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　　Helping your children to read and write at home will improve their skills and confidence－it will also make them get ready for learning in the classroom environment．

　　________are needed by every child in every subject in every year of their life in or outside school．Students who improve their reading and writing skills will increase their vocabulary and their ability(能力)to use the English language correctly．As parents, you can play an important role in improving your children's literacy(讀寫能力)．You can make a difference by listening, asking questions, giving information, and reading with your children outside school hours．

　　Here are 8 tips on how to help your children to read and write：

◆having everyday conversations with your children

◆trying to ask more “wh－” questions instead of easy “yes” or “no” questions

◆encouraging your children to talk about events you don't know

◆reading to your children each night

◆listening to your children read

◆teaching your children how to use dictionaries

◆talking about your children's writings

◆practicing filling in forms, writing letters, sending cards or emails

　　You can also encourage your children to join the Reading Challenge Club and discuss the books they are reading together．In the club, children must read 15 books from the Challenge book list and 5 more books chosen by themselves．There are over 1, 000 books on the list．The reading must be done in one year．What's more, it is a wonderful way to help your children to write．For example, you can encourage them to write diaries or book reviews．Remember to make positive comments as much as possible．

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　　Welcome Aboard(乘坐)your Piccadilly Flight to Heathrow

　　The Piccadilly line to Heathrow(倫敦西斯羅機(jī)場)is not only the fast way to travel but also the cheapest．So the next time you’re flying to Heathrow, make sure you fly Piccadilly line．

　　Departures(發(fā)車)from 36 stops on the Piccadilly line, or from over 200 stations only one change way

　　Service every 5 minutes to and from Heathrow throughout the day

　　Journeys from central London taking less than 50 minutes

　　Only ￡3.70 for a single adult fare(費用)

　　See tables below for journey times－pFares to and from London

　　Adult single ￡3.70

　　Child single ￡1.50

　　If you are traveling as a group, then you are allowed to use the family travel card, which means each adult can travel for ￡3.40, and each child for ￡0.80．

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　　What does it feel like to break a bone(骨頭)? It’s different for everyone, but the pain is often sharp(嚴(yán)重)．If the break is small, however, the person may not feel much pain at all．If you think that you or someone else has broken a bone, the most important things to do are to stay calm, make the hurt person comfortable, and call the doctor．Do not move the injured body part since movement could make it worse．

　　To treat the break, the doctor will need to take an X-ray．This gives the doctor the information he or she needs to set(接上)the bone：to put it back to its normal place．If the bone is large or it is broken in more than one place, the doctor may need to use metal pins(鋼釘)to set it．After the bone has been set, the next step is usually putting on a cast, the special, hard thing that will keep the bone in place for a month or two．

　　Your bones are excellent at healing themselves．Broken bones will produce many new cells(細(xì)胞)and tiny blood vessels(血脈)．These cover both ends of the broken part, and close up the break until the bone is as whole and strong as before．

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　　A group of people asked this question to a group 4-to-8-year-old children．“What does love mean?” The answers were surprising．The children would answer like they did below．

　　“When my grandmother hurt her knees(膝蓋), she couldn’t bent(彎腰)over and paint her toenails(腳指甲)any more．So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands hurt too．That’s love．”

　　Rebecca－age 8

　　“Love is when someone hurts you．And you get so mad but you don’t shout at them because you know it would hurt her feelings．”

　　Samantha－age 6

　　“Love is what makes you smile when you’re tired．”

　　Terri－age 4

　　“I let my big sister pick on(捉弄)me because my mum says she only picks on me because she loves me．So I pick on my baby sister because I love her．”

　　Bethany－age 4

　　“I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new clothes．”

　　Lauren－age 4

　　“Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken．”

　　Elaine－age 5

　　“My mommy loves me more than anybody．You don’t see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night．”

　　Clear－age 5

　　“You really shouldn’t say ‘I love you’ unless you mean it．But if you mean it, you should say it a lot．People forget．”

　　Jessica－age 8

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　　A teacher stood in front of his history class of twenty students just before handing out the final exam．His students sat quietly and waited for him to speak．

　　“It’s been a pleasure teaching you this term, ” he said．“You’ve all worked very hard, so I have a pleasant surprise for you．Everyone who chooses not to take the final exam will get a ‘B’ for the course．”

　　Most of the students jumped out of their seats．They thanked the teacher happily, and walked out of the classroom．Only a few students stayed．The teacher looked at them．“This is your last chance,” he said．“Does anyone else want to leave?” All the students there stayed in their seats and took out their pencils．

　　The teacher smiled．“Congratulations(祝賀),” he said．“I’m glad to see you believe in yourselves．You all get A’s．”

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　　Languages keeps evolving(進(jìn)化、發(fā)展), and English is no exception．It is a language that embraces(欣然接受)new words that may be cool today but gone tomorrow．

　　There are, however, some words and phrases that have stood the test of time．OK, which has become the international standard for expressing agreement, is a good example．

　　But why is this rather odd(奇怪的)expression so popular and so useful when we could use any number of other words to say the same thing?

