Don't be too surprised if you see a car going down the road without a driver in Beijing these days. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}Last month, Baidu began to test its self-driving cars on open roads in Beijing.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}Since then, companies like Tesla, Uber and Baidu have been working to produce and test their own self—driving cars.

    Self-driving cars are safer than regular cars. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}They can remove the stress of driving and allow disabled or blind people to get around more easily.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}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 the direction.

    The software that is used to direct the cars may not be safe enough. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}When we use our computers or smartphones, they sometimes crash (崩溃) without any reason. But if this happened to a self-driving car, the result could be deadly. Improvements to the software could be a solution to this problem.

Feet are an important part of you. Without them, you couldn't stand up, walk or run around. Your feet work so hard that sometimes they get sweaty (出汗).

Think of a hot summer day when you have been walking around all afternoon. Your feet have been in those trainers for a long time! The moment you take off your shoes, you feel good and relaxed, but your feet smell bad. You may think it is because of the sweat. But in fact, sweat itself has no smell. It's the bacteria (细菌) on your skin (皮肤) that mix with it and gives off a bad smell.

Bacteria love dark and wet places like the inside of sweaty shoes. The sweatier you get, the more bacteria there will be. When you wear your shoes, bacteria will have a good meal on your feet. They eat dead skin cells from your skin and then leave a kind of waste called organic acids (有机酸). These organic acids smell bad. Things will become better if you wear cotton socks.

The number of people living in the rainforest is rising，but the rainforest itself is becoming smaller!

During the 20th century，huge areas of rainforests were cut down. More and more people in Brazil and Indonesia moved into rainforest areas to find land for living. Local farmers cut down trees to grow crops（庄稼）. Large companies have also moved into the rainforests to develop their factories. 

The problem is that the area of the rainforest is becoming smaller and smaller. Scientists say that destroying （破坏） the rainforest is ▲ the earth and should be stopped. But why？Rainforest plants help to clean the air. What's more，different parts of rainforest plants can be used to produce useful medicines and may be the key to solving serious health problems. 

So how can we solve the problem？Governments can make some rules to protect their forests. Companies can create jobs elsewhere，so that fewer people have to live and work in the rainforests. Farmers are encouraged to plant crops in certain areas，and this helps to stop the soil from being washed away and produces better crops. 

More than half of the plants and animals that live in the rainforest can't be found anywhere else in the world. It is important to make sure that these forests are used well and protected by people. 

Do you know Kate Smith? {#blank#}1{#/blank#} She is English. Her family are in China now.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Her mother is an English teacher in that school, too. Her brother David is a student in our school. He is learning Chinese. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}They like China. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} In this photo, her parents are on the sofa. David is in his room.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} She is in her room.

The Spring Festival is the most important festival for all of the Chinese. It's like Christmas(圣诞节) in the west. It falls in January or February every year. It lasts about fifteen days. Before the festival comes, we do a lot of things for it, like doing some cleaning and shopping. Spring Festival Eve (除夕) is the night before the Spring Festival. All the family members get together and wait for the new year by watching the shows on TV. People like eating dumplings best that night because they have special meanings. People think they can bring good luck to them. The grandparents usually give lucky money to their grandchildren as a new year gift with a red envelop (红包). The festival brings a lot of happiness to kids, so they look forward to it.

At school, students learn some different subjects in the classroom. These days, a new subject becomes popular. That is school gardening. Students learn it outside the classroom.

      ▲      . Some teachers, however, are finding good ways to make it work. The school garden may be very small. However, students can have a lot of fun in it. At first, teachers decide(决定) what vegetables to grow. Then they grow them with students. It is nice for the students to get a tomato, wash it and cat it right in the garden, so tomatoes are their favorites.

Gardening is not only an interesting subject, but also a practical subject for students. It teaches students a lot. Some vegetables are easy to grow, but others need a long time. This can teach students patience(耐心). With gardens, kids get to see a beginning, a middle and an end to their work. When working with others, they can also learn some teamwork(团队合作) skills.