A marathon is a long running race of 26. 2 miles (42. 195 kilometres). The first Olympic Marathon was held in Athens. Now, many cities host their own marathons every year. Some of the best-known marathons around the world are the New York City Marathon, the Boston Marathon and the Tokyo Marathon. Among them, the Boston Marathon which started in 1897, is the oldest yearly marathon in the world. As time goes by, the sport has become more than just a race.
Themes of marathons add fun and meaning to the hard miles. Runners run for helping sick kids, celebrating important events, or just enjoying nature. There is a famous marathon in Gisborne, New Zealand, which is known for being the first city in the world to welcome the sunlight every day. Runners can greet the sunrise as they race along the golden sandy beaches.
Marathon routes bring people more understanding of the old sport. Some routes provide great sporting challenges for runners. The routes offer various surfaces, from bridges to sand to hills. Runners of all skill levels can sweat freely and push their limits in the race. Some routes are well planned for runners to explore the many sides of a city. For example, the route of the Great Wall Marathon takes the runners along the great wonder of the world. The race can be an amazing chance to get to know Beijing, its people and local food.
A marathon is quite a journey for runners to enjoy the run, challenge themselves and experience the culture. There is so much more behind the race for us to explore.
Many cultures have stories of talking trees that give advice as well as warnings to people. Alexander the Great and Marco Polo were said to have visited such a tree in India. New research has found something amazing: it seems that plants can communicate.
It has been known for some time that plants use chemicals to communicate with each other. This happens when a plant gets attacked by insects. The plant gives out chemicals from the leaves that are being eaten. This is like a warning, or a call for help. When another plant gets the chemicals, it starts to give out its own, different chemicals. Scientists hope to learn more about this plant warning system, so that we can use it to grow more crops.
More surprisingly, plants also use sound to communicate. People can't hear these sounds, but plants are making them. Some plants make noises with their roots. Some trees make clicking noises when there is not enough water.
Most surprisingly of all, plants have an amazing system of communication that can link nearly every plant in a forest. Scientists call this system the "wood wide web", which is linked underground by fungi(菌类). It links the roots of different plants to each other. It is in some ways similar to the Internet we use. Using the wood wide web, plants can share information and even food with each other. However, it may lead to bad effects. Plants may use it to steal food from each other, or spread chemicals to attack other plants.
Scientists are learning more every day about the secret ways in which plants talk to each other. Who knows? Maybe one day we will know enough about plant communication to be able to talk with them ourselves.
Gever Tulley is a computer scientist from California. In 2005, he started a summer program for children called Tinkering School. The idea was that children can learn important skills for life by building things together. Gever Tulley and his team help the children to think big and create plans for new things they want to build.
Children have made fantastic things since the school started. They have made a rope bridge, tree houses, wooden motorbikes and boats.
At Tinkering School, children get all kinds of materials like wood, metal, plastic and ropes. They get lots of real tools too, such as knives, hammers and power drills. Tinkering School has been around for many years now, but nobody has ever had a serious injury in all these years. This is because there are strict health and safety rules they must follow. The children always learn how to use the tools safely and they must wear the right clothing and protection at all times.
Gever Tulley's ideas have worked very well. A lot of children have gone to his summer school over the years. Since it started, Tinkering School has been written about a lot. Most of those articles have been very positive. They have praised the quality of the school. They have found the children are more active than at many other schools.
The students at Tinkering School seem to love their school. We spoke to 12-year-old Tina Cooper. She has been a student at the school for 2 months. "Since I started here, I've never sat in a ‘normal' class with a teacher, " she told us. "But it's been a very exciting experience. I've worked hard at my new school for 2months now, and there hasn't been one single moment when I found it boring. Before I started here, I was bored quite often. "
Different types of maps have different uses.
Tourist maps, for example, have signs to show places of interest in an area. When tourists read these maps, it is easy for them to find whereto go and what to see in a place and it is easy for them to go and find their ways to these places
Road maps show large areas so that people can plan long journeys. Different types of roads are given different numbers. For example, if you want to go to Wood Green, you just follow No. 621 Road and keep looking at the road signs
Distribution maps(分布图) use colors or signs to show facts about an area. For example, where different languages are spoken, how many people live in an area, how cold and hot some places are, or whether a place is short of water.
