Hello. I'm Jan from Mrs. Lake's class. My class wants to work together to help the public. We think we have found a great way to do this. Last month we did a class project on the highways near our town. We learned about the Adopt-a-Highway Program. This program brings people together to pick up litter along the roads. We think it would be a great idea for all students in our school to join the program and adopt（收养） a highway.

    Adopting a highway is not like adopting a pet. When a highway is adopted, only part of the highway is cared for by a group of people. The group agrees to work every week to keep its part of the highway clean. Each group gets its own sign that has the name of the group printed on it. The sign is put up at the side of the road. This sign lets drivers know who is keeping that area of the road clean.

    The Adopt-a-Highway Program is a great way for people to help their environment look nicer. Also, the government does not have to send out as many road workers. This saves money. Finally, people may try harder to keep roads clean if they see people, especially teenagers like us, cleaning them up.

    We will need helpers to care for our adopted highway. If you want to feel great and keep our roads clean，please come with your parents to the meeting next week. We will meet in Mrs. Lake's room on Wednesday at 6:00 P.M. At the meeting, we will talk about which roads are the dirtiest as a result of people's unkind acts. Then we'll try to pick an area to adopt and clean.

    I look forward to seeing you at the meeting. Remember to keep our roads clean!

    You want to run across the street to catch the bus which is leaving soon? But wait! You'd better not. If a policeman sees you, you'll have to pay a fine. New traffic laws say that if people cross the street when the light is red, they can be fined as much as 50 yuan.

    Traffic accidents killed more than 100,000 people in China one year. Chinese cities have more cars than ever. Drivers and pedestrians must work together to make the streets safer.

    The law has new rules for drivers and pedestrians. Drivers have to slow down when they are close to crosswalks. If people are in a crosswalk, cars must stop to let them pass. There are rules for bus drivers, too. If bus drivers, smoke, drink or make phone calls while driving, they can be fined. Buses that carry too many people are also against the law.

    Pedestrians will have to walk more safely under the new law. They must cross streets at crosswalks. Also, they shouldn't climb over the fences (栅栏) along streets.

    Do you bike to school? It's not a good idea to carry classmates on the back. You could be fined 50 yuan. And stay in the bike lane (车道), when you' re riding. The big roads are for cars and buses.

    Do you like to ride your uncle's motorbike? When you put on your helmet (头盔), ask him to put one on, too. People on motorbikes must wear helmets, the new law says. If they don't, they'll have to pay 200 yuan.

    Do you ride in cars often? Don't forget to put on your seat belt (安全带), even if you're going for a short taxi ride. It could save your life.

    If you see a hit-and-run(肇事逃逸), tell the police. They may give you a reward (奖赏).And don't be afraid to help people to the hospital if they are hurt in an accident. Don't worry about money. The new law says that doctors must take care of them even if they can't pay right away.

    How fit are your teeth? Are you lazy about brushing them? Never fear: An inventor is on the case. An electric toothbrush senses how long and how well you brush and it lets you track your performance on your phone.

    The Kolibree toothbrush was exhibited at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week. It senses how it is moved and can send the information to an Android phone or iPhone via a Bluetooth wireless connection.

    The toothbrush will be able to teach you to brush right (don't forget the insides of the teeth!) and make sure you're brushing long enough. “It's kind of like having a dentist actually watch your brushing on a day-to-day basis,” says Thomas Serval, the French inventor.

    The toothbrush will also be able to talk to other applications on your phone, so developers could, for example, create a game controlled by your toothbrush. You could score points for beating monsters among your teeth. “We try to make it smart and fun,” Serval says.

    Serval says he was inspired by his experience as a father. He would come home from work and ask his kids if they had brushed their teeth. They said “yes,” but Serval would find their toothbrush heads dry. He decided he needed a brush that really told him how well his children brushed.

    The company says the Kolibree will go on sale this summer, from $99 to $199, and the U.S. is the first target market.

