The bicycle is one of the simplest and most useful inventions in the world. What is the most surprising is that it was not1earlier, although the great inventor Leonardo da Vinci had drawn pictures for bicycles and also for flying machines and some other things. Those things were not produced2 long after he died.
A person riding a bicycle uses 3energy to make the bicycle move, and there is no pollution at all when you are riding. Even so, in most developed 4, most people don't travel to work by bicycle. It is not because the bicycles are expensive or people feel 5 if they ride to work. It's because 6 cars on the roads becomes larger. It certainly becomes 7to ride a bicycle. As a result, more people put their bicycles away and go to work 8 their cars and, in this way, the situation is made more serious. 9 the best way to make riding safer and more popular is to create paths（开设通道）only for bicycles, and to make 10 so difficult and expensive for drivers to take their cars into the city that they will go back to use their bicycles.
A Trip to Moonlight Island
| Day 1(Oct. 4) 9:00 Meet at Red Star Airport ◇The Old Town ◇The Historical House 12:30 Lunch (The famous fish) ◇Windmill Park ◇Dolphin watching 18:00 Dinner (Rice noodles) ◇Rainbow Bridge |
Day 2 (Oct. 5) 9:00 Breakfast (Bread and milk) ◇Rose Mountain 12:30 Lunch (A BBQ) ◇Waterside Farm ◇Back 18:00 End at Green Bush Airport Have a nice trip! |
| Cost: ﹩200 each person *If you book the trip before Farmers' Harvest Festival(Sep. 23), you can get 20% off. *Kids under 9 are free. |
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The well-known "new great inventions" of modern China have made our daily lives more convenient.
High-speed trains
China created its first high-speed railway line in 2008. Since then, the number of passenger trips has grown by over 30 per cent every year. By 2016, more than 5 billion trips had been taken on the trains. By 2020, one-fifth of the country's 150,000 km railway network had been used by the trains. This network links more than 80 percent of the major cities across China.
Mobile payment
Mobile payment is turning China into a "cashless society". Instead of paying by cash (现金), customers now pay for their goods and some kinds of bills simply by typing a short password into the Alipay or WeChat app on their mobile phone.
Shared bikes
China has surprised the world with how quickly shared bikes are widely used. Nowadays, bike users can simply pick up or park the bikes on the street through GPS and smart phone apps. China's two leading bike-sharing companies, Mobike and Ofo, have been opening their overseas markets in Singapore, the UK and the USA.
Online shopping
With around 751 million Internet users, China has been the world's largest and fastest-growing online shopping market. Because of lower costs and fewer licensing requirements(执照要求), it's easier for sellers to open an online shop in China. In 2016, more than 20 million jobs of rural areas were created, with over 8. 1 million running their own online shops.
How many of us have reached into our drawer(抽屉)and pulled out socks that didn't match? Will you throw them away like most girls or try to reuse them? The story of Carly and Charley may help you.
Carly and Charley are the girls who often lose their socks. At first, they just matched different colors or styles like some other girls. But most of the time, these socks couldn't match their clothes. So they came up with an idea and started Odd Sox: They collected these socks and gave them away to homeless people. But the problem wasn't solved. They still had missing socks until they realized that they could make a business out of it. So they set up Single Sox: The girls sell socks in packs(包)of three so you can mix and match as you wish. Each pack is super colorful and super inspiring(激励人心的)—Carly and Charley have written words on every sock to encourage girls to celebrate their differences.
And they carry on the tradition of giving back—for every pair of socks sold, they give away a pair to those in need.
Nothing is a waste if you have a creative mind.
①started Odd Sox.
②carry on the tradition of giving back
③set up Single Sox
④ matched different socks
Once upon a time, a young man wanted to go to a village on business. Halfway there was a mountain. Before he left home, his family warned him to stay calm and climb onto trees if he met beasts（野兽）. In this way, the beasts couldn't do anything to him.
The young man remembered these words and began his trip.
He walked for a long time carefully and found no beasts were out there. He thought his family's worries were unnecessary. And he became relaxed as he walked. Just at that moment, he saw a large tiger running to him and he climbed onto a tree nearby at once.
The tiger roared（咆哮） around the tree and even jumped to reach the man. The young man was too scared to hold the tree and fell right on the back of the tiger. Full of fear, he had to hold the tiger tightly. The tiger thought that must be a large beast. So it was afraid and started running madly.
People on the road didn't know what happened and said, "Look at the young man. He is riding a tiger!" "Cool!" "Superman!"
Hearing these words, the young man was almost crazy. "Why can't they see I'm suffering a lot? Don't they understand I am in fear and almost scared to death?" he said to himself.
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A. I will go to the History Museum. B. It's my pleasure. C. Can I take a bus? D. How long will it take me to walk there? E. That's such a pity! F. Where is the bus stop? G. Could you tell me the way to the History Museum? |
A: Excuse me, sir.
B: Certainly. Go along this street. Turn left into Yimin Street, and the museum is on your right.
A:
B: It's about thirty minutes.
A: I see.
