In classes, your teachers will talk about topics(话题) that you are studying. The information they provide will be important for you to know when you take notes. So you must be able to take good written notes from what your teachers say. 

Here are the three stages(阶段) of taking notes and what you should do during each stage. 

①Before Class

Review you notes you have taken before you come to class. This will be good for remembering what was covered. Get you ready to understand new information your teacher will provide.

②During Class

 Keep your attention on what your teacher is saying and "the signal words " that tell you what your teacher is going to say and it is important to write in your notes. Examples of signal words are "The most important point is … " and "Remember that… ". Be sure to include in your notes information that your teacher repeats and writes on the blackboard. Write quickly so that you can include all the important information in your notes. Do this by writing abbreviations(缩写) such as med for medicine, using symbols such as % for percent, and writing short sentences.

③After Class

Rewrite your notes to make them more complete and accurate(准确的) by changing abbreviations into whole words, symbols into words, and shortened sentences into longer sentences. Use them to answer your questions. If necessary, ask your teachers for help.

A group of high school students from the United States has planted hope by cleaning up an empty lot (一块地) in their neighbourhood.

The students are from Buchtel High School in Akron, Ohio. The empty lot, which is owned by a local banker, was filled with grass and poison ivy (毒常春藤) . As a project for the school's biohealth (生物健康) class, eight students decided to turn the empty lot into a space that would improve the mental (心理的) and emotional (情感的) health of people who lived near it.

They first came up with a design, did research and created 3D models of their plans. Ideas were then presented and the school leaders picked the winning plans. Finally, the students brought those plans to life.

Now when you walk into the lot, you can see a wood walkway leading to a purple iron bench. A few beautiful plants are already in the ground. There is also a hopscotch (跳房子游戏) board that is painted bright blue. A wall painting with the words “Love” and “Peace” has taken shape on a back fence, decorated with the students' handprints. The rest of the fence is painted grey to cover plain wood.

The students said they painted the bench purple because they found that purple has a comforting feeling for people. They thought kids could go there and sit together, communicate with each other in peace and stay out of trouble.

As for the hopscotch board, it was set up for a group of eight to ten school-age kids who lived in the neighbourhood but had nowhere to play.

 “It gives the neighbourhood a little hope and a little beauty, “said Lyle Jenkins, a member of the Neighbourhood Network. A lot of people love the neighbourhood and have great hopes for things getting better.

    Have you ever wondered what an American high school is really like? This article will describe a typical (典型的)high school and its students.

    A typical American high school has several large buildings and enough space for about 1, 500 students. Every student is given a locker, When students first arrive at school, they go straight to their lockers to put away or get their textbooks and to hang up their outdoor clothes, As American textbooks are expensive, students would like to loan(租借) instead of buying them. Students must pay back if they lose any of them.

    American students have different types of school transport(交通). They usually take a yellow school bus or walk to school if they live close enough. Sometimes their parents drive them to school. When they turn 16 years of age, most take a free driving class at school for one term. If students earn(赚得)passing grades in the class and also pass their state driver's exam, they can begin driving themselves to school.

    Each day, students take six or seven classes. They must take Science, Math, English and social studies. They can choose art. homemaking, fashion design and other classes. Some schools ask the students to take one or more of the following special classes: health education, physical education or foreign language studies. Students move to different classrooms for each subject. This is because each teacher has their own classroom. There is a five-minute break between classes, to give the students the time to hurry to their next class.

    The regular school day usually ends early in the afternoon. After school more than half of the students take part in after-school activities. These activities include sports—especially football, basketball, baseball and soccer or clubs, such as yearbook, speech, school newspaper, photograph or student government.