tough time before and worn him of luxury。 It also accounts for why the credo of the New Oriental is “To excel； to challenge your limits； hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope and you can make your life a splendid one。”
Super volcano
Friday； August 10； 2007
Friends around me at times plain about how tough and miserable it is to be tortured by those academic articles which concerns Geology； anthropology； biology； astronomy； and medicine and so on。 To be honest； that those TOEFL articles are extremely difficult to understand results from the various topics which cover such as Nihilism； a concept which derives from a Latin word “nihil” meaning nothing and can also be seen in the word “annihilate” meaning to destroy or bring to nothing； diabetes； a disease with which the pancreas doesn’t make sufficient insulin； or the articles may discuss about Karl Marx with his masterpiece or major contribution as well as the renowned psychologist Freud with his theory。 Then all you can see is piles of humanly inprehensible words dance on the paper which send you to despair。 Reading this kind of essays in Chinese is even a huge challenge； so you can imagine that how tough it is to read them or even hear such a lecture for 56 minutes。
Well； I； however； find it quite delighted to spare no efforts to read or listen to them。 I consider it a good way to learn exotic and various things around the world。 It agrees with my nature to explore despite the fact that they are hard for me to prehend with poor English。 As I said before； I always exert tremendous efforts to absorb knowledge from them since I am so deeply fascinated by the topics they are about； and as a result； I have fun while others take preparing for TOEFL as an agony。
Let me share my little fruits of my exploration with you。
In Freda’s listening class； a lecture regarding super volcano in Geological area was offered。 From the passage I learnt that volcanoes are divided into ordinary volcano and super volcano which would bring about deadly catastrophe to the world if it erupted。 Inside this lecture the professor interprets the word “crater” like this “A crater is a steepsized； usually circular hole formed by either an explosion or a collapse of a large portion of the earth under the volcano。” What does it mean by “collapse”？ Isn’t all the craters are higher than its surrounding？
Later in the class； a discovery video on super volcano which was searched by our beloved Freda on purpose of fulfilling our curiosity was shown to us by using the projector。 This documentary states how four scientists working in different fields blended their discovery so that they pinpointed when and where the last eruption of super volcano occured。
Besides the story； it also interpreted the difference between an ordinary volcano and a super volcano。 With a super volcano； the magma doesn’t have time to bee lava； so it blasts into numerous pieces of ash which does the most damage。 If a super volcano were to erupt； the force would equal roughly 1000 atomic bombs exploding every second。
Though my English level still didn’t allow me to fully understand it； however； with the help of the images； I managed to know why the professor said “formed by a large portion of the earth under the volcano。” With a super volcano； the magma gathered slowly through a long time under the earth forming a shape of a gigantic bowl and then all of them erupted at one time which result in such terrible catastrophe described before。 With an ordinary volcano； the magma descends from the core of the earth and then erupts wherever the crust is thin enough so that it forms a mountain。
Study is like gathering magma； the more you persist in； the more you learn。 Whether to bee a super volcano or an ordinary one depends on you persistence。 Of course； the power of a super volcano is negative； but we can learn the spirit from it instead of its morality。 I like the saying “Intellect is the amount； while morality is the plus/minus sign before it。”
Adapt to the new circ…
Monday； September 10； 2007
Somehow I managed to go through the first week’s routine of my new school which is totally distinct from that of my previous one。 I could hardly get round to settle down to pay my full attention on study since there was so much chores that needs to deal with； which resulted from being away from home。
Originally speaking； life in senior high school is different from that in junior high school and yet my circumstances of entering a school in another city add trouble to my problem。 Not only must I know everyone by heart and be friends with them； but also need to learn the rules of the school and get used to its typical routine especially the changes in the way of taking class。
