A new rubbish sorting system (垃圾分类系统) has been put into use in Fangchengyuan Community in Beijing. Local people not only sort their rubbish, but also put QR codes (二维码) on it.

    "When the rubbish is collected and the codes are seen, I will get reward points to exchange for small gifts and even some money," one of the local people told reporters. "It's really creative and encouraging."

    This smart system has been carried out in 350 communities in Beijing. The capital of China has joined a list of cities in the country that take action to support rubbish sorting. For example, Shenzhen and Shanghai have made laws to punish people and organizations for not sorting rubbish correctly.

    China produces quite a lot of rubbish every year. Much of the rubbish is buried (填埋) in soil or burned without being sorted. Landfills (填埋场) take up a lot of land and have a risk of polluting the soil and water nearby. And burning rubbish can produce harmful gases. Through rubbish sorting, we can reduce the use of landfills and air pollution.

    What's more, rubbish sorting saves resources, which could bring economic benefits (经济利益). For example, a ton of waste paper can be reused to make about 850 kg of paper, saving 17 trees and 50 percent of water. Because of the benefits, some countries have developed successful sorting systems.

    Japan has a strict and detailed system. When people throw away a water bottle, the cap, the wrapper (包装纸) and the bottle itself have to go into three different bins. Every year, families receive special rubbish sorting timetables and directions from their local governments. They are advised to follow the timetables and directions when they throw away rubbish.

    In Australia, every family is provided with three rubbish bins—the red lid (盖子) bin for "general waste" like food and plastic bags, the yellow lid bin for "recycling" like steel and glass, and the green lid bin for "green waste" such as grass and leaves. On the streets, the bins are printed with pictures of the things that are allowed inside. It makes recycling quite easy.

It has been nearly 5 years since Chang'e-4, a Chinese spacecraft, made the first soft landing on the far side of the moon at 10:26 am on 3rd January 2019. It is the first time that a spacecraft has made it. The far side is the part of the moon that always faces away from the earth.

After it landed on the ground, the spacecraft took the first photo of the"dark side"of the moon, and sent it back to the earth through the Queqiao relay satellite(中继卫星).The scientists launched the satellite into space in May, 2018.

"What we know about the far side of the moon is from orbiters (轨道飞行器), from Russia, the US, European countries, China and India,"Andrew Coates, a professor of Physics at University College London, told a reporter. China sent Chang'e-4 into space from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in December,2018. Sending a spacecraft to the far side of the moon isn't easy, because the far side is covered in craters(火山口). Some of its mountains are higher than Qomolangma, the highest mountain on the earth.

What's more, we can't see the far side because it takes the moon about 28 days to move around the earth with the same side always facing our planet. Direct communication with the earth is impossible on the far side of the moon, so communications must go through a communication satellite. That was why scientists launched the Queqiao relay satellite.

Bob's father has a big farm.On New Year's Day，he asked Bob，"Could you work on the farm when you're free this year？"

"Farming is not my work，Dad. I have much schoolwork（功课） to do."Bob wasn't glad about it."If you help me work on the farm，I will give you anything you want."

"OK."Bob agreed happily.

So Bob gets up early and works hard on the farm in his free time this year，just like other farmers.His wheat（小麦） grows very well.

Time flies.Today is December 31st，the last day of the year.The father is talking with his son."I'm happy to see you work hard on the farm，Bob.Now tell me what you want as the gift（礼物）（已经得到）your gift，Dad.You are trying to give me a lesson——no pain

Languages play an important part in our life. Mother language is a very intimate（密切的）thing to us. For people who speak an ancient tongue as their mother language, it helps them keep their traditions. If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to a man in his own language, that goes to his heart. 

The associations that lie in the languages bring ideas and pictures to our minds. Associations are just the power of languages. However, how language came into being is unknown. All we know is that some early men invented certain sounds to express thoughts and feelings, actions and things, so that they could talk with each other. Later they agreed on certain signs, which could be put together to show those sounds, and which could be written down. Those sounds, whether spoken or written in letters, are called words

Words become filled with meaning for us by experience; and the longer we live, the more certain words bring back to us the happy and sad events of our past; and the more we read and learn, the more the number of words that mean something to us increases. 

Over the last century, more than 400 languages have died out. Some languages are now spoken only by a few dozens of people. Why are humans speaking fewer languages than we once did? The answer has to do with globalization（全球化）. Nowadays, it's more useful to speak certain languages-English is one example-rather than others. 

As US writer Rita Mae Brown wrote, "Language is the roadmap of a culture. It tells where its people come from and where they are going." We should learn to choose our words carefully and use them correctly, or they will make ourselves silly and common. 

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