New Energy in the Twenty-first Century

Energy from wind

    Wind is a kind of clean energy, and there is lots of it, but, if there's no wind, there is no wind energy.

Energy from the water

    When water from a high place to a lower place, it can make electricity（电） without pollution. However, people have to build dams（水坝） to use this energy, and building dams is very expensive.

Energy from the earth

    There is heat in the rocks under the earth. Scientists use the beat to make geothermal（地热的） energy. This kind of energy is cheap and clean, but it is only possible in a few places in the world.

Energy from the sun

    Solar panels（太阳电池板） on the roofs of house can tum energy from the sun into electricity. Solar power is clean and plentiful（丰富的）. When the weather is bad, it doesn't work.

    Sun bears(马来熊)are the smallest of the world's eight bears species(物种). They have a black coat and a white or golden colour on their bodies. Their homes are in the tropical(热带雨林)of Southeast Asia. They live in trees and eat both plants and animals. They can grow to be 1.4 metres in height and 65 kilograms in weight. They usually live alone and are happy to spend most of their time by themselves.

    Scientists studied sun bears in the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Center. They found that although sun bears live alone, they have developed a surprising social skill. They can copy (模仿) other sun bear's facial expression (面部表情) as a form of communication. They can even copy exact muscular (肌肉的) movements that other sun bears make— such as making a face.

    The ability to copy facial expressions is found in humans, gorilla's (大猩猩), some monkeys and some other animals. But until now, only humans and gorillas have the ability to exactly copy facial expressions. However, scientists found that sun bears can copy facial expression as well as humans and gorillas. This surprised them because sun bears are alone and they have no close relationship with human beings.

    Although they live alone in the wild, the sun bears in the study often played gently with each other. Sometimes they played with faster actions as hitting and biting. Scientists are still not sure what messages the sun bears were sending to one another.

    Imagine one day, the water taps (水龙头) in your house stop running. You have to buy water from shops. And still there isn't enough for everyone. Your mother has to save the family's shower water to do other things. Would you be able to stand that kind of life?

    Probably not. But that's what kids in Yemen are experiencing. Experts said Yemen is going to be the first country in the world to run out of water. According to a report, the capital, Sana, will run out of drinking water as early as 2025.

    Because of the shortage, the government often cuts the water supply(供应). Hannan, an 18-year-old from Lahej, told Times, "In a good week we'll have a water supply all week. But then the following week there will be water only for a day or two."

    Hannan said only rich people have enough water to use. They can buy water from the shops or from the water trucks. Private companies own the trucks. They travel around the city every day to sell water—at very high prices. "A lot of people can't afford it," she said.

    The average(平均) person in Yemen uses 100 to 200 cubic(立方) meters of water per year. That is far below the international water poverty(贫困) line of 1,000 cubic meters.

    The government is thinking of making use of seawater. But it will cost a lot and it may not happen soon enough to help the people of Yemen.

    Clothes are traditionally made of natural materials, such as cotton, leather and wool. They are all from plants or animals, but that doesn't mean they're friendly to the earth. For example, farmers have to use a lot of chemicals to grow cotton plants.

    Scientists are now looking for new ways to make clothing materials. They hope the new materials are both comfortable and good for the earth. Scientists have worked out how to make materials out of cornhusks (谷壳), chicken feathers and rice straws.

    "They used to be useless things. We always have a problem of how to deal with them," Yang, a scientist says. "Now, we can turn them into beautiful materials. Chicken feathers are better than other things. They have small air pockets like honeycombs. That means it will be very warm if you use them to make a jacket or sweater, and I think more and more people will like to buy these kinds of clothes."

Since 2011, the Shanghai Peking Opera Company has held two seasons of "Youth Runway", a long-term opera development project hoping to find young opera talents (天才). 118 young performers have successfully showed 200 plays and classical (经典的) pieces. Most of them were born between 1995 and 2000, making them the company's newest p{#blank#}1{#/blank#}. They will show both classical and new plays in many different styles (风格).

"The Butterfly Lovers", one of the plays this spring, is changed from a s{#blank#}2{#/blank#} love story between a young poor man, Liang Shanbo, and Zhu Yingtai, the daughter of a rich family. They return as butterflies after their death (死亡). Another one, "Twelve Roles", which was shown in the summer, largely gets its i{#blank#}3{#/blank#} from an American film "12 Angry Men". Yueju opera, which developed around 1906 in Shengzhou, Zhejiang Province, is one of China's most famous operas. In the o{#blank#}4{#/blank#} days, people loved it because of its styles of singing and melodies (旋律) . Now, it is getting a new life. The performing season for young performers is held in its fifth year and has its own characteristic. Moreover, the project worked with BesTV to c{#blank#}5{#/blank#} a Yueju opera short video series (系列) about the 24 solar terms (节气) of the traditional Chinese calendar.

Every year, the China Shanghai International Arts Festival p{#blank#}6{#/blank#} chances for traditional opera performers like Yueju talents to perform. Many traditional opera performers have got fans among students and young performers in recent (最近的) years by showing how they prepare for a concert (演唱会) and behind-the- scenes stories with mobile apps on video websites.

They t{#blank#}7{#/blank#} many ways to make traditional art forms attractive (有吸引力的) to today's youth, including (包括) the creation of short opera films and the use of popular melodies. "We believe that Xiqu (traditional opera) like Yueju can attract today's young people because it can be mixed with different art forms," says Chen Daming, a theater critic.

One of {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(important) things in the world is making friends. If you have a good friend, you are lucky.

A good friend is more necessary{#blank#}2{#/blank#}money or anything else in the world. You can be without money{#blank#}3{#/blank#}you can not be without friends. Sometimes only friends can help you, not money. For example, if you fall into water and you{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(can) swim, then only your friend can save you.

{#blank#}5{#/blank#} can we make friends in the right way? First, you must know the person you want to make friends {#blank#}6{#/blank#}. If you find he often tells lies, or he doesn't help others in trouble, you'd better{#blank#}7{#/blank#}make friends with him.

A good friend will be happy when you win. He will be sad when you fail. If you have some{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(question) about your studies, he will be quite happy{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(teach) you until you understand. If you want to have this kind of friend, you must try your{#blank#}10{#/blank#}(good) to be like this. If you do that, I'm sure you'll have many good friends.