A long time ago, people thought that the Sun went round the Earth. In some countries people even said that the Sun was a god (神). They thought the god drove across the sky each day on a golden horse. Now we know the Earth goes round the Sun. It takes the Earth a year to go all way round the Sun. Today men even know how far it is for the Earth to go round the Sun. They tell us that the Earth travels over a thousand miles a minute on its journey round the Sun.

    The Sun is really a star. It is much bigger than the Earth and it is very hot. Some people have been to the Moon but we know that no one can ever go to the Sun. It is far too hot for people to live anywhere near it. The Sun is about three hundred thousand times heavier than the Earth and more than a million times larger.

    Life in the future will be different from life today. Between then and now many changes will take place. But what will the changes be?

    The population is growing fast. There will be many people in the world and most of them will live longer than people live now.

    Computers will be much smaller and more useful, and there will be at least one in every home. And computer studies will be one of the most important subjects in schools then. People will work for fewer hours than they do now and they will have more free time for sports, watching TV and travelling. Travelling will be much cheaper and easier. And many more people will go to other countries for holidays.

    There will be changes in our food, too. More land will be used for building new towns and houses for all the people. Then there will be less room for cows and sheep, so meat will be more expensive. Maybe no one will eat it every day. Instead, they will eat more fruit and vegetables. Maybe people will be healthier. Work in the future will be different, too. Robots will do dangerous and hard work. Because of this, many people will not have enough work to do. This will be a problem.

What will life in the future be like? And what will we be able to do in the future? 

Genetic engineering (基因工程) may help us make the perfect human. Babies may grow up to play basketball like Yao Ming. Also, we may be able to bring the dead back to life. Maybe people will be able to meet and talk with their dead family members. 

Over the next 20 to 50 years, it will become harder to tell (分辨) if a person is dead or alive. Perhaps humans will be able to make copies of ourselves, so we will appear to be alive long after we are dead. Humans may be able to find ways of putting the life of a person into a new body. 

Nanobots (纳米机器人) will be important. We will use them when we are sick. For example, when we have a stomachache, we will swallow (吞下) a nanobot and it will tell the doctor what's happening in our stomachs by taking a video with its camera. 

In the future, computers may have feelings. They may be able to think better than us. We may be more and more interested in computers and spend all our time in front of computers. Perhaps we will forget our real needs. Perhaps we will weigh 250 kgs!

Our school will hold an English Week. We can communicate with others about the English learning methods there. What's more, we're sure they will help you learn English more easily and with more fun!

I was born in Pittsburgh, a city in the east of the US. With its over 400 1 , the city is sometimes called the "City of Bridges".

Pittsburgh is a big city with a 2 of about 2.3 million. About fifty years ago, there were many steel factories (钢厂) in the city, so people today still 3 it the "Steel City". Times were 4 after the factories closed, and streets were dirty in the past, but now the streets become very5 with modern theaters, shops, and restaurants on them.

Pittsburgh is surrounded (环绕) by hills where you can 6 great views of the city. Many artists, 7 Linda Barnicott and Andy Warhol, loved the beautiful views very much and made lots of great paintings. You can find them in the museums in the city. My favourite painting is Linda Barnicott's My Hometown.

I 8 from Pittsburgh to another city ten years ago but I often 9 now. I miss the people. They are funny and friendly, and I 10 the mountains to the east of the city. I also miss my favourite park, The Point. I often remember the good days when I played games with my friends there.