HSFZ gives me the impression of being similar to a university because you cannot see the head teacher very often and you need to run here and there all the time to take various classes。 Moreover； due to the extraordinary situation of my class——class 1； we are divided into three groups which specializes in Math； Chemistry and Physics respectively。 When we have particular classes； the corresponding group will have another teacher who is referred to as captain to teach them with faster speed so as to train us for the Olympic petition among senior high school students。 Such rules resemble the system of several students doing research together with their professor in universities。 Therefore； the 10minute break is wasted on the passages and I have to have the next class with a rapidly pumping heart。 These leads to the result that after a whole day’s work the body is exhausted but the brain seems to be full of air since time for digesting the knowledge poured by teachers and set down various demands before fetting could hardly be taken out。
Anyway； after a week’s hard work and with the help of my warmhearted classmates； the adjustment of my own has been made and the effect seems to merely meet my standard。
A dilemma of our math…
Friday； September 14； 2007
The paper for chapter 1 of math regarding sets； intersection and union were handed out this morning and on the top of mine； a number “95” scratching throughout the blank part。 A mistake in the “fill in the blanks” made me miss my dreaming 100； but I was not so let down by the result because I thought for a new learner； the questions were a little harder； if I hadn’t taught myself； then maybe an “80” would be on my paper。
My thoughts were proved by my math teacher； Niobe； according to whom； that in another two socalled “creative class” （in fact students consist of those who got the highest score in their high school entrance exam）； a large number of students only got roughly 80； scores higher than 95 were rare and some even lower than 60。 Hearing this I began to feel quite satisfied with my ability of prelearning； but …
“See； pal； I have got 100” Stanley yelled to his close friend； Dean。
“Oh； e on； don’t be foolish”
This conversation was like thunder in a sunny day； which stuck through my proud bubblelike heart。
Gradually the result was revealed； that there were more than 20 “100” in our class and the majority was higher than 90 while none of us was under 70。 That was a splendid result； Niobe admitted； and our high level forced her to a dilemma。 Since “the native” （students from the junior high school） in HSFZ had already learnt all the math for senior 1 and mastered the knowledge quite well； continuing teaching math for senior 1 seemed to be a waste of time。 On the other hand； the other students came from other schools had only learnt the knowledge on their own instead of being taught by teachers； so that they couldn’t use the new knowledge to solve problems freely。 How could one teacher meet the different requirement of speed？ “The native” claimed that another teacher should be cast to teach them at a higher speed and joked that they want Dean （a student who is talented at math） to be their captain。 Of course； Niobe wouldn’t agree with their ridiculous whimsy； because once doing so and if they failed to keep a priority in study to other classes （that seemed had became a tradition that each “class 1” is bound to be the best by logic）； Niobe was the one who had to shoulder the responsibility。
Glorious defeat（1）
Monday； September 24； 2007
An annual important event came unexpectedly： the HSFZ school wide petitions of table tennis and badminton。 Each class should form as one team to pete。 The event made the students in our class act with undue hurry and confusion。 The reason why we were in such a haste is that there are only 7 girls in our class while the petitions required at least 8 girls to participatetwo for singles； four for women’s doubles and two for mixed doubles and no one was allowed to take part in more than one event for either badminton or table tennis； which indicated all the girls should join in them no matter how badly she played。 In fact； one of us was unable to play either badminton or table tennis。 Therefore； the average of our petitiveness will be reduced。
With poor skills in table tennis （it seems so in my classmates’ eyesto which I strongly object）； I was appointed to play women’s double by the couch of our class team。 Reluctantly accepting the assignment； I applied myself to play better； in order to contribute to our group。 I am a part of a whole； so sacrificing my pride for the sake of our group is necessary。
In the first round of the elimination tournament； we played with class 7 and overcame them effortlessly； for the simple reason that they couldn’t even do a high toss serve demanded by the rules But the man’s single was not so smooth； the arrogant Jerry ran into an expert and the two did have a “blood fight” before Jerry eventually managed to beat him with a minimal lead。 We passed the second round without doubt as a result of our excellent techniques。 Jerry forced his opponent to make mistakes by putting pressure on his backhand and hitting open space on his forehand side。 Once the opponent managed to block it； a smashed ball would be fired； gaining another point on Jerry’s score board。 The score rocketed wildly to 104。 Confident of getting the last point undoubtedly； Jerry fooled his opponent with hi