The longest river in the world is the Nile. It is 4,160 miles long. But the Nile is not the mightiest (浩荡的) river. The Amazon is. The Amazon is also the second longest river in the world. It is 3,900 miles long. How long is that? It is longer than a road going from New York City to San Francisco.
The Amazon is the mightiest for this reason. It has the greatest amount of water. More water runs out to sea than from the Nile. Mississippi, and Yangtze rivers combined. That's a lot of fresh water! The force of its current (水流) is great too. The current can be seen 200 miles out in the sea. There's a story to show the Amazon's amazing current. A ship sailed (航行) far away from Brazil. It ran out of drinking water. Another ship passed by. The first ship asked for water. Someone on the second ship said. "Just put your buckets (桶) into the sea."
Here are a few more facts. At its mouth, the Amazon is 90 miles wide. Even up the river, you can't see the opposite bank. The river is also very deep(from 22 to 76 meters). During rainy season, the river rises about 16 meters more. Big ocean ships can sail about 1,800 miles upstream (向上游). Smaller ships can sail 1,000 miles farther.
What's the most bloodthirsty fish in the world? No. It's not the shark It's the Amazon's piranha.It is only about 10 cm to 20 cm long. It has sharp teeth. Thousands travel in a group. No animal can swim across the river. A 1,000-pound horse would be just bones (骨头) in three minutes. Are you planning a trip to the Amazon? Here's a piece of advice. Leave your swimsuit at home!
The Taojinshan Greenway (绿道) in Shenzhen has been open to citizens since July, 2019. Sitting at the west side of Shenzhen Reservoir, it is as long as 7.07 kilometers.
With plants along both sides and lakes lying at different sites, tourists can enjoy wonderful scenery all the way. If they are tired, they are free to take a rest at the 3 stops that were built for breaks. Additionally, five unused guard posts (岗享) along the old route have remained. They serve as sightseeing platforms for visitors to feel the cultural spirit behind the place.
Of all its 13 scenic spots, 8 were designed to have Al helpers. From them, visitors can gain information on parking, tour guide services and more. The smart greenway, with free Wi-Fi available, also provides environmental date, such as temperature, wind speed and air quality. What's more, it can give visitors wamings of coming extreme (极端的) weather and natural disasters, including rainstorms and typhoons that may hit Shenzhen.
"Started in the middle of 2015, the building process of the Taojinshan Greenway has taken good care of de wildlife and environment nearby" said Yang Shiming, an offcial in charge of the project."
The greenway is an example of construction projects without doing harm to the nature. It also shows the role that technology plays in building a smart greenway for more life convenience."
Many people dream of traveling into outer space. However, spending too much time in space may cause health problems, according to NASA. That's why astronauts shouldn't spend more than six months on the International Space Station(ISS)at a time.
Muscle(肌肉)and bone loss
In a weightless environment, astronauts don't need to use their muscles to support themselves, so their muscles start shrinking. To keep their muscles strong, astronauts need to exercise about 2 hours each day on the ISS.
Sleep disorder (混乱)
In space, the sun rises every 90 minutes. It is hard for astronauts to get used to this light-dark cycle when they sleep. Also, they need to sleep in a sleeping bag that is fixed to a wall, and it is uncomfortable.
Astronauts now have individual sleeping pods(分离仓)that help shut out some of the light. Sill, studies have found that most astronauts only sleep about six hours each night, even though they should have eight and a half hours.
Brain changes
Scientists have found that the position of the brain changes during spaceflight. It can affect how the brain deal with how we see, stay balanced and move around. That's why some astronauts can't control their movement and balance after returning to the Earth. Scientists have also found that astronauts may get used to this change after going on more spaceflights. But they still need to do more research.
China is called the Kingdom of fans. Fans are everywhere in our daily life. But how much do you know about them?
It is said that fans were first used to cool the air during the Shang Dynasty. At that time, they were made of feathers, bamboo or silk. Some of them were round, while others were square.
Folding paper fans first became popular during the Song Dynasty. There were usually beautiful pictures on the fans. Some were mountains and rivers, others were flowers and animals. Many people, including Su Dongpo, a poet of the Song Dynasty, and Tang Bohu, a scholar of the Song Dynasty, even painted and wrote poems on fans. This made the fans into art works. Many rich and important people liked holding fans.
Today, fans are popular gifts. During the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, folding fans were given to leaders and officials from other countries, as well as audience members. While they were having their fans to get cool air, they were also experiencing Chinese culture.
