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    One of the hottest places on Earth is Death Valley. It's a desert valley in North America. The animals in Death Valley don't use technology to keep cool. They have special abilities that help them live there.

    During the day in Death Valley, it gets hotter than 100°F. The kangaroo rat rests all day in a hole in the ground. It covers the hole with grass to keep out the heat. The kangaroo rat comes out at night when it is cooler. This little rat is also very good at saving water. It gets all the water it needs from the food it eats. The Sun makes the desert sand very hot. One snake, called the sidewinder, can solve this problem. When it travels, the sidewinder bends (弯曲) its body into a "W" shape. Then it uses the bottom parts of the "W" like legs and walks sideways (向一侧). That way it touches only a little of the sand at a time, so the hot sand doesn't bum the snake. This strange way of moving is how the sidewinder got its name.

    A lot of water in the desert is too salty for most animals to drink. One kind of fish, the desert pupfish, can live in these salty water because it can drink the salt water.

    It's almost that time of year again. Beijing held the "two sessions"(两会)in March. They are the National People's Congress (NPC, 全国人民代表大会)and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC, 中国人民政治协商会议).

    This year, the NPC opened on March 5 and the CPPCC began on March 3. How much do you know about the sessions? Read on to learn more.

    Q: What is the NPC?

    A: At school, every class has a class committee (班委会).The committee holds meetings to make decisions for the class and generally improve the classroom environment. The NPC does the same thing, but for the whole country.

    With nearly 3,000 deputies (代表), it is China's highest organ (机关)of state power. The deputies supervise (监督)the work that the government does. The deputies also make and change laws. Every five years, they vote for the leaders of the Chinese government.

    All of the NPC deputies are elected (选举).They use their power on behalf of (代表)the Chinese people. Any Chinese national who is over 18 can take part in an election. The term length for an NPC deputy is five years.

    Q: What is the CPPCC?

    A: Leaders need suggestions for what they should do for the country. It's like you're your friends give you advice on what to do with your life. The CPPCC does this for Chinese leaders. Its 2,000 members supervise the work of the government and give suggestions.

    The Communist Party of China (CPC) is China's ruling party (执政党), but there are also other political parties and organizations (组织). CPPCC members come from these parties and organizations. They are not elected like those of NPC but chosen by CPPCC. They include businessmen, teachers and even celebrities, such as Jackie Chan and Feng Xiaogang.

    Q: What are the biggest topics at this year's sessions?

    A: Attendees at this year's sessions discussed new prospects (前景)for the future. They set economic index (经济指标)targets for the year, such as what the GDP (国内生产总值)should be. They discussed environmental events, such as how to prevent groundwater pollution. In addition, they considered new efforts to fight corruption (腐败), according to Guangming Daily.

    The days of having to carry a phone charger(充电器) everywhere could soon be over. Researchers from America have made great progress in getting energy from human motion(运动). They say smartphones could get enough power just by the motion of fingers on the screen.

    The low-cost device(装置) has already been tested in an American university. Scientists successfully showed an LED touch screen, a total of 20 LED lights and a keyboard, all with a simple touching or pressing motion and without the help of a battery.

    "What I predicted is the possibility of not having to charge your smartphone for a whole week, for example, because that energy will be produced by your motion," said one of the researchers.

    The completed device is as thin as a piece of paper. Electrical energy is created when you press it. The device used to power the LED lights is the size of a hand while the device used to power the touch screen is as small as a finger.

    The device will become more powerful when folded. Each time you fold it, the energy you create will be doubled. You can start with a large device, but when you fold it once, and again, and again. It's now much smaller, but it has more energy. It may be small enough to put in a specially made heel(脚后跟) of your shoe so it can create power each time your heel knocks the ground. The researchers are also developing technology that would send the power produced from the heel strike to an earphone.

    Tigers are the largest wild cats in the world. They usually go out to hunt for food when it is dark. And they hunt alone most of time. When a tiger sees an animal, it moves quickly and then jumps on the animal to kill it. Sometimes it can take the tiger several days to finish eating its food. When the tiger is full, it will cover the dead animal with leaves. Later, when the tiger is hungry again, it comes back to eat some more.

    Tigers are different from others in the cat family. They like water and often jump into rivers to swim. Some tigers live in very cold places-in North Korea, Russia and China. Other tigers live in warmer places-in India and parts of Southeast Asia.

    But now all tigers are in danger. Some people kill tigers to use their skins for clothes, and their bodies for medicine. There is also less land for tigers to live on.

    Zheng He was an amazing man. He was born in 1371. Ten years later, he was caught by the army of a rich young man called Zhu Di and made to work for him. Over time the rich man saw that Zheng He was very clever and strong and they became close friends. In 1403 Zhu Di became the king of China and he asked Zheng He to join his government.

    The king wanted to learn more about the world and show other countries his power. He ordered many new ships to be built and made Zheng He their leader. Between 1405 and 1433, Zheng He led some sea trips to different parts of the world. He certainly travelled to India, Africa and the Middle East. A few people think his ships have even reached South America and Australia.

    Each trip lasted more than one year and it is believed he sailed more than 50,000 kilometres during the years of his travels. Zheng He led a fleet with about 28, 000 men and over 250 ships, such as boats for food, water and even soldiers horses.

    On these trips he took many Chinese goods like silk and medicine with him to give to foreign kings or to sell for local goods. He returned from each trip with boats which were filled with expensive things such as gold and treasures, foreign guests and strange animals like a giraffe.

    It is a pity that we may never learn everything about Zheng He's travels. The Columbus of the East, Zheng He, died in 1433. After that. The new king had these trips stopped and he burned almost all the books about Zheng He's travels, because he believed the trips were unlucky and too expensive. It is only in the last 50 years that historians have begun to carefully study the adventures of great Zheng He.