The volcano is one of the most surprising frightening things of nature．Maybe you have seen pictures of these“fireworks”of nature．Sometimes when a volcano erupts a very large wall of melted rock moves down the side of a mountain．It looks like a“river of fire”．Sometimes volcanoes explode, throwing the melted rock and ashes high into the air．But where does this melted rock come from?

　　The earth is made up of many layers(层)．The top layer that we see is called the crust．Under the crust are many layers of hard rock．But far, far beneath the crust the rock is so hot that it is soft．In some places it even melts．The melted rock is called magma．Sometimes the magma breaks out to the surface through cracks(裂缝)in the crust．These cracks are volcanoes．

　　Most people think of mountains when they think of volcanoes．But not every mountain is a volcano．A volcano is simply the opening in the earth from which the magma escapes．The hot magma, or lava as it is called, cools and builds up on the surface of the earth．Over thousands of years, this pile of cooled lava can grow to be very, very big．For example, the highest mountain in Africa, Kilimanjaro, is a volcano．It rises more than 16,000 feet above the ground around it．

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Culture determines what kind of thinking is important and what kind is not so important．Learners use the language, tools, and practice of their culture to learn concepts．Although students have their individual learning styles, their learning styles are often combined with cultural values．For example, Navajo(North American Indians living in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah)children often learn first by observing and listening．Then, when ready, they continue learning on their own in cooperation with and under the supervision(监视)of an adult．In this way, the children learn all the skills they need．Navajo children speak very little during this process．In contrast, many African－American children learn effectively by acting and performing．They like classroom activities such as oral presentations, role－plays, and dramatic performances．Lots of talking is useful for these students．Another ways of learning is through reading and writing．Asian students generally need writing to support their learning, and therefore do well in classes where there is lots of writing．It is common to see Japanese students pay special attention to the spelling of words they have learned．They are more comfortable seeing new materials than hearing them．Koreans are believed to be the most visual(can be seen)learners．So, although learning styles greatly determine how a person takes in new materials, one's culture also influences how he learns．

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　　Britain's parents have owned up－school is harder today than it was when they were kids．

　　A poll(民意调查)of 1,500 parents shows that those with children who have recently sat A－levels or GCSE exams believe today's exams are harder than the ones they sat at school．

　　One in four thought A－levels were getting harder－compared to just twelve percent who thought they were easier．

　　The figures for GCSEs were more evenly split with 26 percent thinking they were harder and 21 percent believing they were easier．This is the first survey of the opinion of parents whose youngsters have just sat exams．

　　They told pollsters they believed the higher pass rate in examinations today was due to the youngsters concerned working harder．

Success

　　But another reason given was that they believed today's youngsters felt there was little chance to success in life without qualification(资格)．“Parents are seeing standards rise and their children working harder and being smarter than their generation,”says Dr．Christina Townsend, president of the Edexcel exam board, which commissioned(委托)the survey．

　　The poll, carried out by Opinion Research Business for the exam board, also showed parents backed government plans to allow students to see their marked scripts(试卷)after they had completed their exams．

　　The move is designed to help them decide whether they should appeal(上诉)against their grades．

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　　Scientists are doing researches on how to change the human brain or combine the computer and the human brain, i．e, to transplant a chip into the human brain．If we compare a human brain to a hard disc, what the scientists are doing is to enlarge the applicable capacity(可用的容量)of the hard disc．At present, there are some difficulties in such transplant experiments, but scientists never give up．

　　Experiments were started on animals．In 1996, a transplant experiment performed at the Defense and Military Physiology Research institute in the U．S．turned a bear into a dolphin．

　　The dolphin was named Ted, and the bear was named Tallin．Using the most advanced technology, deep and detailed studies were made of the swimming action memory area in Ted's brain by the scientists．They obtained a series of useful information, the signals transferred by the nerve system．Such information was saved into a buttoned chip, which was then transplanted into the action memory area in Tallin's brain．The information saved on the chip was released by means of electric power．

　　Recently, another comprehensive memory transplant was performed at the Motor Nerve Research Institute of the University of California．The comprehensive memory transplanted in the experiment included actions, moods, logic words, images, etc．The experiment involved an entire transplant of the memory area．This was the largest such experiment done so far．

