Can you imagine what life will be like in the future? Will life in the future be better, worse or the same as now?1do you think of the future?
People2that life will be probably very different in 2050. First of all, planes will be very3so flying will be very cheap. Everyone will have a small car. Fuel will be new and clean, but expensive. We will4robots everywhere. And space planes will take us around the universe5two hours. Homes will be warm in winter and cool in summer, so they will be very comfortable. We will use the sun6our homes. Computers will be very small so they will be very7. People will do many things on the Internet.
At that time, water will become one of our most8problems. In many places, farmers will be in great need of water to9fruit and vegetables.
By 2050, we will be able to help blind and deaf people see again and10again. At that time, our life will become better and better.
Once there was a piece of white and new paper. Children loved playing with it. But one day the paper found itself old and dirty. It was sad.
Before it knew what was going on, it found itself lying in the dustbin(垃圾箱). It was sad when the worker came and put it into a truck with some other old paper.
It travelled from day to night, from wind to rain. At last someone put it into a machine with other paper. It quickly got sorted(分类). This was the end! There was so many things it wanted to do, for example, be a book for children. But this was the end. The paper tried to run with other paper, but it failed. In the end, the paper closed its eyes. After some time, it woke up. The paper found it was quiet. The paper looked around and realized it was sitting next to some fresh paper. It looked down at itself. It was clean with a very new white coat.
Thomas Edison lit up the world with his invention of the electric light. Without him, the world might still be in the dark. However, the electric light was not his only invention. He also invented the motion picture camera and more than 1, 000 other things. About every two weeks he created something new.
Thomas Edison was born in 1847. He attended school for only three months. His mother taught him at home, but Thomas was mostly educated. He started experimenting at a young age.
When he was 12 years old, he became a newsboy on a train. experiments on the train in his spare time. Unluckily, his first work experience did not end well. They fired him when he accidentally set fire to the floor of the train. Then Edison worked for more than five years as a telegraph operator, but he continued spending much of his time in experimenting.
Thomas Edison was totally deaf in one ear and hard to hear others, but he thought of his deafness as a blessing in many ways. It kept conversations of every 24 hours. Sometimes his wife had to remind him to sleep and eat.
Thomas Edison died at the age of 84. He left a great many inventions that greatly improved the quality of people's life all over the world.
When a computer runs a group of programs, it can get very Cooling the computer can cost a lot. So some scientist's wonder what will happen if the heat from the computer can be used.
Large Internet companies (公司) such as Google and Microsoft have thousands of computers. As these computers deal with information, they produce lots of heat, so they need huge cooling systems(系统). These systems send the heat into the air.
A company in Holland (荷兰) thinks paying to make the computers work and then paying again to cool them are a waste of energy. So the company developed a special device—the e-radiator.
Boaz Loupe, the head of the company, says the e-radiator works as a heating system and saves money. He explains that the energy is used twice—once to heat the home and once to cool the computer. So the users don't have to pay to cool their computers.
Five homeowners in Holland are testing the heating system in their homes.
"We pay for the computer using, so, in that way, homeowners get heating for free," Boaz says.
Jan Visor is one of the homeowners. "If you use the computer more the e-radiator produces more heat," he says. "It cannot provide enough heat if you don't use your computer often. "But he is ready to try it. It's a great help for his family.
The company says e-radiators can produce heat at a temperature of 55℃. It says the system can save its users about S 440 a year.
All over the world the need for laptops and smartphones increases each year. Networks have been part of our life. Probably everyone with a portable device(移动设备) has once logged on to a public Wi-Fi network without paying for it, while they are having a coffee, on a train, in a shopping mall or at a hotel. However, is this kind of public Wi-Fi network safe?
Some networks are better protected than others because encryption (加密) methods are used. Therefore, they are safer than others. But a survey in 2015 showed that more than 950 million records were not protected, including addresses, emails, birth dates, phone numbers, passwords and so on. These open Wi-Fi networks are really not safe, because it is very easy for hackers (黑客) to break into the operating system and get people's private information.
Most smartphones and laptops, by themselves, search and connect to Wi-Fi networks. They usually prefer a network with a connection that has been used before. Hackers' devices are able to record these searches and look like the trusted Wi-Fi networks. When these smartphones and laptops log on to the networks which are not real, hackers can easily steal their private information.
So next time, when we want to use our laptops or our smartphones in public places which offer free Wi-Fi networks, please think it twice on take safe measures before using them.
"Tom? Are you in bed yet?" called Mrs White. There was no answer. Mrs White put down her book and went to her 14-year-old son's room. Tom was sitting in front of a bright computer screen on which a motorbike was running fast.
"Oh, Tom. You're still playing that computer game. You must stop now, because it's half past eleven. If you don't go to bed soon, you'll be very tired tomorrow, "said Mrs White.
"But I've nearly won the game, "Tom said to Mrs White. She could see the excitement on his face. She sat beside him.
"You're always playing on the computer. You spend more time on this machine than on your homework, "said Mrs White.
Today more and more families have computers. Parents hope computers can help their children improve their study at school But many of their children use computers to play games, listen to songs and watch videos instead of studying. We often see that computer net bars are crowded with people, especially young boys. They spend a lot of money competing(竞争) with the computerized(用机算机控制的)machines. The more they lose, the more they want to win The result is that they don't want to study.
In some countries, even scientists hate computers. They say computers cause millions of people to lose their jobs or cause them a lot of trouble. Computer game addiction(瘾) is a serious problem in our social life. Something should be done to solve the problem.
Which is better, writing or typing(打字)? These days, many college students have given up taking class notes by hand., they type on laptops because they think typing is fast, and they can type (many) notes, But research has shown that taking notes by hand is in fact better for long term memory.
In the research, students were asked to listen a teacher. Some took notes by typing on a laptop. The (other) took notes by writing them down. Then they were given a test. Both groups got almost the same result in (remember) the facts. But students who typed their notes did worse on conceptual (概念的) questions.
Why is it like this? The answer is that writing by hand is slow, but it gives the students more time (think) about the questions they don't understand. They are to write down the main points. "This leads to a deeper understanding," say the scientists.
However, the students typing notes on a laptop (usual) just write down what the teacher says word for word in class. Although they can write more notes, they just type without really(think) about what they are typing. "This usually leads to mindless transcription (抄
录),"say the scientists.
So if you want to remember something(well), write it by hand!
提示:1）What is the most useful invention to you in your daily life?
2）What do you use it for and how often do you use it?
3）How do you feel if you can't use it in your life?
The most useful invention to me
Inventions change the world and our way of life. They help us live a better life.
I think it makes our life better and better.
