2 . After entering high school, you may find there are many clubs at your school. You may think you’re too busy to join one. But as a former high school student, I can tell you joining a school club can greatly profit you.

Your old friends may have left you after entering high school. And it means you need to meet new people. Joining a club allows you to talk with others and find those who have similar interests as you. Based on my experience, I have met some of my best friends from club activities, which opened up many new doors for me.

Another really nice thing about joining a club is that it looks really good on college applications. Trying new things is something that looks really good on any application. Outgoing is considered a very good quality which shows that you are determined and ready to put yourself out there and best of all try new things. Furthermore, it can help you develop skills that can serve you during future college interviews.

Besides, joining a club can make students use their free time wisely. Most teens go to schools, then go back home and spend the rest of the day in front of a screen. Teens are also very likely to fall into the wrong crowd, which could lead to some bad results. Clubs are good places to spend time with good people to fall back on.

The most important reason why you should join a club is the long-term benefits ( 益 处 ) it brings.The classroom isn’t the only learning environment in a school. The skills you learn in clubs are necessary ones that can be used in everyday life, which I think is the final goal of joining a club. Things such as meeting and speaking to new people, making the most of time, and being organized are those you will meet every single day of your life, but you can learn all of them in clubs.

So if you haven’t joined a school club yet, you know what you should do now.

3 .

Yours,

Li Hua

5 . Blind people have long desired for brightness, but scientists don’t have the technology. To bring that one step closer to reality, Zhiyong Fan, a materials scientist of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, developed a new artificial eye recently. The device, which is about as sensitive to light and has sharper vision and a faster reaction time than a real eyeball, may outperform human eyes.

The human eye owes its wide field of view and clear eyesight to the retina (视网膜) — an area at the back of the eyeball covered in light-detecting cells. The design for a new artificial eye is based on the structure of the human eye and uses a friendly light-sensitive material. At the back of the eyeball, an artificial retina is lined with Nan scale light sensors (纳米级光感器). Those sensors measure light that passes through the lens (晶状体) at the front of the eye. Wires attached to the back of the retina send signals from those sensors to the processor, similar to the way nerve networks connect the eyeball to the brain.

“In the future, we can use this to replace damaged human eyes,” says the lead designer. In theory, this artificial eye could see more clearly than the human eye, because the artificial retina contains about 460 million light sensors per square centimeter while a real retina has about 10 million light-detecting cells per square centimeter. Besides, the artificial eyeball records changes in lighting faster than human eyes can — within about 30 to 40 milliseconds, rather than 40 to 150 milliseconds. Although its 100-degree field of view isn’t as broad as the150 degrees a human eye can take in, the device can see as well as the human eye in poor light.

Hongrui Jiang, an electrical engineer at the University of Wisconsin, though, thinks engineers need a much more practical and efficient way to produce vast series of tiny wires on the back of the artificial eyeball to give it superhuman sight, which is super hard to achieve.

As the saying goes, chances preferred the prepared mind. I learned this from one of my experience.

I was not chosen as member of the volleyball team of our school. Because of this, I decided to give up play volleyball. Lucky, my best friend stopped me but pointed out that it was my laziness and poor preparation which led to my failure. After that, I practiced playing the volleyball every day. When another tryout arrived, I was fully prepared and tried my best. As a result, I was selected and became an important player on our school team.

From this, I am firmly convincing that, no matter when chances arrive, we were able to seize them as long as we get well prepared.

I am Li Hua from Class One, Senior Two.

Yours Sincerely,

Li Hua

In our daily life, we often meet with difficulties. Some people do nothing but wait, while     1     try hard to overcome. Personally, we should face with difficulties positively and make every effort to overcome them.

My memory drew me back to five years ago when I was a middle school student. At that time, I had great trouble    2     (study) English. First of all, I felt it hard to memorize English     3     (word). Besides I didn’t dare to say anything in class when     4     (ask) questions. What annoyed me most was that I failed exams     5     (constant). I was about to give up     6     my English teacher found my problems. He encouraged me and gave me some good advice. So     7     (inspire) by him, I decided to settle my problems.     8     (follow) his advice, I made progress gradually. I owe my achievement     9    the teacher whose encouragement was of great     10     (important).