Friendship

友誼是溝通人與人心靈的橋梁， 讓我們珍視友誼，�！坝颜x地久天長”

Friendship is one of the greatest pleasures that people can enjoy． It is very difficult to find a better definition of friendship． A true friend does indeed find pleasure in our joy and share sorrow in our grief． In time of trial， he or she is always at our side to give us his or her help and comfort．

Knowing how valuable friendship is， we should be very careful in our choice of a friend． We must choose someone who has a good character， whose activities are good and who shows kindness of heart． We should avoid those shallow people who are easily changed by adversities or misfortune．

A true friend can always be trusted， loved and respected． If you tell a friend your secrets， he or she won’t tell anyone else． Friends share each other’s joys and sorrows． They help each other when they are in trouble， and cheer each other up when they are sad． The most important thing is that a friend always understands you． In conclusion， when you have made a good friend， don’t forget him or her．

友 誼

我們一生中不能沒有友誼。它是人們最大的快樂之一。很難給友誼找到一個更好的定義。一個真正的朋友會與我們分享快樂與悲傷。 在考驗人的時刻， 他或她總會站在我們一邊，幫助我們，安慰我們。

知道了友誼的珍貴，在擇友時我們就應非常謹慎。然而，選擇朋友并不容易。我們一定要選擇那些性格好、行為好、心地好的人。應避免選擇那些遇到逆境或不幸就很容易改變的人。

一個真正的朋友總是讓人信任、喜愛和尊敬的。如果你把自己的秘密告訴了朋友，他不會告訴別人。朋友之間會分享快樂和悲傷。當他們遇到困難時，會互相幫助；當他們悲傷時，會互相鼓勵。最重要的是，朋友總是能理解你。最后說一句，當你交到好友時，不要輕易忘記他或她。

How to Read

When you read an article you will understand and remember it better if you can work out how the writer has put the ideas together．

Sometimes a writer puts ideas together by asking questions and then answering them． For example，if the article is about groundhogs（土撥鼠），the set of questions in the writer’s head might be：

What does a groundhog look like？

Where do groundhogs live？

How do they build their homes？

What do they eat？

When do they have babies？

In the article，the author might answer those questions．

Sometimes an author writes out her questions in the article．These questions give you signals．They tell you what the author is going to write next．When you read a question in an article you will usually find the answer to that question as you read on．

Often an author has a question in her head but she doesn’t write it out for you．She just tells you the answer to her question as she writes．You have to work out her question for yourself．

As you read this article on earthworms（蚯蚓），try to find the questions the author had in her mind when she wrote the article．Sometimes she will write out her questions for you． Sometimes she will leave it to you to work them out．

Earthworms

Do you know how many kinds of earthworms there are？There are about 1800 kinds in the world！ They can be brown，purple，red，blue，green．They can be as small as 3 cm long and as large as 3 m long．The garden earthworms we have in Canada are 10 cm to 20 cm long and are a pink brown color．

The best time to see earthworms is at night，especially a cool，damp night．That’s when they come up from their burrows（地洞）to hunt for food．Earthworms don’t like to be in the sun．That’s because they breathe through their skin，and they can’t breathe if their skin gets too dry．So they try to stay down in the earth while the sun is out．You may have noticed that if you happen to dig up an earthworm，it soon burrows back into the earth．Sometimes earthworms don't make them back into the earth．When that happens，you'll see a dead worm all dried up by the sun．Earthworms must come out of the earth if it rains a lot，because they can't breathe in their flooded burrows．What a dangerous life！

Earthworms don't have eyes，so how can they tell when it's dark？ They have special places on their skin that are sensitive（敏感的）to light．These spots tell whether it’s light or dark．If you shine a flashlight（閃光信號燈）on an earthworm at night，it will quickly disappear into the ground．But earthworms are blind to red light．That's why people often use red lights when they go hunting worms for fishing bait（魚餌）．

Earthworms don't have ears either，but they can hear by feeling movements in the earth．If you want to hear like an earthworm，lie on the ground with your fingers in your ears．Then have a friend stamp his or her feet near you．This is how earthworms feel birds and people walking，and moles digging，near them．

