1 . When you are about to go to a boarding school (寄宿制学校) in England, there are many different questions that may come to mind. But once you look at them with some perspective (视角), you will certainly feel easy. Here is a normal boarding day.

Early Morning:

Usually boarders get up around 7:00 am and have around an hour to take a shower and put on their uniform before breakfast.

Lessons:

Classes start at 9: 00 am and every lesson lusts for 50 minutes. After two lessons, at 10: 40 am, you’ll have a short break. The next period of classics will include two more lessons.

Lunch:

Lunch is usually held around 12:30 pm at the dining hall, where you’ll join your friends to enjoy a hot dish. After an hour of lunch, you’ll have three or four more lessons to attend.

Dinner:

At 5:00 pm you will have finished your school lessons for the day. Most boarding schools in the UK offer their full boarders different kinds of hot meals to choose from.

Activities/ Sports:

All boarding schools in the UK provide many different kinds of activities for their boarders, such as football, swimming, golf or art.

Prep:

An important part of boarding school life is the supervised homework session known as “prop”. Although “prep” might sound stressful, it’s a great way for you to keep up with your studies.

Free time:

Once you have done all your classes and activities, it’s time to relax.

Bedtime:

In most boarding schools, the lights go out around 10:30 pm.

Being nervous just before you go to a boarding school is completely normal and understandable. Hopefully, knowing the usual routine (常规) can help you. Once you are there, you will also see how exciting life in a boarding school in England can be.

4 . A food additive is any substance that is added to food. Many people are put off by the idea of “chemicals in food”.     1    Natural substances like milk, as well as man-made ones like drinks on sale in the market, can be described by chemical formulas.

The things we eat can be divided into natural and man-made substances. Some people feel that only natural foods are   healthy and that all man-made ingredients are to be avoided.     2    And some laboratory-made substances increase the   nutritional value of food. Other chemicals have natural and man-made forms that are exactly alike: vitamin C is vitamin C, whether it comes from a test tube or from an orange. Like “chemical”, “man-made” doesn’t necessarily mean “not fit to eat”.

    3    We add sugar and salt and other things to foods we prepare at home to make them taste better. Food producers have developed a range of additives that stabilize, thicken, harden, keep wet, keep firm, or improve the appearance of their products. Additives can make food more convenient or nutritious, and give it a longer shelf life.     4    

Food additives are presently the centre of a storm of serious argument.Food producers have been known to use additives that have not been proved safe.    5     Many people feel there’s a risk of eating food to which anything has been added.But food additives are now regulated by the FDA of the federal government, and new additives are subjected to strict testing before they can be placed on the market.For most people, the chances of developing serious side effects from the long-term use of presently approved food additives are very slim.