As we know, Meizhou Island is a famous place of interest in Putian. My pen pal from Australia, Sam, would like to visit it very much. He is coming here for a holiday next week. He is planning to stay here for seven days. He has never come to Putian before, so he needs to know something about it. The weather is the most important thing that he would like to know. He wants to know what he should get ready for the trip and what kinds of clothes he has to take with him. Here is the seven-day weather report for Putian.

    Plants are very important living things. Life could not go on if there were no plants. This is because plants can make food from air, water and sunlight. Animals and men can't make food from air, water and sunlight. Animals get their food by eating plants and other animals. Therefore, animals and men need plants in order to live. This is the reason why we find so many plants around us.

    If you look carefully at the plants around you, you will find that there are many kinds of plants. Some plants are large while others are small. Most plants are green.

    Some plants have many small leaves. Others have only a few. There are many kinds of leaves. Leaves are of different shapes and colors.

    Leaves are also different in other ways. Some leaves have long thin parts at the end, we call them leaf stalks, some have short leaf stalks, others even have no leaf stalks. The leaf edges are also different. Some leaves have smooth(平滑) edges. Some have a wave-shaped edges. Others have edges like the teeth of a saw(锯子).

    Is your TV connected to the Internet? What about your chair, or your fridge? Probably they are not. But in the future, most things in your home may be connected, thanks to the so-called "Internet of things".

    The Internet of things may be coming sooner than you think. Earlier this year, A Samsung CEO spent a lot of time talking about the Internet things. He said that five years from now, every Samsung product will be part of the Internet of things, no matter whether it's a remote control or a washing machine.

    So, how do household(家用的) objects that are part of the Internet of things work? Well, think of a common chair. When connected to the Internet, the chair warms up when it knows the user has just walked into the room and is feeling cold.

    An Internet-connected camera could help people feel safer in their homes. It can know people's faces and has an infrared sensor(红外传感器), so even if it's dark it can see when someone passes by and send you a message on your smartphone to let you know who's there. If the person is someone you don't know, it can tell you that, too.

    But according to MIT Technology Review, whether companies are connecting dog food bowls or security systems to the Internet, there may be some problems. For example, many early connected-home objects don't have much built-in security, which means they could be hacked(被黑客攻击). Moreover, it could be difficult to get these new machines to work together especially when they are made by different companies. To fight this, many companies have joined the Open Interconnect Consortium, which had 45 members by late 2014.

    So, picture this: you enter your home. The temperature changes to make you feel comfortable. Your favorite music starts playing for you. Do you think that this would be a good thing? It may happen sooner than you think.

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    In the future, your automobile will run on water instead of gas! You will be able to buy a supercomputer that fits in your pocket! You might even drive a flying car!

    For each prediction(预言) that has come true today, several others have missed by a mile. Many of these predictions didn't consider how people want to use the technology, or if people really needed it in their lives or not. Let's look at some predictions from the not-too-distant past.

    Robot helpers

    Where's the robot in my kitchen? Nowhere, of course. And he's probably not coming any time soon. Robots do exist today, but mostly in factories and other manufacturing environments.

    Back in the 1950s, however, people said that by now personal robots would be in most people's homes.

    So why it hasn't happened? Probably because robots are still too expensive and clumsy. And maybe the idea of robots cooking our dinners and washing our clothes is just too weird. At home we seem to be doing fine without them.

    Telephones of tomorrow

    In 1964, an American company introduced the video telephone. They said by the year 2000 most people would have a video phone in their homes. But of course the idea hasn't caught on yet.

    Why? The technology worked fine, but it overlooked something obvious: People desire for privacy. Would you want to have a video phone conversation with someone after you just stepped out of the shower?

    Probably not—it could be embarrassing! Just because a technology available(可利用的) doesn't always mean people will want to use it.

    Flying cars

    And finally, how about that crazy prediction of the flying car? It's not so crazy any more! But a flying car remains one of the most fascinating technology ideas to capture our imagination. Keep watching the news or perhaps the sky outside your window to see what the future will bring.

Are You Right Handed or Left Handed?

    Which hand do you use when write? About 8 to 15 percent of people are left handed. They often have to use tools that are designed for right-handed people. So it is difficult for left-handers to use most tools. If you are right handed, try this experiment: Take a knife with your left hand and try cutting a potato into pieces. Don't be surprised if you feel awkward（别扭的）.

    In the past, people thought it was strange to use the left hand. Young students looked down upon their left-handed classmates. Some children were even punished for using their left hand to write. But these days parents and teachers have accepted that. In almost every school in the world, left-handed students can use their left hand to write.

    What causes people to be left handed or right handed? Experts have searched long and hard on this. They concluded（得出结论） that left-handed people are left handed for the same reason that right-handed people are right handed. One out of every ten people just is a left-hander. It's simply like the color of our eyes—some people have brown eyes, while some others have black eyes.

    However, many researchers think that left-handers and right-handers are different in some aspects. Right-handers are more talkative and outgoing than left-handers. Many right-handed people understand spoken words better. For example, after they listen to directions to a supermarket, they can find it easily. Right-handers are good at organizing people, too. They are also better basketball guards. Just ask Yao Ming.

    Research shows that left-handers are creative and artistic. Many famous performers, like Jim Carrey and Paul McCartney, are left handed. Many left-handers learn better visually（在视觉方面）. In art, both Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo were left handed. In science, you find Newton and Einstein. The left-handed people are also really good at tennis and other single sports.

    If you prefer one hand, but you are still good at writing with the other, you are mixed handed. Research shows mixed-handers can remember everyday things better than other people. What did you eat for lunch two weeks ago? If you're mixed handed, you can probably remember.

    Researchers have developed paper that can be printed with UV light (紫外线), free from the need for ink (油墨). People can clear the information away on the light-printable paper by heating it to 120℃and it can be reused more than 80 times.

    The research was carried out in order to reduce the effects of paper production on deforestation (滥砍滥伐). The researchers, from Shandong University in China and the University of California, Riverside, said that the secret behind the technology is a color-changing chemical. A thin coating of the chemical can be used on usual paper and turn it into a reusable, light-printable one. Heating the paper for 10 minutes can help clear the information away more quickly.

    Professor Yadong Yin, a chemistry professor at the University of California and a co-author of the study, said, "The greatest importance of our work is the development of a new technology to produce an ink-free rewritable paper that has the same feel and appearance as usual paper. Our work is believed to have great economic and environmental influences on the modem society." Paper production has a bad influence on the environment. It's the main cause of industrial pollution and paper thrown away by people makes up about 40% of landfills where waste is buried under the ground.

    It is predicted that light-printable paper will be inexpensive in the future. The printing process is also more cost-effective than the usual one as no ink is needed. Most importantly, it can be reused many times, which greatly reduces the cost.