"This is John," said Mr Turner. The boy standing next to him was tall, with a friendly face. I noticed Adam and Chen give each other the thumbs (大拇指) up. That meant they were going to invite him to join the cool group. They smiled at him and he smiled back.
Mr Turner always gave new students a buddy with the same hobbies as them. I was sure he wouldn't choose me. I wasn't one of the cool kids.
"Hyun, I want you to be John's buddy this term," said Mr Turner. Me? I couldn't believe my ears! Everyone in the class looked in my direction. Adam and Chen even looked unhappy.
John walked over to my desk and sat down beside me. He smiled at me. "Hello," he said in a confident voice.
"Hello," I replied, not looking at him.
All morning I could feel the boys in the cool group looking angrily at me, but John didn't seem to notice.
Finally the bell rang for a break. I had butterflies in my stomach. I knew that Adam and Chen were going to make fun of me in front of John, and that John would decide that he'd rather be buddies with them.
Sure enough, as soon as we got outside, Adam and Chen swaggered (大摇大摆地走) up to us.
"Mr Turner says you're a good basketball player, John," said Adam. "How'd you like to play with us at lunch break? Hyun doesn't know anything about basketball."
"No thanks," said John. "I'd rather play chess with Hyun, if he doesn't mind. Mr Turner says he's an excellent player."
I was walking on air as John and I crossed the playground. I remembered the saying we learnt in class about not judging (判断) a book by its cover. I completely misjudged John.
An Experiment Report on Growing Potato Plants
Things prepared：
a potato that has sprouts
a flower pot with soil
a camera to record progress
Observation：
Day One
The color of the soil looks darker because I have just watered it. In the center of the pot, I can see a tiny sprout that has grown from the potato under the soil. I'll call it Buddy. Buddy is green and yellow. I wonder how fast it will grow.
Day six
Without much change in the past six days, I finally see some new progress on Buddy as it has grown taller. It's exciting to see new life like this. I hope Buddy can grow faster.
Day Eleven
Buddy is getting larger! Three more new sprouts have grown around Buddy! Green leaves have grown on the new sprouts, but they have not fully grown yet. I guess I need to be a bit more patient.
Day Thirteen
Buddy continues to grow taller. The leaves on the new sprouts have grown a bit. I'm also excited to see more new sprouts that have grown from under the soil.
Day Fifteen
Finally, the leaves on the other sprouts are 3 cm tall. They're so green. I hope they will soon grow into new potatoes.
What I have learned
It's really interesting to grow potatoes. During these fifteen days, I have learned that growing potato plants needs plenty of water. If soil is dry, the potato will fail to grow. I have also learned that the temperature needs to be right. If it is too cold, it won't grow.
I feel that growing plants is just like trying to succeed with anything in life it takes not only time, but also lots of efforts and patience.
My father, who was always drunk and angry, beat me more and more every day. He always locked the door when he went away and kept the key in his pocket. One day I found. an old saw (锯子)that he hid in the roof. When I was alone in the house, I started to make a hole on the floor under the big table.
The next day my father said, "Huck, go to the river and catch some fish for breakfast.
Quickly! And don't try anything. Remember, I'm watching you!"
While I was fishing by the river, I saw an empty boat nearby.
"A boat!" I thought, happily, "This is my chance to escape. I'll hide the boat near some trees and use it tonight!"
When my father went to town that afternoon, I got my saw and started to work on the hole. It was late afternoon when I finished making the hole.
"I did a good job, "I thought, looking at the hole. "Now I'll get my father's gun. I have a plan. "
I looked outside the window and there was nobody there. I quickly escaped through the hole. Then I ran into the woods to hunt a wild pig. Luckily, I found one. I shot it and took it back to the house and let the pig's blood fall on the wooden floor of the house. Then I pulled some of my hair out and put it on my father's ax(斧子)with some of the pig's blood.
I took the pig's body outside and put it in a big bag with some rocks, and threw it into the river.
"This way people will think ▲ !" I thought. "They'll come and look for my body in the river." This idea made me smile.
I waited until it was dark and got into the boat and went to Jackson's Island. I knew about Jackson's Island because Tom, Ben, Joe and I had a lot of fun adventures there.
(Adapted from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain）
①Huck hid a boat. ②Huck found a saw.
③Huck went fishing. ④Huck killed a wild pig.
