Many animals do strange things before an earthquake．This news may be important．

    Earthquakes can kill people and knock down houses．Animals may help to save lives．

    Some animals make a lot of noise before an earthquake．Farmers know about this．Dogs that are usually quiet start to bark．Horses on farms run around in circles．Mice leave their holes and run away．Cows give less milk．

    In a town in Italy, cats raced down the street in a group．That happened only a few hours before an earthquake．In San Francisco．a man kept tiny pet frogs．One Sunday, the frogs jumped around more than ever．They made loud noise．That night, an earthquake struck the city．People want to know when an earthquake is coming．Then they could get away safely．Right now, there is no sure way to know ahead of time．Maybe the best way is to watch the animals．

    Is there intelligent（有智力的） life on other planets? For years, scientists said "no" or "we don't know". But today this is changing. Seth Shostak and Alexandra Barnett are astronomers（天文学家）. They believe intelligent life exists（存在） somewhere in the universe. They also think we will soon contact these beings（人生物）.

    Why do Shostak and Barnett think intelligent life exists on other planets? The first reason is time. Scientists believe the universe is about 12 billion years old." This is long enough for other planets to have intelligent life," say Shostak and Barnett. The second reason is size-the universe is huge." Tools like the Hubble Telescope（哈勃望远镜） have shown that there are at least 100 billion galaxies," says Shostak. "And our galaxy, the Milky Way, has at least 100 billion stars.

    Some planets going around these stars might be similar to the Earth."

    In the past, it was hard to look for signs of intelligent life in the universe. But now, powerful telescopes（高倍望远镜） allow scientists to discover smaller planets-the size of Mars or the Earth-in other solar systems. These planets might have intelligent life.

    Have beings from space already visited the Earth?" Probably not," says Shostak. "It's a long way away. However, intelligent beings may contact us in other ways, such as radio signals（信号）. In fact, they may be trying to communicate with us now, but we don't have the right tools to receive their messages. However, this is changing. By 2025, we could make contact with other life forms in our universe and we might help each other."

    Did you know that each day one person in the USA throws away 4.4 pounds of rubbish? Almost every month, we throw away our own rubbish in packaging alone. Packaging (including boxes, bags, etc.) comes to our homes with the things we have bought. Several weeks ago, the TV news said that in a city in Italy tons of rubbish were piled up in the streets, and the smell was rather terrible. What can we do to help? We should get to know the following Rs.

    Reduce To reduce means to make less rubbish. That is one of the first things we all should do for the environment. Reduce your rubbish by doing things like packing your lunch in reusable containers(可再利用的容器), taking smaller portions(份) at dinner so you don't waste food when you have had enough, writing on both sides of paper, and using less water when taking a shower.

    Reuse to reuse is to use things again. Think about the bags you get from the shop. They can be reused to carry your lunch, to hold your rubbish, or to collect used cans. You can even take them back to the school next time to carry your things instead of getting a new bag!

    Recycle(回收利用) Recycling is an important part of keeping our planet clean and green. It can also save energy. Be sure that you don't throw things in the rubbish bins that can be recycled to make something else Paper, plastic, cans and bottles can all be recycled. But food, electrical waste and mobile phones cant. When you are not sure whether something can be recycled, go to your parents and teachers for advice.

Follow the three Rs, and every one of us can do something to save the Earth. It is also the best way to save ourselves.

    We all know that many women like to wear dresses. They enjoy many kinds of colourful and popular dresses. But have you ever heard of a 4D dress?

    Jessica Rosenkrantz in the USA used 3D printing technology to make a very special and new dress. It will help with the problems of different styles of women's dresses.

    The dress maker called the special dress a"4D dress" ". It is like the fabric(织物). It can turn into different kinds of shapes.

    The company, in Massachusetts, the USA, also made a smartphone and an app(应用). They can help women to control their dresses. If women use the phone and the app, they can change the colour, the style and many other things of the dresses. Isn't it very interesting?

    When she talked about her work, Jessica said, "There will be many more changeable dresses for women in the future. I am interested in making them too, I can't wait to make different kinds of new dresses for women."

    Cars make our lives more convenient. But they can also be a problem. For example, fossil fuel(化石燃料) cars mainly cause air pollution.

    To improve the environment, many countries are developing electric vehicles(EVs，电动车). Among them, China is taking a leading role and has created the world's largest EV market.

    Last year, over 40 percent of the 753，000 EVs sold in the world were sold in China, more than twice as large as the number sold in the United States.

    "Filling up a fossil fuel car with gas(汽油) is more expensive than charging(充电) an electric car, " said Wu Hao, who bought an electric car this year.

    However, there are still some problems. It can be hard to find charging piles(充电桩) and the cars can't go far before needing to be recharged.

    Some of these problems are being solved. In 2014, China had 31，000 charging piles. Now China has the world's largest EV charging network, with more than 167，000 charging piles in total.

    Developing EVs is one of many efforts that China has made to cut down pressure on its environment after the government promised to stop increases in carbon dioxide emissions(二氧化碳排放量) by 2030.

    "As China goes, so will the world's car industry，" the Wall Street Journal said. China has taken a leading role in the world's electric vehicle industry.