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　　Some new Japanese robots could hit balls, draw pictures and breathe．Even so, the robots on display at the World Expo(博覽會)on Thursday were test models and still need some work．

　　Their developers say all the robots need improving, because it will still be years before robots can help the sick and save people in danger．

　　The Batting Robot has a fast vision system(視覺系統(tǒng))．It can deal with 1,000 pictures a second, more than 30 times the human eye．At the expo, however, it was using a plastic bat to hit rubber balls．

　　Cooper was drawing the faces of visitors on large cookies with a pen．It has a program that translates pictures from a digital camera into line-drawing instructions．

　　A robot at the expo looks most like a human being．He is covered with something like skin and moves its mouth and acts like breath．

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　　New rules and behaviour standards(行為規(guī)范)for middle school students came out in March, Middle school is going to use a new way to decide who the top students are．The best students won't only have high marks．They will also be kids who don't dye(染)their hair, smoke or drink．The following are some of the new rules．

　　Tell the truth．Have you ever copied someone else's work in an exam? Don't do it again! That's not anything an honest student should do．If you have played computer games for two hours in your room, don't tell your parents you have done homework．

　　Do more at school．Good students love animals and care for other people．April is Bird-loving Month in China．Is your school doing anything to celebrate? You should join! In that way, you can learn more about animals and how to protect them．When more people work together, it makes it more fun for everyone．

　　Have you ever quarrelled with your teammates when your basketball team lost? Only working together can make your team stronger．Be friendly to the people you are with．Try to think of others, not only yourself．

　　Be open to new ideas．Have you ever thought that people could live on the moon? Maybe you'll discover Earth II someday．Don't look down on new ideas．Everyone's ideas are important．You should welcome them, because new ideas make life better for everyone．

　　Protect yourself．Has someone ever taken money from one of your classmates? Don't let it happen to you．If you have to go home late, you should let your parents know．

　　Use the Internet carefully．The Internet can be useful for your studies．But some things on the Internet aren't for kids, so try to look at web pages that are good for you．You can use the web for fun or homework．Can't you find any good web sites for children?

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　　Nowadays, we can know time very easily．Even a little child may know the time．We always ask “What time is it?” Then people can tell me the exact time．But before the invention of clocks, it was very difficult．One way people told the time was by using sundials, but it was impossible to tell the time on cloudy days or at night．

　　The first mechanical(計時)clock was invented in China by Su Sung in 1088．The first clock in Europe was invented 195 years later, at the end of the 13th century．And in Britain, 67 years later, the alarm clock was invented in Germany．

　　The first watch was invented in Italy in 1462．Early watches were different from today's in two main ways．First, they only had an hour hand．Second, you could not wear them on your wrist．(手腕)You had to keep them in your pocket－that’s why they were called 'pocket clocks'．

　　The first wrist watch came from Switzerland 328 years after the first pocket clock, but nobody bought them．They did not become popular for a hundred years．

　　Digital clocks and watches came from the United States and are the new popular inventions in time－keeping．Shops all over the world started to sell them in 1971．

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　　My name is Katrina．When I was nine years old, I often played on my elder brother's waterbed(水床)．He had a lot of coins and I often put them in my mouth and played with them．

　　One day, I had one coin in my mouth and the waterbed started moving．As a result, the movement made me choke(噎住)on the coin．I ran into the living room coughing with my hand around my throat．My mom ran towards me．Before she could get to me, I gave one strong cough and swallowed(吞)the coin!

　　I let my mom know that I had choked on a coin and swallowed it．So, she called up my elder brother and then I was taken to the hospital．It turned out that the coin was right in my esophagus(食道); it didn't move at all．I had to get doctors to take the coin out．They put me to sleep, put something with a camera down my throat and pulled the coin out．

　　Ever since I got out of the hospital, my family and friends have enjoyed calling me “The Human Piggy Bank”．What an embarrassing experience! Now I still have the coin in a pot! Interesting souvenirs!