Some maps, such as railway maps, use straight lines to show everything. This is easy for people to read. Trains are fast. People don't have to think about small places they go past. They just need to know the two ends of their trips.
What time is it? The answer you give can be different, because you are in different Earth's time zones (时区). But how could you tell the time if you are not anywhere on Earth?
Scientists are now thinking of creating a lunar (月球的) time zone. They believe it would be better for astronauts to communicate by using Moon Time, as they travel to, from, and across the Moon. At the moment, astronauts are using time zones of their own countries. But there could be safety problems caused by the differences in time-telling.
____ Gravity (引力) influences how quickly or slowly time passes. Since gravity is weaker on the Moon, clocks run a bit faster there. After 24 hours, a lunar clock would be 56 microseconds ahead of a clock on Earth. Another point to consider is that a full day on Earth is about 24 hours between two sunsets. While on the Moon, it is nearly 709 hours, about 29.5 Earth days. This means that lunar nights can be around two weeks long, with only the Earth and the stars in the sky. With all this to think about, scientists need to decide whether it would be better to follow a time zone on Earth, or for the Moon to have its own special zone, which would have much longer days.
Scientists must consider other problems too. For example, who should be responsible for keeping the time zone going? And how can it be made practical for astronauts to use?
There are more countries planning Moon trips in the future. The idea of creating a time zone on the Moon would make these easier. And if a lunar time zone is set up, scientists could create time zones for other planets like Mars.
①What will the world of the future be like? There are plenty of people who are happy to give their opinion of what we will be doing in 2050. Here are two predictions about the world of tomorrow.
②When we dream about the future, many like to think of owning a personal flying car. The advantages are obvious. This technology would allow total freedom of movement. We could fly at 480 km per hour, avoiding traffic lights and busy roads. However, some people believe there will be problems with traffic control. If the cars become popular, there is likely to be an air traffic jam. Another big problem is mechanical failure (机械故障). What will happen if the cars stop working? These are problems we must expect if flying cars become a reality.
③Three-dimensional printing is another new technology with possibilities. 3D printers are used to build an object with liquid plastic. They build the object layer by layer until it is complete. Car companies already use 3D printers to make life-size models of car parts, and medical companies use the technology to make man-made body parts. As we move into the future, 3D printing will revolutionize (革新) the way we shop, the way we (制造) products and the way we treat sick people. The disadvantage is that such equipment will be extremely expensive.
④So in the future, we might be able to fly to work or print out new shoes. Although there are some problems to solve before this will be possible, we can certainly dream of a world where technology makes life easier and safer for millions of people.
Have you ever thought about what's more important, looking fashionable or feeling comfortable? You might have noticed many people choosing style over comfort and some even go to extremes to follow fashion. But we should remember: being fashionable isn't everything. It's more important to be healthy.
Some people believe that they need to be a certain size to look good. So, they start extreme diets that are not good for their health. They might not eat meals or eat too little, which can make them feel sick. Is it a healthy way to live?
Also, many girls wear shoes with very high heels. They might think high heels make them look taller. But these shoes can actually hurt their feet and make it hard to walk comfortably, and people are more likely to fall down. Some even wear tight(紧的) clothes that influence blood circulation(循环)making it hard to breathe. Should we put fashion over comfort and physical health?
Besides, some boys and girls spend a lot of time and money changing their hair color. The material they use is usually harmful to their health. To make their hair straight or curly, they also use tools that are hot enough to burn their hair. But using these tools too often or at very high temperatures can make the hair dry or even burnt. Is it really worth it to risk our health, spending so much time and money?
So let's rethink what's really important. Is it fashion or is it our well-being? Clothes or hairstyles don't tell us anything about a person's character. Instead of spending a lot of time choosing clothes, we could use that time to do fun things with friends. And instead of following extreme diets, let's eat properly and exercise regularly. Remember, your worth is not decided by your appearance, but by who you are as a person.
NASA has been trying hard to explore the space. The recent developments include, the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, the successful asteroid hit by the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spaceship, and the launch of the most powerful rocket ever built for the Artemis mission. The James Webb Space Telescope is the biggest and most powerful telescope ever built. It can see through dust in the universe and find new stars hiding inside those clouds. Even more exciting, it will try to find signs of Life on planets far away!
