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, Samsung CEO spent a lot of time talking about the Internet things. He said that four 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 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（安全）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. 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 2015.

    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.

    Many objects in the universe are invisible, but they send radio waves. The radio telescope* thus appeared, and it is considered one of the greatest inventions in the twentieth century. Reber built the world's first radio telescope in 1937. Ryle and Hewish developed radio telescope systems for the location of weak radio sources, and they shared the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1974.

    A radio telescope is usually made up of:

    One or more antennas to collect the radio waves. Most antennas are made in the shape of a dish to collect and reflect, the radio waves to the sub—reflector, in the same way as a curved mirror focuses visible light to one point.

    A receiver and amplifier to receive the radio waves from the sub—reflector, and make these weak radio waves strong enough to be recorded and turned into electronic signals. To make an amplifier sensitive enough, it is usually cooled to, very low temperatures (e. g. as low as —270℃）.

    A recorder to keep a record of the electronic signals. Most radio telescopes today keep the signals to the computer's memory disk for astronomers to analyze later.

    Radio wavelengths are much longer than those of visible light, and the radio waves from deep space are always weak. To catch Radio wavelengths are much longer than those of visible light, and the radio waves from deep space are always weak. To catch these waves, radio telescopes usually have huge antennas. The sizes of most antennas in use today are around 50 to 300 metres in diameter. The antenna of FAST in Guizhou, China, the latest and largest radio telescope in the world, is 500 metres in diameter, as large as the size of 30 football fields.

    To avoid interferences, and keep the telescopes sensitive, radio telescopes are built in places where there are no human radio waves or electronic signals. For example, FAST is 5 kilometres away from the closest village and 25 kilometres away from the nearest town.

    Radio telescopes create pictures of the sky, not in visible light, but in radio waves. This is extremely useful, because there are objects that can't be seen, objects that we wouldn't even know without radio telescopes.

Alex is reading a book about AI (人工智能). He finds the book a little difficult

{#blank#}1{#/blank#} very interesting. Because the word AI is very popular now, he enjoys {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(read) the book very much. He has learned a new idea about AI after reading the book {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(careful).

When people ask AI a question, it answers the question {#blank#}4{#/blank#} a very short time. So people may feel that AI can think and answer questions like human beings. Before Alex reads this book, he {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (believe) this too.However, this book says it will never happen.Actually, AI only uses a lot of information to get a much {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(good) answer. When it has more information, {#blank#}7{#/blank#} answer will be much closer to the perfect one. AI technologies will be clever {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(tool) for human beings to use.

This book also says almost half of the jobs will {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(do) by AI technologies in the near future. People will soon find more AI technologies in {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(we) lives, such as checking the tickets, the prices, people's faces and finger prints. Alex believes that we will have much happier lives with these AI technologies around us.

A 13-year-old American has made a cheap machine that can help blind people read.

The blind can read by using Braille —- a system of small bumps(隆起物) that the blind touch to read the letters. The machine that makes these small bumps usually costs at least $2, 000. It is called Braille writer. The American schoolboy, Shubham Banerjee, made a new Braille writer from a Lego tool that lets people create robots. Banerjee has called his new machine the Braigo — a combination(组合) of the words Braille and Lego. It costs just $350. It works by changing electronic text into Braille and then printing it with computer or mobile machine.

Baneryee designed(设计) his Braigo last year for a school science exhibition. Since then. he has caught the interest of Silicon Valley in the US.

The big technology company Intel spent money on Banerjee's machine last November, but they did not say how much money they put in. Banerjee also got $35, 000 from his father to help him start the project. His father works as a computer engineer(工程师) at Intel. He spoke about why he gave so much money to his son, saying, "We as parents started to be interested more, thinking that he's on to something and this invention has to continue." Banerjee told the AP News, "My dream would probably be having most of the blind people.. using my Braigo."

Do you like a small plant? The study shows that a small plant can improve our memory (记忆力) and make us happier. Even the small plants on your desk may have a more effect on you than you might realize. The small plants can help you to think more clearly. Studies have shown that the small plants could improve your concentration (注意力) by up to 20% and improve your ability to remember information by 15-20%. Plants can also reduce CO₂ and improve air quality.

"CO₂ should not pass 1,000 parts per million in the classroom." Doctor Zhang in the Health and Safety Center said. He said this level can cause headache and even lead to poorer decision-making. Studies have shown that sometimes indoors plants can reduce CO₂ from 2,000ppm to about 480ppm in less than one hour. Plants can increase happiness because there is endorphins (内啡肽) in humans. The shape, color, smell, feel and taste of plants can cheer us up and improve our memories.

A neighborhood party is a great way to raise money for a charity. You can also celebrate a holiday or get to know some {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (陌生人) in your neighborhood.

 Before you begin, you first need to work out where to have the party. Community centers or your {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(私密的) garden are often available for it. It could be a public and {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(方便的) place like a park or a street.

 Next, ask your friends and neighbors who are {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(有耐心的) to help. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (幽默的) volunteers are important for making sure the party runs successfully. Get plenty of people to help tell others about the {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(地址) of the party, set up the party, and finally clean up after the party. All the volunteers take {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(骄傲、自豪) in all the work they do.

During the party, many activities are organized for kids so that they can enjoy {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(他们自己). At most parties, people also like to {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(放置) out some food and drinks. The best parties are when everyone brings something to share. There's no better way to bring the community together and spread love and joy than to throw a party! It's really a special time to {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(联系) with their neighbors.