In 1986, the Honda automotive company wanted to see if it could make a human-like robot, to help in home, play football, balance on one foot, and even dance. Over the years there were some problems but soon the researchers managed to get a robot named ASIMO. It could walk on uneven(不平坦的) surfaces, and move its center of gravity like we do to climb stairs.

    More recently, ASIMO was improved so it could turn round and run at six kilometers per hour, using its upper body to control movement.

    ASIMO is designed to be friendly. It is hoped that robots like this could be used to help elderly people in their home. Honda are also using this technology to help people with disabilities. It can also push a cart(手推车) and open and close doors. ASIMO can even shake hands. It stands 120 centimeters tall, so that it can look into adult faces when they are sitting down. It can hold two kilos in its hands. It can even carry a tray without dropping the contents.

    So, where next for this kind of robot? Well, while ASIMO is attractive, it is still controlled by a human. Researchers in the USA are working on the robots that can learn about the world around them, and give a reply to human touch and voice. The robots are even learning to recognize(辨认) objects, people and vocabulary. Soon the descendants(后代) of these robots may be serving you drinks or helping with jobs at home and at work.

    The Chongyang Festival is a traditional Chinese festival. It is celebrated on the ninth day of the ninth lunar(阴历) month. It's also called the Double Ninth Festival.

    The festival started as early as the Warring States Period (475-221BC). It has a history of more than 1, 700 years. Among the numbers from zero to nine, nine is the highest odd number(奇数). People believe that two "ninths" meeting together stand for a long life. So it is a special holiday for Chinese people to show love and respect for their elders. They hold many kinds of activities in honor of old people to wish them good health and a long life.

    The festival comes during the golden time of fall. On the day, people traditionally drink Chrysanthemum(菊花)wine, eat Double-Ninth Cakes and climb mountains. They also carry a kind of plant, its name is dogwood, People in ancient times believed that the plant could drive away evil(邪恶的) spirits and prevent them from catching an illness in winter.

    Before the day I stepped into junior high school, I had always thought that as long as I could read, speak, and listen well, English will be a "no problem" 1 for me, and that English grammar was a piece of cake. My father 2 to tell me the importance of grammar but I just wouldn't listen. I didn't understand what's so important about the whole "grammar" thing.

    This misunderstanding didn't last long. Something unexpected happened. It was only 3that day, and I would never forget that day. I was just a young and seventh grader when our English teacher 4 to give us a quiz on English grammar. We had to fill in blanks. After I read the sentence in question number one, different kinds of answers which I thought were possible came into my mind. All of them seemed right and made sense to me, but there was only one 5 answer to it, but I didn't know which one exactly. I was shocked, but I said to myself "never mind", and went on to question number two. Unexpectedly, the same trouble that just happened, appeared right in front of me again, and it just kept happening again and again until I heard our teacher say 6"Time's up." I had to turn in my answer sheet 7 so many unsure answers on it.

    I was really sad about the whole thing. And since then, I've 8 that in English, writing grammar is quite different from spoken grammar. My father had been trying to tell me the important role grammar plays in learning English. Well, it's 9 too late to learn anything, including ENGLISH! So, I started to work on my grammar skills, and thanks to that bad 10, I really learned a lot from it! Now, I'm still on my journey of learning grammar, and I am enjoying it.

    Imagine a boy from a small village in East Africa. He has been looking after cows from a very early age. At twelve, he knows more about cows than most of us. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Has this boy ever had any education?

    Education is discovering about ourselves and about the people and things around us. All the people who care about us—our parents, brothers, sisters, friends—are our teachers. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} We start learning on the day we are born, not on the first day we go to school. Every day we have new experiences, like finding a bird's nest(巢), discovering a new street in our neighborhood and making friends with someone we didn't like before. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Encouragement from the people around us makes it possible for us to discover things as much as possible. As we grow up, we begin to find out what we are able to do. We may be good at cooking, or singing or playing football. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Just thinking about cooking doesn't tell us if we are good at it.

We learn so much just in our daily life. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Of course we can learn some things better at home than at school, like how to do the shopping, and how to help old or disabled people who can't do everything for themselves. At school, teachers help us to read and write. With their help, we begin to see things in different ways.

    The world is in danger. At one time there were 1,300 different plants, trees and flowers in Holland, but now only 860 remain(剩余). The others have been destroyed(破坏) by man. We are changing the earth, the air, the water and everything that grows and lives. We can't live without these things. If we continue doing like this, we will destroy ourselves.

    What will happen in the future? Perhaps it is more important to ask "What must we do now?" The people who will be living in the world of tomorrow are the young of today. A lot of them know that conservation(对自然环境的保护) is necessary. Many are helping to save our world. They plant trees and protect animals in forest. In a small town in the United States, a large group of volunteers cleaned the banks of their rivers. Young people may hear about conservation through a record called No One's Going to Change Our World. It was made by the Beatles, Cliff Richard and other singers. The money from it will help to protect wild animals.