Soon computers and other machines will be able to remember you by looking at your eyes! The programme works because everyone's eyes are different. So in the future you won't have to remember a number when you want to use a machine or take money out of a bank. You'll just have to look at the machine and it will be able to tell who you are.
    The eye-recognition（识别）programme is already being tested in shops and banks in the USA, Britain, Spain, Italy and Turkey. Soon, this technology will take the place of all other ways of finding out who people are.
    However, scientists are working on other systems. Machines will soon be able to know you from the shape of your face or hand or even your smell! We already have machines that can tell who you are from your voice or the mark made by your finger.
    Eye-recognition is better than other kinds because your eyes don't change as you get older, or get dirty like hands or fingers. And even twins have different eyes, so the programme can be up to 94％ correct, depending on how good the technology is. Some programmes may only be right  51％ of the time. In Britain, it was found that 91％ of people who had tried it said that they liked the idea of eye-recognition. In the future your computer will be looking at you in the eye. So smile!

In Britain you're allowed to drive a car when you're seventeen. You have to get a special two-year driving license before you can start. When you're learning, someone with a full license always has to be in the car with you because you aren't allowed to drive the car on the road alone. You don't have to go to a driving school — a friend can teach you. The person with you isn't allowed to take money for the lesson unless he's got a teacher's license.
Before you're allowed to have a full license, you have to take a driving test. You can take a test in your own car, but it has to be fit for the road. In the test you have to drive round for about half an hour and then answer a few questions. If you don't pass the test, you're allowed to take it again a few weeks later if you want to. In 1970 a woman passed her fortieth test after 212 driving lessons! When you've passed your test, you don't have to take it again, and you're allowed to go on driving as long as you like. Britain's oldest driver was a man who drove in 1974 at the age of 100.
Before 1904 everyone was allowed to drive, even children. Then from 1904 car drivers had to have a license. But they didn't have to take a test until 1935. On the early days of car driving, before 1878, cars weren't allowed to go faster than four miles an hour, and someone had to lead the car with a red flag.

Flying kites —a popular hobby

People have been making and flying kites for about 2,000 years. No one knows for sure who invented the kite. Some historians (历史学家) believe the ancient Chinese might start the kite flying 2,000 years ago. And now it is still a popular hobby in China, Japan, Korea and other countries of the Far East where beautifully decorated kites appear in different colors. In China, there is even a special Kites Day on which children and adults fly kites. In Japan, families fly fish kites on Children's Day, May 5th.

    Simple kites are made by crossing two sticks and covering them with paper or cloth. And then people put a string at the end.

    Kites are made in many different sizes, colors and shapes. A flat kite is the oldest and simplest type of kite. It flies because air flows over and under the kite's wings. The pressure under the wings helps the kite lift into the air.

    Today most people fly kites as a hobby. Kite festivals are organized in many parts of the world.

    In the eyes of many foreigners, Chinese are the best hosts(主人) and the worst guests in the world. They're not really bad guests, but because the guest- host relationship in China is much more different than in some Western countries, it appears they are not nice guests. And Western hosts sometimes look rude (粗鲁的) in the eyes of Chinese guests.

    In China, guests are almost likes gods. Whenever I enter a Chinese person's home, there is always fruit on the table for me, and someone is quick to bring me a cup of tea or water. In the West, generally the guest is not a god. Acting according to the host's way of doing things is usual behavior for a guest.

    My wife's mother, a very kind elderly Chinese lady, doesn't smoke. When I see some of her guests smoking in her house, as a non - smoker, I feel unhappy. Usually I want to stop them directly ( 直接地), but I must realize that in China, to be a good host, she must not do that. In North American homes, if you are a guest, and the hosts are not smokers, you should not smoke in their house. At the very least, you could ask, "Is it OK if I smoke?" But, don't be surprised if they say, "No, you can't smoke." In our culture, if you smoke in their home, you are a bad guest, but if they do not allow you to smoke in their house, they are not a rude host.

    Guests in China also have special habits. Some Western people may not adapt to these habits very soon. Thankfully my wife is Chinese, so whenever we visit a Chinese family she tells me to buy them a gift. However, giving a gift to a host is not always necessary in my country. So, if you invite international guests to your house, don't be too surprised if they don't bring you a gift.

    In China, you probably won't need to change the guest -host relationship very much because you will probably only be the host, and Chinese are naturally very good hosts. If Western hosts invite you to their house, try not to be too surprised if their style of treating you is not what you have expected.

    From a plane we can see the fields, cities, mountains or seas below. If we go into space, we see more and more of the Earth. People and man-made satellites have been sent out into space to observe the Earth carefully and people have learnt mire about the Earth in the last few years.

    The sea looks very beautiful when the Sun is shining on it. But it can be very terrible when there is a strong wind.

    The sea is very huge. It nearly covers three quarters of the Earth. The sea is also very deep in some places. There is one place where the sea is about 11 kilometers in depth. The highest mountain is the world is about 9 kilometers high. If that mountain was put into the sea at that place, there would be still 2 kilometers of water above it!

    In most parts of the sea, there are many kinds of fishes and plants. Some live near the top of the sea. Others live deep down. There are also a lot of small living things, and quantities of fishes live by eating them.

    The sea can be very cold. When people go down, the sea becomes colder and colder. Only some men could go down into the deep sea at first. But in 1970, five women scientists lived in the deep sea for fourteen days.