Is your TV connected to the Internet? What about your chair, or your fridge? Probably they are not. But in the future, most things in your home may be connected, thanks to the so-called "Internet of things".

    The Internet of things may be coming sooner than you think. Earlier this year, A Samsung CEO spent a lot of time talking about the Internet things. He said that five years from now, every Samsung product will be part of the Internet of things, no matter whether it's a remote control or a washing machine.

    So, how do household(家用的) objects that are part of the Internet of things work? Well, think of a common chair. When connected to the Internet, the chair warms up when it knows the user has just walked into the room and is feeling cold.

    An Internet-connected camera could help people feel safer in their homes. It can know people's faces and has an infrared sensor(红外传感器), so even if it's dark it can see when someone passes by and send you a message on your smartphone to let you know who's there. If the person is someone you don't know, it can tell you that, too.

    But according to MIT Technology Review, whether companies are connecting dog food bowls or security systems to the Internet, there may be some problems. For example, many early connected-home objects don't have much built-in security, which means they could be hacked(被黑客攻击). Moreover, it could be difficult to get these new machines to work together especially when they are made by different companies. To fight this, many companies have joined the Open Interconnect Consortium, which had 45 members by late 2014.

    So, picture this: you enter your home. The temperature changes to make you feel comfortable. Your favorite music starts playing for you. Do you think that this would be a good thing? It may happen sooner than you think.

A

    Air pollution is one of the most common types of pollution in the world nowadays. It is quite serious in many places, especially in big cities. It can do great harm to our environment such as making the earth warmer, causing acid rain or destroying the ozone layer. As for human beings, air pollution causes all kinds of breathing problems.

    There are several reasons for air pollution. Firstly, many cities have a lot of factories and there we need to make food, clothing and other things. Every year these factories pour millions of tons of smog into air. Secondly, power factories can also give out harmful air. For example, in 1986 there was a bad accident at a nuclear power station in Russia. A cloud of radiation crossed the whole Europe. It is said that 125,000 people died in Russia as a result of illnesses caused by this accident. Thirdly, there are more cars in cities now. Once they are out in the streets, they will take in fresh air and give out dirty gas. Besides, smoking cigarettes also makes air pollution worse as will as damaging(损害) our health.  

    In many high schools, there are strict rules about using mobile phones. If your phone rings in class, for example, the teacher will be very angry.

    Every mobile phone has a ringtone (铃声). It tells you that someone is calling you. Now, there is a ringtone called “mosquitotone (蚊子铃声)”.

    Mosquitotone has a special sound. Only children and teenagers can hear it. As we get older, we are unable to hear some sounds with high frequencies (频率). As a result, a child or teenager can hear the mosquitotone ringtone, but someone of 20 or older can't.

    But sometimes, people over 20 can hear the ringtone. One British student's phone uses mosquitotone. In class, the student's phone rang. The 22-year-old teacher looked at the student and became unhappy. “I heard that. You know the rule：no mobile phone in class. ”

    Not all the students are interested in mosquitotone. Jerry Jones, a high school student of 17, says, “Using mosquitotone too often is bad for our hearing. I may use it for pleasure, but not in class. It's unfair(不公平的) to the teachers！”

    What do parents think of mosquitotone？“I think it is perfect for places like movie theaters,” says Connie Neeson, 44. “Think about it. You're watching a film and someone's mobile phone rings. Mosquitotone is good because many people don't hear it. However, it also has a bad influence（影响） on their study if students use it in class. ”

C

    Where can you learn about the cultural relies(文物)of our country? You may visit museums or read books, but now a CCTV show may give you a more fun way to learn about them.

    The show is called National Treasure, it has 10 episodes (集) it shows 27treasures from 9 museums across China. In order to make ancient culture relics come alive, the show uses different ways to explain the story history and culture behind them.

    Although it's a show about old relics, it looks modern and technical(技术的). An IMAX-sized LED sired screen on the stage shows the treasures in detail.

    The treasures are presented(呈现) by National treasure keepers(守护者), both famous people and common people. Instead of just telling the stories and history behind the treasures, the show invites famous actors to be national treasures keepers. And they act out, this stories on the stage. The actors even use the funny words to make their performances interesting and alive. For example, on the show, actor wang Kai played Emperor Qianlong TV viewers loved his performances.

    While telling the stories behind the treasures, National treasure keepers also tell their own stories. For example, an old man named Qiu Qingnian is good at making natural paints for repairing ancient paintings. For many years he has been looking for mines(矿) deep inside mountains. On the TV program, he shows TV viewers how to make natural paints.

    The show has become widely popular with its interesting plots(情节), good performances and funny words. It has promoted (推广)ancient cultural relics and has encouraged more people to visit museums.

    I'm sure you all know how important recycling is. Recycling is when you take old things and turn them into new things. It sounds like magic. But it's actually very scientific.