　　The transplant was performed from a dog named“Genius”to a dog named“Idiot”．“Genius”could understand and follow up to 100 gestures and orders made by its master．It was a real genius in memorizing．“Idiot”was the youngest brother of“Genius”．It had no contact with people at all since its birth．It became an animal with nothing in its brain, without any memory．

　　The operation was a complete success．When the two dogs woke up,“Idiot”had grasped all the abilities“Genius”possessed; it was good at memorizing．It could follow every gesture and order given by its master．But“Genius”gave no response to its master, and in fact did not recognize him at all．

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　　If your score is between 23 and 27, you are probably an analytic learner．You may feel it is very important to be as accurate(careful and exact)as possible all the time．You can improve your language learning by trying to speak more．You do not have to worry too much about your mistakes．Trying to be correct all the time is hard work and it can stop you from communicating well．Remember that the people you speak to will not listen for your mistakes, but for what you are trying to say．

　　If you score somewhere between 9 and 13, you are probably a relaxed learner．You seem to learn languages without really working hard and like to talk with people．However, you probably feel that you should learn more grammar rules, but you do not enjoy this and quickly lose interest．So you need to find more time to learn and organize a regular time for learning．You probably need to correct yourself more．If you can correct the mistakes that you have often made you will find it easier to do something about them．

　　If your score is between 14 and 22, you are a mixture．You have both the strong points and weakness of the analytic learner and the relaxed learner．You learn in different ways and at different time depending on the situation and what you are learning．The advice that you can take is that you should study the descriptions of the analytic and relaxed learners．This might help you to decide what your weaknesses are and what subjects you are good at．Then you should overcome your weaknesses and exert your strong points to the utmost．

　　If your score is between 0 and 8, it does not mean that you are not a good language learner．Perhaps this is the first time you have thought of the way in which you learn．You may observe how other students learn English and read some books that tell you how to learn a foreign language．

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　　Maybe you are an average student．You probably think you will never be a top student．This is not necessarily so, however．Anyone can become a better student if he or she wants to．Here is how：

　　1)Plan your time carefully．When planning your week, you should make a list of things that you have to do．After making this list, you should make a schedule of your time．First your time for eating, sleeping, dressing, etc．Then decide a good regular time for studying．Don't forget to set aside enough time for entertainment．A weekly schedule may not solve all your problems but it will force you to realize what is happening to your time．

　　2)Find a good place to study．Look around the house for a good study area．Keep this space, which may be a desk or simply a corner of your room, free of everything but study materials．No games, radios, or television!When you sit down to study, concentrate on the subject．

　　3)Make good use of your time in class．Take advantage of class time to listen to everything the teacher says．Really listening in class means less work later．Taking notes will help you remember what the teacher says．

　　4)Study regularly．When you get home from school, go over your notes．Review the important points that your teacher has mentioned in class．If you know what your teacher is going to discuss the next day, read that material．This will help you understand the next class．If you do these things regularly, the material will become more meaningful, and you will remember it longer．

　　5)Develop a good attitude about tests．The purpose of a test is to show what you have learned about a subject．They help you remember your new knowledge．The world won't end if you don't pass a test, so don't be overly worried．

　　There are other methods that might help you with your studying．You will probably discover many others after you have tried these．

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　　A new weapon is on the way in the fight against smoking in Europe．Soon when smokers buy cigarettes, they might see a shocking photo of a blackened lung or a cancer patient staring back at them from the packet．

　　Some boys may think of smoking as cool and sexy．Their friends won't agree when they see their packets of cigarettes lying on the table．

　　The European Union announced on October 22, that it had chosen 42 photos that showed the damage cigarettes could do to the body．It called on member nations to put these pictures on packets to discourage smokers．

　　To catch the attention of teenagers, the special packets warn of long－term medical dangers, like cancer．Short－term effects, like bad skin, are also on the list．

　　“The true face of smoking is disease, death and horror．That is the message we should send to the young,”said David Byrne, an EU health official．“Hopefully these pictures will shock students out of their love for cigarettes．”

　　The EU head office hoped the pictures would work better than current written warnings on packs of cigarettes．The warnings included“smoking kills”and“smoking can lead to a slow and painful death．”

