阅读理解。

   Your brain controls everything you do. It makes it possible for you to think,

Learn, create and feel; to blink(眨眼) and breathe and for your heart to heat –this fantastic control center is your brain. It is so amazing that a famous scientist once called it "the most complex(复杂) thing we have yet discovered in our universe".

Can this small grey organ(器官) , which weighs less than one and a half kilos, really do so much? Amazingly , your brain contains about 100 billion neurons(神经元) -it would take you over 3, 000 years to count them all. Believe it or not, the activity in your brain never stops. Your neurons create and send more messages than all the phones in the world. And although one neuron creates only a little electricity, all your neurons together can produce enough electricity to power a light bulb (灯泡).

    So exactly how fast does your brain work? Well, imagine this: a bee lands on your foot. Neurons in your skin send this information to your brain at a speed of more than 240 kilometers per hour. Your brain then uses other neurons to send the message back to your foot to shake the bee off quickly. These neurons can send this information at more than 320 kilometers per hour. No computer has your brain's unbelievable ability to deal with the amount of information coming from your eyes, ears and other sensory organs.

    But how does your brain allow you to learn things that you will use in the future? The structure (结构) of your brain changes every time you have a new thought, remember or learn something. For example, riding a bike seems impossible at first, but soon you are able to do it. How? As you practice, your brain sends "bike riding" messages again and again soon, the actions are learnt and you are able to ride a bike easily from then on.

    There will be a kind of new cars in the future. People will like this kind of small cars better than the big ones. The car is as small as a bike. But it can carry two people in it. Everybody can drive it easily, just like riding a bike. Even children and old people can drive them to schools or parks.

    If everyone drives such cars in the future, there will be less pollution in the air. There will be more space for all the cars in cities, and there will also be more space for people to walk in the streets.

    The little cars of the future will cost less money to buy and to drive. These little cars can go only 65 kilometers an hour, so driving will be safer. The cars of the future will be fine for going around the city, but they will not be useful for a long trip.

    This kind of cars can save a lot of gas. They will go 450 kilometers, then they have to stop for more gas. They are nice cars, aren't they?

C

    Where can you learn about the cultural relies(文物)of our country? You may visit museums or read books, but now a CCTV show may give you a more fun way to learn about them.

    The show is called National Treasure, it has 10 episodes (集) it shows 27treasures from 9 museums across China. In order to make ancient culture relics come alive, the show uses different ways to explain the story history and culture behind them.

    Although it's a show about old relics, it looks modern and technical(技术的). An IMAX-sized LED sired screen on the stage shows the treasures in detail.

    The treasures are presented(呈现) by National treasure keepers(守护者), both famous people and common people. Instead of just telling the stories and history behind the treasures, the show invites famous actors to be national treasures keepers. And they act out, this stories on the stage. The actors even use the funny words to make their performances interesting and alive. For example, on the show, actor wang Kai played Emperor Qianlong TV viewers loved his performances.

    While telling the stories behind the treasures, National treasure keepers also tell their own stories. For example, an old man named Qiu Qingnian is good at making natural paints for repairing ancient paintings. For many years he has been looking for mines(矿) deep inside mountains. On the TV program, he shows TV viewers how to make natural paints.

    The show has become widely popular with its interesting plots(情节), good performances and funny words. It has promoted (推广)ancient cultural relics and has encouraged more people to visit museums.

    In today's world, almost everyone knows that air pollution and water pollution are harmful to people. However, not all the persons know that noise is also a kind of pollution, and that is harmful to human, too.

    People who work and live under noisy conditions usually become deaf(聋的). Today, however, scientists believe that 10 percent (百分比) of workers in Britain are being deafened by the noise where they work. Many of the workers who print newspapers and books, and who weave(织) cloth become deaf. Quite a few people living near airports also become deaf. Recently(近来) it was discovered that many teenagers in America could hear no better than 65-year-old people, for these young people like to listen to "pop" music and most of "pop" music is a kind of noise. Besides(除此之外), noise produced by jet planes or machines will make people's life difficult and unpleasant, or even make people ill or even drive them mad.

    Nowadays the government in many countries have made laws to reduce or control(控制) noise and make it less than 85 decibels(分贝).  In China, the people's government is trying to solve not only air and water pollution problems but also noise pollution problem.

    Mike Myers is a teacher at Chauncey Rose High School in Terre Haute, Indiana. Last year, he taught his students about the world's rain forests. They learned that rain forests are important because the plants and animals of the rain forests give us food, wood and medicine.

    Destruction of the world's rain forests is a severe problem. As part of a class project, Myers' students bought three acres (英亩) of rain forest in Central America. They paid $25 for each acre. The students hope that the land they bought will be protected and not destroyed.

    Last June, Myers and four of his students took a boat ride down a river. They saw alligators and crocodiles. In the middle of the week, a guide took Myers and his students into the rain forest. "The monkeys were not happy that we were in their forest. They broke small branches off the trees and threw them at us," one of the students said. "It was a great journey of exploring nature for all of us," said Myers.

    Each student close something special about Costa Rica to study involving the plants animals, food, and culture. During the last few days the group had time to do fun activation. They went whitewater rafting and horseback riding, and visited Costa Rica's active volcano.

    Myers hopes to make the trip every year with a different group of kids.

    On July 1, 2019, Shanghai began the waste sorting programme. There are four kinds of waste: wet waste, dry waste, dangerous waste and recyclable waste. Under the new rules, people must put their waste in the right place. Or they will be fined more than 50 yuan and less than 200 yuan.

    Sorting waste is very important. By doing so, we can take out non-degradable(不可降解的)waste and save resources(资源)In return, we can get a better environment.  ▲   Luckily. Internet companies like Wechat, Baidu and Alipay made apps to help.

    How do we use the apps? Just open one waste-sorting app and write down the keyword. Then the app will tell us the answer and why, Alipay says its waste-sorting app got one million users in just three days and the number is still growing. They are working on the app and people may use it by taking photos in the future.

    The waste-sorting programme is the talk of the whole country now. And another 21. 3 billion yuan will be used on the programme in 46 cities by the end of 2020.