Most cars run on gas. Gas cars work very well. But there is a problem. Cars that run on gas make the air dirty. The dirty air is not good for people, animals or trees. Gas cars make the air dirty for all living things. What can we do? We can drive electric cars!

    Electric cars do not use gas. These cars do not make the air dirty. These cars have batteries that power their motors (马达). The batteries can be charged (充电) many times. They can be used again and again. This makes electric cars great.

    But electric cars have problems too. They are slower than gas cars. They are also very quiet. This means that some people can't hear them when they go by. They may not think a car is coming. So they have to be careful.

    People are finding ways to make electric cars better all the time. Maybe one day all cars will be electric. That would be much better for the world.

    English playwright Arthur Wing Pinero said, "Where there's tea, there's hope." Similarly, a Chinese saying goes that "Firewood, rice, cooking oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea are the seven necessities to begin a day."

    Tea is, without doubt, welcomed all over the world. According to Statista, a German website for statistics (数据), global tea production reached about 5.8 million tons in 2018. It has become the most consumed beverage (饮品) in the world – after water, of course.

    According to the UN, tea is much more than just a hot drink. It's a big part of many cultures around the world. You probably know that people in China use top-grade tea to show respect when receiving important guests. Meanwhile, the British tradition of afternoon tea is an important part of that country's identity. Making Malaysia's pulled tea has become a sort of art form, where drinkers take pride in its entertainment aspects.

    Apart from its cultural significance (意义), tea is also a medicine, used from ancient times to modern day. "Tea is cold and lowers the fire," Chinese Ming Dynasty herbalist Li Shizhen once said. The health benefits of tea are still being discovered today: preventing heart disease, obesity and cancer have all been linked to drinking green tea, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information in the US.

    Hot or cold, bagged or loose-leaf, tea is more than a drink – it's a social custom and also a magic medicine, a link to the past and a way of life.

December 22. a special day, is the shortest day of the year. Chinese people call it Dongzhi. The name means "the coming of winter"-the{#blank#}1{#/blank#} (cold) days in a year. On this day, people in northern China eat dumplings. They usually fill the dumplings {#blank#}2{#/blank#}different vegetables and meat. Sometimes, people put a coin inside.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} you happen to get the coin, you will have good luck. People consider eating dumplings {#blank#}4{#/blank#}a way to stay healthy. As the old saying goes, "Eating dumplings on Dongzhi can help {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(keep) the ears from frostbite (冻疮)."

In {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(south) China, people eat tangyuan on the day of Dongzhi. The little tangyuan balls {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(make) from rice. They have different {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(kind) of sweet fillings (馅料). People hope eating tangyuan can bring them {#blank#}9{#/blank#}happy and sweet life. In some places, people also make a special kind of rice wine. The drink brings the body {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(warm) on cold days.

Kids have lots of fun indoor activities nowadays. Three parents and educators are here to share how they encourage children to spend more time outside and connect with nature.