What will our world be like in 2020 We aren't quite sure, but it's interesting to make some predictions.

    Languages

    English should still be the most popular language, but Chinese should be the second. Now, many foreign people are studying Chinese as their second language.

    Water

    Water will become as expensive as oil because many rivers will disappear. We will have to save water and pay more for clean water.

     Education

     More students will study online. Students from all over the world may study together on the Internet.

    Many people are surprised when they find that the Internet was set up in the 1960s. At that time， computers were large and expensive. Computer networks didn't work well. If one computer in the network broke down， then the whole network stopped. So a few network system had to be set up. It should be good enough to be used by many different computers. If part of the network was not working， information could be sent through another part. In this way computer network system would keep on working all the time.

    At first the Internet was only used by the government， but in the early 1970s， universities， hospitals and banks were allowed to use it， too. However， computers were still very expensive and the Internet was difficult to use. By the start of 1990s， computers became cheaper and easier to use. Scientists had also developed software that made "surfing" the Internet easier.

    Today it is easy to get online and it is said that millions of people use the Internet every day. Sending e-mails is more and more popular among young people. The Internet has now become one of the most important parts of people's life.

    Don't be too surprised if you see a car going down the road without a driver in Beijing these days. It might be one of Baidu's self-driving cars. Last month, Baidu was granted (授予) a license to test its self-driving cars on open roads in Beijing, China Daily reported.

    Self-driving cars have been in development since 2010, when Google announced that it was making such cars. Since then, companies like Tesla, Uber and Baidu have been working to produce and test their own self-driving cars.

    Self-driving cars are expected to revolutionize (革命) the way we get around. They are safer and more environmentally friendly than regular cars. They can remove the stress of driving and allow disabled or blind people to get around more easily.

    But self-driving cars have their own flaws (缺陷) as well. In one test, researchers pointed a laser pointer (激光棒) at the car's sensors (传感器) while it was moving. The car mistakenly thought that the laser beam was in its way and slowed down or changed direction. Flaws like this could be used by people to trick self-driving cars, according to the Guardian.

    The software that is used to direct the cars may not be safe enough, reported Live Science. It may crash (崩溃). When we use our computers or smart phones, they sometimes crash without any reason. But if this happened to a self-driving car, the results could be deadly. Improvements to the software could be a solution to this problem.

    Many scientists think that the Earth is getting warmer and warmer. If the change continues, the natural world and human society will face danger. Scientists believe human activity is responsible for the climate change. We produce too many greenhouse gases. They keep heat in the air and make the Earth warm.

    Many of the world's governments agree. And they want to solve the problem. So from 7 to 18 December, 2009，they held a conference in Copenhagen, Denmark to talk about global warming and climate change.

    Representatives(代表) from 192 countries and regions went to the meeting. Although they have not reached an agreement, the Copenhagen Accord(《哥本哈根协议》) was an important beginning to save the Earth. It was made by a small group of countries including China，the USA，India, Brazil and South Africa. Some other countries at the conference also showed support.

    What are the key points of the Copenhagen Accord? The accord limits global temperature increases to 2C by 2050. Scientists think it could help the world to avoid serious climate change.

    The accord also says that developed countries must promise to cut greenhouse gas emissions(排放) to the UN by 31 January, 2010. The accord asks developed countries to give money to help developing countries.

    Many countries and organizations are disappointed that the conference didn't reach a legal document(法律文书). And they think the accord is not clear enough about its goals.

African leaders are worried that the goal of a 2℃ global temperature increase isn't good enough, because it will mean a much higher increase in temperature across Africa. This could cause big problems like food and water shortages across the continent.

    Still, UN Secretary General believes the conference was an "improvement".

    "Finally we reached a deal," Ban said," the accord may not be everything everyone had hoped for, but this is an important beginning."

    There is one thing. We can't see it. Sometimes we can hear it and even feel it. Without(没有) it, all the living things will die. Do you know what it is? Oh, it is air.

    However, what's the air like today?

    In cities, there are too many people and too many cars on the roads. The cars send out (排放) a lot of bad gases(气体) In cities, there are many chemical factories(化工厂). They send out terrible smoke every day. This kind of smoke is very bad for our health. Now the air is becoming worse and worse. Every day, we breathe (呼吸) the bad air in and out. This is very unhealthy for us and it makes us feel sick.

    To keep us healthy, we have to go to the countryside to breathe more fresh air. Or we can go up hills to get more fresh air.