Some people think that if an earthworm is cut in half，each half will grow back the missing part and there will be two earthworms．This is not quite what happens．If only a small piece of the earthworm’s front is broken off，it can grow a new head．The new front part may be shorter than the old one，but the worm will be healthy and will even have grown a new brain．And an earthworm can lose an even bigger part of its tail and still grow a new one．Do worms feel pain when they are cut up like that？Scientists have found that worms can feel pain，but only for a short time．As soon as they are hurt，their bodies make a pain-killing chemical that helps the pain to go away．Most earthworms only live two or three years，but some may live as long as nine years．

Earthworms are useful．Farmers and gardeners like having lots of earthworms in their land because the worms help to make better soil when they dig．That digging keeps the soil loose and airy（通風的）．Loose and airy soil is very important for farmers and gardeners because it helps plants to grow．Plants need the air and water that gets into loose soil．Also，it’s easy for plant roots to grow along the tunnels made by earthworms．In a fertile（肥沃的）field there may be as many as 2.5 million earthworms per hectare（公頃）．

The way an earthworm digs tunnels depends on whether the soil is soft or hard．If the soil is soft，the worm can push its way through easily．When a stone gets in the way，the worm just pushes it aside．An earthworm can move a stone that is fifty times its own weight！If the soil is hard，the worm eats its way through．It swallows the earth．It digests the bits of dead plant and other food mixed in the soil．Then the leftover earth passes out of the tail end of the worm in little piles called castings．If you look carefully in fields and gardens，you can see these castings on the surface of the ground．So earthworms turn the soil over and over the way a plough does．In one year earthworms can pile up as much as 23,000 kg of castings in an area about the size of a football field．That's a lot of plough．

Paper and Pencil

Paper was first made in the year A.D.（公元）105．It was made by a man named Ts’ai Lun． He lived in China．

For over 500 years paper was made only in China．People in Japan learned of paper around the year 600．As years went by，people in other places began to make paper．

The lead（鉛）pencil is not made of lead．It is made of graphite（石墨）．People found graphite in 1564．They thought it was a kind of lead．Today we still call pencils“lead pencils”．The first pencils were made by putting string（線） around sticks of graphite．

The first wooden pencils were made by Kasper Faber．In 1761 he started making pencils in Germany．Kasper Faber was Eberhard Faber’s great-grandfather．In 1861 Eberhard Faber started making pencils in the United States．They were the first pencils made in this country．Erasers like those we use today were first made in 1752． They were made in France by a man named Magellan．A man named Hyman L. Lipman first put erasers on the ends of pencils．And that is how the pencil came to be now．

Working Together

In the early days of the old west in North America， life was difficult． People lived on farms far away from other families． They went to town once a week or one time a month． Then they saw their friends and neighbors． On their farms everyone had lots of work． There were many jobs to do． And there were some big problems． How did one family make a house？ How could they build a barn alone？ Those were big jobs．

What did families do to build houses？ They asked for help． They asked their friends and neighbors． They invited them to a work party for a few days． The women cooked together． They made breakfast， lunch， and dinner． The men worked on the building． For the children it was like a holiday． There were many other children to play with． They enjoyed it very much． Together these people built a house or a barn． At another time the family with the new house would help neighbors． They all helped one another for the good of everyone．

A work party is really cooperation． To cooperate means “to work together.” A big job can be easy． Many people can work together． Then the job is not difficult． It becomes a small job for many workers． Working together can be fun too．

Today there isn't much cooperation． People don't work together very much． Some people don't know their neighbors． How can they ask them for help？

Today， the idea of cooperation is unusual． We often work against cooperation． We often work alone， not with others． We build fences by ourselves．

Today， we wait for emergencies． We wait for accidents to happen． Then we are willing to help． Then we want to help． Then we talk to our neighbors． Then we become true neighbors and friends．

Why don't we always cooperate？ Why do we wait for emergencies or accidents？ Why don't we work with other people？ It can be fun． Life can become easier too．