Do stars only appear at night? The answer is no .Venus （金星） is the one and only star that can be seen in the daytime. It shone at its brightest in the night sky on February 17^th, 2017.

    Venus is the second planet from the sun in our solar system. It is the second brightest natural object, behind Earth's moon, in the night sky. Why is it so bright?

    First of all, Venus is the closest planet to Earth. It is also covered by highly reflective （反射的）clouds, which can reflect about 70 percent of the sunlight striking（照射） it, almost twice as much as Earth does.

    Some called 2017 the year of Venus, because the planet is at its brightest when it goes further away from the sun, and nearer to Earth. The brightest moment happened once in February, and happened again, during daylight, on April 30^th.

    If Venus is so bright and close to us, isn't it a better choice for human exploration than Mars? It is closer to Earth than Mars and it's closer to Earth in size. The closer distance to the sun means solar power would be easier to generate （产生） as well.

    However, with a temperature of about 465℃on the surface, Venus is the hottest planet in our solar system!

    But scientists never give up. Recently, a team of NASA and Russian scientists created new computer equipment that can stand the temperature of 480℃. It can work under Venus-like conditions for almost 22 days.

    The next step, according to the scientists, is to send a probe（探测器）to Venus by 2025.

    People worldwide are doing something to protect the earth. As kids，we can also try our best to help. We can do the following.

    ●Change a light. Change a regular light to a more energy-efficient(节能的)light.

    ●Drive less. Walk, ride or use public transportation. Ask your parents to drive less. By this way, we can make less pollution.

    ●Recycle more. Think before you throw away trash. Throw trash into different trash cans, and this helps recycle.

    ●Use less hot water. It takes a lot of energy to heat water like a bath instead of a shower, and wash clothes in cold or warm water.

    ●Adjust(调节)your air-conditioning. Move it down 2℃ in winter and up 2℃ in summer than you want it to be. This helps save electricity.

    ●Plant a tree. Any tree can take away one ton of CO₂ through its lifetime.

    ●Turn off the electricity. Remember to turn off your TV, and cell phone charger(充电器)when not in use.

    This will help save electricity and reduce CO₂.

Chinese music has a very long history. It's one of the oldest types of music in the world. Chinese ancient music was different from modern pieces. The ancient Chinese played instruments, but they didn't have a lot of songs with words. A lot of the music was for ceremonies and big events. 

The most famous instrument in ancient China was the guqin. It's a kind of stringed instrument（弦乐器）. People thought the guqin was very beautiful. They believed it could make people happy or sad, and even change the weather! 

In the Tang Dynasty（618-907）, there were many kinds of instruments. Music was important to the government. As a result, there were lots of musicians at the palace. Some of them came from other countries. They played their own music and sometimes they taught the Chinese how to play new instruments. 

During the Song Dynasty（960-1279）, the Chinese developed new instruments. One of these was the pipa. It's a kind of guitar with four strings. Musicians wrote more than 200 songs for it. These songs are still popular today. 

In the Ming Dynasty（1368-1644）and the Qing Dynasty（1644-1912）, there were many new styles of music. Some music was for the theatre. Other music was for the home, Beijing Opera is a traditional form of Chinese theater. It uses many different instruments, including the guqin and the xun. 

Today, Chinese music is a mix of traditional and modern music. There are many pop stars in China and people listen to music from all over the world. But traditional Chinese music is still popular, too. 

We can find different colors everywhere. In the nature, trees(树) can be green, yellow, or red. Flowers(花) can be red, yellow, purple, pink, orange, white, black or blue. In the fruit stores, we can find green apples, red strawberries, yellow bananas, purple grapes and pink peaches. In the clothes stores, you can see white T- shirts, black jackets and red sweaters. The color of the sky(天空) can be different. When you are happy, your sky is blue. When you are not happy, your sky will be gray. In the world, there are the yellow race(黄种人), the black race and the white race. And we Chinese are the yellow race. We have yellow skin(皮肤) and black eyes.

What family rules(规则) do you have? What are the dos and don'ts in your home? Qin Tian from Chongqing No.3Junior High School asks three students there. Let's listen(听) to what they say:

Xu Hui: I have to get up at 6:20 every morning and read English for about 30 minutes. I can't play games for more than(超过) 30 minutes. I need to do some housework(家务) every day.

Hu Xiaoyu: In my family, the first(第一) one to get up should (应该) make breakfast. The first one to get home should make dinner. The family should clean the house on Sundays. I also need to do housework.

Liu Yizhou: In my home, we don't talk when we eat food. I have to be in bed at 9 p.m. I have to do housework every day. If I want to buy something, I need to ask my parents first.