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    For many people of Norway(挪威), skiing(滑雪) is the best way to have fun in winter. Almost everyone can ski. Children learn to ski after they learn to walk. Long, long ago in Norway, there were no buses, trains or cars. People had to find a way to walk over the deep snow. Skis were the right answer!

    Although they love winter, the people of Norway are also happy to see summer come. They enjoy the out-door activities at any time of the year. In summer they swim and sunbathe near the beach. Some people go hiking and go mountain climbing. Sail-boating is also very popular during the warm sunny summer months.

    The Norwegians(挪威人), like people everywhere, find many in-door ways to have a good time. During the long winter they also enjoy movies. They like to read books from the libraries in all seasons. Family life is very important to the people of Norway.

    Is there intelligent（有智力的）life on other planets? For years, scientists said "no." or "we don't know." But today this is changing. Seth Shostak and Alexandra Barnett are astronomers（天文学家）. They believe intelligent life exists（存在）somewhere in the universe. They also think we will soon contact them.

    Why do Shostak and Barnett think intelligent life exists on other planets? The first reason is time. Scientists believe the universe is about 12 billion years old. "This is long enough for other planets to have intelligent life, "say Shostak and Barnett. The second reason is size the universe is huge. "Tools like the Hubble Telescope（哈勃望远镜）have shown that there are at least 100 billion galaxies, "says Shostak. "And our galaxy, the Milky Way, has at least 100 billion stars. Some planets going around these stars might be similar to the earth. "

    In the past, it was hard to look for signs of intelligent life in the universe. But now, powerful telescopes（高倍望远镜）allow scientists to discover smaller planets-the size of Mars or the earth-in other solar systems, these planets might have intelligent life.

    Have beings from space already visited the earth? "Probably not, "says Shostak. "It's a long way away. However, intelligent beings may contact us in other way, such as radio signals（信号）. In fact, they may be trying to communicate with us now, but we don't have the right tools to receive their messages. However, this is changing. By 2025, we could make contact with other life forms in our universe and we might help each other. "

    We all know that many women like to wear dresses. They enjoy many kinds of colourful and popular dresses. But have you ever heard of a 4D dress?

    Jessica Rosenkrantz in the USA used 3D printing technology to make a very special and new dress. It will help with the problems of different styles for women's dresses.

    The dress maker called the special dress a "4D dress". It is like the fabric(织物). It can turn into different kinds of shapes.

    The company, in Massachusetts, the USA, also made a smartphone and an app(应用软件). They can help women to control their dresses. If women use the phone and the app, they can change the colour, the style and many other things of the dresses. Isn't it very interesting?

    When she talked about her work, Jessica said, "There will be many more changeable dresses for women in the future. I am interested in making them too. I can't wait to make different kinds of new dresses for women."

    RIVER DOLPHIN RUNNING OUT OF TIME

The Yangtze dolphin is the only kind of dolphin that lives in freshwater all its life. Scientists say that the finless freshwater dolphin that has lived in the Yangtze River for over 20 million years, will die out in 15 years. It's in danger of disappearing forever.

    Dangers:

    Dredging(挖掘) of their habitat

    Heavy boat traffic in the Yangtze River

    Insecticide(杀虫剂) and mercury(汞)

    Every day there is less and less space on Earth for rubbish. Yet every day we make more and more rubbish. What can we do? We can recycle some of our rubbish. Recycling means that the rubbish will be made into something that can be used again.

    Recycling helps Earth. And it saves space in rubbish dumps. Half of everything that we put into landfills could be recycled instead. In fact, most things made of paper, metal, glass and plastic can be recycled.

    Paper can be broken into small pieces and made into new paper. Steel and aluminum cans(金属雄)can be melted down(熔化)and made into new cans. The same is true of glass bottles. This can be done over and over again. Recycling doesn't take as much energy as making these things the first time. So we can use less of Earth's fuel resources.

    Plastic can be melted down, too. Then it can be formed into park benches, playgrounds and so on. Some people call plastic the "wood" of the future. Things made of plastic will last about 400 years-even if they stay outside in the weather. No wood can do that!