Robots seem very new to most people. But they have a 1 history. A Greek scientist made the first robot. You may 2 robots in some movies. The robots in the movies are usually stronger, faster and 3 than people. In real life, most robots are used in factories. They can do lots of dangerous, difficult or4 jobs. Some people can't look 5 themselves and robots can help them. For example, some people can't see, and they use a guide dog to help themselves move. But now scientists are making a 6 to help them.

    Robots are also used in American hospitals. At one hospital, a robot 7 meals from the kitchen to the sick people's rooms. It never loses its 8 because it has a map of the hospital in its computer system(系统). 9 the future, robots will even work in space. But robots will 10 take the place of(代替)people but only work for people. They can, however, help us in a lot of different ways.

    As we know, there are differences between Western culture and Chinese culture. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. Let's look at some words about animals and plants. Most expressions in Chinese about the dog, for example, "a homeless dog", "a mad dog", "a running dog" and "a dog catching a mouse", have bad meanings. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. In English, people use the dog to describe good actions. For example, "you are a lucky dog" means you are a lucky person. And "every dog has its day" means each person has good luck sometimes. To describe a person's serious illness, they say "sick as a dog". The word "dog­tired" means very tired.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}. But in Western culture, "cat" is often used to describe a woman who is unkind. There are many other examples of how "cat" is used differently as well.

   {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. People think the rose stands for love, peace, courage and friendship. And the rose is the national flower of England, America and many other countries.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. We can learn about many differences in cultures by comparing how some words are used.

A. However, Chinese love cats very much

B. The words about plants and animals are used in good or bad ways in different cultures

C. We can see differences when we pay attention to the way words are used

D. However, westerners love cats very much

E. We can see similarities when we pay attention to the way words are used

F. The rose is regarded as a symbol of love in both China and some Western countries

G. But in Western countries, dogs are considered to be honest and good friends of humans

    Clothes are traditionally made of natural materials, such as cotton, leather and wool. They are all from plants or animals, but that doesn't mean they're friendly to the earth. For example, farmers have to use a lot of chemicals to grow cotton plants.

    Scientists are now looking for new ways to make clothing materials. They hope the new materials are both comfortable and good for the earth. Scientists have worked out how to make materials out of cornhusks (谷壳), chicken feathers and rice straws.

    "They used to be useless things. We always have a problem of how to deal with them," Yang, a scientist says. "Now, we can turn them into beautiful materials. Chicken feathers are better than other things. They have small air pockets like honeycombs. That means it will be very warm if you use them to make a jacket or sweater, and I think more and more people will like to buy these kinds of clothes."

Canada Day

Since 1982, July 1st has been officially known as Canada Day. Canadians of all ages take part in this festival across the country.

Canada Day is the year's biggest national party. In many towns and cities, the government organizes a lot of events, often outdoors. These include parades (游行) , concerts, festivals, firework displays and ceremonies for new Canadian citizens (公民) .The celebrations often have a patriotic mood. Canada's national flag, a symbol for Canada Day, can be seen everywhere and a lot of people paint their faces red and white, which are Canada's national colors. The celebrations in Ottawa, Canada's capital city, are especially grand and exciting.

In the province of Quebec, many home rentals (租赁) start on July 1st and last for exactly one year, and many people in Quebec spend Canada Day moving from one house to another. So in Quebec, Canada Day is also known as Moving Day.

Many organizations, businesses and stores are closed this day. Only some bookstores, hospitals and gas stations may be open. Post offices are closed, too. As Canada Day falls in the Canadian summer holiday period, all schools are closed as well. In some areas, special services are provided for large events. The concerts, parades and festivals may cause some traffic jams.

The Long March 5 Y3 is China's strongest rocket.

    China's biggest and most powerful carrier (运载) rocket roared (轰鸣) into space on Dec 27, 2019. The Long March 5 kicked off its mission (任务) at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan.

    The 57-meter-tall rocket, known as the Long March 5 Y3, is the tallest, strongest and most technologically sophisticated (技术复杂的) rocket in China. Since it is much bigger than China's other Long March rockets, people call it "Fat 5". The rocket is able to carry spacecraft (航天器) weighing up to 25 tons – roughly the weight of 16 midsize cars – into low-Earth orbit (近地轨道), China Daily reported. This payload capacity (有效载荷) is about 2.5 times greater than that of any other Chinese rocket.

    During the December launch, the Long March 5 successfully sent the Shijian 20 experimental satellite into orbit. At more than 8 tons, it is the heaviest and most advanced communications (通信) satellite built by China.

    The launch also tested key technologies that will be used to take the Chang'e 5 probe (探测器) to the moon, according to the China National Space Administration.

    The success of the Long March 5 launch was hard-earned. The rocket's first launch was carried out in November 2016 at the Wenchang center. A second mission took place in July 2017 at the same site, but failed to send a satellite into orbit. According to project leaders, in the two years since that failure, the rocket's research team held more than 600 seminars (研讨会) and carried out at least 1,000 experiments and tests to improve the rocket.

    "Compared with the Long March 5 Y2 that was used in the failed second mission, the new one has about 200 technical improvements, including changes to the engine design," Li Dong, the rocket's chief designer (总设计师), said to China Daily.

    The future missions of the Long March 5 will include a trip to Mars, taking back moon samples (样本), and placing parts of a manned (载人的) space station into orbit.