What might the future be like? Here are some predictions: things to come, things to go.

    Spring Festival, the most important Chinese holiday when everyone returns home has caused headaches for millions of Chinese. More than 2 billion people travel at the same time, making getting travel tickets and the journey difficult. But in 28 years, Spring Festival travel may not be a problem at all. China plans to build more than 120,000 kilometers of railway and a fast transportation network that will serve 90% of the population by 2020.

    And because most of China will be cities, people will not have to go to other places to find a job, so it will no longer be a problem.

Newspapers will come to an end in 2043. In the future, digital newspapers will be sent to personal web tools through Internet. Readers can discuss topics with journalists and editors. Information will move faster.

    Oil is running out faster than expected. But scientists have found something else for oil as fuel. Coal, natural gas, solar power, nuclear power and even water can take the place of oil as sources of energy.

    Schools will go electronic. Computers will be important and popular among the students. Everything will be in the computer and students will not need to bring books to school. They will find information on the Internet. A computer will be the students ‘library, schoolbag and connection to the outside world. There will be robot teachers, who will check homework on computers and communicate with the students' parents through e-mail. And school buses will be like spaceships, comfortable and safe.

     Books at Amazon :Best sellers of the month—Feb, 2018

    Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi—February 6, 2018

    Hardcover :$15.91Audio CD :$29.99

    An extraordinary novel. Freshwater explores the amazing experience of having another self. It centers around a young Nigerian woman, Ada, who develops separate selves within her as a result of being born “with one foot on the other side.” Freshwater is a sharp call of a rare way of experiencing the world, one that shows how we all construct our identities.

    Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur—February 16 , 2018

    Hardcover: $ 18. 00 Paperback: $ 8.99 Audio CD :$8.99

    A collection of poetry and prose (散文)about survival. About the experience of violence, abuse(虐待), love , loss, and femininity (女性). It is split into four chapters ，and each chapter serves a different purpose. Deals with a different pain. Heals a different heartache. Milk and Honey takes readers through a journey of the most bitter moments in life and finds sweetness in them because there is sweetness everywhere;if you are just willing to look.
     Educated by Tara Westover—February 13, 2018

    Hardcover: $ 16.80 Paperback: $ 28.00 Audio book: $6.00 Audio CD :$8.99

    An unforgettable biography about a young girl who, kept out of school, leaves her survivalist family and goes on to earn a PhD from Cambridge University. Educated is an account of the struggle for self-invention. It is a tale of fierce family loyalty, and of the sadness that comes from severing one's closest ties.

    Force of Nature by Jane Harper—February 20, 2018

    Hardcover: $17.10 Paperback: $ 23.41 Audio book:Free Audio CD :$ 34. 15

    An attractive novel from the author of the Sunday Times top 10 best seller. Five women go on a hike. Only four return. When five colleagues are forced to go on a corporate retreat in the wilderness , they reluctantly pick up their backpacks and start walking down the muddy path. But one of the women doesn't come out of the woods. And each of her companions tells a slightly different story about what happened.

    When people ask me to name typical British dishes, I have, however, struggled to think of an answer. Yes, we do have our own national dishes. We do have fish and chips, and we have other dishes like roast dinner and shepherd's pie. But how much do we actually eat them?

    Fish and chips, is made up of battered（绞碎的）fish and chips,which is often accompanied by a thick paste（酱）. The majority of British people really do love this dish but it is not something that we would eat,say,on a weekly basis.It's also not usually something that we would cook at home.The British people associate this dish with the seaside and it's something that will usually be eaten on a day trip there,bought from a takeaway fish and chip shop.

    Another favourite British dish is roast dinner.This is made up of roast meat,usually chicken or beef, accompanied by roast vegetables and a meat sauce called gravy（肉汁）.It is usually eaten on a Sunday,perhaps for a special family dinner.It can either be cooked at home or eaten in a traditional pub.We also eat a more elaborate version of this for our Christmas dinner.

    Although we do have our traditional dishes,our diet has been greatly influenced by other countries.You can find a wide range of international foods in the supermarket or varieties of different restaurants on our high streets.A famous saying amongst British people is that our national dish is now chicken tikka masala,a dish which is heavily influenced by Indian cuisine.

    Don't expect to be served a traditional dish if you ever get invited for dinner at a British family's home!

    In 1996, someone found some very old clothes in an old mine in Nevada, USA; they included a pair of dirty old jeans. Today, those jeans are very valuable, and they are now in the Levi Strauss Archival Collection in San Francisco. The jeans, which are over 120 years old, are the oldest pair of Levi's 501 jeans in the world.

