What are you holding in your hand while you are taking the examination?

Right. A pen.

Though it is small, the pen has changed the history, improved the trade of countries, recorded events, carried news, and done far more work for human beings than all other tools. Without it, progress (社会的进步) would have been almost impossible. The invention of the wheel, the introduction of the steam engine (蒸汽机), the use of electricity, all these have changed the lives of millions of people, but the pen has done more. It has taken away mountains, and it has prepared the way for all progress and development of society.

In the past the pen did all the work if you wanted to keep any writing for some time. The lawyers (律师) took up their pens and wrote the law of the country from the days when papyrus (纸莎草纸) was first used. The most famous letters in the world were written with a pen. It was with a pen that the greatest thinkers of all time wrote down their thoughts.

The pen is very utilitarian. We cannot sign a bill or write a letter or buy a house without our pen. An agreement is worthless till our name is written with a pen. The writers encourage the world with it. The students take their examinations with it as well.

Our coming into the world is recorded with a pen. Before we have been at school, our name is written on the name list with a pen. We cannot be married until we have signed. A pen records the important events in our life.

Let’s remember that we hold in our hand the most powerful instrument which man owns. The pen is a magic tool. Whenever you use it, enjoy it.

Earthquakes are not close to us, but some of them did happen in our country these years. So how can we really be safe in the terrible earthquakes? The following could be helpful to you.

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One plus one equals two. There are 60 seconds in one minute. Sixty minutes equals one hour. There are 24 hours in one day. One year includes 365 days. These are all basic facts that we know by heart. But have you ever stopped to think how numbers came into being and how they developed?

It’s safe to say that our society would have never developed without numbers. However, the development of numbers is still a puzzle to us. That’s because when ancient people developed simple ways of counting, they didn’t leave any records behind.

It’s not difficult to guess that numbers and counting began with the number “1”, though ancient people probably didn’t call it “one.” They likely counted by ones and recorded by carving lines on a bone.

The earliest evidence of this is the Ishango Bone (伊尚戈骨), which was found in 1960 in Africa. The bone is believed to be more than 20,000 years old. It has many lines on it. The lines look like what we would call “tally marks” today. Scientists think those lines show how ancient people used numbers.

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