Do stars only appear at night? The answer is no .Venus （金星） is the one and only star that can be seen in the daytime. It shone at its brightest in the night sky on February 17^th, 2017.

    Venus is the second planet from the sun in our solar system. It is the second brightest natural object, behind Earth's moon, in the night sky. Why is it so bright?

    First of all, Venus is the closest planet to Earth. It is also covered by highly reflective （反射的）clouds, which can reflect about 70 percent of the sunlight striking（照射） it, almost twice as much as Earth does.

    Some called 2017 the year of Venus, because the planet is at its brightest when it goes further away from the sun, and nearer to Earth. The brightest moment happened once in February, and happened again, during daylight, on April 30^th.

    If Venus is so bright and close to us, isn't it a better choice for human exploration than Mars? It is closer to Earth than Mars and it's closer to Earth in size. The closer distance to the sun means solar power would be easier to generate （产生） as well.

    However, with a temperature of about 465℃on the surface, Venus is the hottest planet in our solar system!

    But scientists never give up. Recently, a team of NASA and Russian scientists created new computer equipment that can stand the temperature of 480℃. It can work under Venus-like conditions for almost 22 days.

    The next step, according to the scientists, is to send a probe（探测器）to Venus by 2025.

    You don't need to get in a time-travelling machine to see how technology will change our lives, such as the way we shop. Several new technologies that are to change your buying habits already appear. Let's see what's in store for your future shopping.

    Try it on, virtually(虚拟地). Want to shop online for a new pair of glasses? You don't need to guess which pair looks best on you—use the eBay Fashion iPhone app to try a pair of glasses you're checking out on a picture of your face. But what about buying something bigger? Thanks to Microsoft Kinect's action tracking(跟踪)camera, you can cover clothes on your screen body. You can even choose the background of your virtual fitting room to improve your shopping experience.

    Get a perfect, custom fit. Everyone's body is shaped differently. To get a perfect fit, you sometimes have to get your clothes changed. But by using 3D scanning technology, all the clothes you buy will fit your body perfectly. Some companies scan(扫描)your body using High-tech to get the real sizes, so they can make special clothes just for you.

    High-tech shopping carts(推车)and checkout counters(收银台). High-tech shopping carts could be common in malls and supermarkets in the future. Microsoft Kinect-enabled carts are under test. The cart can follow you along the aisles(通道), controlled only by your movement and your voice.

    In the United States, several supermarkets use a certain set called "Scan It" that gives buyers the freedom to scan products on their own while they shop. If we don't want to wait in line before the checkout counters, we can use Toshiba's new object Recognition Scanner. The machine identifies(辨认)a product as soon as it's placed in front of a camera just by its shape and color, even if it has no bar code.

An invention in front of your eyes

    What is the most important invention of all time? Is it the written word that helps us to record information? Is it the telephone that lets us talk to people from all over the world? Is it the car that lets us travel at great speeds to meet others? Umberto Eco, an Italian writer, thinks it is something quite different. He says the most important invention might be bright in front of your eyes. He is talking about a simple pair glasses.

    Modern eye glasses were invented around 1000years ago. They were more than just a convenient way to read. Before glasses, writers, scientists or teachers who could not see properly had to memorize everything. After about ten years of poor eyesight, they could not remember well enough and could not work. Glasses meant that people could work in their old age.

    People who wanted to remember some information could write it down and read it. Eye glasses are one of the world's greatest inventions and were probably worn by the people who designed the first telephones and cars.

    Giraffes are beautiful, smart and friendly. They have long legs and necks (脖子). They are so tall that they can grow up over 5 meters (米). So how do they sleep or drink?

    You may think it's difficult for them to sleep, but they have no such problems because giraffes don't often stop for a sleep. Giraffes just need to sleep about thirty minutes a day. When they sleep, they don't always lie down (躺下). They usually sleep for minutes at a time, because it's difficult for them to get up again. And it's a great danger to sleep in the wild (荒野). But the giraffes in the zoo sleep for about 4-6 hours every day. They usually lie down when they sleep.

    Drinking water is a big problem for giraffes because their long necks are too "short". To drink water, they must spread (伸展) their front legs in a difficult way. And in this way, other animals like Africa's big cats can easily hunt (猎食) them. So they usually get most of their water from the trees and flowers. Giraffes don't need to drink water very often. They can even drink no water for months!

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