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　　Reading is a good habit, but the problem is, there's too much to read these days, and too little time to read every word of it．There are hundreds of skills to help you read more in less time．Here are two skills that I think are especially good．

　　Preview-if it's long and hard．Previewing is especially useful for getting a general idea of heavy reading like long magazine articles and business reports．

　　Here's how to preview．

　　●Read the first two paragraphs and the last two paragraphs carefully．

　　●Then read only the first sentence of the other paragraphs．

　　Previewing doesn't give you all the details．It keeps you from spending time on things you don't really want-or need-to read．

　　Skim-if it's short and simple．Skimming is a good way to get a general idea of light reading -like popular magazines or the sports and entertainment of your daily paper．

　　Here's how to skim．

　　●Get your eyes to move fast．Sweep them across each line．

　　●Pick up only a few key words in each line．

　　Everybody skims differently．You and I may not pick up the same words when we skim the same piece, but we'll get a similar idea of what it's all about．

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　　In an American classroom, a Chinese girl was asked to answer a question．She stood up and smiled, without making any sound．The American teacher looked at himself and didn't see anything funny．So he asked her the question again．The girl just smiled but said nothing．The teacher was angry．He didn't know that the girl smiled to cover her embarrassment(尷尬)because she wasn't able to answer the question．

　　In a dining room in Beijing, an Englishman was careless and dropped a plate．The Chinese who had seen this began to laugh．The Englishman felt uncomfortable and even got angry．“They are laughing at me,”he thought．In fact, the Chinese laughed not at the Englishman or his bad luck-whether he is a foreigner or a Chinese．The laughter has several feelings, don't take it so seriously; laugh it off, it's nothing; such things can happen to any of us, etc．

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　　Good morning, ladies and gentlemen．Here's morning news．Yesterday afternoon a ten-year-old school boy swallowed(吞下)a pen cap!

　　The boy was daydreaming in class．Without knowing what he was doing, he put a pen cap into his mouth．A few minutes later, he was terrified to find that he had swallowed it!The teacher was shocked when the boy stood up and said,“I've just swallowed a pen cap．”He was quickly sent to the nearest hospital．There a doctor examined him and said the best treatment was to give him medicine so that the pen cap could pass naturally．Three hours later the boy successfully made it．

　　“The boy is really lucky,”said the doctor．“It's not rare that small children put things into their mouths for fun．It's very dangerous,”he added．

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　　The teacher stood before his class of 30 students and was about to hand out the final exam papers．“I know how hard you have all worked to prepare for this test,”he said．“Arid because I know you are all able to understand this material, I am ready to offer a B to anyone who would prefer not to take the test．”

　　A number of students jumped up to thank the teacher and left the classroom．The teacher looked at the remaining(余下的)students and said,“Does anyone else want to get a B?This is your last chance．”Two more students decided to go．Seven students stayed．The teacher then handed out the papers．There were only three sentences which were typed on the paper：Congratulations!You have received an A in this class．Keep believing in yourself．

　　I never had a teacher who gave a test like that, but I think that it is a test that any teacher could and should give．Students who do not have confidence in what they have learned are B students at most．

　　The same is true for students in real life．The A students are those who believe in what they are doing because they have learned from both successes and failures．They have learned life's lessons, whether from formal education or from evenis in their lives, and have become better people．Scientists say that by the age of eight, 80% of what we believe about ourselves has already been formed．You are a big kid now, and you realize that you have some limits(局限)．However, there is nothing you can't do or leant to be．Sir Edmund Hillary, the first person to reach the top of Mount Qomolangma(珠穆朗瑪峰)said,“We do not conquer the mountain, but ourselves．”

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　　For most people, it is enough to see their paper planes fly for a few feet．The Japanese, however, want to make a paper plane fly for 240 miles from space．

　　This crazy paper plane plan was brought up by the leader of Japan Origami Plane Association(日本折紙飛機協(xié)會),

　　Mr．Takuo．In 1999, Mr．Takuo asked Mr．Suzuki, a designer, if he could help design a 3-metre plane for a TV program．The plane flew successfully from the top of a mountain．Then Mr．Takuo asked Mr．Suzuki if he would help send a paper plane from space．They made plans to drop a paper plane from the International Space Station down to the Earth．The idea is to develop a kind of modern plane that can study the atmosphere．

　　An 8-inch-long paper plane has been made and treated with a chemical(化學(xué)藥品)so that it can survive the temperature of 200℃ as it enters the Earth's atmosphere again．Another 3-inch-long paper plane has been tested at the temperature of up to 300℃．The paper plane will probably start its trip during a space walk．It will continue at the same speed as the space station, but its orbit(軌道)will change slowly．Maybe it will survive the drop, but the researchers don't know where it will land, so they have written a message in several languages, saying,“This plane flew from the International Space Station．Please return the plane to Japan Origami Plane Association．”

　　If the paper plane successfully flies from space, some new design ideas can be explored．It seems to be a crazy idea, but who can say that it isn't a creative one?

