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　　On a one-acre site alongside many shrimp boats stands a ＄2.2 million assembly(组合体)of pipes, sheds, and humming machinery－a plant in Texas to make sea water suitable to drink．

　　The plant is an experimental project built as the former of the state’s ＄150 million, full-scale sea water desalination(脱盐)plant planned for construction in 2010．

　　Desalting sea water is expensive, mostly because of the energy required．The cost runs at about ＄650 per acre-foot, but it only costs ＄200 to purify(净化)the same amount of fresh water．

　　However, it is a growing field around the world as drinkable water becomes less and less in the earth．

　　About two-thirds of the world’s desalinated water is produced in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and North Africa．Perth, Australia, is looking to meet a third of its fresh water demand by removing salt from sea water．

　　In March, Israel showed off its plant at the Mediterranean port of Ashkelon that can process 87 million gallons of fresh water a day．Singapore opened a sea water desalination plant in 2005 hoping it will meet at least 10 percent of its water needs．Two months ago, General Electric Co．announced a ＄220 million contract to build a plant in South Africa．

　　Global output is still relatively minute－less than 0.1 percent of all drinking water．But according to a recent report by Global Water Intelligence, the worldwide desalination industry is expected to grow 140 percent over the next ten years, with ＄25 billion in investment by 2010, or ＄56 billion by 2015．

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　　Whales, like dolphins, belong to a group of mammals(哺乳动物)called “cetaceans”．This name comes from a Latin word meaning “large sea animal”．There are at least seventy-five kinds of cetaceans．Scientists divide the various kinds into two major groups－baleen whales, which do not have teeth, and toothed whales, which have teeth．

　　Whales have the same basic shape as fish, but they differ from fish in many ways．The most noticeable difference is the tail．Fish have vertical(垂直的)tail fins(鳍), but whales have horizontal tail fins．Fish breathe by means of gills(腮), while whales have lungs(肺)and must come to the surface to breathe．But they can hold their breath for long periods．

　　Like other mammals, whales give birth to live young and feed them with milk produced by the mother’s body．Most fish, however, lay eggs and do not feed their young．Whales are also warm-blooded－that is, their body temperature remains about the same all the time．Almost all fish are cold-blooded．Their body temperature changes with changes in the temperature of the water．

　　Whales have a highly developed brain and they are highly advanced life forms．They sing to their young, engage in complex family relationships, and their communication skills are fine．

　　In December 2005, a whale, after being rescued from fishing nets, didn’t just swim back to deep water．It hung around and touched each of the divers with its mouth．“Knowing that it was free, it stopped about a foot away from me, pushed me around a little bit and had some fun,” said dive master James Moskito．He thought it was “one of the most fantastic moments” of his life．

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　　Lake Chelan National Recreation Area

　　2105 State Route 20

　　Sedro-Woolley, WA 98284

　　(360)856-5700

　　This is a fee-free park located on the banks of Lake Chelan, one of the deepest lakes in the United States．The island that makes up this park is easy to reach only by boat．You can go there from the nearby town of Chelan by shuttle(往返)boats．On the island, shuttle buses take campers to Stehekin Valley．This area is extremely popular with backpackers, fishermen, boaters and hikers．

　　Chopaka Lake

　　915 N．Walla Walla

　　Wenatchee, WA 98801

　　(509)665-2100

　　There’s a 10-acre campground at Chopaka Lake, a beautiful place to put up the tent．Chopaka Lake is actually situated at the top of Chopaka Mountain．The view is unforgettable! Hiking trails(小路)pass through a Mountain Wilderness Study Area and through the Okanogan highlands．There is no fee for camping．

　　Fort Ebey State Park

　　(800)452-5687

　　There are 645 acres at Fort Ebey State Park．Once home to a coastal defense(海岸防卫)fort for the Puget Sound area, this former fort is also filled with things to see and do from days gone by．It includes 53 campsites, restrooms and showers, beach access, 24 picnic sites and three miles of hiking trails．If you’re looking for a very enjoyable experience with a taste of the past, then this is the park for you．

　　Olympic National Park

　　600 East Park Ave．

　　Port Angeles, WA 98362

　　(360)452-0330

　　This National Park is picture-postcard(优美的)!Beautiful beaches, lots of surf, several lakes and a rain forest make up this area．You’ll be able to enjoy 63 miles of coastline here and hike as much as 600 miles of trails．There is only a small fee for the campsites here．

