The sun, the moon and the stars are all in the sky. We see the moon and the stars at night. The sun is a ball. It's much bigger than the moon. It gives us heat (热量). The sun has a family. It's the biggest member of the family. The moon is a ball, too, like the sun and the earth. Sometimes it looks as round as a plate (盘子). Sometimes it looks half a plate. It looks bigger because it's much nearer to the earth. It's much smaller than the sun. It's smaller than the stars. The light (光) on the moon comes from the sun. It has no light of its own.

    The stars look smaller than the sun. They look small because they are very far away from us. All day the stars are in the sky. But the light from the sun is too bright. We can't see the stars in the day.

    Life in the future will be different from life today. Between then and now many changes will happen. But what will the changes be?

    The population is growing fast. There will be many people in the world and most of them will live longer than people live now.

    Computers will be much smaller and more useful, and there will be at least one in every room. And computer studies will be one of the most important subjects in schools then. People will work fewer hours than they do now and they will have more free time for sports, watching TV and travels. Travelling will be much cheaper and easier. And many more people will go to other countries for holidays.

    There will be changes in our food too. More land will be used for building new towns and houses for all the people. Then there will be less room for cows and sheep, so meat will be more expensive. Maybe no one will eat it every day. Instead they will eat more fruit and vegetables. Maybe people will be healthier. Work in the future will be different too. Robots will do dangerous and hard work. Because of this, many people will not have enough work to do. This will be a problem.

World Bee Day falls on May 20 every year. And we have been celebrating this day {#blank#}1{#/blank#} 2018. This day reminds the importance of bees and beekeeping. Bees play a role in keeping people and the planet healthy. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} few people know how helpful these little insects are. Bees pollinate（为……授粉）about 75 percent of the world's crops. The insects help to keep the balance between life forms and their environment. 

However, scientists say there {#blank#}3{#/blank#} more challenges for bees today. They include climate change, illness and habitat（栖息地） loss. According to the United Nations, about one million bee species are dying out. 

What can we do to {#blank#}4{#/blank#} bees then? Well, you don't have to be a beekeeper to protect them. Here are some easy choices. You can grow more bee-friendly {#blank#}5{#/blank#} and other plants. Don't cut the grass or use pesticides（杀虫剂） too often. Instead, let the plants grow wild. This way, you can make a more bee-friendly environment! 

The abacus is called suanpan in Chinese. It is an important part of {#blank#}1{#/blank#}（tradition） Chinese culture and it is known as China's{#blank#}2{#/blank#} （five） great invention. People in the past {#blank#}3{#/blank#}（use） the abacus to count at a higher speed so it could be called "the {#blank#}4{#/blank#} （old） computer in the world". 

It is necessary for you {#blank#}5{#/blank#} （know） how to use the abacus correctly. It usually has more than seven rods （杆子）. There {#blank#}6{#/blank#} （be） two beads （算珠） on each rod in the upper deck （层） and five beads each in the bottom. The beads are usually round and made {#blank#}7{#/blank#} wood. We count the beads by moving them up or down towards the beam （横梁）. You can count value if you move them toward the beam. {#blank#}8{#/blank#} ，if you move them away the beam，you can't count their value. The abacus can be reset （重置） to the starting position quickly. That is，you can start to count again {#blank#}9{#/blank#} （easy）. Today，the use of abacus {#blank#}10{#/blank#}（teach） in some schools as part of math. And some people，especially the old，still prefer an abacus to a computer when they count. 

The end of the year is drawing near, and winter is in full activity. The season brings along with its strong winds and snow — an environment that's never comfortable to be in.

 This unpleasant and even frightening part of winter can be often seen in literature. In Shakespeare's King Lear (1606), the king has given away his kingdom and been driven out by his two ungrateful daughters. He is out in the winter cold, suffering (遭受痛苦) things that are usually saved for the poorest and most unlucky human beings.

The winter is bad enough for Lear, but being driven out by his family is worse. A song from another Shakespeare's play, As You Like It(1599), is fitting for this poor old man's situation: "Blow, blow, thou winter wind/Thou art not so unkind/As man's ingratitude (忘恩负义)". Here, winter is used to bring out the ugliness of inhumanity (无人性). There aren't many things that are worse than winter, according to Shakespeare.

Once winter became less of a danger to human beings, it became more positive in literary works. Since Charles Dickens, the representation of the season in literature often has something to do with happy Christmas celebrations.

The cold of the winter weather provides a contrast (对比) to the fun going on indoors.

Dickens' A Christmas Carol (1843) was the start of this, but Christmas is still a common, cheery element (元素) in stories that feature winter scenes today. Consider the joy felt by Harry Potter and his friends in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997) as they sit down for their festive meal：

"Harry had never in all his life had such a Christmas dinner. A hundred fat, roast turkeys; mountains of roast and boiled potatoes; platters of chipolatas; tureens of buttered peas, silver boats of thick, rich gravy and cranberry sauce."

It is almost as much a pleasure to read about the meal as it might have been to eat it.

Although winter still isn't the most cheerful season in novels and poems, it's safe to say that writers have surely "warmed up" since Shakespeare's days.

Bamboo is a wonderful plant for many people around the world. There are over 1,000 uses for it. People make tables, clothes, medicine and musical instruments with it. Pandas may eat bamboo every day, and people can also eat it.

The fastest growing plant in the world is bamboo. Some bamboo grows so quickly that people say they can watch it grow. The speed of growth depends on the type of bamboo, the earth and the season. Normal bamboo grows 3-10 cm a day. It usually grows in tropical (热带的) areas. It can also be found in other parts of the world. Bamboo plants are found in Asia, Australia, parts of Africa and South America.

    ▲    Like today, people use it because ifs very strong. They use it to build houses, boats and bridges. The Chinese made a bamboo bridge over the Min River in Sichuan, China almost 1,000 years ago. You can still visit it today. Also, bamboo is still used to build houses today, especially in China and Philippines.

As a part of history, bamboo is very important. The great scientist Thomas Edison did not invent the light bulb (灯泡), but he made it perfect. He wanted the material inside to bum for a long period of time. He tried over 1,000 different types of materials. However, none worked very well. One day, he tried to use a piece of bamboo and the light bulb lit up for over a thousand hours. This invention helped other scientists to make the modern light bulb we use today.