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You Can Make a Windsock(风筒)

    Have you ever seen a windsock blowing in the wind? Well, you can make one of your own! This is a fun project that you can do with things you may have. You just need to follow a few easy steps.

You will need:

●one piece of heavy colored paper   ●five ribbons

●strong tape       ●a string

●a pencil

What to do:

Step 1: Draw pictures on the paper. You can write your name on it. Do anything that will make it special to you.

    Step 2: Make the paper into the shape of a tube. Hold one of the shorter edges(边缘) over the other. Then make them together with the tape at each end and in the middle.

Step 3: Use a pencil to make a hole into both sides of the tube. The holes should be only on one end of the tube. Pull the string through both holes. Then tie the ends of the string together.

    Step 4: Now make five holes around the top of the other end of the tube.Put a ribbon through each of the holes. Tie a knot in the ends.

    Make sure the knots are bigger than the holes.

    Now your windsock is ready to use, but how does it work? The shape of the tube plays an important part. Wind blows through the tube and makes it fly and dance around. Hold the windsock up in the air by its string and run around. It will fly behind you. You can also hang it outside and watch it dance around on its own!

    People have always wanted to know what our future will look like. Go on reading this text, and you will know what will happen in the next fifty years.

    How can we know what the future will look like? To be able to understand the future, you have to know the past, what has taken us to where we are today and what has changed along the way? The world has changed a lot in the last 150 years, but people are driven by the same basic needs as they were 150 years ago. Will this change in the next 150 years? No.

    What inventions have really made a different in the last 150 years? In the past years, the inventions that have changed most people's everyday life are telephone, radio, television, computer, the car and the internet. Then we of course have a lot of inventions that have made life easier, like new medicine, faster cars, trains, etc. In general, people have been working hard in the last 150 years to make inventions that will make the world a better place. Since there is still much to do in the area, this will be important for at least the next 150 years.

    Why do we need to guess the future? Guessing the future is important for two reasons: First, we need to start to think about what kind of future we would like for ourselves and our children. And then we need to know what decisions we need to make today that will give us the best future.

E

    Maybe you know floods, earthquakes, sandstorms and so on. But did you hear of typhoons(台风)?

    Typhoons are some of the worst storms, usually around the Pacific Ocean（太平洋） and the South China Sea. Most happen in July, August and September.

    How does a typhoon happen? When lots of sea water gets hot in the summer sun, it evaporates （蒸发）into the air. This makes the air hotter. When the air gets warm enough, it starts to move higher up into sky. Then cooler air around it rushes in. It fills the space that is left. After the air gets warmer, it starts to move quickly, making wind. The wind goes in circles（圆圈）and it keeps moving higher in the sky. The warmer the air gets, the quicker the wind moves. And when the wind moves faster than 30 meters a second, a typhoon begins.

    A typhoon has two parts, one is called the “eye”. In the eye, the wind does not move so fast. The other part is the wall of clouds around the eye. Here are the strongest winds and hardest rains.

    Typhoons are very dangerous. In November this year, Typhoon Haiyan killed 5500 people in Philippines. More people are missing（消失）.

    What to do when a typhoon hits（袭击）?

⒈Stay inside. Close all the windows and stay away from them.

⒉Try to bring all of your things inside. Strong winds could even blow away your bikes!

⒊Listen to the radio or TV for important information.

⒋If you're told to go to a safer place, do it right now.

    Many scientists believe our love of sugar may actually be an addiction (上瘾). When we eat or drink sugary foods, the sugar enters our blood and influences parts of our brain that make us feel good. Then the good feeling goes away, leaving us wanting more. All tasty foods do this, but sugar has a particularly strong effect. In this way, it is in fact addictive, and doctors suggest we all cut down on it.

    "It seems like every time I study an illness, I find my way back to sugar," says scientist Richard Johnson. One-third of adults worldwide have high blood pressure (血压), and up to 347 million have diabetes (糖尿病). Why? "Sugar, we believe, is one of the reasons, if not the main reason," says Johnson.

    Our bodies are designed to survive on very little sugar. Early humans often had very little food, so our bodies learned to keep sugar as fat. In this way, we had energy stored for when there was no food. But today, most people have more than enough. So the very thing that once saved us may now be killing us.

    So what is the solution? It's obvious that we need to eat less sugar. The trouble is, in today's world, it's extremely difficult to avoid. From breakfast cereals to after-dinner desserts, our foods are increasingly filled with it. Some manufacturers (制造商) even use sugar to replace taste in foods that are advertised as low in fat. This may make the food appear as healthier, but large amounts of sugar are often added.

    But there are those who are fighting back against sugar. Many schools are offering more fruit instead of deserts. Other schools are building facilities for students to do exercise. The battle has not yet been lost.

    One American university uses a robot as a teacher to help students with their problems. And none of the students knew that was a robot at the beginning!

    Jill Watson, a robot made in that university, helps the students a lot. When answering their questions, Jill seems to be an excellent teacher. She can give wonderful answers quickly. She sounds natural and usually says good words.

    When someone told the students that their "teacher" was a robot, they all got very surprised.

    "How was it possible? I was talking to a robot?" said Bailey, "She sounds like a common teacher." Another student Jennifer told the newspaper, "We are thinking about choosing Jill Watson to be our best teacher. She is really helpful,"

    Now many students like to ask questions on their school's website. It usually takes teachers too much time to answer them. So the university had such an idea of making Jill Watson. It's a faster way to help the students with their problems.

    Jill can quickly find possible answers in her own computer to the questions and make sure they are all right. After that, she tells the students in an electronic voice that sounds like a famous actress.