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　　We know that many animals do not stay in one place．Birds, fish and other animals move from one place to another at a certain time．They move for different reasons：most of them move to find food more easily, but others move to get away from places that are too crowded．

　　When cold weather comes, many birds move to warmer places to find food．Some fishes give birth in warm water and move to cold water to feed．The most famous migration(遷移)is probably the migration of the fish which is called“salmon”．This fish is born in fresh water but it travels many miles to salt water．There it spends its life．When it is old, it returns to its birthplace in fresh water．Then it gives birth and dies．In northern Europe, there is a kind of mouse．They leave their mountain homes when they become too crowded．They move down to the low land．Sometimes they move all the way the seadide, and many of them are killed when they fall into the sea．

　　Recently, scientists have studied the migration of kind of lobster(龍蝦)．Every year, when the season of the bad weather arrives, the lobsters get into a long line and start to walk across the floor of the ocean．Nobody knows why they do this, and nobody know where they go．

　　So, sometimes we know why humans and animals move from one place to another, but at other times we don't．Maybe living things just like to travel．

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　　A man came home from work late, tired, to find his 5-year-old son waiting for him at the door．

　　“Daddy, how much money do you make an hour?”

　　“If you must know, I make ＄20 an hour．”

　　“Oh,”the little boy replied, with his head down．He thought for a moment, looked up and said,“Daddy, could you lend me ＄10?”

　　The father was furious,“If you asked for the money to buy a toy or some other rubbish, then go straight to your room and think about why you are being so selfish(自私的)!”

　　The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door．After about an hour, the father calmed down, and started to think,“Maybe he really needs to buy something and he didn't really ask for money very often．”So he went to the little boy's room．

　　“Sorry!Maybe I was too hard on you just now．”said the man,“Here's ＄10．”

　　“Oh, thank you, Daddy!”he said happily．Then, the boy took out some coins．When the father found that the boy alread had money, he got angry again．

　　“Why do you want more money since you already have some?”the father shouted angrily．

　　“Because I didn't have enough, but now I do．”The little boy replied,“Daddy, I have ＄20 now．Can I buy an hour of your time?Please come home early tomorrow．I would like to have dinner with you．”

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　　People from other contries will find many different suprising things in Britain．

　　Greek：A man from Greece sees a special way of driving in Britain．People drive on the left in the British street, but the British people never feel surprised．The Greek man said,“I've been in Britain for nearly a month now．But at first, I couldn't always remember to drive on the left．Every time, my friend reminded me．”

　　Japanese：Japanese people can't understand why British people keep their shoes on at home．In Japan, people walk in the room without shoes．If visitor keeps his shoes on at home in Japan, the Japanese people think he is very impolite．

　　Spanish：The Spanish people mind the way that the British people greet each other．They themselves seem to be afraid of touching(接觸)．When they meet, they just smile or nod but never kiss or hug(擁抱)in Spain．But the British people think kissing is a very usual greeting when they meet!

　　There is an old saying,“When in Rome, do as Romans do．”When we go to a foreign country, we should follow the etiquette of country．

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Life in the twenty-first century

　　The World Future Society is a group of people from more than 80 countries who are interested in how modern technology is making our world better, and who write reports about how it will change our lives．

　　The things that we will be able to do in the twenty-first century(since the year 2000)should help us live better lives in many ways, at home and at work, in our own country and around the world．Here are just some of them, put into five groups．

People

　　People may live for up to 120 years and use new technology to help when people go blind, deaf and have other problems．The number of people over a hundred years old could go from 135,000 today to 2.2 million people by 2050．By 2015 people think that 100 million workers will be able to work from home for a company in a different country by using the Internet．

Money

　　Worldwide e-business will become even more successful with online shops that sell special products for each person, which will be brought to their house the next day．

