It should come as no surprise that kids are spending a lot of time in front of screens. According to a new study, teens from 8 to 12 years of age spend an average of fourandahalf hours each day watching TV or using a digital device(数码设备). For teens from 13 to 18, the average is sixandahalf hours. But those numbers hide a bigger, more complex picture.
Common Sense Media conducted the study. Here are some truths and some myths (错误看法) that the study revealed(揭示)：
Truth 1: Some teens spend too much time looking at screens.
Young people are still spending time watching television, especially tweens. One in five tweens uses screen media more than six hours each day, and 18% of teens are looking at their screens for more than 10 hours a day.
Myth 1: This is the end of reading.
While the average time young people spend reading, either in print or on a screen, is only 30 minutes per day, kids who took the survey say reading is one of their favorite activities.
Truth 2: Boys prefer video games; girls prefer social media.
Among tween boys, 71% enjoy playing video games, twice as many as tween girls. And while more than 25% of teen boys list playing video games as their favorite media activity, only 2% of teen girls do. Teen girls, meanwhile, spend about 40 minutes more each day on social media than boys do.
Myth 2: The Digital Revolution is making young people more creative than ever. Tweens spend an average(平均)of five minutes and teens nine minutes per day making something creative with all their digital tools, whether it's art, music, or writing.
I was excited as I was moving towards my new school. I wondered what questions the other students would ask me and practiced all the answers on18 the way. However, no one took any notice of me while I was entering the school. I stood in the center of the playground, expecting someone to say "hello", but no one spoke to me.
There were forty other boys in Ms. Miller's class, so I didn't stand out there, either, until the first lesson of that afternoon. Ms. Miller asked several boys if they knew who Isaac Newton is, but no one guessed right. A boy called Giant, the biggest in the class, said: "He is a cook in our school." and Ms. Miller went red in the face. Then she turned to me. I said: "A great scientist in the world" and everyone stared at me because Ms. Miller said I was right. This didn't make me very popular, of course. I heard Giant say "She thinks he is clever."
After that, we went out to the playground to play soccer. I was in Giant's side, and he obviously had Newton in mind because he told me to go in goal. I was upset because no one wanted to be the goalkeeper. But I went and kept my place.
"He's big enough and useless enough." Giant said when someone asked him why he had chosen me.
As the boy kicked the ball hard along the ground to my right, I threw myself down quickly and saved it. Loud cheers rang out and I was crowded round by my teammates. My knees were hurt and bleeding. Giant pulled me out of the ground and offered a towel to me.
"Are you willing to join my team?" he asked.
At that moment, I knew I was no longer a stranger.
In many British schools, the pupils usually wear their school uniforms to school on weekdays. However, recently the students at LVS Ascot Junior School in England wore something quite different. What they wore was what people wear when they go to bedpyjamas(睡衣). They did this not only for fun, but for a local charity called Christopher's Smile.
Christopher's Smile was set up in 2008 by Karen & Kevin Capel whose only son Christopher died of cancer at a young age. They hope their charity will help pay for more research into children's cancers. Since then, the charity has raised a lot of money and gotten more and more volunteers. Every year, thousands of people take part in different activities such as charity walk or run to show their support for Christopher's Smile.
The students of Grade 6 at LVS Ascot Junior School also wanted to do something for the sick children. They organized the event "Pyjama Day" to support Christopher's Smile. "We wanted to raise money for our charity in a way that the whole school could join in it, so each pupil paid £1 to wear his or her pyjamas to school on Pyjama Day," said the young organizers. Both the students and their teachers took part in the event with great interest. Together they not only raised some money, but also had a good time.
You probably know many of the things that you can do with the hundreds of different muscles(肌肉) in your body. But have you ever thought about how the muscles in an animal's body are different from yours? An animal's muscles are made to do the things that are most important for its life.
Lions are hunters. They depend on their ability to catch other animals. Lions must be fast in order to catch their prey(猎物). The powerful muscles in their back legs allow them to run at speeds of more than 30 miles per hour. They can also jump a distance of more than 35 feet. The strong muscles in their front legs help them catch their prey.
Snakes also use their muscles for hunting prey and for movement, but their muscles work in very different ways than lions' do. Because snakes do not have any legs, they use their muscles to push against the ground or other objects to move themselves forward. Their muscles also allow them to eat things that seem much too large. For example, a snake may eat an egg that is larger than the width of its body. How does this happen? The snake's strong neck muscles work together to push the egg down the mouth.
The elephant's long nose has a lot of muscles. Scientists believe that the nose alone has more than 100,000 muscles! This is because the elephant uses its nose much in the same way that people use their hands and fingers. Even though the nose is large, it can perform surprisingly tasks. For example, an elephant can pick up a small leaf from the ground. The nose can also be a powerful tool. An elephant can use its nose to pick up a tree by its roots or even to lift a baby elephant.
The great muscles of these animals seem pretty unbelievable. But the muscles in your body work exactly the way you need them to. After all, it might be fun to be able to jump a distance of 30 feet, but as a human being, there is just not much need for it.
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April Fool's Day
April Fool's Day is a western festival. No one 1 exactly when and how April Fool's Day began. However, there are some stories about2 it came into being. One story3 like this: in the sixteenthcentury France, the start of the new year was on April first. It was celebrated 4much the same way 5 it is today with parties and dancing into the late hours of the night.
Then in 1562, Pope (教皇) Gregory introduced a new calendar for the Christian world, and the new year fell on January first. There were some people,6 who hadn't heard or didn't believe the 7 in the date, so they8 to celebrate New Year's Day on April first.9played tricks on them and called them "April fools". They tried to make them believe that something false was10. In France today, April first is called "April Fish". Frenchchildren fool their friends by taping a paper fish to their friends' 11. When the "young fool"12this trick, the prankster (恶作剧者) shouts "April Fish！"
Today Americans play small tricks on friends and strangers alike on the first of April. One13trick on April Fool's Day is 14 down to a friend's shoe and saying, "Your shoelaceis untied." School children might tell a classmate that school has been canceled (取消).15the trick is, if you fail for the joke the prankster shouts "April Fool！"
In Britain today, on the first of April, even 16newspapers, radio and TV programs tell big lies. You17 read a science18 showing that doctors have found a way to cure (治愈) AIDS, 19you would probably listen to a piece of news about a UFO20on an island.
Have you ever been to Australia? It is one of (unusual) places on earth. It is the sixth largest country in the world, , only a few people live there. Australia has strange animals that can't (find) anywhere else. The country is perhaps most famous its kangaroos. They jump on the back (foot) and carry babies in a special pocket in the front of their bodies. About 40 million kangaroos are in Australia and there are no kangaroos in any other country. Because Australia is island, it is surrounded(环 绕) by lots of interesting sea life. People come here from all over the world (see) a special chain of rocks in the sea on the east side of the country. Visitors also love to visit (it) beautiful beaches. It doesn't matter whether you like cities country, water or desert, Australia(certain) offers something for everyone.
