree warmer than the 1979~2000 average.

Climate scientists think that the world could be 1~2 degrees warmer by the end of the century. But they don’t think it means the end of winter. Record low temperatures will still happen, and they just become rarer over time. One 2009 study found that the United States saw as many record highs as record lows in the 1950s, but by the 2000 record highs happened more often than record lows.

Another reason for the cold weather is the warming Arctic (北极). It is warming almost three times as fast as any other place on earth. As the temperature increases, lots of cold Arctic air goes to the south.

So, will this winter be much colder? A report says it is highly possible. North China may see more snow than average while south China may get less rain than average.

4 . Starting this term, middle school students will have a new course—cooking. Does everyone like it?

Let’s look at what the students in Yucai Middle School think of it.

5 . We need some volunteers. We are looking for fifteen students to contribute (贡献) your free time. You should be patient and open-minded.

You can choose one from the following:

The orphanage(孤儿院). We will go to the orphanage on Sunday morning.

You can bring flowers or some interesting books. If you can sing or dance, that will be better.   

The library. We will help move books from the old library to the new one on Sunday afternoon. It seems boring but it really helps the librarians a lot.

The park. We will go to the park on Saturday morning. We will pick up some rubbish and water the trees. We can have free bread and some bottles of water.

If you want to be a volunteer, please call Miss Liao at 0825-7822977. And go to her office to fill in a form before Wednesday.

9 . Do teenagers still depend on textbooks to study? Here are some interesting learning sites (网站). They can satisfy different hobbies of teenagers.