Environment

　　The technology for making energy from wind and the Sun is growing very quickly．In the future wind and Sun energy could become much cheaper and many more countries could use it．This would be very useful in poor countries．The air in big cities would also become much cleaner and healthier as a result．

Society and culture

　　The Internet will help to create more worldwide friendships．Families may spend more time together as people will be able to do 24-hour online banking and shopping．

Technology

　　The new science of“nanotechnology”(very small robots or machines)will make all sorts of products smaller and lighter．Very, very small machines could take away rubbish, make things in factories, and help inside the human body by taking away fat．By 2012 people will be able to wear these small machines that look like watches, which will give them lots of information about their body and keep them healthy．

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　　Singapore's public transport system(公共交通系統(tǒng))is one of the best in the world, so you should have no problem finding your way around like a local(當(dāng)?shù)厝?．There are three main forms of public transport that you would find in any other major city－trains, buses and taxis．

TRAINS

　　Trains run from 6 a.m.to midnight．Single trip tickets start at 80 cents．If you buy an EZ-Link card for＄15, you can ride the trains and buses all you like．

　　If you need more information, just call Transit Link on 1800 767 4333．

BUSES

　　There are several bus services in Singapore and fares(車費(fèi))start at 80 cents．Be sure to always ask the driver the cost of your ticket as he can not give changes．

　　If you need help, just call Transit Link on 1800 767 4333．

TAXIS

　　There are three main taxi companies－City Cab(6552 2222), Comfort(6552 1111)and Tibs(6552 8888)．Booking(預(yù)訂)can also be made easily by calling the numbers listed above．

RENTAL(租)CARS

　　Driving in Singapore is a pleasure and if you like to travel at your own pace, renting a car is a good choice．Renting takes away the hassle of getting to places around Singapore．Just sit back and enjoy the city．It also means you'll get to see a lot more that a train or a bus won't let you see．

　　For car rental, call Avis on＋65 6737 1668．

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　　There is a long history behind the first T-shirts and today's colorful outerwear(外套)．

　　Many stories talk about the first T-shirts and the reason why people wear them．One says the first T-shirts had something to do with war．

　　Some American soldiers found that European soldiers' undershirts(汗衫)were cooler and more comfortable．They started to wear the same kind．Because the design of the undershirts was simple and looked like the letter T, Americans called the clothes T-shirts．

　　Many soldiers started to wear T-shirts as underwear．

　　Many American students started wearing white T-shirts for playing sports．

　　Marlon Brando, a very famous American actor, wore a tight-fitting(緊身的)T-shirt in a film．After this, many American men started to dress like him．

　　T-shirts became the favorite kind of clothing for young people in many countries．At that time, they were a sign of being cool and different from others．

　　T-shirts started to be hot in China．

　　Now many young people show their own ideas on their T-shirts：special pictures, funny words…T-shirts are more like artworks than just simple summer wear．

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　　Today there are 6 billion people on the earth．By the year 2050, there may be 12.5 billion．There are a lot of people to feed．We need more food．

　　One way to produce more food is by growing stronger plants．For thousands of years, farmers have made plants better．Every season, they pick the best plants for the next season．It works very slowly．Since 1983, scientists have been able to change plants more quickly by changing their genetic material(遺傳物質(zhì))．Foods from plants grown in this way are called genetically modified foods(轉(zhuǎn)基因食品), or GM foods．

　　By changing the genetic material of a plant, it is possible to make new plants．They make plants which are strong against plant diseases．They can also help with our diseases：a kind of rice is being prepared, for example, which stops people from becoming blind．

　　Rich countries produce GM foods because they are easy to grow and bring in more money．Poor countries are interested in them because they help produce more food．

　　GM plants are not natural．No one knows how good or bad they are．Making GM foods is the only way of feeding people in 2050．There're strong feelings against them, because they are unnatural．They may feed people, and then hurt them or their children later．But, both rich and poor countries are very interested in their use, and they are not going to go away．In 2050, we may think differently about them．