Thang-ga is a special kind of painting. It started from the Tang Dynasty. Thang-ga paintings have attracted the public's attention in recent years. At the same time, the Chinese government has also tried hard to protect the culture.

    Thang-ga paintings were developed in the 7th century in the Tibetan area. The paintings are colourful and the paints used in Thang-ga paintings are different from those in other paintings. Because of the special environment of the Tibetan Plateau (高原) and the excellent painting skills, the colours of Thang-ga paintings look special. The paints in Thang-ga paintings in the past were made from minerals, including gold, silver, as well as some plants. Since they were made by hand, the beautiful colours could last for hundreds of years.

    However, with the development of machines, people now use cheaper and more easily-made chemicals to make paints. The traditional paints in Thang-ga paintings needed too much work and there were many secret methods. Later people stopped making the paints and forgot about them. So the skills were almost lost.

On Saturday morning, Mrs. Brown asks Gina to study, but Gina says, "It's boring (无聊的) and difficult to study. " Mrs. Brown asks Gina what she thinks is interesting and easy.

Gina says, "Mom, you only do housework at home. I want to live like you. "

"Oh, you think so?" Mrs. Brown says. "All right. You can live like me. " Then she asks Gina to make breakfast with bread, milk and eggs. It's easy for Gina. After breakfast, Mrs. Brown asks Gina to tidy up (整理) the room. About 11:00, Gina thinks, "Oh, it's not easy. " At about 12:00, Mrs. Brown asks Gina to make chicken, rice and salad for lunch. After lunch, Gina wants to watch TV. But Mrs. Brown asks her to wash shoes. At about 3:30 in the afternoon, Gina says to Mrs. Brown, "Mom, can you help me wash them?"

"Oh, I can't. You say you want to live like me. But you know, no one helps me with housework, " says Mrs. Brown.

"OK, Mom. It's boring to do housework. And it's not easy. Now, I want to study my subjects. "

My name is Liu Jing. I am a middle school student. I have some interesting things to do in the next three months.

On 27th April 2022, NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins made history as she entered space on a SpaceX rocket. Dr Watkins is now the first black woman to serve on a long-term mission (任务) to the International Space Station(ISS).

Jessica is not only an astronaut, but also a geologist(地质学家). She was a member of the planning team for several of NASA's Mars missions. Her knowledge of geology helped decide rovers' paths on Mars.

In 2017, Jessica began a two-year programme to become a NASA astronaut. It helped her to prepare for her work in space. As part of that work, she took part in an underwater training mission. She lived in an underwater lab for nearly two weeks.

Jessica and the three other astronauts will spend six months on the ISS. Their job includes a number of scientific experiments. They will also help take care of the space station.

Before Jessica, only four other black women had gone on short-term missions into space. "I'm building on the foundation(基础) laid by them," said the astronaut. She hopes her work will set a good example for all children, especially black children. "You are well able to go on space missions and to achieve success!"

Big Data and You

Big data（数据） is a lot of sets of information that are put together so they can be used by a computer program. The computer program looks for different kinds of answers or patterns（模式） in the data. Big data can have different kinds of information from many sources, such as information that comes from schools, social media（媒体）sites, companies, and governments. One set of data can have people's names and addresses. Another set can have what they like, where they go, and how much time they spend on the computer.

Big data can be used in many ways. The government uses it to understand how many people travel on buses or trains. This information is then used to make bus or train systems better. Some schools use big data to understand which children may need extra（额外的）help in class. The teachers can then give certain students more help or support so those students can succeed in school. Companies use big data, too. It helps them understand who buys their products. For example, one company uses weather data to see when people eat the most ice cream.

Big data can be used for good reasons. Some hospitals use big data to predict（预测）if a baby who was born too early will get sick. The hospital can then take extra steps to take care of that baby so he or she does not get sick. Big data can also be used for bad reasons. It can be used to predict which kinds of people are likely to break the law or hurt others even if they have not done anything wrong.

How can big data be used for good and bad things? It is because the computer programs used to look at big data and understand it are written by people. People think in a certain way. Because they think a certain way, they build a model of those ideas. These ideas are then used to look at the data. Sometimes, these ideas are helpful for people or businesses. Other times, bad ideas can cause problems for certain groups of people.

Should children do housework? Different people have different ideas. Some parents will say that their children are too busy for housework. Other parents will ask their children to do housework，but the housework doesn't get done. That's a problem. 

Doing housework is good for children. Doing housework helps them develop an awareness of the needs of others. One small study，done over a period of 25 years，found that young adults will succeed in their mid﹣20s depend on whether they took part in housework tasks at the age of 3 or 4. Those who early shouldered responsibilities developed a sense of responsibility in other areas of their lives. 

But few kids are doing much around the house at all. In a survey of 1，000 American parents，75 percent said they believed doing housework made kids" more responsible". Yet only 36 percent of those said they required their children to do housework. 

Sports and homework are not the housework﹣free reasons. The goal，after all，is to raise a kind of adults who can balance a caring role in their families and communities. Housework teaches that balance. 

What should you do when getting children to do housework? Never accept their excuses. Don't worry if you must repeat yourself again and again. If you're spending more time getting the child to do housework than it would take to do it yourself，then you're doing it right. Can a payment help?I don't think so. If you're trying to teach kids to shoulder the responsibility of a home，paying them for housework is not the right choice.