Thousands of years ago,in the south of ancient China,there lived Shennong,a man who had an ox head and human body.Seeing that local people were suffering from disease,he built ladders and houses on a high mountain to store hundreds of medical plants.To remember him,people named the place shennongjia.

    The legend(传说）makes Shennongjia in Hubei an inciting place for tourists.Traveling there is a unique experience,as you can see sceneries of the four seasons from different altitudes(海拔）.“When the bottom of the mountain is summer,the top is spring and while the foothill is autumn,the top is covered with ice,”local people say of the special climate of Shennongjia.

    Shennongjia is also home to 5,000 species of animals and plants.Many animals in danger live there,such as the golden monkey,the clouded leopard and the Asian black bear.

    One interesting and mysterious(奇妙的）thing about Shennongjia is its legend of wild men.Some people once claimed that they saw big prints or big-foot creatures.Yet so far,scientists haven't proved it is true and some say they are just bears.

    The beautiful place has recently received a new title.On July 17,2016,Shennongjia Forestry District was added to United Nations World Heritage list as a natural site.Chins now has 50 world heritage sites(遗址），second only to Italy in the world.

    Squirrels (松鼠) are getting ready for winter. They are looking for nuts and seeds, digging holes in the ground or finding holes in trees. That's where they store the food they will need during the coming months, when the weather is cold and sometimes snowy.

    Squirrels spend a lot of time in trees, which are like restaurants for them. Among their favorite things to eat are nuts and other parts of trees, like tender buds (花苞).

    Squirrels may also eat corn, insects and other animals. And, as anyone who has a bird knows, squirrels love bird food!

    Squirrels stay active all winter, so they need plenty of food to help keep up their energy. Squirrels tend to bury food underground, piece by piece. Some squirrels may gather food into piles that they put at the base of trees or bury underground.

    When they need food, squirrels use their memory and smell to help them find what they buried. Sometimes, you'll even see them digging through the snow.

    Squirrels make nests in trees. Some squirrels spend much of the winter in underground tunnels (地道), where it is warmer.

    When spring comes, squirrels change their eating habits to new plant growth, like buds and leaves. Sometimes they forget to dig up all their buried nuts.

    That's why you'll sometimes find a little tree growing in a place where neither you nor your family planted it. It must have been the squirrels.

    After years of research and testing, the hybrid car was developed and put on the market. It's an interesting and exciting new improvement in today's world as we look for better ways to protect the quality of the air we breathe and save our natural resources.

    The quality of our air is affected by many different things. But one of the largest sources of air pollution is the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and gasoline which is used to power a car's engine. The EPA has set national standards to help control the level of harmful pollutants sent off into the air, and the automobile industry has acted by producing a hybrid car that uses less gas and therefore causes less pollution.

    A hybrid car is a combination of a regular car that runs on gasoline and an electric car that is battery powered. Some people tend to think that since the hybrid car is partially electric, you have to plug it in to charge it. But that's not how it works. The 144 volt battery pack is actually recharged through the energy that is produced when the car's brakes are used. This is referred to as "regenerative braking", because it produces electricity.

    Although the hybrid car still runs on gasoline most of the time, this helps it use less gas than a regular car. When the driver stops at a traffic light, the engine automatically shuts off to save fuel. Then, as soon as the driver puts the car in gear and touches the gas pedal, the engine starts back up.

    Have you ever ridden in a car with someone who ran out of gas? That probably wouldn't happen if you were riding in a hybrid car. It flashes a warning on its computer screen that says, "I am low on gas". When it completely runs out, the warning reads, "YOU ARE NOW OUT OF GAS!" Then the electric power supply kicks in to let the driver travel a few more miles to a gas station.

    Get a lot of letters at this time of year from people complaining (抱怨) that they have a cold and that it won't go away. There are so many ways to cure (治愈) a child. It is often difficult to know what to do. Although (尽管) cold are rarely (很少) dangerous, weak people , such as the elderly or young babies, often catch them. Colds are always uncomfortable and sometimes very unpleasant. Of course, you can buy lots of medicine. This will help to make your cold less unpleasant, but you must remember that nothing can actually cure a cold or make it go away quickly.

    Another thing is that any medicine can be dangerous if you are already taking another type of medicine for some other illness. So always check with your chemist (药剂师) or doctor to see if they are all right for you. Also, remember that they might make you sleepy; please don't try to drive it they do! Lastly, if you want to keep away from colds, don't blindly (盲目地) believe in 'magic' foods or drinks. The best way is to keep strong and healthy –you'll have less chance of catching a cold, and if you do, it shouldn't be so bad!

    You and I can tell one face from another easily, but can computers do the same with few mistakes? At an earlier time, many thought it was impossible, but progress in facial recognition(识别)software has made it come true. Technology is quickly catching up with the human ability to read faces.

    Some facial recognition systems use a digital picture and measure(测量) different points on the face. Measurements include the distance between the eyes, the width of the nose, the length of the jaw(下巴) line and more. A detailed map, or faceprint, of the face is developed, stored and later used as a basis for comparison and matching.

    Some government agencies, airports and banks use facial recognition technology for safety purposes. Apple and Facebook use it to provide their users with added convenience. For example, Apple's new iPhone is expected to use it to unlock the home screen. Other companies use it to help them in better recognizing their customers' needs. For example, some stores are checking into the use of the technology to catch sight of return customers. Then they can offer special deals, based on the customers' buying habits.

    In America, facial recognition is used by universities to check students' attendance. This year Welsh police used it to catch a terrorist outside a football game. In China it checks on the identities of ride-hailing drivers, permits tourists to enter some places of interest quickly and lets people pay for things with a smile.

    While some systems are used with the knowledge of the persons, others aren't, and that raises worries. For many people, however, convenience outbalances the worries, in other words, meaning that facial recognition technology is likely here to stay.