The telescope has been working for more than a year and has caught some amazing images and data. One example is an image of a huge star called Wolf-Rayet 124, which weighs about 10
times heavier than our sun, reported the Space website.
DART spaceship is another breakthrough for NASA. It will be used to keep Earth safe from asteroids. In September 2022, NASA tested it by hitting an asteroid called Dimorphos. The goal was to change its orbit
Finally, we have the Mega Moon Rocket! This rocket is the most powerful one ever made and it's being used to help us get closer to Mars. NASA successfully launched it on Nov 16, 2022, and it had a 26-day trip around the moon. This is the first step of NASA's Artemis mission, which plans to set up a base on the moon for people to use in the future.
Despite the program's high cost, NASA believes that the Artemis project is worth it as it will be a key next step in the story of human exploration. As NASA administrator Bill Nelson told the BBC, "This time we' re going to learn how to live in that bad environment for long periods of time all with the purpose of one day going to Mars. "
Our lives would not be the same without bees. Bees help plants grow. Many of these plants provide us with food. What would happen if there were no bees? Some fruits and vegetables that we enjoy could not grow. Bees are wonderful creatures.
But now the number of bees is getting lower and lower. Scientists worry that bees may die off. How can we solve it? One answer is to make our gardens friendly to bees.
Making our gardens bee-friendly can increase the number of bees. Planting a bee garden is a great idea. These gardens provide bees with nectar. A successful bee garden would have flowers from spring to fall. The garden would have all kinds of plants that are closely grouped together. Many people believe that all bees live in hives. In fact, some bees dig into the ground. There they build nests and lay eggs. People lay wood pieces or other things on the ground. Bees can not dig nests when these materials cover the ground. Here is another good way to help bees. When you are working outside, leave loose dirt in flower beds and gardens.
Some bees' nests are in old pieces of wood while others' in holes, in buildings or in trees. Gardens can provide spaces like these for bees. Trees or walls that stop wind are a good idea. And cool areas also can help bees get away from the hot sun. Bee gardens also provide bees with water. Bees need water just like people do
Making a garden friendly for bees is far from a useless task. The results are worth the efforts. A bee-friendly garden is beautiful and colorful. Most importantly, it helps to keep bees healthy and happy.
If you are looking for apps to learn English for studying in a foreign country, you might be uncertain. The following top four favourite apps may help you decide which is right for you.
Hello English—Best app for middle learners
If you already understand the basics but want to improve, this app is for you. Hello English starts with a language test, and then serves up English lessons based on your test results. It supports learners with 23 native languages and lets you play games, watch videos and listen to audio* books too.
Free versions for iOS Android and Windows.
Duolingo—Most fun app
This special app turns studying into a game. Use virtual coins to unlock new levels and spend them on fun upgrades. A cartoon bird encourages you as you learn. You can also get help from other students inside the app using the Duolingo message boards.
Free and paid versions for Android iOS and Windows.
FluentU—Best media-based app
This app gets English-language videos from the real world—including news, music videos and commercials. You can input any word and see more information about it.
Free trial and paid monthly subscriptions for Android and iOS.
Rosetta Stone—Most multi-use app
This award-winning English app includes vocabulary and grammar as well as pronunciation lessons so you can improve your English accent. You can also download audio lessons to learn offline.
Free trial and paid versions for Android, iOS and Windows.
NASA has been trying hard to explore the space. The recent developments include, the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, the successful asteroid hit by the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spaceship, and the launch of the most powerful rocket ever built for the Artemis mission. The James Webb Space Telescope is the biggest and most powerful telescope ever built. It can see through dust in the universe and find new stars hiding inside those clouds. Even more exciting, it will try to find signs of Life on planets far away!
Our lives would not be the same without bees. Bees help plants grow. Many of these plants provide us with food. What would happen if there were no bees? Some fruits and vegetables that we enjoy could not grow. Bees are wonderful creatures. 
If you are looking for apps to learn English for studying in a foreign country, you might be uncertain. The following top four favourite apps may help you decide which is right for you.