Smart Schoolbag
| Forget to put the books you need into your schoolbag in the morning before you go to school? A boy aged 11 has invented a schoolbag. It tells you which books to bring. A small computer and a scanner(扫描装置) are fixed in the bag. As each book is put into the bag, it is checked by the scanner. If any book is missing, a message will be shown on the computer screen to remind you. |
Weather Sweets
| Can you eat weather? A university makes that happen. It uses a 3D printer to create sweets according to the weather information of a certain day. The shapes of the sweets are influenced by wind speed. The colours of the sweets are decided by temperature. The sweets act as a weather record of the day when they are made. |
Sunrise Bed
| It's hard for you to get up in the morning, isn't it? To help you get up, a company has created a "tool" — a sunrise bed. It wakes you up as the sun rises. Lights built into the bed turn on and start to get brighter and brighter. When the lights are fully on, soft music will begin to play. It will be louder and louder until you turn it off. |
When I was in primary school, I was actually a little shy. I was really afraid of speaking in front of many people. It was my sixth-grade teacher, Mr. Bamick, who helped me get over that. That year we had to make four oral(口头的) book reports in front of the class. Some of the kids were even glad to do it, but I was afraid. Mr. Bamick realized my fear, so he told me to do a report on something that really interested me. So I did the first report on baseball.
When it was my turn to show it to the class, Mr. Bamick cut me some slack and let me read the report instead of giving it from memory. Some of my classmates laughed at me, but Mr. Bamick defended(为辩解) me. By the end of the year, I had completed all the oral book reports. It wasn't easy for me, but I did it.
Years later I realized that Mr. Bamick helped me a lot. One of the chances I got when I won a tennis match was to make a speech to the fans. It was carried live(现场直播地) and was before thousands of people. It was still not one of my favorite things to do, but with Mr. Bamick's help, I got through it. Before long, I was asked to bring my favorite childhood teacher to a national event in Dallas. I was excited when Mr. Bamick joined me for the event. It meant a lot to me that he was there.
Mr. Bamick believed in me and helped me believe in myself. It was he who helped me build the person I became.
The company OpenAI introduced ChatGPT to the world. It is the latest kind of AI chatbots(聊天机器人). Anyone can use ChatGPT for free now so that the company can collect people's ideas on how to improve it.
People have tested how ChatGPT works. Reporters found out that it was able to write articles for newspapers. Teachers asked it to write answers to exam questions. ChatGPT could almost get full marks. Even programmers tried out ChatGPT. It was able to solve difficult coding(编程) challenges and answer very quickly. It even wrote short poems to explain how the coding worked. In our everyday life, it helped a father come up with ideas of a birthday party for his child.
What's more, when people ask ChatGPT questions, it can find mistakes. If it is asked what happened when Columbus arrived in America in 2023, older AIs might give a story. ChatGPT can point out that Columbus reached America in the 1400s. It can also refuse to answer questions that are not proper. For example, if you ask it for advice on stealing a car, it will say that stealing a car is a serious crime and can have bad results. What's more, it gives advice such as "taking the bus".
ChatGPT might help people solve problems, but AI is trained by using texts from the Internet. Often, the texts are used without being allowed by the writers of those texts. Some argue that technology doesn't respect people's work. Some argue that people will use ChatGPT to copy others' work and sell it as their own. Some think AI technology is bad for the earth, too. Training ChatGPT might produce CO2 and lead to climate(气候) change that will heat up the earth.
You must have heard of the story of Yu Gong, who tried to move two mountains. The Taihang Mountain was one of the two mountains.
The Taihang Mountain passes through the areas of Hebei, Shanxi, Henan and Beijing. . It is one of the largest mountain ranges in North China, and it was called "the backbone(脊梁) of China" in ancient times.
. For example, Nvwa used stones to repair the sky to make sure that humans would have a better future; Houyi protected everyone by shooting the suns.
The Taihang Mountain is not only where the ancient stories happened, but also a place where tens of thousands of fossils(化石) were found. . At the same time, we can also learn about how ancient humans lived from the discoveries around the area.
Nowadays, there are natural forests around the area with beautiful colors in four seasons. . In summer, the trees will grow luxuriant(挺拔的) and leaves will cover the sun. In autumn, the trees in the Taihang Mountain are tall and leaves turn yellow. In winter, the trees are covered with snow, like a thick white coat. .
If you need a trip that helps you learn different things about history, culture and other important knowledge, the Taihang Mountain is a great choice for you.
