The Monkey Buffet Festival is on the last Sunday of November. It is a great day for monkeys in Thailand(泰国). The festival has a history of twenty-five years. People there think monkeys can bring good luck to them. So, to thank monkeys, they have this special festival.

    On that day every year, people put lots of fruit, vegetables, cakes and even drinks on the tables outside. They are all for monkeys. Many people come to see the monkeys on that day.

    During the festival, there are a lot of interesting activities about monkeys. Young people always dress like monkeys. And they sing and dance and play some music on the street.

    Monkeys always live in groups. Most of them live in the trees. They are good at running and jumping. They eat fruit, vegetables, flowers and birds' eggs. Monkeys are clever. Do you think so?

    The first people who drank tea were the Chinese. The bush grew wild all over the south of China. Chinese people liked the taste, and found that the drink could refresh (使恢复精力)them. The new drink reached England in 1657. It was sold at one of the coffee houses. Only the very rich people could afford (买得起) to drink.

    Now, people drink tea all around the world. But tea does not mean the same thing to everyone. In different countries people have very different ideas about drinking tea. In China people always have tea together with their friends. They may drink tea at any time of the day. They only put tea leaves in their cups. They prefer the tea with nothing else in it. In the USA people drink tea at breakfast or after meals. They usually use tea bags to make their tea. Making tea with bags is faster and easier than making it with tea leaves in teapots.

    Today, when we think of Western tea culture, we often think of the English, afternoon tea and beautiful china tea cups. It's believed that an English lady, Anna, first introduced the idea of afternoon tea. She invited some friends to join her for an afternoon meal between four and five o'clock. This meal included cakes, sandwiches and tea. In order to make this afternoon meal important, fine china cups and plates, and silver teapots, knives, forks and spoons were used. Soon, afternoon tea parties became popular social occasions (社交活动). Today, afternoon tea parties continue to play an important part in the social life in modern Britain.

    The Internet is shaping our lives. We already have online shopping services and mobile payment. However, this is just a start. The world's leading tech companies are planning to build smarter online communities. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} It was held in Wuzhen, Zhejiang last year. The development of artificial intelligence(AI,人工智能) was a hot topic at the conference(会议). If a machine can learn and solve problems as humans do, it can be called AI.

    The company Alibaba uses AI technology in its unmanned supermarket in Wuzhen. There is no salesperson in the supermarket, just an iPad on a desk that says "please smile". {#blank#}2{#/blank#} The bigger you smile, the more discounts(折扣) you get. Payment is done automatically through your Alipay account. When you first enter the supermarket, the supermarket's AI recognizes(辨认) your face and your account.

    There is also AI that can read lips. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} It recognizes your mouth's movements and turns them into voice or text messages. This could be very useful when you are trying to talk to someone on your phone in a noisy place. Police could also use the technology to help them find criminals by lip-reading recordings from video cameras.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Microsoft's chatting robot XiaoIce can not only provide useful information, but also talk with people like a real friend. XiaoIce has a WeChat account(账户). After following the account, users can start talking with her. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} She keeps improving herself by talking with users.

    These technologies are being put into wider use. We may see a smarter world and better lives in the near future.

    There is a new park near Andy's home. It's fine today. Andy and his family are in the park now. On their left, there is a café(咖啡馆). On their right, there is a big lake. There are many flowers and trees around the lake. There's a small hill behind the lake. Near the lake, there are two signs(标识). One says, "Don't swim in the lake!" The other says, "No fishing!" But you can go boating on the lake. There is a beautiful garden in the middle of the park. There is green grass and beautiful flowers in it. There are some small shops between the lake and the garden. The park is so nice. Andy and his family like it very much.