　　Writing in The Times, Allen Metcalf, author of OK：The Improbable Story of America’s Greatest Word, writes：“What OK provided that the others did not was neutrality(中性), a way to express agreement without having to offer an opinion．”

　　For example, if someone asks you “Shall we go for a walk after lunch?” you can simply respond “OK”．There you go－no extra opinions．Just straight, plain old OK．

　　So just where did this rather curious expression come from? The origins of OK have been widely disputed(辯論，爭論)．Some people have guessed that OK was the name of a person or a product．

　　Speakers of many different languages have had their say on this question, keen to claim the term as their own．

　　Writing an article for London’s Metro newspaper, Metcalf states：‘O and K are present in every language of the world, as expressions that can be abbreviated(縮寫)OK．” For example：French－“O qu-oui”, “yes indeed”; German－“Ohne Korrektur”,“ without correction needed”; and in Latin or Greek, “Olla kalla”, “all good”．

　　But, does it sound a little too informal with this popular little expression?

　　Apparently not．

　　In a speech where he stated that his election(當(dāng)選)would not be a radical(激進(jìn)的)result to all problems, President Obama said：“…even though I am president…, AI-Qaida is still a threat(威脅)and that we cannot pretend somehow that because Barack Hussein Obama got elected as president, suddenly everything’s going to be OK,” he said．

　　So, there you go, straight from the president．It’s OK to say OK, and thanks to the expression’s widespread usage across the world, you can be understood anywhere．

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　　Comets(彗星)are parts of our solar system(太陽系)．Like the planets, they go around the sun．

　　But comets are not made of solid rock like planets．A comet is a ball of dust, stones, and ice．Many people call comets dirty snowballs．

　　The “snowball” may be only a few miles across．But when the sun heats the “snowball,” much of it is changed to gases．The gases spread out and form the comet’s head, which may be thousands of miles across．

　　***

　　A comet moves fast in its trip around the sun．But when we see it, the comet does not seem to move．That’s because it is so far away．The moon moves fast, but when you look at it, you can’t see any motion．That’s because the moon is far away．

　　So comets do not rush across the sky．You cannot see any motion．But if you look night after night, you can see that a comet changes position among the stars．If you watch the moon night after night, you’ll see that it also changes position．

　　Each year astronomers discover new comets．Some of them are seen only

　　once．They make one trip around the sun and then go way out into space．The sun’s gravity(重力、引力)cannot hold them．

　　Other comets, like Halley, keep returning．They have been captured by the sun．Halley’s earliest visit was probably 3,000 years ago．It may keep returning for another 3,000 years．

　　But every time a comet goes around the sun, the comet loses part of itself．Gases and dust are pulled out of the comet．That’s why Halley is now dimmer than it used to be．Next time it visits us, in 2062, it may be even dimmer．Each visit it may get dimmer and dimmer, until it finally disappears．

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　　How often do you use your car? Can you use your car less often? Do you know the following facts in the UK?

　　·About 50％ of all car journeys are just for fun．

　　·Over 80％ people go to work by car．

　　·25％ car journeys are under two miles．

　　·70％ car journeys are under five miles．

　　Instead of using the car for short journeys, why not walk or ride a bicycle? Walking is a most popular form of exercise－it’s healthy and it can save you money．If you work nearby, try walking or cycling instead of driving．Walking your children to school gives them valuable road experience．

　　Bus companies are using new buses：some run on new fuels which produce less pollution; some have easier way for disabled and old people．There are special traffic lanes(行車道)to make bus journeys easier and more reliable．So do something to help solve the pollution problem－let the bus take you to work and your children to school．

　　All car journeys, long or short, can be hard work．For some trips it is wiser to take the train．Leave your car at home and walk, cycle or take a bus to and from the station．Train travel is fast, safe and comfortable．Train tickets are not always expensive; some are can be made quite cheaper．

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