    They are almost the same as a modern pair of 501's; there are just some small differences in the detail. For instance, today's 501's have two back pockets, while the old pair just has one.

    In 1853, a young tailor from Germany, called Levi Strauss, began working in San Francisco; Levi sold thick canvas(帆布) to miners; the miners used the canvas to make tents.

    One day, a miner told Levi that he could not find trousers that were strong enough for work in the gold mines. Levi decided to make some trousers out of canvas. Very soon, he sold all the canvas trousers he had made! They were just what miners wanted.

    However, the canvas was rather heavy and stiff(坚硬的). Levi therefore began to look for a different textile(织物). Soon he found a heavy textile from France; it was denim(斜纹粗棉布). Denim was a bit lighter than canvas, but it was very strong. It was ideal for miners.

    However, original denim was almost white, and miners did not like the color! Their denim trousers got dirty as soon as they began working! Levi Strauss therefore decided to use colored denim, and he chose dark blue. In 1873, he began to make denim trousers with metal rivets(铆钉) to make them stronger. “Blue jeans” arrived!

Levi's jeans were so popular that his company got bigger and bigger. Soon, other firms were making blue jeans too. Miners liked them, but so did cowboys and other working men. Blue jeans became classic American working trousers. After the Second World War, jeans became popular all over the world. Today, blue jeans are made all over the world.

    I was very excited on the first day of high school! I had P.E for the first period. We hurriedly gathered in the locker room (衣帽间) when the headmaster began to speak, “Good morning, boys and girls! Welcome to the first day of the great new school year. We will begin with the pledge (誓言) of loyalty.”

    I pulled my shirt over my head and my right hand immediately rested over my heart. A few tears came to my eyes as every time I pledged. I thought of my grandpa. He had died almost a year before, but I still missed him every day. Grandpa served in World War II and the flag had a very special meaning for him.

    The next morning in the locker room, I noticed something strange. Some girls talked through the pledge. After that, even fewer did the pledge, including the teachers. By the second week of school, I was the only girl in the whole locker room that did the pledge.

    The next morning, I hid in the bathroom to change clothes and pledge. There I couldn't see the flag and I had a sense of sorrow to be hiding like that. I kept hiding for the next week and felt worse.

    I spent a weekend gathering up my nerve. On Monday, I changed into my gym clothes right away and was standing by my locker when the headmaster began morning announcements. The pledge started and I put my hand over my heart. A girl nearby locked her locker and asked, “Why are you doing that? ” She looked confused.

    “My grandpa fought in World War II and he died last year,” I said. “I'm doing it for him.”

    She felt embarrassed and looked away. “Oh.” She said.

    Over the next few weeks, more girls questioned me about the pledge. I gave them all that same answer. I never inspired other girls to do the pledge along with me. They made their choice; I made mine. I was doing it for my Grandpa, but more than that, I was doing it for myself. Grandpa raised me to be proud of my country and that pride didn't stop.

    When you need a job very much, you may end up taking one for which you are over qualified. Although you were initially grateful just to have the work, you now feel bored and depressed. Is there any way to change that?

    Start by changing your opinion, says Caitlin Kelly, the author of Malled, a book based on her experience as a sales clerk after losing her job in journalism. "Don't focus on what you're not getting but what you are getting," she says. "Be patient and work attentively with a wide range of people. It doesn't matter what the job is –there are always things you can learn and skills you can develop."

    Hilary Pearl, the founder of a coaching firm, says, "Tell yourself the current situation isn't the end of your career. Don't overdramatize(过分夸大)the negative aspects but try to view the situation more philosophically: life has a series of stages, and this is one of them. Don't forget to study even in the worst stage."

    Consider that because you're overqualified, you may be able to learn or do things on the job that might not have been possible in a more demanding position, says Sarah Hathorn, the chief executive of Illustra Consulting. "You could spend your extra time in learning different aspects of the business and teaching others in the organization," she says.

    Is it possible to make your work more challenging, even if your job responsibilities aren't likely to change?

    Of course, you may seek tasks and responsibilities that force you to learn something new or to work harder. "You may be operating on autopilot(习惯性地)right now, but chances are that people above you are stressed," Sarah Hathorn says." Take things off your boss's plate and let him know which projects or tasks you want to learn more about."

    Always express your request positively, saying that you love new challenges, rather than complaining that you're bored and underused, says Ethun, the president of the Park Avenue Group. In your down time, educate yourself about the company and its industry. "Read corporate information, analyst reports and related news articles," she says. "If your boss accepts your suggestions, it will make you a more valuable employee."