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　　My 10-year-old Donna said, “Mom, I made a new friend at school today．Can she come over tomorrow?” Donna was a shy girl and I wanted her to make some friends to bring her out of her shell．

　　“Sure, honey, that sounds great．” I said, thinking back to my own best friend, Lillian．We lived across the street from each other in Washington Heights, New York．We met at the age of 10, too．Like my daughter, I was shy, but Lillian drew me out．She was one of the friendliest people in school, with shiny black hair and a mile-wide smile．

　　In senior high school, Lillian went on a trip to Florida．This was the first time we had to be away from each other for a few days．“I'll be back soon．” she told me．But three days later, Lillian's sister told me that she had fallen into a river and hadn't come out any more．Soon, my family moved to New Jersey．Whenever I thought of her, tears came into my eyes．

　　The next day Donna brought her new friend home．“Hi, Mrs．Loggia．” the little girl said．Her hair was so shiny and black and she shot me a big smile．“My name is Laura．”

　　My daughter's new friend was so much like Lillian．I was still puzzled(迷惑)when Laura's mom came to pick her up later that afternoon．I opened the door to let her in．“Judy!” she cried．“It's me, Lillian's sister, from Washington Heights．” Yes, my daughter's friend looked familiar．She was Lillian's niece．

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　　Green is an important color in nature．It is the color of grass and the leaves on trees．It is the color of most growing plants, too．

　　Sometimes, the word green means young, fresh and growing．Sometimes, it describes something that is not yet finished or plants that are not ripe．

　　For example, a greenhorn is someone who has no experience, who is new to a situation．In the fifteenth century, a greenhorn was a young cow or ox whose horns had not yet developed．A century or so later, a greenhorn was a soldier who had not yet had any experience in war(戰(zhàn)爭)．By the eighteenth century, a greenhorn had the meaning it has today-a person who is new in a job．

　　About one hundred years ago, greenhorn was a popular expression in the American west．Old-timers used it to describe a man who had just arrived from one of the big cities in the east．The greenhorn didn't have the skills that he would need to live in the hard, rough country．

　　Someone who has the ability to grow plants well is said to have a green thumb．The expression comes from the early nineteen hundreds．

　　A person with a green thumb seems to have a magic touch that makes plants grow quickly and well．You might say that the woman next door has a green thumb if her garden continues to grow long after your plants have died．

　　The Green Revolution(革命)is the name which was given some years ago to the development of new kinds of rice and other grains．The new plants produced much larger crops．The Green Revolution was the result of hard work by agricultural(農(nóng)業(yè)的)scientists who had green thumbs．

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　　If you go to Brisbane, Australia, you can easily get a small book called “Discover Brisbane” free．The book tells you almost everything in Brisbane：the restaurants, the shops, the cinemas, the streets, the buses, the trains, the banks, etc．Here is something about on page 49：

　　ANZ Banking Group

　　Corner of Greek＆Queen Streets：228 3228

　　Bank of New Zealand

　　410 Queen Street：221 0411

　　Bank of Queensland

　　229 Elizabeth Street：229 3122

　　Commonwealth Banking Group

　　240 Queen Street：237 3111

　　National Australia Bank Ltd．

　　225 Adelaide Street：221 6422

　　Westpac Banking Corp．

　　260 Queen Street：227 2666

　　Banking Hours：

　　Mon．－Thurs．9∶30 a．m．to 4 p．m．

　　Fri．9∶30 a．m．to 5 p．m．

　　All banks close Sat．Sun．＆Public Holidays．

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　　What's the most important thing for you to have in your life? Somebody mentions hard-work, others suggest knowledge, love and luck．

　　If you arrange(排列)the 26 English letters in order and use numbers to represent each of them, for example, 1 for a, 2 for b, 3 for c…26 for z, you can change an English word into a number．So hard-work becomes 8＋1＋18＋4＋23＋15＋18＋11＝98, meaning 98 is its mark．Knowledge：11＋14＋15＋23＋12＋5＋4＋7＋5＝96, love：12＋15＋22＋5＝54, and luck：12＋21＋3＋11＝47, a small mark．None of these words can give one a full mark．What about money? It can't, either．

　　Then what else? Don't be worried．You can always find an answer to a problem in your life, when you change your way of looking at things or doing things, or your attitude．Yes, attitude is the word．See for yourself：attitude：1＋20＋20＋9＋20＋21＋4＋5＝100，a full mark．

　　Different attitudes lead to different courses of life．Most time people hope for a better life．It is possible that they will have a better life if they chang their attitudes．When you change your manner and became friendly towards others, you'll meet more smiling faces towards you．In the same way, if you take a positive attitude towards failure, you'll find it's also rewarding(有益的)though it has caused you losses(損失)．

