After years of research and testing, the hybrid car was developed and put on the market. It's an interesting and exciting new improvement in today's world as we look for better ways to protect the quality of the air we breathe and save our natural resources.

    The quality of our air is affected by many different things. But one of the largest sources of air pollution is the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and gasoline which is used to power a car's engine. The EPA has set national standards to help control the level of harmful pollutants sent off into the air, and the automobile industry has acted by producing a hybrid car that uses less gas and therefore causes less pollution.

    A hybrid car is a combination of a regular car that runs on gasoline and an electric car that is battery powered. Some people tend to think that since the hybrid car is partially electric, you have to plug it in to charge it. But that's not how it works. The 144 volt battery pack is actually recharged through the energy that is produced when the car's brakes are used. This is referred to as "regenerative braking", because it produces electricity.

    Although the hybrid car still runs on gasoline most of the time, this helps it use less gas than a regular car. When the driver stops at a traffic light, the engine automatically shuts off to save fuel. Then, as soon as the driver puts the car in gear and touches the gas pedal, the engine starts back up.

    Have you ever ridden in a car with someone who ran out of gas? That probably wouldn't happen if you were riding in a hybrid car. It flashes a warning on its computer screen that says, "I am low on gas". When it completely runs out, the warning reads, "YOU ARE NOW OUT OF GAS!" Then the electric power supply kicks in to let the driver travel a few more miles to a gas station.

Most people would stay away from bees while meeting them. However, if your goal (目标)is to grow a{#blank#}1{#/blank#} and productive (丰收的) garden, you will want to bring on bees. 

How to attract (吸引) bees? 

Plant! Plant! Plant! Plant not only {#blank#}2{#/blank#} but also flowers. Bees are attracted by colours and purple, yellow, white and blue are their{#blank#}3{#/blank#}. If possible, you should be careful to plant different flowers for bees to choose from. Be sure to plant some flowers in sunny areas. Bees like warm and bright places better than cool and dark ones. 

Another part of learning how to attract bees is to always leave a place for wild grass or flowers near your garden. This is where bees can live comfortably and{#blank#}4{#/blank#}. You can also design (设计) a bee house for the bees to live in. To do this, you can use several pieces of bamboo tied{#blank#}5{#/blank#}. Place the house close to the ground because bees prefer living close to the ground. Preparing such a place can make sure that they will enjoy and never want to leave.

Be sure to leave water around for them to drink. Once the bees are there and active, you will have a fruitful garden. 

Chinese New Year is an interesting and important festival in China. Today, let's learn(学习) some things about it.

We know New Year's Day is on January 1st, but Chinese New Year is on the first day of the first lunar(阴历) month. In China, we call the Chinese New Year the Spring Festival. There is a name for every year. We may call it the Year of the Dog or the Year of the Pig. And the year 2024 is the Year of the Dragon(龙).

Before(在…之前) the festival, people(人们) are busy. They buy many things and clean their houses(打扫屋子). On Chinese New Year's Eve, there is a big family dinner. People always eat jiaozi for it. After dinner, people watch TV and welcome the New Year. People call it shousui in Chinese.

The next day, the New Year comes. People are happy. They wear new clothes and go to see friends and relatives(亲戚). Children like to wear new clothes, eat good food and get lucky money on the day.

People always have a very good time during the festival.

The first "forest library" in Shanghai recently opened to the public, giving readers the chance to relax and read in a natural environment. 

Known as Read & Joy Forest, the forest library was developed by Pudong New Area and Shanghai Library. It is in an urban (城市的) green space area near Shanghai Library East. It can make visitors take a pleasant walk in the quiet and green forest. 

People tried not to harm the forest when building the forest library. The library is in the open air and has facilities (设施) such as benches and an information boot h (亭). Wooden walkways connect green spaces. 

"I learned about the forest library from my friends. so I came here," said a 21- year- old college(大学) student. "The green outdoor environment helps reduce eyestrain (视疲劳). I will come back for sure. "

Most of the visitors to the forest library are young people and parents with their children. They read carefully or take a walk slowly in the forest. "I like the fresh air and the trees here. I've spent the whole morning indoors and wanted to get some fresh air. The library makes it possible to enjoy reading in nature. I feel very relaxed here," said one reader sitting on a bench. 

Some animals can easily find their way home after a long journey. How do they make it? Scientific research shows that they are born with certain unusual abilities for direction.

A certain kind of ants, for example, can count their steps to avoid getting lost. They can go as far as 110 metres and bring food home. These ants live in the open desert (沙漠), so they have nothing to guide them along the way. It's like someone walking six kilometres through a dark forest.

Some fish have an unbelievable sense of smell. They can smell even a single drop of their home water in a large sea area. Some sea birds have a similar ability. They are able to make a smell map of their flying area.

Some animals can sense the earth's magnetic field (磁场), while humans can't. This magnetic field guides a certain kind of fish when they swim a long way to a place and then back. How can this kind of fish do that? It is still a mystery. Scientists have no good answers yet.

However, animals with such unusual abilities still have difficulty dealing with environmental changes caused by human activities. For example, many birds depend on stars for direction, but they get lost easily at night when city lights are kept on all night. To solve this problem, we can simply turn off some lights at night. Clearly, one small act of humans may mean a lot to animals.