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    On August 21st, 2016, our Chinese National Women's Volleyball Team won the gold medal at 2016 Rio Olympics, 12 years after the last gold medal. All of Chinese were so excited. Thanks to the great coach named Lang Ping whom Chinese people are so proud of. Lang Ping was born in Tianjin. She was once a volleyball player of the Chinese National Volleyball Team. They won the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Lang was seen as one of the most respected  people in modern Chinese sports history. Because of her excellent skills and main role in the success of the Chinese Women's Volleyball Team in the 1980s, she is known as the "Iron Hammer ".

    In 1995, Lang as a coach led the national team and guided them to win the silver medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. But in 2005, she became coach of the USA's women's team. In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Lang led the Americans to play against Chinese National Team. In 2013, Lang became coach of China again. It could be difficult to train for the Rio Olympics. In order to get ready for it, she tried her best to teach girls skills, and she is also friendly, just like girls' mother. They get on well with each other and work together. She encouraged them all the time and told them "never give up". In fact, everyone had a strong will for their dream. Now the dream really came true.

    Their success showed the world about their great spirit. Though the success did not come easily, they can make it. Lang is regarded as the most amazing star all the time.

    Do you know He Jiong? Lots of young people in our country know him and the programme Happy Camp.

    He Jiong was born in 1974. When He Jiong was in the high school, he was famous as a radio host(主持人). In 1990, he worked for Hunan Economy(经济) Radio. He began to study in Beijing Foreign Language University in 1992. After graduation in 1997, he worked in the university as a teacher. In 1998, he began to host a programme on Hunan TV. It's called Happy Camp. Stars from all over the country come to this programme. They tell their stories or play games with the viewers(观众). The programme is so popular that it wins many prizes.

    It was raining heavily as I was walking up the hill towards the station at six o'clock on a Saturday morning. Just as I was crossing the road near the top of the hill, a car came around the corner. It was traveling very fast. Suddenly it hit a lamp post (路灯杆) and turned over.

    I ran to the car to help the driver at once. He was badly hurt and there was a lot of blood on his face. Many people came to see what had happened and there was nothing we could do. A young woman hurried into the station and phoned for an ambulance (救护车). A policeman arrived a few minutes later and asked me a lot of questions about the accident. After a while the ambulance arrived and the driver was sent to the hospital.

    On Monday morning I went to the hospital to see the man. The doctor told me that he was much better, and he would leave the hospital after a few days' rest.

When thinking of the Arctic (北冰洋), some people may imagine an icy land of white snow. And other people may imagine it as the last really clean place left on Earth. In fact, we have polluted the deepest oceans with plastic rubbish, and now, CNN says, "It's the Arctic's turn."

German scientists have recently found microplastics in Arctic snow. Microplastics are pieces of plastic smaller than 5 millimeters. Sadly, the scientists found 1,800 pieces of microplastics per liter (升) of snow. That may cause terrible air pollution. 

How is plastic pollution reaching the Arctic? According to scientists, "It's clear that most of the microplastics in the snow come from the air. They fall off plastic objects and are moved by the wind. They mix with ice in the air and fall to the ground as snow."

Are they bad for us? We do know that our bodies cannot take in "large" pieces of microplastics. However, if the plastics are small enough, they can find ways into our bodies and stay there for a long time, which can be bad for our health. What's more, earlier studies have shown that microplastics may contribute to lung (肺) cancer risk. 

Microplastics have also been found in rivers and oceans around the world. Research has found that they flow over long distances and into our oceans, damaging (损坏) ecosystems along the way. When we wash clothes with plastic fibers (纤维), they start in our wastewater. The wastewater then flows into rivers and out to sea. They are eaten by sea animals there. If people then eat these animals, it means that we're eating the plastic as well.

When she was 14 years old, Remya Jose's life was turned upside down by a family crisis( 危机). 

Remya, who lived in a small village in India, learned that her mother was ill and her father would have to spend his time caring for her. As a result, she and her twin sister had to do most of the housework

— including washing clothes. To make things even more difficult, the Jose family couldn't afford an electric washing machine. Instead, the two girls would have to do the washing all by hand in the local river, and then carefully carry everything back to their home—a task that took several hours. 

Being a good student interested in engineering, Remya wanted to make a washing machine which could be used without electricity. She started studying electric washers to learn how they worked. Remya then designed(设计) a machine that used bicycle pedals(踏板) and chain. To find those items, she and her father went to a local auto shop. Workers there not only gave her the parts, they helped her make the machine!

Here's how the machine works: Remya used a cylinder(圆筒) to hold the clothes and put it in a cube( 立方体). Next, she connected the bicycle pedals and the chain to the cylinder. As Remya pushed the pedals with her legs, the cylinder cleaned the clothes just like a regular washing machine. 

Remya's invention worked! She had created her own human-powered washing machine—and now a task that used to take several hours took only 30 minutes. Remya's washing machine was chosen from among 25, 000 entries as India's best innovation! She was given India's National Award and honored by the nation's former president. 

The story of this young woman's creative invention was known around the world. 

"Remya Jose made a difference, " said Jeanine Thomas of The Borden Project, "Her invention saves time and money for the world's poor. Her story shows that with creativity, one individual can improve the lives of many. "