The umbrella is a very common object. It keeps the 1 and the sun off the people. Most umbrellas can be folded up (折叠) so it is 2 to carry them.
However, the umbrella was not always as 3 as it is now. In the past, it was a symbol of importance. Some African countries still use umbrellas in this 4. Someone carries an umbrella and walks behind the king or important person.
Umbrellas have a long history. People in different parts of the world began to 5 umbrellas at different times. The Chinese had them more than 3,000 years ago. From there, umbrellas 6 to India and Egypt. In Greece and Rome, 7 wouldn't use them. They believed umbrellas were only for women.
England was 8 the first country in Europe where common people used umbrellas against rain. The weather there is very 9 and umbrellas are very useful.
Everybody uses umbrellas today. The next time you 10 one, thinking that for centuries only great men and women used them, you'll feel you are the important person, too.
Baseball－it's just a word, but for millions of Americans, ①it brings to mind so many images: hot dogs, cold beers, sunny afternoons
For many people, baseball is the game of fathers and sons. Fathers and sons have been playing catch with each other on lawns(草坪) in the US. A father's favorite team becomes his son's. Grandfathers talk to their grandsons about games played long ago.
Many American kids collect baseball cards. The cards have pictures of their favorite players on them. In school, friends exchange baseball cards. ②about, baseball, famous, are, students, by, players, talked, often.
③Baseball players are known as “the boys of summer” because the sport is most often played in summer. You don't need to be of a certain size or shape to play baseball. You don't have to be tall like a basketball player or strong like an American football player. You just need to want to have fun.
Baseball is not as fast-paced(快节奏的) as basketball. When you go to see a game, there's time to relax, talk and get to know other people.
Baseball may not be the most popular sport in the US, but it is the most traditional. It's not just a game anymore, but a key part of American culture, like apple pie.
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The designer of the Apple Computer,Steve Jobs,was not quite successful in his early years.He was not among the best students at school,and from time to time he got into trouble with either his schoolmates or his teachers.But he was full of new ideas,which few people saw the value of them. Things remained the same when he went up to college and he dropped out halfway.
Steve Jobs worked first as a video game designer at Atari.He worked there for only a few months and then he set out to tour India.He hoped that the trip would give him more ideas and give him a change in life for the better.
After he returned from India,he began to live on a farm in California.And then,in 1975,Steve Jobs set about making a new type of computer.Along with his friend Stephen Wozniak,he designed the Apple Computer in his bedroom and built it in his garage(车库).He chose the name “Apple” because it reminded him of a happy summer he once spent on an orchard(果园)in Oregon.
His Apple Computer was so successful that Steve Jobs soon became worldwide famous.But unluckily,he died of illness in 2011.
The Internet joins millions of computers all over the world,and today it is used by people all over the world.It was invented in the 1960s in the USA.The American government needed a network of computers for its army.Then in the 1970s scientists and business people also wanted to use the Internet to send and receive messages.For some years,they weren't allowed to use the US network,and when they were allowed to,the messages were in very simple text without photos.
The World Wide Web was invented by a British scientist named Tim Berners-Lee in 1989.He wanted to send documents to other scientists,so he developed the World Wide Web.This allowed him to send and receive scientific documents with text,drawings and photos(also called multimedia documents).In the 1990s,more and more people began to use the Internet and the World Wide Web.
So what's the difference between the Internet and the World Wide Web?The Internet is the hardware.It allows us to communicate with other people.The World Wide Web is the software.It allows us to create, see and read multimedia documents.
The Web is made up of millions of documents called Web pages.These pages are held in computers all over the world.Many people have a favorite website with a number of Web pages on the same subject.
The email is a way of using your computer to send and receive messages.It's cheaper and quicker to use emails than send normal mails.New users call the normal mail “snail mail” because it's too slow.It took 50 years for 100 million people to listen to the radio.It took 15 years for 100 million people to watch television.By the year 2000, it had taken only about three years for 100 million people to use the Internet.What will happen next on the Internet?
Do you think “rock, paper, scissors(剪刀)” is a children's game? Think again.
Top players from the world came together in Toronto to compete for a 10,000-Canadian-dollar prize and the title of World Champion(世界冠军头衔).More 500 players, including national champions from Australia, Norway New Zealand, attended.
The simple game is often used to make decisions and solve simple . Players hold their fists closed and count three before making a fist (rock), a flat hand (paper) or two fingers (scissors).Paper covers rock, scissors paper and rock breaks scissors.
Players have different opinions about the history of the game, but it is commonly believed to have been played centuries in Japan. The Paper Scissors Stone Club opened in England in 1842 and could play together there. In 1918, the name was to World RPS Club and its headquarters (总部) moved London to Toronto.