　　So far, Ireland and Belgium have shown interest in the photos．Canada has used similar pictures and warnings on cigarette packs since 2000．The country has recently seen a fall in the number of smokers．

　　According to studies, smoking is the single biggest cause of avoidable death in EU．

　　Every year more than 650,000 smokers die, more than one person a minute．

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　　Computer programmer David Jones earned ￡35,000 a year designing new computer games, yet he cannot find a bank prepared to let him have a check card．Instead, he has been told to wait another two years until he is 18．

　　He works for a small firm in Liverpool, where most young people of his age are finding jobs．David's biggest headache is what to do with his money．Though he has high payment, he cannot drive a car, or get credit cards(信用卡)．

　　David got his job four months ago, a year after leaving school with six O-levels(普通成绩)and working for a time in a computer shop．“I got the job because the people who run the firm knew I had already written some programs, ”he said．

　　“I suppose ￡35,000 sounds a lot but I hope it will come to more than that this year．”He spends some of his money on records and clothes, and gives his mother ￡20 a week as he lives with his parents．But most of his spare time is spent working．

　　“Unfortunately, computing was not part of our studies at school, ”he said．“But I had been studying it in books and magazines for four years in my spare time．I knew what I wanted to do and never considered staying on at school．Most people in this business are fairly young, anyway．I would like to earn a million and I suppose early retirement(退休)is a possibility．You never know when the market might disappear．”

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　　I hear many parents complaining that their teenage children are rebelling．I wish it were so．At your age you ought to be growing away from your parents．You should be learning to stand on your own two feet．But take a good look at the present rebellion．It seems that teenagers are all taking the same way of showing that they disagree with their parents．Instead of striking out boldly on their own, most of them are clutching at(attempting to seize)one another's hands for reassurance．

　　They claim they want to dress as they please．But they all wear the same clothes．They set off in new directions in music．But somehow they all end up crowded round listening to the same record．Their reason for thinking or acting in thus-and-such a way is that the crowd is doing it．They have come out of their cocoon(蚕茧)－into a larger cocoon．

　　It has become harder and harder for a teenager to stand up against the popularity wave and to go his or her own way．Industry has firmly carved out a teenage market．These days every teenager can learn from the advertisements what a teenager should have and be．And many of today's parents have come toward high marks for the popularity of their children．All this adds up to a great barrier for the teenager who wants to find his or her own path．

　　But the barrier is worth climbing over．The path is worth following．You may want to listen to classical music instead of going to a party．You may want to collect rocks when everyone else is collecting records．You may have some thoughts that you don't care to share at once with your classmates．Well, go to it．Find yourself．Be yourself．Popularity will come－with the people who respect you for who you are．That's the only kind of popularity that really counts．

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　　Nick was tired of life．Every day was exactly the same．

　　“What I need is a little adventure!”Nick thought as he waited at the bus stop one morning．Nick's little adventure happened sooner than he had expected!

　　While he was on the bus, reading his newspaper, the man sitting next to him suddenly pushed a large brown envelope in his hands．“Here, take this!”he murmured．Then he stood up and got off the bus before Nick could say a word．

　　Nick sat there holding the envelope．It felt heavy．There were papers inside, or money perhaps．“I'd better hand it over to the police．”he thought．There was a police station close to his office．But as he got off the bus, a man came up to him．He was obviously waiting for something．“He wants the envelope．”Nick thought．Nick began to walk quickly and the man hurried after him．Nick started to run, and the man began to run, too．But then just before he got to the police station．Nick managed to lose the man in the crowds when he entered the police station．The man was no longer in sight．

　　Inside the police station, the envelope was full of money－false money．“Obviously the man made a mistake, ”the inspector said, “He thought you was one of the gang!Well, congratulations!”

　　Nick felt like a hero．He could already see his name in all the paper．He could imagine an interview on television!

　　“However, ”the inspector went on, interrupting Nick's daydreams．“I'm afraid I must ask you to keep quiet about this．We're trying to catch some very clever thieves－and we don't want them to know that we have some of the money．So you mustn't say a word to anyone－even your boss!Sorry!”

　　“So that's that!”Nick said to himself on his way to the office．He was over an hour late．“I've had my little adventure, but I can't tell anyone about it．So what's the point?I've even got to make up an excuse to the boss!”

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