How often one hears children wishing they were grown-up, and old people wishing they were young again. Each age has its pleasures and its pains, and the happiest person is the one who enjoys what each age gives him without wasting his time in useless regrets. Youth is a time when there are few tasks to make life difficult, if a child has good parents, he is fed, looked after and loved whatever he may do. It is impossible that he will ever again in his life be given so much without having to do anything in return. In addition, life is always presenting new things to the children—things that have lost their interest for older people because they are too well-known. But a child has his pains: he is not so free to do what he wishes to do; he is continually being told not to do things, or being punished for what he has done wrong. When the young man starts to earn his own living, he can no longer expect others to pay for his food, his clothes, and his room, but has to work if he wants to live comfortably. If he spends most of his time playing about in the way that he used to as a child, he will go hungry. And if he breaks the laws of society as he used to break the laws of his parents, he may go to prison. If, however, he works hard, keeps out of trouble and has good health, he can have the great happiness of building up for himself his own position in society.

一个人要想健康，每天锻炼身体是非常必要的。

A wealthy Persian Prince loved good stories. The older he grew, the fonder he became of them. But he always regretted they had to have an end. So he decided to give half his wealth and his beautiful daughter to the man who could tell him a story without an end. Anybody who failed would be sent to prison for life. The risk was so great that nobody came to the palace to tell the Prince a story for a whole year. Then one day, a tall, handsome young man came and said he wanted to tell a story that would go on forever. The Prince agreed but warned him what would happen if he failed. 'The risk is worth your fair daughter,' the young man replied poetically (得体地). He then began this well-known story: 'Once upon a time there was a certain King who feared famine. So he ordered his men to build an enormous storehouse, which he filled with corn. Then, when it was up, made water-proof and fire-proof, the King felt happy. But one day he noticed a small hole in the roof and as he looked at it, a locust came out with a grain of corn. A minute later, another locust came out with another grain of corn. Then a third locust with another grain of corn. Then a fourth locust, flying at great speed, pushed through the hole and came out with two grains of corn. Then a fifth locust came and...' 'Stop,' shouted the Prince. 'I can't,' answered the young man. 'I must go on until I tell you what happened to each grain of the corn.' 'But that will go on forever.' The Prince protested. 'Exactly,' the young man replied, and he smiled as he turned towards the Prince's beautiful young daughter.

When it came to his amazing achievements, the famous scientist put an emphasis on the importance of creating rather than waiting for opportunities.

Life really should be one long journey of joy for children who are born with a world of wealth at their tiny feet. But experts on psychological research now believe that silver spoons can leave a bitter taste. If suicide statistics are a sign of happiness, then the rich are a miserable lot. Figures show that it is the rich who most often do away with themselves. Dr. Robert Coles, an internationally famous doctor, is the world's top expert on the influence of money on children. He has written a well-received book on the subject, The Privileged Ones, and his research shows that too much money in the family can cause as many problems as too little. 'Obviously there are certain advantages to being rich,' says the 53-year-old doctor, 'such as better health, education and future work expectation, but most important is the quality of family life. Money can't buy love.' It can buy a lot of other things, though, and that's where the trouble starts. Rich kids have so much to choose from that they often become confused. Their parents' over favoring can make them spoiled. They tend to travel more than other children, from home to home and country to country, which often makes them feel restless. 'But privileged children do have a better sense of their positions in the world,' adds Mr. Coles, 'and they are more self-assured.' Today's rich parents perhaps have realized that their riches can be more of a burden than a favor to their children. So their priority is to ensure that their families are as rich in love as they are in money.

建设和谐校园的关键在于让每个学生都能积极参与进来。

Over years, I have written extensively about animal-intelligence experiments.

Individual freedom does not in any way mean that you can do what you like at your free-will.

There are many ways to learn about people of other lands. One way is to study the clothing other people wear. For thousands of years, people in different parts of the world have worn very different types of clothing. There are four big reasons for this. One reason might be religion. In many Moslem countries, women must wear veils to hide their faces. The veils must be worn in public. Veils are part of the Moslem religion. The second reason is that different materials are used in different countries. For instance, in France the materials used in clothing may be cotton, silk, wool, or many other man-made materials. Most people in China wear cotton. The ways clothes are made are also very different. This is another reason why people dress differently. Western countries rely on machines to make most of their clothing. Someone living in India can use only hand power to make the clothing he needs. World-wide differences in customs also lead to differences in clothing. A Mexican farmer wears a straw hat with a brim up. In China, a farmer wears a straw with a brim down. Both hats are used to protect the farmers from the sun. Some of these customs have come down through thousands of years.

