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China's unbelievable high-speed rail network
At the beginning of the 21st century China had no high-speed railways. Slow, crowded and often uncomfortable trains ran across this vast country, with low average speeds making journeys such as Shanghai-Beijing a test of travel. Today, it's a completely different picture. With 37,900 kilometers of lines, linking all of its major big cities. China has the world's largest work of high-speed railways. Half of that total has been completed in the last five years alone, with a further 3,700 kilometers due to open in the coming months of 2021. The network is expected to double in length again, to 70,000 kilometers, by 2035. |
Can a green machine help the world's poorest kids learn better? Nicholas Negroponte thinks so. He and his team of scientists have invented a new type of computer. As a result, many children who live in poverty (贫穷) will have their own laptop computers!
Negroponte works at a university. He started a group called One Laptop Per Child (OLPC). The people at OLPC don't work for money. They work to help children learn. OLPC makes computers that don't cost a lot. Then they sell the machines to governments of countries that have many people live in poverty. The governments then give the computes to kids for free.
The XO Laptop computers are made for school-aged children in developing nations. Many of these children live in faraway areas and go to schools with classrooms. In order to work, the laptops have to be lasting and student-friendly.
The machines have many fun characters like a built-in video camera, voice recording, and games. The WiFi lets students share information on the Web and read e-books. They also can make music and chat with friends.
Another great character is that it can last for a long time. It can be hand charged and also can be recharged by connecting to a solar panel. Because of these characters the XO laptops make learning fun while helping the environment.
The computers have a colorful name—"the green machine". Negroponte thinks they could make a difference in the lives of millions of kids. He says, "Every problem you can think of—poverty, peace, the environment—is solved with education."
OLPC plans to give out over ten million computers in the next few years. Kids in Thailand, Nigeria, Brazil, and Argentina will get most of them. China and Egypt also want to take part in the program. After that, Negroponte hopes to sell computers to other countries with high poverty.
Dogs might have the latest tools in the fight against cancer (癌症); their noses! Researchers at California's Pine Street Foundation (PSF) say they have trained five dogs to smell cancer on a prison's breath. This could be exciting news.
A dog's sense of smell may be 10,000 to 100,000 times stronger than ours. But can dogs really smell illness? PSF researcher Michael McCulloch says yes. "We were very surprised by how exact they were," he said. "They were telling who had cancer, and they were also saying who didn't."
| Dogs in the Pine Street Foundation test were trained to sit when they smelled cancer. How well did they perform? Take a look at this chart to find out. | ||
| Breath Sample | Number of Times the Dogs Sat Down | Number of Times the Dogs Kept Standing |
| Breath from lung cancer patients | 564 | 10 |
| Breath from healthy persons | 4 | 708 |
McCulloch and his team asked four healthy people and one with cancer to blow into plastic tubes (塑料管). Special materials in the tubes kept the things of each breath. The tubes were then placed one yard apart. Finally the dogs were allowed to smell the tubes. Each dog had been trained for three weeks to sit when it smelled cancer. Ninety-nine percent of the time, the dug sat next to the tubes blown into by patients with lung cancer. The dogs were right 88 percent of the time about breast cancer.
No lab test for cancer has given more correct results than this test. The results are so amazing that many experts question the dogs' smelling power. They wonder if there were other reasons why the dogs did so well. For example, they thought the way the dog trainers behaved could have influenced how the dogs acted. However, most experts agree that this study is important. The information could help scientists create a simple breath test for cancer in the future. Once again humans may be getting a helping paw or nose—from their best animal friends.
What do you do with your rubbish? Throw it out? You don't know what you're missing! Look closely at the two figures on your left. They were made from things most people throw away. The figures were made from used bottle caps. Those two bottle-cap figures were exhibited (展示) in a museum.
Folk art is art made by common people who have not been trained as artists. Their work is often based on traditions in their culture. Fine art, on the other hand, is usually made by people who have had training in art. Works of fine art are valued for their artistic beauty. They are supposed to be looked at but not used. Works of folk art, however, are often made for everyday use.
There were more than 800 pieces of folk art from nearly 50 countries in the exhibition. All of the pieces were made from used metal, wood, cloth, and plastic. The artists come from many different cultures. Still, they all share one thing. They take objects that are normally thrown away and change them into objects that are beautiful, useful, and fun. The artists may not think of what they do as recycling, but that's exactly what it is. Fine artists might work with expensive materials. They might use expensive tools to shape these materials into works of art. On the other hand, in poor countries rubbish might be the only material folk artists and toy makers can afford. The exhibition shows that a rich imagination is very important when there are only poor materials. Recycled art began long before people began to think about recycling. Some of the objects in the exhibition date from the 1930s.
Even if you don't create art out of rubbish, it's good to save our natural resources. Remember the three Rules: reduce, reuse, recycle. If you reduce waste, true things instead of throwing them out, and recycle materials such as paper, plastic, and glass, you will protect the environment.
| Conclusion (结论) |
Details |
| Art based on cultural traditions |
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| Art made for everyday use |
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| Art made with used materials |
5 ways to train your brain for better sleep
The days are longer, full of sunshine and bright with the promise of enjoying a more relaxing spring and summer with your loved ones. But if you want to enjoy your daytime, it's time to improve your sleep during the night-time. "Sleep problems endanger health and quality (质量) of life for up to 45% of the world's population," according to the World Sleep Society.
