Life in the year 3044 is very different1 life in the 21^st century. We still do many of the things you did, but we do them 2. For example, we now have e-friends to help us and keep us company. An e-friend is a machine that looks just3a human being. It can walk and talk and can do almost4 we human beings do. My e-friend is a lot like me and we have5fun together. She helps me 6 my homework and we often go swimming.  She is programmed to take care of me if anything7, so I always feel safe when we are together.  She can also send me messages, just like old-fashioned e-mail, and I can download information from her memory. It's great8an e-friend. I am never lonely and I always have someone to talk9.

      I would like to tell you more about life in the year 3044, but I have to send my e-friend to clean up my room. Maybe10I will be able to travel back in time and visit you.

B

    We can get the weather report on the Internet. We can also know it by watching TV or listening to the radio. But how can we know it without TVs, radios or the Internet? Now let me tell you some other ways.

    One way is to study the clouds. In fact, the higher the clouds are, the better the weather will be; the lower the clouds are, the worse the weather will be. If the thick and fluffy(轻软状的) clouds get bigger early in the day, then it will rain. If a sudden, cool and dark thunder­cloud appears, then a storm is about to come.

    Colours in the sky tell us about the weather, too. A golden ring around the moon warns us that a storm is on the way.

The rainbow has a message, too. If the sun is in the west and the rainbow is in the east, the rain will be moving away from you.

    We cannot stop earthquakes, but we can do things to make sure they do not destroy (破坏) whole cities. First, it is not a 1 idea to build houses along the lines where2of the earth's plates join together. Second, if you think there 3 be an earthquake, it is better to build houses on rock, not on 4. Third, you must make the houses as 5 as possible. Weak buildings will fall down in an earthquake, but strong ones may 6.

    Scientists are 7 that one day an even bigger earthquake will hit the part around S an Francisco. They call it “The Big One”. But people today are still building more 8. The population in and around San Francisco 9 is ten times more than it was in 1906. This means that 10 there is another earthquake, a great many houses and buildings will be destroyed.

    I like pandas very much. They are very 1. Many of them live in Sichuan, 2. Pandas are beautiful animals. They are white and 3. They have big bodies(身体), 4sometimes they can also be quick. Pandas like to eat bamboo 5. They also like to sleep.

    Sometimes pandas go to other countries(其他国家). People there6 like pandas very much.

    There are not many pandas in the world. Now people know they are 7danger. They hope to help pandas 8 a good life. My uncle works in a panda center. It's9to go to the center. I can 10 many cute pandas there.

    Each one of us shares this planet with about seven billion others. And we all need1. People and products need to move from city to city and country to country. However, we all know2most cars, motorcycles, boats and planes cause air pollution. They are also noisy. This is a serious problem in many cities.3inventors are coming up with creative ideas to try to reduce the air pollution and noise.

    In many cities around the world, motorcycles are very4. Now Vietnam has around 33 million motorcycles and China has almost 120 million, Motorcycles are a faster and cheaper way to get around a city than5. Yet air pollution is a growing problem. In large cities, people complain it is difficult to breathe. To solve these problems, a US company designed an environmentally friendly motorcycle. It uses electricity as fuel (燃料). As a result, there is6pollution. It's also quiet and fast. This makes it a good choice for getting around a city.

    The Italian city of Venice is a city with only a few roads. There are no cars in the city centre.7cars, water taxis and buses carry people along the city's canals. However, they cause pollution,8to the water. English engineers Dick and Jem designed a solar powered(太阳能的) water taxi. The water taxi can run for a day after being charged.

    Planes also cause air and noise pollution. Designing an environmentally-friendly airplane is a real9. Some airplane companies have10to solve the problems. Swiss engineers have gone one step further. They developed a solar airplane. This plane holds the world record for the longest solar powered flight—1, 541 kilometres from Arizona to Texas in America.

    Suppose you find a bright yellow bike on a street corner in the city. You hop on(跨上)it and 1. But wait—isn't this stealing? No, it isn't. 2 shouts, "Stop! Thief!" That is 3 this free ride is just fine with the city.

    You 4 find hundreds of free yellow bikes in some US cities. The idea began in Portland, Oregon, in 1994. People saw a need for 5 transportation, and they wanted to help 6 pollution. So, to get citizens(市民) 7 their cars and onto pollution-free bikes, they 8 the Yellow Bike Project.

    The 9 bikes are painted bright yellow and placed throughout the city. People can hop on the yellow bike and ride to run errands(短程差事), to work 10 to school. Then, they leave the bike for the 11 rider. There have been times when bikes have been stolen, but most people 12 the rules, because they think it is not wise to 13 the bike that's already free.

    Portland's 14 was quickly loved by a lot of people. Within two years of its starts, similar programs were 15in cities in six other states.