Have you ever stayed in a hotel? Most Chinese hotels often provide guests with things like disposable(一次性) toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo and slippers. Many guests like the idea because they don't have to bring their own. But, if you travel to Beijing, remember to bring your own things. Starting from June, some hotels in Beijing will no longer provide guests with these disposable things. They want to ask people to use less disposable things.

    Many disposable things are made of plastic. People throw them away after only using them once. It is a waste of natural resources(资源) and is very bad for the environment. Do you know, one Chinese makes as much as 400kg of waste a year! Most of that waste comes from disposable things. In Beijing, people throw away about 19, 000 tons of plastic bags and 1, 320 tons of plastic lunch bowls every year! Plastic can take between 100 and 400 years to break down. So the less plastic we throw out, the better. So, wherever you travel, bring your own things and use them again and again.

    Back at home and at school, you can also do something, you can also do something to make our world a better place. Try to do these things in your daily life: Use cloth shopping bags, not plastic ones. After using a plastic bag, wash it out and let it dry. Then you can use it over and over again. Do not use paper cups. At your school canteen(食堂), use your own bowl and chopsticks instead of disposable ones.

    To protect our environment and our home, it is very necessary and important for us to save natural resources(资源).

    The computers changed our lives in the 1980s, the Internet changed our lives in the 1990s, and the robots will change our lives in the new century.

    Do you think there will be robots in people's homes? It's not a dream that every home will have a robot.

    Now, robots are not only able to help people do the housework, they can also help the doctors do the difficult operations, play chess with people, play the piano and so on.

    A new cooking robot is used in Beijing. It can cook all the dishes on the menu; you only need to wait two to four minutes. In the future, the robot will be a nurse, a security (安全）guard, or a partner in your life.

    Experts believe robots will be used everywhere from the industrial (工业的） robots to service robots. In the future, robots will become part of the family, and provide close service for people. We all look forward to the new robot age.

    Babies born after 2017 may never need to take a driving lesson because of the development of self ­driving cars. Some scientists say that self ­driving or driverless cars(无人驾驶汽车)may hit the roads within 15 years, and it is possible that driving may become unnecessary, or more relaxing and enjoyable.

    Companies like Google, Baidu, Apple and Alibaba are working on driverless cars. But, if the tests are successful, these electric self­ driving cars could be put into use very soon. This kind of cars may change the way we live in the future. All you have to do is to type in the address!

    According to Baidu, driverless technology has the following four advantages. Firstly, driverless cars are actually safer. With driverless cars, the number of deaths caused by accidents will decrease. Secondly, driverless cars are more efficient(效率高的) than manned cars. Thirdly, driverless cars follow the traffic rules. Therefore traffic control will be easier to achieve. At last, the cost of transportation will be reduced as the labor cost becomes less.

    There are many different technologies needed to make a successful self ­driving car. The most difficult technologies of all are environmental perception(感知), behavior prediction, planning control, HD mapping, and exact GPS.

    Imagine a world with no more animals: no elephants, no tigers or lions. To some people, that thought is too terrible for words. So they are doing something about it. Tiffany Soechting is one of them.

    Being among wild animals—feeding them and caring for them—is all Tiffany Soechting has wanted to do with her life. And that is exactly what she does!

    Soechting is the human "mother" to the 500 animals that live on her family wildlife farm in San Antonio, Texas. On the farm, she cares for animals from around the world. Soechting says she loves them all. However, two reticulated giraffes(网纹长颈鹿) take up a special place in her heart. Their population in the wild has become smaller by 80% in the last 15 years. "I'm so glad to get help from five wildlife researchers that took giraffes up to a higher level. All our hard work helps protect giraffes living in the wild."

    Besides her animal caring, Soechting also holds monthly classes, where she teaches school children about the animals.

    Soechting also opens the farm to the public. Visitors not only learn about the animals, they can also get close to them. And the animals are not against that. For them, people are part of their natural environment.

The farm is part conservation(保护) area, part educational center and part animal park. As the animals walk peacefully around the grounds, it is easy for them to forget that San Antonio, a busy city, is just a few minutes away.

    Hello, my name is Clock. I have a round face. I have three hands. One hand is short, and two hands are long. I don't have arms, but my hands can turn(转动)round and round. I don't have legs, but I can walk(走路). I don't have a mouth, but I can speak. I can wake you up(叫醒). Do you know me? Who am I? Please guess!