The spring season brings warm weather, flowers and other changes for people to enjoy. For some restaurant cooks, the most exciting spring arrival is ramps.

    Ramps are a wild plant in the eastern mountains of North America. They are one of the first plants that grow in the spring, usually between April and May. They are recognized(意识) by their red stem(茎), and two long and wide green leaves. They are also famous for their strong taste, similar to onions(洋葱).

    Ramps are not as well-known as other vegetables, but they have a long history in the United States. In the Appalachian Mountains, ramps have been an important food for a longtime. During spring, it is common for small towns in the Appalachian area to hold large ramp dinners for the community.

    However, over the last 30 years, ramps popularity has grown quickly. They are now a highly-desired vegetable for many nice restaurants in cities like New York and Washington D.C.

    One reason the plant is popular is that it grows in the wild. It is difficult to grow them on farms. Most restaurants get them from foragers, who collect ramps by searching forests for some small pieces of land where they grow. Ramps have a short season. Within a few weeks of full growth, the plant is done for the year. This shot life is some reason for their popularity.

    And that popularity could lead Io their disappearance from Earth. In 1995, the local government in Quebee, Canada, stopped people selling the plant to businesses in order to protect the plant against being over-dug.

    The season is short, but it has not ended yet. If you are in the right place, you still have time to try a taste of ramps yourself.

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    Fraser Island is in Queensland, Australia, about 200 kilometers north of Brisbane. It is about 120 kilometers long and 240 kilometers wide. It is a very important island because it is completely made of sand. In fact, it is the largest sand island in the world. There is no airport on the island, but there is a long beach along the east coast. Planes arrive and leave from here.

    The sand makes unusual shapes. There are hills made of sand called sand blows. Nothing grows on them. They move one or two meters a year from the northwest towards the southeast of the island, getting bigger and bigger. At other places on the island, such as Rainbow Gorge, The Cathedrals and Red Canyon, the sandy rocks have different colors. Sometimes the rocks are so brown that they turn the sea brown, like coffee.

    Surprisingly, the sandy island has a lot of different plants and animals. There are dark forests—eucalyptus woods, beautiful flowers and over a hundred lakes. There are many kinds of birds, like owls and curlews. There are many animals there, too, such as crocodiles, flying foxes and wild dogs called dingoes.

    About 500,000 people visit the island every year to see the island's beauty and nature. People enjoy camping and hiking（徒步）there. Unluckily, the visitors create problems. They damage plants and frighten animals. Their sun cream（防晒霜）makes the water dirty. So it is necessary to manage the visitors. For example, people may not use motor boats or go fishing in the lakes, and they need official papers to drive there.

    Robots seem very new to most people. But they have a long history. The first one was made by a Greek inventor. You may have seen robots in some films. The robots in these films are stronger, faster and more clever than people in real life. Most robots are used in factories. They are used to do many dangerous, difficult or boring jobs. Some people can't look after themselves and move around. They need dogs to help them. These dogs are called guide dogs. Scientists are making robot dogs to help them. In the future, robot dogs might take the place of these guide dogs.

    Robots are also used in American hospitals. At one hospital, a robot takes meals from the kitchen to the sick people's rooms,   it never loses its way because it has a map of the hospital in its computer system.

    In the future, robots will work in space. But robots will never take the place of human beings, though they can help us in a lot of different ways.

    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.

    Last year, a special kind of glove came out. It was invented to help blind people to learn Braille, which is a special system for the blind to read by touching. Shaking motors (震动马达) are put on each finger of the glove. They can make different sounds to tell a user which letter he is touching. Recently, two British college students have invented another special glove for the blind. It can make the user feel small and quick movements. An ultrasonic sensor (超声波传感器) with a battery is put on the back of the glove. When the user wearing the glove is close to an object(物体), ultrasonic waves (超声波) from the glove are sent out (发出). As soon as they hit the object in front, the waves will return to the glove. Then the waves cause the glove to shake. And the ultrasonic sensor makes different kinds of sounds. The sounds make the user know how far he is from the object.

    In the college invention competition, the two students got first prize and won 1,540 pounds. One of the designers said, "Now the ultrasonic sensor on the glove is quite large. We're going to use the money to develop a smaller and lighter ultrasonic sensor."