In the future, people may travel to Mars (火星) by water-powered spaceship! Today's spaceships are fine for getting things into space, but they are not so good at travelling long distances. These spaceships burn chemical fuels (燃料) and they are very expensive. Scientists say that a water-powered spaceship could make the trip to Mars much cheaper. The idea is just in the planning stages now, but scientists think such a spaceship could be developed soon.
The key to the water-powered spaceship is the engine (发动机) Regular engines push spaceships by burning fuel. The water engine will use steam, created by solar panels (太阳能板) that heat water to a high temperature. Of course, the spaceship will have to carry a lot of water for the long trip to Mars.
Today's spaceships could not cay that much water But scientists think that a spaceship blown up like a balloon will be able to
One US company has already developed a spaceship like this. These spaceships are made of a strong material. Two of them have already been sent up into space, using rockets and then later filled with air. "Balloon" spaceships could be very large and carry enough water for a long trip. With the "Balloon" spaceships, enough water could be carried to power the engines and grow food during the trip. And the people on the spaceship might even get to take a hot bath!
Scientists say the biggest advantage of such a spaceship would be cost. The "Balloon" spaceship uses water to push it through space and costs about one thirtieth of a normal spaceship. Such savings naturally encourage continued research into balloon spaceships and water engines. If these scientists are correct, we may soon be on our way to Mars in a spaceship powered by water.
Whenever Fm invited to somebody's house for the first time, I'll take a close look at their bookshelves. What they keep on their shelves, in my eyes, is a reflection (反映)of their personal tastes and interests. The books on a bookshelf tell the story of a life.
My own shelves are a kind of roadmap through my life, telling a chronological tale. First up come my favorite childhood reads, like Watership Down and His Dark Materials. The collection then moves on to teenage things I read in school — Nineteen Eighty-Four, The Handmaid's Tale and A Clockwork Orange. Finally, we come out of full-time education and enter the real world, and this part is a reflection of my professional (职业的)life, from the first exciting days of work experience to the present.
If you pointed to any book on my shelves, I could name the year I got it, where I was working, and probably where I was living at the time.
__▲ It is an easy way to get to know about his hopes, dreams and interests. And a big part of that story is how we arrange (排列)our books, and get on with them. Ifs such a personal thing, different from each other. Some want to be with their books in every room, others have them on shelves, behind glass or simply lining their floors. Each home has a story to tell through the way they live with their books.
It's often said that what we read says something about who we are. The way we fill our bookshelves might also send a message about ourselves. From the pile of books on your bedside table to your well-organized shelves, whether we notice it or not, our book collections are telling a story before a single page has been turned.
Living on an island might sound wonderful. But what it you left for a trip and found you could never return? What if your home, and even the land it stood on, was gone forever? For people living in the Pacific Islands, this is really possible.
Why? Climate (气候)change. Climate change is causing the sea to rise. That's bad news for the Pacific Islands. Young people on the islands are even starting to wonder: Will they be the last generation(一代人)?
Not if the islanders have anything to do about it. These people are deeply connected to their homelands. The Pacific Islands are made up of 1l different countries: the Marshall Islands, Fuji, Samoa, and others. But now, those countries are working together. They're joining forces to fight climate change.
Why is climate change such a huge threat to this part of the world? Islands are low elevations(海拔). So they are among the first places influenced by rising sea les. That's why countries of the Pacific Islands are working together to do their part.
But these are small countries. When it comes to climate change, can they make a big difference? They can, because most of the things that people on islands buy are brought by ships. This is very harmful to the environment. After all, ships put out almost3penatof the world's carbon emissions (碳排放), That makes climate change worse.
Pacific Islanders realize the problem. So, in 2019, six countries got together: Fuji, the Marshall islands, Samoa, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu, They came up with a plan. They agreed to cut carbon emissions from shipping by 40nercent by 2030. And by 2050, they expect zero-carbon shipping.
How will they pull this off? They plan to use some really to use some really cool carbon-free technologies. They'll make use of solar and wind energy.
Sea levels are rising, but hopes aren't sinking in the Pacific Islands.
Imagine this. There's an apple and a piece of cake on a table. Which one would you like? The delicious cake or the healthy apple? A bestseller, Willpower: Rediscovering Our Greatest Strength, suggests that willpower(意志力)is the ability to make decisions that are better for us in the long term, rather than in the short term.