Sleep is one of the three keys to a healthier, longer life (the others are diet and exercise). . Here are the top five ways to improve your sleep and get some zz's:
Create a sleep nest
. Science tells us that we sleep better in cooler temperatures of about 60 to 67 degrees Fahrenheit (15℃ to 20℃).
Develop a routine
Set up a bedtime ritual by taking a warm bath or shower, reading a book or listening to soft music. You're teaching your mind to relax. And stick to it. Go to bed and get up at the same time each day, even on weekends or your days off. .
Cut the lights
Production of the sleep hormone melatonin (荷尔蒙褪黑激素) begins at dark. Research has found that the body will slow or stop it with light on, to get sway from any light, even the blue light from your charging smart phone.
Refuse the wine
Don't turn to wine to make you calm or help you sleep. . Your body needs to experience all three steps of sleep—light sleep, dream, and deep sleep—to fully repair itself.
Heavy and spicy foods may give you heartburn or other digestive problems, thus influencing your ability to get and stay asleep.
If you try these tips and can't seem to relax, or your sleep continues to worsen, be sure to reach out to your doctor or a mental health professional.
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A. The body like routine B. Avoid heavy or hot foods C. Refuse coffee later in the day D. One of the first tasks is to set up your sleep environment E. Wine may help you fall asleep, but it holds you in the lighter sleep F. Many of the ways to increase the quality of your sleep are easy to follow |
My whole life has changed because of COVID-19. It's very upsetting because we can't 1 anyone else and we can't go to others' homes. We have been at home, but I2the healthcare workers who have risked their lives every day to help us stay healthy and safe. Here, I describe my experience during this time.
Coming back home from my spring vacation, I got news that school is closed for two weeks.
Being a kid, I got 3 but I didn't know what was waiting for us. I never thought I would be doing my classes online months later.
Right after the "stay at home" order, my mother tested positive for COVID-19 and our family was quarantined (隔离) for 14 days. It was really challenging for all of us, especially for my4, who got sick. Those were the worst two weeks in my life.
Watching my mother 5 fever, cough, and shortness of breath was heartbreaking, I had tears in my eyes, but I didn't tell my parents about it. I was thankful that my father is a 6 who knows how to treat COVID-19 patients. After three weeks, my mother got better.
My father is a true hero. Not only he was taking care of us, but also he has been treating patients with COVID-19 every day and 7 the community selflessly. I am proud of him.
This 8 has taught me to be thankful for things we have in life. My father has 9 me to be selfless, helpful, and brave. It is OK to be anxious, but remember that there is 10 at the end of the channel (隧道) and life will get normal again.
Rice is one of the most commonly eaten basic foods around the world. Buying it and cooking it is a daily matter. Yet for many, its presence has been a matter of life and death. It is a main food because it is easy to grow, besides low cost and convenience. A poor community in the developing world may find it difficult to bring in foreign fruits or raise cattle for meat, but it can almost certainly use the land it has in order to grow plenty of rice.
This was the great achievement of Yuan Longping, who passed away on May 22 this year. A great Chinese scientist, Yuan successfully developed what is known as "hybrid rice" which can produce up a 30% higher output. Yuan Longping was born in the year 1930, a time when China was very different. It was a nation, without modern industry, depending on the rice which they grew. The first few decades (十年) of his life were met with major social events, and a rapidly growing population that made food supply not last all the time. This experience left its mark on Yuan Longping, which made him focus on (关注) farming science and work on his research of hybrid rice.
His achievement would see the rice supply in China increasing from 56.9 million tons in 1950 to 194.7 million tons by 2017. By 1991, 20% of the world's rice output came from hybrid rice, even if only being planted in 10% of fields.
Always remember, human development begins first with the most basic and sample things, such as developing rice. We should be thankful for scientific thinkers like Yuan.
The role of the disabled in society
The 2022 Paralympic Winter Games will be held in Beijing and Zhangjiakou in north China's Hebei province.
Hosting the Paralympic Games will help draw attention to the need for countries to do more to make sure equal chances for all people in society. ①It is necessary to realize the great achievements which are made by disabled people.
②残疾人在中国的生活已经改善了很多 ， and more achievements are expected to be seen as the country has been speeding up to realize the goal of achieving "equality, participation and sharing," as expressed in the 2019 White Paper on China's 70 years of progress in dealing with the needs of the disabled.
③The Chinese government is trying to solve the needs of the disabled and provide them with new chances. For example, buildings, holds, public transport and other public places are becoming more wheelchair friendly.
Modern media also play an important role in educating the public about the needs of the disabled and also changing society's image of them, so there is greater focus on their special abilities rather than on their abilities.
In fact, the society's most disabled people provide all of us with important lessons. They show us confidence, creativity and positivity. The loser will fail 99 times and then give up. ④要成功，你必须有耐心，永不放弃。You must always learn from your failures, and move on.
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