Frank is a small schoolboy. His school has so many rules for 1. He doesn't like any of them because he thinks they are all 2."The school asks us not to do this 3that. I'm not happy about it," He often says.

    Frank can swim. He always wants to 4how good he is at swimming. One day he comes to the lake in his school. There is a school rule about this lake: Don't 5in it! Frank doesn't like the rule and he jumps into it.

    When he is in the lake, he finds he is 6. The lake is so deep and the water in it 7very dirty. He feels terrible and can't swim well in the lake. He needs 8 The two teachers come and help 9out of the lake. From that day on, he knows it's important to 10the school rules.

    What do you think of the school rules in your school?

    Mason has seen the future—and it's fun. Mason likes thinking about how machines can make our life easier by doing the work we hate, such as cleaning. He shows a floor cleaning machine that's built into the wall. It can clean up the floor.

    When it comes to the kitchen, Bruce, an expert at Whirlpool, is sure that in a few years, robots will be doing most of the boring work, freeing us to relax. "More than just fun, future kitchens will be environmentally friendly," he says. A new system will be built in the house which can recycle energy lost from your kitchen to make the whole home warm.

    "The fridge will be the centre of the home," says Daniel, a market expert. The fridge will have a touch screen (触摸屏幕) where you can watch TV, surf the Internet, check your emails, keep a shopping list and order vegetables. "Your fridge is the first place you go to in the morning and the last place at night," says Daniel.

    "I wonder why a 1.9-metre man and 1.6-metre woman have to cook meals on counters (柜台) of the same height," Jane Langmuir, an expert of cooking machines, says. "But times have changed. We have made a new counter where you can press a button and it moves to whatever height you want."

    Ted Selker has made the dish maker which lets you make dishes and bowls out of plastics at home. After each meal, the dishes are changed straight back into plastics.

    It was Day 1 of our vacation on Cortes, a beautiful quiet island. "iPhone, iPhone, iPhone," my son kept moaning (呻吟). In front of him was a big window of facing the blue ocean. And a Coo gentle wind was coming in from the door. Clearly, he saw and felt none of it.

    Back at home, I'd soon give up and hand the phone over to him after five minutes of listening to this kind of moaning

    But not here. Before we left, I had told my, 10-year-old son the rule-no e-mails, no Facebook, no video games, and no iPhone. We came here to get away from them all' Here we were on our first day and already, he couldn't stand it.

    ____________I walked down the grass road to the beach and looked out to the sea. My 6-year-old daughter and my husband were drawing on pieces of wood. They were doing just fine.

    On Day 2, we spent the whole morning digging for shells(贝壳). This time, my son joined us. He collected .shellfish and other sea treasures. When we got back to our little wood house, I gave my son a book, and put him on the lovely garden chair. It was almost dinner when he looked up.

    The next few days passed in peace.

    On Day 6, my son was lying beside me on the beach, watching the sun going down. He was playing with the sand. And there was somethingshining.in his eyes, I realized how time slowed down for both of us. It was exactly what I wanted. Finally, we were able to sit quietly, without thinking about screens, phone calls and e-mails.

    A week away from all the electronics and life is good.

    It was a sunny morning. A poor(贫穷的) young man with 1 right hand came to Mrs. Brown's door. He asked her for some 2.

Mrs. Brown 3, "You see, young man. There are some bricks(砖头) behind my house. If you help me 4 them to the front, I'll pay you twenty dollars."

    "Can't you see that I lost my right hand? 5 can I do it?" The old lady smiled, put one of her hands behind her body 6 then picked up one brick with 7. Seeing this, the young man didn't say a word and started to work right away.

    After he did the work, the young man 8 with the money from Mrs. Brown and he looked a little different.

    Two years later, the young man came again with some gifts. "Thank you for 9 that day. I know you didn't need me to do the work. You just wanted to make me feel better. I learnt that I could make money by working hard, too. And now I have a pancake store and a beautiful wife."

    Think 10 and you will make your life better.

    How would you use a radio or a telephone if you had no electricity or batteries? These1bothered (使烦恼) British inventor Trevor Baylis. So in 1996 he2a wind-up (装有发条的) radio. It doesn't need electricity or batteries. You wind it up3hand. It plays for about an hour. Then, you wind it up4.

    Baylis also invented a mobile phone that is powered by5. The shoes contain (含有) a small battery that is powered when you6. This battery is connected to a mobile phone. These two simple inventions can bring modern7to all parts of the world.

    Baylis didn't have a university degree in engineering. In8, he left high school before graduating (毕业). He just loved9things to help people. He never knew10ideas would come to him. The idea for the phone came to him in a dream.