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　　I live in a very over populated beach area in the Los Angeles, and I love the beautiful scenery! But because of many people, lots of things are easy to be out of order, and sometimes it’s also easy to lose your cool．Today was a day I wish I did not get out of bed．I mean that if I did not have to wake up and deal with all the things that I deal with on a daily basis, it would have been wonderful．

　　I had a cup of coffee this morning and that was my meal for breakfast, not healthy I know．Anyway, my stomach was sounding like a truck．So, I jumped in my car and decided to buy some food．

　　I was in line at Taco Bell(一家墨西哥速食店)and the line was like a long snake! Finally I got to place my order, but a young girl in nice clothes pulled in and was stuck in such a way that unless I moved for her, she wouldn’t be able to get out．So I backed up and waved her into my place in the front of the line．

　　To my surprise, this young girl did not say thanks．I was cool with it because I thought that I had done something nice for a change．After the girl received her food and pulled away, I pulled into the ordering spot, not mad, but hungry, and the employee said, “Hi, that girl just paid for your food．”

　　That food was the most satisfying nourishment(营养品)my body had ever taken! If just by chance you are that person who bought my food, I should say “Thank you!”

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Hanukkah

　　Hanukkah(光明节)is a Jewish festival．It is celebrated on the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev(犹太教历), which is usually sometime in December．It is often called the festival of lights．The festival celebrates the time, over 2,000 years ago, when the Jewish people fought against an emperor who would not let them follow their own traditions and religion．When the Jewish people won back their temple in Jerusalem, they found there was only enough holy oil to keep the sacred light burning for one day．However, to their surprise, this small amount of oil kept the light burning for eight days and nights, until the people had time to make more oil．

　　At the center of the Hanukkah celebrations is a candlestick(called a Menorah)that holds nine candles．On the first night of Hanukkah the first candle is lit, and each day this candle is used to light another candle, until on the eighth day, the last day, all the candles are lit．During Hanukkah, people go to the synagogue(犹太教堂)to pray and to remember the miracle(奇迹)of the holy oil．Hanukkah is a time for family and friends to come together．People exchange gifts and greeting cards, and children go to parties．Parents often give their children money at Hanukkah．Potato cakes, called latkes, are a traditional Hanukkah food．

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　　Football, to me, is more than just a game．I have probably learned more valuable lessons from it than from school．

　　When I joined the team freshman year, I didn’t realize what I was getting into．Even though I had been playing since fourth grade and knew it was hard work, nothing would prepare me for the effort I would put into football that year．We worked all summer in the weight room and ran on the track to get in physical and mental shape before the season．

　　See, football is more of a mental sport than anything else, so running on the track wasn’t only about getting in shape．We would push our minds by running as hard as we could even if we were going to pass out．At the beginning, I was immature(幼稚)and only thought of myself, sometimes even gave up when I was tired or hurt．Then after the third game I had a season-ending injury．Imagine working all summer and then only being able to play three games! I needed surgery on my arm and at least five months to recover．

　　Needless to say, I missed the rest of the season, but this actually helped me realize that since you never know when your last play will be, you should try your hardest in football and life．

　　After freshman year I decided that I would always give my best effort．Playing varsity(校队的)football has taught me so much more than just what my assignments are on a particular play or how to block．I have learned to think about others first, and realized how important working hard is．Being with all my friends, even sweating and bleeding with them, really made us bond as a group of hard-working young men who I know will succeed in life．

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　　Women don’t talk more than men．Really, they don’t．Women speak 20,000 words a day, compared to the average man’s 7,000．But a study published recently denies this old rule．Both men and women use about 16,000 words a day, says the new research in Science magazine．

　　“It’s been a common belief, but it just didn’t fit,” says James Pennebaker, the researcher of the seven-year study．Pennebaker and his colleagues analyzed(分析)recorded conversations of 396 university students age 18 to 29 in the USA and Mexico, including 210 women and 186 men．The study didn’t look at vocabulary or word use, but rather word count．

　　Pennebaker says two-thirds of participants spoke 11,000 to 25,000 words a day, with the average for both sexes about 16,000 words．The finding may seem surprising in a popular culture where women are often thought of as talkative and men as silent．

