Do you think you're   a lucky person? Let's see what Professor Richard Wise-man, a famous psychologist (心理学家), has discovered about luck:

Ten years ago, I set out a research   on luck. I wanted to know why some people are always in the right place at the right time, while others always experience ill luck.

Many people volunteered for my research. Over the years I interviewed them, watched their lives and had them take part in my experiment.

I carried out a simple experiment to discover why there were differences in their ability to find opportunities.   I gave   both lucky and   unlucky people   a newspaper   and   asked   them   to look through it and tell me how many photographs there were.

I   had   secretly   placed   a   large   message   halfway   through the   newspaper   saying.   “Tell the researcher you have seen this and win $50.”

This message took up half of the page and was more   than two inches high. It was staring everyone straight in the face, ________unlucky people tended to (倾向于) miss it and lucky people tended to spot(认出) it.

Unlucky people are just more nervous than lucky people. They are busy looking only for what they   need and this   stops them   from noticing the unexpected. As   a   result,   they miss   out on opportunities.

Lucky people tend to be more relaxed and open. They   can see everything that is in front of them, rather than just what they are looking for.

Sandstorms have been a major disaster for many Asian countries for centuries. Scientists have tried many ways to solve this problem and in China, a mass campaign has been started to help solve it.

Sandstorms are strong, dry winds that carry sand. They are often so thick that you cannot see the sun, and the wind is sometimes strong enough to move sand dunes. The four main places in the world where there are sandstorms are Central Asia, North America, Central Africa and Australia. Ren Jianbo from Inner Mongolia described a terrible sandstorm he experienced as a child in the desert. “To have been caught in a sandstorm was a terrible experience,” he said. “There was nothing to be done. It was the most frightening and the most dangerous situation I’ve ever been in. You just had to hope you’d survive. I thought I was going to disappear under the sand.”

Northwest China is part of the sandstorm centre in Central Asia. Sandstorms begin in desert areas. Sandstorms in China appear to have increased in recent years as a result of “desertification” (沙漠化). This is a process (过程) that happens when land becomes desert because of climate changes and because people cut down trees and dig up grass.

Sandstorms sometimes affect Beijing. Citizens wake up to an orange sky and strong winds that cover the city in a thick, brown-yellow dust. The storms sometimes continue all day and traffic moves very slowly because the thick dust makes it difficult to see. So when it comes, people are advised by experts not to go out. If they have to, they’d better wear masks.

The desert is only 250 kilometers away from the west of Beijing. To prevent it coming nearer, the government is planting trees. Already the government has planted more than 30 billion trees and plans to continue planting for the next five years.

Give your jeans a new life!

Do you have an old pair of jeans that you don't wear anymore? Are you planning to throw them away? Find out how they are made first and you'll see why it's a good idea to recycle them!

Jeans are made from a material called denim（牛仔布）, which is made from cotton. It takes a lot of water to grow cotton. After the cotton is harvested, it is taken to a factory and made into yarn（丝线）. Indigo dye is then used to colour the yarn: it gives the jeans their dark blue colour. After that, the yarn is made into denim material, which is cut to make jeans.

Lots of people like stonewashed jeans. To make these, jeans are washed with stones to make them softer and more comfortable. Stonewashing can also change the colour of the denim to light blue. Finally, workers pack jeans into boxes and send them to shops all over the world.

To make one pair of jeans, 10,000 litres of water and many other resources（资源）are used such as energy, materials and people to do the work. So we really shouldn't throw away old jeans, just because they're too small or because we have a new pair. You can give them to friends or other families. You can also have a party to exchange them with other people.