Here is a famous experiment in the book: The Marshmallow Test. In 1972, Professor Walter Mischel tested the willpower of 600 four-year-olds to six-year-olds. In the experiment, each child was left alone in a room for fifteen minutes with a marshmallow(棉花软糖）on a table in front of them. They were given two choices: they could either eat it or, if they waited fifteen minutes, they'd be given a second one(and then they could eat both).
So, what did the kids do? Well, as you can imagine, 70% ate the first marshmallow within the fifteen minutes. But the other 30% showed willpower—they controlled themselves and waited for the second marshmallow. But then Mischel discovered something really interesting. Twenty years later, he got in touch with the children, who, by then, were in their early twenties. And he found that those who'd shown strong willpower were getting better marks at university and were more popular.
Willpower is like a muscle (肌肉), and the more you exercise it, the stronger it gets.
So, if you do daily "self-control exercises", such as making your bed or brushing your teeth, you'll improve your overall willpower. And daily willpower exercises will help you with those bigger goals, such as studying for an exam or training for a marathon.
Be careful though. Just like any muscle, your "willpower muscle" can get tired. If you've had to do lots of things that require willpower, take a break or give yourself a treat.
That way, you'll build up your willpower again.
And one last thing, the writer mentions people who learn foreign languages usually have a lot of willpower. So, congratulations!
Carrie is now living in Bejjing. She came to China at the age of 7. When she came, she wasn't very happy. Then all the teachers and her classmates were very kind to her and helped her.
Now she can speak Chinese very well, but five years ago, when she first came, she could only speak it a little. She can perform Chinese kung fu a little now, but she couldn't do it last year.
Yesterday was her birthday. She celebrated it with her classmates at home. Carrie's friends gave her many presents like flowers and cards, and she bought a big cake and lots of drinks for the party. They danced to music, sang songs and played games. Carrie sang a Chinese song and everyone liked it very much. All of them had a great time last night.
Karen has two kids, a boy and a girl, Dave and Nancy. Both of them are very lovely. And the boy loves his little sister very much because he thinks he must protect her. However, the little girl got a serious illness one day and needed some blood. And the hospital also couldn't find the same type of blood for the girl. But Karen knew both of her kids have the same type of blood. So Karen asked her son, "Would you like to give your blood to your sister?"
Dave agreed at once. After transferring (B) his blood, the boy asked his mother, " Mom, how long can I live from now on?" Karen understood that her son had thought he would die soon after he lost some of his blood. So Karen said to her son, "Don't worry, my son. You won't die if you lose a little blood."
"Really? How long can I live?" the boy asked his mother again. "I think you can live to be 100 years old." smiled his mother. The boy lifted his arms and said happily, "Well, please give half of—my blood to my little sister! Then both of us can live 50 years!"
A farmer had a friend and his friend was famous for growing wonderful apple trees.
One day, the farmer's friend gave him a young apple tree and told him to take it home and plant it.
The farmer loved the gift. But when he got home, he did not know where to plant it. He was afraid that if he planted the tree near the road, strangers would steal the apples. If he planted the tree in one of his fields, his neighbors would come at night and steal the apples. If he planted the tree near his house, his children would take the apples. Finally he planted the tree in his wood. Nobody could see it, but there was no sunlight in his wood, the tree soon died.
Later, the friend asked the farmer why he planted the tree in such a poor place. "What's the difference?" the farmer said angrily, "If I plant the tree near the road, strangers may steal the apples. If I plant the tree in one of my field, my neighbors may come at night and steal the apples. If I plant the tree near my house, my children may take the apples."
"Yes," said the friend. "but at least someone could enjoy the apples. Now no one could eat the apples, and the apple tree died!"
Peter lived in a village. He was sad recently because he thought that he had nothing left. One day, Peter went to ask a wise man for help. He said to the wise man, "I have nothing left, so I don't want to live." The wise man smiled sympathetically(同情地).
The wise man took out a piece of paper and drew a straight line down the middle. He explained that he would write down the things Peter had lost on the left side and the things Peter still had on the right side.
The wise man asked, "When did your family leave you?"
"What do you mean? They haven't left me. They love me!"
"That's great!" said the wise man. "Then that will be the first thing on the right side -Family haven't left. Now, do you have freedom(自由)?"
"That's a silly question. Of course I do!"
"Good! That's the second one on the right side-You have freedom!" said the wise man, writing it down.
After Peter was asked some more questions in the same way, he finally understood and smiled. "Things will change when you think of them in a different way!" he said.
As a matter of fact, change your attitude and you will change your world. It's necessary to have a positive(积极的)attitude to life.