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　　In Japan, you say “itadakimasu”(“I am going to start”)before eating, and “gochisosam(deshita)”(“Thank you for the meal”)after finishing the meal．

　　Blowing your nose in public, and especially at the table, is considered bad manners．It is considered good manners to eat up all the things in your plate．Unlike in some other parts of East Asia, it is considered bad manner to burp(打嗝)．After eating, try to move all your dishes back to the same position they were at the start of the meal．

　　◆Drinking rules

　　When drinking alcohol(酒), it is a good manner to serve each other, instead of serving yourself．Check your friends' cups from time to time and refill(重新注滿)their drinks if their cups are getting empty．If someone wants to serve you more alcohol, you should quickly empty your glass and hold it towards that person．

　　While it is considered bad manners to become drunk in some formal restaurants, the same is not true for other small restaurants, as long as you do not trouble other guests．

　　Do not start drinking until everybody at the table is served and the glasses are raised for a drinking salute(口號), which usually is “kampai”．

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　　On June 30, 2009, a Yemenia airplane from Paris to Comoros, Africa, crashed into the Indian Ocean．There were 153 people on the plane, including some French officials．Though people have been searching since the plane went down, the result looked unpleasant, for most of the passengers might be in bad luck．

　　But a 13-year-old girl called Bahia Bakari was discovered in the water, where she had been staying afloat(漂浮的)by holding a piece of wreckage(殘骸)from the plane tightly for over 13 hours．

　　When they found her, the girl was too weak to catch he lifebuoy(救生圈)thrown to her, instead, a Comoran police officer, said Abdilai, jumped into the water to pull the child onto the boat．

　　Bahia Bakari was injured, especially her collarbone(鎖骨)．her father was pleased to see his daughter although his wife had gone away in this tragedy．He said that his daughter could hardly swim．It was really a miracle for her to escape in this way．In her daddy’s warm arms, the girl could soon remember what she had experienced．“I was thrown out of the plane and then I saw the plane fall into the water．Next I found myself in the water．I couldn’t swim very well and I caught something but I didn’t know what is was,” said the girl．

　　“She is really a lucky young girl,” said Alain Joyandet, France’s minister for International Cooperation．

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Dear Amy,

　　I couldn’t read your two e-mails until today because my computer was broken．I’m sorry to hear about your problem, but I’m glad you’re feeling better and are recovering(康復(fù))．I’m surprised that in China someone’s liver(肝臟)matched yours! This is really a moving story– a stranger donated part of his liver to a girl he doesn’t even know!

　　You’re right．We shouldn’t care too much about our weight．I’m happy you stopped taking those weight-loss pills．From your photo I can see you are now looking very well in the hospital．To keep slim is important, especially for an actress, but nothing is more important than health．Your doctor’s advice is indeed very good– exercise for at least half an hour every day and eat lots of fruit and vegetables．

　　It’s not only in your country．It’s the same here with us Chinese– many people are always going on diets or taking weight-loss pills, which are often dangerous．But in fact, some of them are not overweight(超重)at all．I hope these people can learn something from your story．Hope you will leave hospital as soon as possible．

Love

×××

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　　No one can change the weather．Nobody can control the weather．But if we read correctly the signs around us, we can tell what the more important changes in the weather will be．This way of telling what the weather will be like on the following day or two is called weather forecasting(天氣預(yù)報)．

　　For many centuries and in all countries, people have studied the weather and tried to make weather forecasting．Rings around the sun are a sign of coming rain．That many people feel their joints(關(guān)節(jié))hurt is a sign of wet weather．Some birds fly high if fine weather is coming, but they fly near the ground if rainy or stormy weather is on the way．If you see a rainbow during rainy weather, this is a sign that the weather will become clear and fine．Such rainbows come in the evening．If the stars twinkle clearly at night, then fine weather will continue．If a fog appears in the morning just above a river, then the day will be warm．If the sunset is mostly red in colour, then the following day will be fine．If a rainbow appears in the morning, rainy weather will probably come．

　　Most of the above sayings have been made by the people who have used their eyes and brains to make weather forecasting．

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