A. It is about 400 kilometers long B. These fossils show how the earth has changed over time C. You can go there whenever you want because it is beautiful all year round D. In spring, the trees of the Taihang Mountain will grow green leaves E. Many stories about the beginning of human civilization(文明) came from the Taihang area |
Out of This World (I)
Late last night, I was sleeping when there was a sudden sound. Although I felt very tired and tried to sleep, the sound didn't stop to let me sleep. Finally, I got up to see where the sound came from. I went to the backyard of my house and saw a very bright light in the sky going towards the woods nearby. I felt anxious and decided to see what it was. I took my bicycle and followed the light. Minutes later, I was in front of a huge spaceship.
I was amazed. When I touched it, a wave pushed me aside. I felt as if my whole body was paralyzed(瘫痪的). I could not move my body, but I could still see. I saw a human... no, a monster... Then, I lost consciousness(知觉).
When I woke up, I was in a large cage(笼子). I saw other men and women in nearby cages. They had either passed out or perhaps died. I examined the cage and found a small window covered with dust. I cleared the dust and saw through it. I saw space!
I also saw the Earth getting smaller and smaller as we moved away from it. I was confused as to how I got here. Suddenly, a strange creature(生物) caught my attention. He was half-human and half-monster. For sure, he was not an earthling — he was an alien!
The creature was examining each cage. Suddenly, he appeared in front of my cage.
He said something like, "Zoom zappa zew zhumu zam zeus." I didn't understand it, but then a loud sound came. It said, Hello, New Human. We are the Grays. It was probably the translation of the words that the creature had just said, I guessed.
I felt frightened. "What is the alien going to do to me?" I fearfully wondered. (To be continued...)
Halloween is a time for fun. Trick or treat!
We had a whole week to celebrate it. It was called the spirit week. On the Friday before the spirit week, we were 1 to wear Halloween costumes to school. I 2 as a witch(女巫). That was pretty fun! We got points for our class 3 dressing up.
We also 4 performances during the week. Each class had a theme. We performed Alice's Adventures in Wonderland on Monday during the spirit week. The performance included a dance and skit(滑稽短剧). I was in the skit, and I 5 the character March Hare.
On Monday, we reached school at 6 am to do our last rehearsal(排练). I was so 6 , even though it was early in the morning and it was very cold outside. Our performance was in the main gym, and every student was there.
I think we 7 did an excellent job! 8 I only had four lines in the skit, I was still proud and happy. The other two classes performed on the following days during the spirit week. Theirs were also very nice, but I think ours was the best.
Our hallway was also decorated. Everyone's locker(储物柜) was painted with colorful pictures. The curtains(窗帘) were 9 below the lights to make the corridors(走廊) look dreamy. I liked it so much.
By the way, we still had our 10 as usual during the week. Anyway, I really had a wonderful time! I am looking forward to next Halloween.
Inventions play an important part all the time. In our (day) life, we can see inventions everywhere. Even the (small) inventions can make a big deal to our lives. The barcode(条形码) is one of the most useful inventions. If you want to know the information of the product, you can scan the barcode with your smartphone. But do you know the barcode was invented? Here is something about it. In the (five) month of 1948, an owner of a small food store found difficult to record the prices of his (product). So he turned to the Drexel Institute of Technology for help. He wanted to find useful way to solve the problem. The good news was that Bernard Silver (take) up the challenge and began working on it. At last Bernard Silver and a group of his students set up a barcode system (solve) the problem. Now the invention is more and more (wide) used in the world.
"当我不被允许打篮球的时候，我不喜欢我父母。 After all, it is my only hobby. They always tell me I should do this and should not do that. It sometimes makes me angry," said Zhang Hua, a middle school student in Guangzhou.
Do you have the same problem? Perhaps you spend a lot time talking back with your parents, too. Why does it seem that some parents and children can't get along with each other?
父母最大的问题之一就是他们喜欢担心。 They worry about everything about you. They do a lot for you, though something will make you angry. They care about you and worry about you because they want you to grow up healthily and happily.
So how can you make things easier by yourself? It's easier than you think. Just make sure your parents know what you're doing. Call them if you stay somewhere else. Communicate with them before making your own decisions and take responsibility for what you have done.
And you should think about why your parents do this or do that. They still practice being parents and need help that you can give them. Some days you will also end up as a parent. And they may be able to help you get on well with children.
要求：
1. 语句通顺，语法正确，书写规范；
2. 不少于80词 (开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数)；
3. 文中不得出现真实姓名、校名等相关信息。
Dear David,
How's everything going? I'm glad to share my new school rules with you.
What about your school rules? Please write soon.
Yours,
Li Hua