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　　The Beijing Olympic Games will have 21,880 torchbearers(火炬手)for the torch relay(火炬接力)．It is the biggest in the Games' history．Here let's know about some torchbearers．

　　?Luis Hone, 14, is from Colombia．He lives in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province．He moved to China with his parents as a baby．“I can speak English, Chinese and Spanish．I love China, which has been my world all my life,”he said．“The torch relay is a good chance to improve the understanding between people of the world．”

　　?Sang Lan, 26, will complete the torch relay using her wheelchair．Sang's fingers are not agile(靈活的)because of her injury(受傷)．The IOC officials suggested adding framework(框架)to her wheelchair to hold the torch．But she insists that she will hold the torch with her hands．“I believe if you put your heart into something, you can solve any problem,”she said．

　　?Liu Xuan, 17, is from Nanjing Foreign Language School．He is an energetic student．He enjoys various sports including football, basketball, badminton and running．“It will be an honor to be a torchbearer,”he said．

　　?Zhang Jie, 23, is a reporter with Guangzhou Daily．^u Torch relay is a good way to let the world know China better,“Zhang said．Tin very proud that I can be part of it．”

　　(Teens Daily, Feb 21, 2008)

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　　On a very cold evening in northern Virginia many yean ago, an old man was waiting for a ride across the river．Anxiously(焦急地), he watched as several horsemen passed by, then another．Finally, the last rider came to the place where the old man sat．As this one drew near, the old man caught the rider's eyes and said,“Sir, would you mind giving an old man a ride to the other side?”

　　Reining(勒隹韁繩)his horse, the rider replied,“Sure．”Seeing the old man was unable to lift his half-frozen(凍得半僵的)body from the ground, the rider got off the horse and helped the old man onto it．He took the old man not only across the river, but also to his house, which was just a few miles away．

　　As they came to his house, the rider's curiosity(好奇心)caused him to ask the old man,“Sir, I noticed that you let several other riders pass by without asking for help．Then I came up and you immediately asked me for a ride．What would happen if I had refused and left you there?”

　　Hie old man lowered himself slowly down from the horse, looked the rider straight in the eyes and replied, I’ve been there for some time．I think I know people well．I looked into the eyes of the other riders and immediately saw there was no worry about my situation．It would have been useless even to ask them for a ride．But when I looked into your eyes, I saw kindness and compassion(同情)·I knew you would give me a hand．

　　Those words moved the rider deeply．He said to the old man,“I am very grateful for what you have said．May(但愿)I never get too busy with my own things that I fail to help others with kindness and compassion．”

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　　On May 23, six pandas left an important panda base(基地)in Wolong, southwest China's Sichuan Province, because of damaged(損壞的)shelters and food shortages after the May 12 earthquake, a local official said．

　　The pandas were taken by trucks from China Giant Panda Protection and Research Center to Ya'an, another base less affected by the earthquake, said Xiong Beirong, an official of Sichuan Provincial Forestry Bureau(林業(yè)局)．

　　Eight other pandas left for the Chengdu Research Base on May 18．They will be carried by China Southern Airlines

　　(CSA)to Beijing, where they will stay at the Beijing Zoo, said Wolong director Zhang Hemin．

　　Iiu Shaoyong, a leader of CSA, said the pandas were scheduled(預(yù)定)to leave Chengdu at 3 p．m．Saturday．They will travel on a Boeing 747 -700 plane with bamboo and water．

　　“There is enough water now, but food is still a big problem．The pandas need bamboos and apples．”Xiong Beirong said．

　　After the earthquake, tons of bamboo shoots, apples, eggs, milk powder and medicines were brought to the center, but the supplies could only last about a week, she said．

　　There are about 1,590 pandas living in the wild in China, mostly in Sichuan and the northwestern provinces of Shaanxi and Gansu．

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