A smart home is a home with a communication network. This network connects devices(装置), such as lights and TV sets, and allows them to be controlled from far away through electrical wiring, mobile phone communication or WiFi over the internet.

    More and more people may start to consider owning a smart home, because it makes life much more convenient. It can help keep your room at a certain temperature. It can record what happens inside the home and send the video to your phone. When you are on vacation abroad, you can use a smart home controller to switch on or off the electricity when necessary. Some smart homes can receive a visitor, allowing him to come in and offering him a drink. They can even feed the cat and water the plants.

    Besides, smart homes are easy to fix. Most smart home technology and devices are wireless and can be set up with a minimum of tools,using only the guiding information. When a problem appears,you can deal with it yourself without paying a professional.

    However, for home-users,the smart home technology is far from perfect.It can be rather expensive to own the technology and the devices. Also, because the smart home system(系统) allow its owner to get home information from anywhere, it leaves the home easy to be attacked by hackers(黑客), who may secretly use or change the information in the system.

Now,many scientists are excited at the future of smart home technology. Imagine being able to get fashion advice from your mirror, or receive food shopping suggestions from your refrigerator. While there are others who worry that those smart devices will make people lazier and lonelier. Whatever it is, one thing is for sure—smart home technology will change the way we live and work.

   As we know, Meizhou Island is a famous place of interest in Putian. My pen pal from Australia, Sam, would like to visit it very much. He is coming here for a holiday next week. He is planning to stay here for seven days. He has never come to Putian before, so he needs to know something about it. The weather is the most important thing that he would like to know. He wants to know what he should get ready for the trip and what kinds of clothes he has to take with him. Here is the seven-day weather report for Putian.

    Humans and animals need oxygen to exist. Without it, most living things will die. But where does oxygen come from'? Trees. Trees can take in much carbon dioxide which may be bad for our environment and produce oxygen for us to breathe.

    All people know that trees are important to us. Scientists believe humans cannot live if there are no trees on the Earth.

    Trees are a major source(来源) of food. Apples, oranges, lemons all come from trees.  Humans and animals knew how to get food from trees many years ago.

    In fact, many kinds of important medicine come from trees too. Some special things on trees can be used to produce medicine. Also, trees can make the world beautiful and relaxing. They help protect the soil.

Are You Right Handed or Left Handed?

    Which hand do you use when write? About 8 to 15 percent of people are left handed. They often have to use tools that are designed for right-handed people. So it is difficult for left-handers to use most tools. If you are right handed, try this experiment: Take a knife with your left hand and try cutting a potato into pieces. Don't be surprised if you feel awkward（别扭的）.

    In the past, people thought it was strange to use the left hand. Young students looked down upon their left-handed classmates. Some children were even punished for using their left hand to write. But these days parents and teachers have accepted that. In almost every school in the world, left-handed students can use their left hand to write.

    What causes people to be left handed or right handed? Experts have searched long and hard on this. They concluded（得出结论） that left-handed people are left handed for the same reason that right-handed people are right handed. One out of every ten people just is a left-hander. It's simply like the color of our eyes—some people have brown eyes, while some others have black eyes.

    However, many researchers think that left-handers and right-handers are different in some aspects. Right-handers are more talkative and outgoing than left-handers. Many right-handed people understand spoken words better. For example, after they listen to directions to a supermarket, they can find it easily. Right-handers are good at organizing people, too. They are also better basketball guards. Just ask Yao Ming.

    Research shows that left-handers are creative and artistic. Many famous performers, like Jim Carrey and Paul McCartney, are left handed. Many left-handers learn better visually（在视觉方面）. In art, both Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo were left handed. In science, you find Newton and Einstein. The left-handed people are also really good at tennis and other single sports.

    If you prefer one hand, but you are still good at writing with the other, you are mixed handed. Research shows mixed-handers can remember everyday things better than other people. What did you eat for lunch two weeks ago? If you're mixed handed, you can probably remember.

    When a computer runs a group of programs, it can get very Cooling the computer can cost a lot. So some scientist's wonder what will happen if the heat from the computer can be used.

    Large Internet companies (公司) such as Google and Microsoft have thousands of computers. As these computers deal with information, they produce lots of heat, so they need huge cooling systems(系统). These systems send the heat into the air.

    A company in Holland (荷兰) thinks paying to make the computers work and then paying again to cool them are a waste of energy. So the company developed a special device—the e-radiator.

    Boaz Loupe, the head of the company, says the e-radiator works as a heating system and saves money. He explains that the energy is used twice—once to heat the home and once to cool the computer. So the users don't have to pay to cool their computers.

    Five homeowners in Holland are testing the heating system in their homes.

    "We pay for the computer using, so, in that way, homeowners get heating for free," Boaz says.

    Jan Visor is one of the homeowners. "If you use the computer more the e-radiator produces more heat," he says. "It cannot provide enough heat if you don't use your computer often. "But he is ready to try it. It's a great help for his family.

    The company says e-radiators can produce heat at a temperature of 55℃. It says the system can save its users about S 440 a year.