　　Most recently, psychiatrist(精神病学家)Louann Brizendine used the 20,000 and 7,000 comparison in her 2006 book The Female Brain, as evidence for brain differences．After the book came out in August, the data was widely reused．“That hits a nerve(神经)．It’s been surprising to me that this little point is the point people pick out,” says Brizendine．

　　But experts in neurolinguistics(神经语言学)thought that the data was uncertain．Mark Liberman, a linguistics professor at the University of Pennsylvania, says that after Brizendine’s book came out, he tried to find evidence to support her claim, but failed．

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　　Everyone takes drugs．Sometimes a drug might be called a herb(草药)but the effect is the same．Drugs and herbs can make life better for they are used to improve health．From the simplest headache to a cure for cancer, people believe that certain drugs can help them．But there is danger if the drugs are not used in a proper way．

　　American teenagers sometimes use certain drugs to feel good．They call this “getting high”．The problem is that once a young man or a young woman has the feeling of “getting high”, they want to do it often．If school is boring or too hard, students might get depressed and a drug or herb might help them feel better．If the student takes too much of a drug, the body may change in a wrong way such as a confused mind, poor sight, a headache, and an uncomfortable stomach．

　　Schools now have D．A．R．E．program which means Drug Abuse Resistance Education．This program was started so that young students from age 10 to 18 might understand how a drug affects their bodies．The main point of the program is education．Once a student understands certain drugs can cause ill health, he will know he should not use them．

　　Education is the key to good nutrition as well．If a student eats correctly, he or she will be full of energy which leads to good study habits and good grades．Poor nutrition may cause the need for more sleep and poor concentration．Proper food is similar to the proper use of drugs．Both allow a healthy body to grow while the misuse of them prevents a person from developing normally．

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　　Every person has a unique experience and a story to tell about his school life, so do I．

　　We had great fun in growing and learning．Every year we were taken to different places for our school picnics．I was never able to go to these tours but I enjoyed every word of the stories told by my friends．When I was in Grade Eight, I won a couple of prizes in drawing and school competitions．We were also given many projects as class assignments that helped all of us to know more about the subject．I was very fond of cricket(now in football)．My friends and I played cricket in the school campus after school, but at the same time, we all used to get lots of scolding from our headmaster．

　　Every Saturday we used to have our P．T．exercise, and frankly speaking, nobody in my class, even me, had ever liked this．As I reached Grade Nine I realised that I should concentrate on my studies as the next year I was going to take my Board exams．The most memorable day in my life was the day when we held the farewell party for our seniors．Well, now I am in Grade Ten and all set to write my Boards in March．Whenever I recollect all these incidents of school life, I feel very happy and in everybody’s school life, I think there are many ups and downs that mould(浇注)one’s life．School is a place where all of us learn to care and share．“School” is not just a place, but also it is a large dome made up of knowledge, love and affection．I think in everybody’s success, school plays a key role．I can describe my school in “Three S’s”, they are：Small, Sweet and Simple．

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　　If you are planning to learn a foreign language, here are some tips about learning language you can benefit from．

　　Try to set aside some time every day for your studies when your brain is most receptive．It’s better to study for 30 minutes every day than for 3 hours once a week．If you can spare two or three hours a day, break them up into some periods to avoid brain overload．

　　Go over each lesson several times, perhaps once in the morning, once in the evening and once several days later．Give your brain time to digest the material, but make sure the gaps between periods of studies are not too long or you will forget most of what you’re trying to learn．Make sure you have mastered the contents of one lesson before moving on to the next．

　　Make sure you’re comfortable with the basics of the language before learning the more advanced knowledge．It will take you some time to get used to the pronunciation and spelling of a new language, but without a solid understanding of these, you’ll find it very difficult to learn more．

　　Setting reasonable targets is a good way to motivate yourself．You could set yourself a time limit or aim for a certain level of proficiency(精通)．

　　Once you have mastered the basics of the language, learn to apply them about the things that interest you．In this way you are more likely to remember the words, phrases and grammatical constructions you meet．

　　You will find that at times you’re making fairly rapid progress, while at other times you seem to stand still or even go backwards．This is normal when learning a language, so don’t be discouraged．

　　Making mistakes in a foreign language is nothing to worry about．What matters is getting your message across, not whether you use all the right words, tenses, cases, etc．If you cannot think of the exact words, try using other ones．

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