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　　Mom and Dad are two of the most important people in your life．Over your lifetime, they may influence you more than anyone else you will meet．So if your mom loves to read, you just might grow up carrying a book wherever you go, just as she does．But parents do a lot more than just pass on their hobbies．Moms and Dads need to care for their kids the minute their kids are born．Most parents will do this as long as they live．

　　Here are some ways you can stay close, get along well, and build a strong relationship( 關(guān)系)with your parents．

　　Spend time together．Instead of playing computer games or watching TV, ask your mom and dad to play with you．Go outside together, or do some reading．

　　Be kind．Little things might mean a lot to your mom or dad．You can brighten a parent's day with a hug(擁抱), a card, or a joke．It's also lovely when a kid cleans up his or her room without being asked．And if you try not to fight with your brothers or sisters, your parents will be so happy!

　　Do your best at whatever you do．You don't have to be perfect, but when you do your best, you make your parents proud．It makes them happy to see how you're turning into a great kid．Why? Because it lets them know they're doing a good job．

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　　If you usually take the school bus or sometimes need to take public buses to school, there are some important rules you should know．

　　·When you are waiting for the bus, you should wait at the bus stop, and stand well back．

　　·When you get off the bus, make sure you and the driver can see each other, and wait for the driver to signal you before you cross the road in front of the bus．

　　·Never go back for anything you may leave on the bus when it is starting．

　　·Never bend down near the bus when you walk to or from the bus stop．

　　·You should cross the street at a crosswalk or a street corner, and wait for the light to turn green or for the WALK crossing signal．

　　·It is important to look carefully to the left, the right and the left again when you cross the street．

　　·Remember that it is dangerous to stay in the areas around buses where the driver can't see you．Don't run between parked cars or buses．

　　·Do not run across the street or through parking areas to catch up with your friends．

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　　Steven Jobs, the CEO of Apple, was not a good student when he was in school．At that time, he always got into trouble with his schoolmates．When he went to college, he didn't change a lot．Then he dropped out(退學(xué))．But he was full of new ideas．

　　After that, Steven Jobs worked as a video game designer in a company．He worked there only for a few months and then he went to India．He hoped that the trip would give him some new ideas and a new chance to change his life．

　　Steven Jobs lived on a farm in California for a year after he returned from India．In 1975, he began to make a new type of computer．He designed the first Apple Computer with his friend in his garage．He chose the name“Apple”just because it reminded him of a happy summer he once spent in an apple orchard．

　　His first Apple Computer was a great success．Because of this, Steven Jobs soon became famous all over the world．

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　　In London, there has always been a main problem．In order to solve this problem, the government has decided to have a bike revolution(革命)．It has decided to provide 6,000 bikes for the people to rent．The government encourages local people to ride bikes in order to solve the traffic problem．

　　More than 12,000 people have agreed to the idea．Some of them ask for more than one key．Although there are not enough bikes, an official(官員)from the government said that they would find some ways to deal with such a shortage．

　　Local people can get these bikes at special docking stations(�？空�)．There are about 315 docking stations across the city．About 12,450 keys have already been handed out to the local people, but only 6,000 keys can be used now．

　　Let's see the cost you need to pay．One key costs ￡3, and the cost of using the bike is ￡1 for an hour．The cost per hour increases as the hours increase, so it will cost ￡50 if you rent the bike for 24 hours．

　　The official from the government said they also needed to face a lot of problems, for example, some bikes may be lost．But they said they would try their best to solve all the problems to make sure the success of the program．

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Three Things to Do Before You Are 18

　　Are you bored with your daily life? Here are some things you should try before you are 18, because after that it's too late．

　　Learn to swim

　　Seriously, this is so important that it can save your life．If you can't swim well, you won't be able to do water sports like waterskiing, surfing and diving．Even taking a boat trip will be dangerous for you．Make sure you do it．

　　Try at least one kind of team sports

　　Being a good team player is an important skill in life．You can't just think of yourself, but have to work well with other people．Other advantages of team sports like basketball, football and baseball are that they keep you fit and healthy, and they are also great fun．Teams usually have a good social life too – you'll go to lots of parties and make many friends．

　　Collect something

　　One of the best hobbies for under – 18s is collecting things．You could collect kinds of stamps, or you could collect things that make you remember what you have done, like cinema tickets for films you have seen or emails from friends．The best way to collect is to have a special album to put your collection in and to write what each thing means to you．That way you won't forget．

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