    A small robot may help children who are recovering from long-term illnesses in the hospital or at home. These children may feel isolated from their friends and classmates. The robot takes their place at school. Through the robot, the children can hear their teachers and friends. They also can take part in class from wherever they are recovering.

    Anyone who has a long-term illness knows that recovering at home can be lonely. This can be especially true for children. They may feel left out. Now, these children may have a high-tech friend to help feel less lonely. That friend is a robot. The robot is called AV1. AV1 goes to school for a child who is homebound while recovering from a long-term illness. And the child's school friends must help. They carry the robot between classes and place the robot on the child's desk.

    A Norwegian company called No Isolation created the robot. The co-founders of No Isolation are Karen Dolva and Marius Aabel. Dolva explains how the robot AV1 works. She says, from home, the child uses an iPad or a phone to start the robot. Then they use the same device to control the robot's movements. At school, the robot becomes the eyes, ears and voice of the child.

    So, it sits at the child's desk in the classroom and the child uses an iPad or a phone to start it, control its movement with touch, and talk through it.

    The student can take part in classroom activities from wherever they are recovering — whether at home or from a hospital bed. The robot is equipped with speakers, microphones and cameras that make communication easy.

    Nisha Pradhan is worried. The recent college graduate just turns 21 and plans to live on her own. But she's afraid she won't be able to stay safe. That's because she isn't able to smell.

    Back home, her family do her smelling for her. She's moved in with them for now, but she's looking for a place of her own. “Now that I'm searching for ways or place to live as an independent person, I find that the sense of smell is important to how we live our lives,” Pradhan says.

    She says when she was a child she liked to eat and ate a lot. But there came a point where she lost interest in food.

    “One of the first things that people notice whenever they have a smell problem is that food doesn't taste right any more,” says Beverly Cowart, a researcher. That's because eating and smell go hand in hand. How food tastes often rely on what we smell. “When you lose your sense of smell, your whole sense of food flavors changed and reduced,” Cowart says, “You can still taste the basic tastes. What you're missing are the small distinctions.”

    “When I go out to eat I have often found that food is very tasteless to me. I never feel full,” she says. “I think a lot of us today like to pretend to be food lovers and we all like to talk about 'Oh, I think this could use a little bit more flavor,' or ‘I think this has a hint of meat,' I can't really participate in those conversations,” she says.

    Pradam thinks her smell loss also may have affected her memory. Pradhan may be on to something, according to biologist Paul Moore. “When smell signals come in, you feel about them first. And then you think about it and then the memory is laid down. So without the feel part, the thinking about its part doesn't come. And that means no new smell memory gets created.”

    I was deeply moved by the kindness of an elderly flower seller at Sydney's Central Station one evening.

    I was feeling as cold as the winter winds quickening the steps of the people who buried chins (下巴) in scarves and hands deep into coat pockets. In many ways, 2018 had proven an arduous year. My teenage daughter had left home for university, my job of 23 years was no more, and a creative project I'd given my all to for years had also been suddenly called off. I also found out a person I considered a friend was far from it.

    A year earlier, I'd dreamt about an earthquake. In the dream, a red light flashed inside a building and then the earth began to rock. Walls fell down on me as I ran into the open, feeling sorry for the people I hadn't loved enough. Before I was buried completely by the falling world, I shouted, "Abuelo, ayudame," in my native Spanish. "Grandfather, help me!"

    Now, with the very real aftershocks of a series of unexpected endings, I walked into a little flower shop to buy a gift for a friend. The gentleman at the shop looked at me and turned away for a moment, returning with a fragrant flower. "For you. You need to smile today," he said in a rich and beautiful accent, offering me the flower with eyes full of care. It took all my strength not to cry. Then he gave me a grandfatherly hug that made me want to tell him everything.

    Instead, I thanked him and headed for the train. How did he know? I wondered. For the first time in weeks, I felt hope.