B: Yes, you can. A No. 4 bus will take you there.
A:
B: Over there. Look! The bus is coming.
A: Thank you very much.
B:
A：Hi, Wu Ming! ?
B: Hi, Launa! Pretty good! I'm looking forward to the Dragon Boat Festival.
A: The Dragon Boat Festival? .
B: OK. It's a traditional Chinese festival. It's on the fifth day of the fifth lunar(阴历) month.
A: Oh, ?
B: To remember an ancient poet, Qu Yuan.
A: Aha, I see. ?
B: We usually eat zongzi and watch dragon boat races on that day.
A: Zongzi? They must be delicious.
B: Yes, and I really like zongzi with meat. But do you know what I like best about the festival?
A: ?
B: The dragon boat races. They're exciting to watch. Maybe you can celebrate the festival with my family next week.
A: Of course I'd love to. Thanks for your invitation.
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convenient, we, try, project, move, clean, return,with, dirty, because, leave, seldom |
When I was young, people in our village lived by planting fruit trees. My grandmother always took me to the orchard（果园）on the hill. At that time, it's not for us to water the orchard. We had to carry water from the river at the foot of the hill by . Even though we work hard, the production was still low. it was short of water.
One day, two young men led some workers to our village. They learned about the difficulties we faced. Later, canals（渠）and other began to be built in my village. "Who are they?" I asked. "They are good men from our government," my grandma replied.
Shortly afterwards, I had to to another city for my junior high school. I went back to my hometown because of the busy study.
One day, my family made time to . We were surprised because everything had changed. The canal ran past every orchard so villagers didn't have to do up and down the hill anymore. The river was now much than before. When we arrived home, my grandma took out some fresh apples. She told us that the government's help, the first production increased rapidly.
Thank those good men who have to improve the condition（条件） of our countryside. Nowadays, people work hard to live in a big city. However, we shouldn't forget our hometown where we are from.
Did you know that tea, the most popular drink in the world (after water), was invented by accident? Many people believe that tea was first drunk nearly 5,000 years ago. It is said that a Chinese ruler called Shen Nong was the first to discover tea as a drink. One day Shen Nong was boiling drinking water over an open fire. Some leaves from a tea plant fell into the water and remained there for some time. It produced a nice smell so he tasted the brown water. It was quite delicious, and so, one of the world's favorite drinks was invented.
A few thousand years later, Lu Yu, "the saint of tea", mentioned Shen Nong in his book Cha Jing. The book describes how tea plants were grown and used to make tea. It also discusses where the finest tea leaves were produced and what kinds of water were used.
It is believed that tea was brought to Korea and Japan during the 6th and7th centuries. In England, tea didn't appear until around 1660, but in less than 100 years, it had become the national drink. The tea trade from China to Western countries took place in the 19th century. This helped to spread the popularity of the tea plant to more places around the world. Even though many people now know about tea culture, the Chinese are without doubt the ones who best understand the nature of tea.
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An accidental invention — tea |
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The invention of tea |
◆Tea leaves fell into the water that Shen Nong . ◆Shen Nong drank tea. about 5,000 years ago. |
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Cha Jing |
◆Describe how to grow tea plants and . ◆Discuss the producer of the finest tea leaves and water to be used. |
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◆The English regarded tea as the national drink century. ◆The tea trade helped to spread the popularity of tea and the plants. |
Mary was waiting for the airplane to take off. She was happy to have a seat by herself. Just then，an air hostess came up to her and asked. "Would you mind changing your seat?" The girl behind Mary had a black-and-blue face, and a sad expression. "I don't want to sit there. " Mary thought immediately. But the soft voice came again, "She needs help. "Finally, Mary moved to that seat.
The girl was named Emily. She had been in a car accident and now was on her way for treatment. （治疗）
When the snacks and juice arrived, Mary realized that Emily could not feed herself. Mary considered offering to feed her but hesitated（犹豫）, as it seemed too impolite to offer a service to a stranger. But then Mary realized that Emily's need was more important. Mary offered to help her eat. Although Emily was uncomfortable to accept, she agreed. They became closer and closer in a short time. By the end of the five-hour trip, Mary's heart had warmed, and the time was really better spent than if she had just sat by herself.
Mary was very glad that she had sat next to Emily and fed her. Love sometimes goes beyond human borders（边界）and removes（消除）the fears that keep people away. When we reach our hands to serve another, we grow to live in a larger and more rewarding（有回报的） world.
Robots can do a lot of things, from housework to helping operate on patients. Now they are even smarter than you might imagine. AlphaGo, an artificial intelligence （AI，人工智能）program beat top Go（围棋）player Lee Sedol from South Korea in four out of five matches.
AI is that computers or computer software（软件）are able to have intelligent behavior, such as thinking or acting like a human.
In our daily life, we already use AI in many ways, like Apple's Siri and search engines like Baidu and Google. People also invented wheelchairs that can be controlled by the rider's thoughts. And with the development of AI, it is possible that super intelligent AI programs like Jarvis in the movie Iron Man will be invented in the future.
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