For any Englishman, there can never be any discussion as to who is the world's greatest poet and greatest dramatist. Only one name can possibly suggest itself to him: that of William Shakespeare. Every Englishman has stone knowledge, however slight, of the works of our greatest writer. All of us use words, phrases and quotations from Shakespeare's writings that have become part of the common property of English-speaking people. Most of the time we are probably unaware of the source of the words we use, rather like the old lady who was taken to see a performance of HAMLET and complained that 'it was full of well-known proverbs and quotations.' Shakespeare, more perhaps than any other writer, made full use of the great resources of the English language. Most of us use about five thousand words in our normal employment of English; Shakespeare in his works used about twenty-five thousand. There is probably no better way for a foreigner to appreciate the richness and variety of the English language than by studying the various ways in which Shakespeare used it. Such a study is well worth the effort (it is not, of course, recommended to beginners) even though some aspects of English usage, and the meaning of many words, have changed since Shakespeare's day.

Charlene, 16-year-old student at a high school, found herself faced with a maths test to which she knew none of the answers. Rather than fail, she took the test out with her and filled in the answers with the help of her friends. During a break, she got back into the classroom without being seen, crumpled (揉皱) the test with her shoe, and left it lying on the floor. The teacher thought it had been dropped when the tests were collected; she corrected it, and Charlene received a B. Cheating is, of course, nothing new. But today, educators are finding that cheating on the part of students has become more frequent than in the past. Whether it is copying a friend's homework, using a prepared sheet on an exam, stealing advance copies of a final, writing down rules in one's hand, or paying someone else to write a term paper, cheating appears to have gained acceptance among a growing number of students between 13 and 19. In a 1978 study of cheating at twenty-two high schools in Georgia, it was found that cheating was common among good and poor students alike—although both boys and gifts said they thought boys cheated more. Why is student on the rise? No one really knows. Some blame cheating on a general loss of good values among today's youth. They point to facts showing increased damage of public things and school stealing and think that reports, such as Watergate (水门事件), have disappointed youth about the honesty of people in higher position. Others think that today's youth are far more practical than their forefathers (先辈). In the late sixties and early seventies, students were filled with imaginations about changing the world, but today's students feel great stress to succeed.

和远方的朋友保持联系不是一件容易的事。

物体离我们越远，看起来就越小。

A: I like this dress. It's the latest, but the problem is the price, sort of expensive.

It's a great pleasure to have a friend coming from afar.

他一直全身心地扑在工作上。

As far as the method itself is concerned, it is worth trying.

Many post-80s couples are complaining that going to the movies, shopping or attending parties have become impossible since their kids were born. That's the way most parents are living their lives, no weekends of their own, no time to visit friends, not even a chance of promotion in their jobs. Asking help from their parents might be a way out, but problems are that some aging parents are not strong enough to take care of the kids, and that the kids may also become too spoiled by their grandparents. Then, here comes a solution: families with kids can form a small group, and parents of each family can take turns to look after all the kids in this group on weekends. Thus, other parents can have some quiet time and feel free to do something they've been planning for a long time. At the same time, the kids can make new friends and won't be hanging around their parents all day long. This is baby-pooling.

It is obvious that the development of science and technology is vital to the modernization of China.

It is a terrible illustration of man's weakness to nature, and the tsunami (海啸) that struck the Japanese coast in March, 2011 has illustrated the difficulty of fighting against natural disasters, even for a prosperous nation. Totally preventing tsunami-damage is impossible. But there is much that can be done to minimize damage and loss of life. Measures that can be taken include designing solid buildings, and developing early-warning systems, public education programs and evacuation (疏散) strategies. Moreover, the approach of a tsunami is possibly picked up by the sensors of complicated international warning systems. Countries can use radio and television broadcasts as well as loudspeaker networks to warn the public. But an early warning system depends on how far the tsunami strikes, if it's close by, the warning system is not going to be very effective. When people are faced with an unstoppable force like a tsunami the massive waves created by events like underwater earthquakes, the best course of action for them is to get inland and to the higher ground as quickly as possible.