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 Roview, 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). Morever, 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 menbers 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.

      Our factories and homes burn coal and oil. Every year we have forest fires somewhere. Many scientists believe that the weather is changing.

      The earth will perhaps be warmed by about 7℃ at the South Pole(极) and the North Pole. The ice will be melt(融化). The sea level(平面) will rise by about 7 meters. As a result, water will cover cities like London, Tokyo and New York. Some ports(港口) and towns along the coasts will disappear under water.

      Some other scientists think that the dust, smoke and pollution from coal, wood and oil fires will block out(封闭) the ultraviolet rays(紫外线). Then the earth will become colder and great sheets of ice will cover Europe and North America.

      When chemicals in the air mix with rain, we have acid(酸) rain. Acid rain can bring us great harm. It destroys(破坏) forests and kills life in lakes and rivers.

      People are beginning to see how serious the problem is. They find it important to work with nature instead of against it. They are trying to save the earth in many different ways. But one of the most important things to do is to make people understand that saving the earth is saving ourselves.

    According to a new scientific research, we are rapidly going close to major climate change and the effects on the environment could be quite serious. Geographers predict that climate zones could completely disappear within the next eighty years. Where will crops be grown if this happens? When the climate changes a lot, polar regions will get colder and tropical regions will get even hotter. As a result, where will animals be forced to move on the earth?

    Climate changes like these could lead to the spread of diseases. Tropical storms and hurricanes(飓风) will not only increase but may also become stronger. If the changes come too quickly, animals and plants may not be able to adapt(适应) right away and could disappear from the earth.

    According to Science Daily, a new study predicts that, by the year 2100, many of today's familiar climates will be taken place by climate unknown in today's world. It is urgent that we reduce the risks of far-reaching results for the whole world. The planet itself has been showing signs of change. In 2004, a huge tsunami created by a major earthquake killed thousands in Sumatra and in 2008, thousands more died in China in another big earthquake. Egypt was hit in 2009 with a major earthquake and Haiti was destroyed seriously and became ruins in 2010 by another big earthquake.

    Not long ago, scientists discovered ice melting(融化) in west Antarctica(南极洲). This is very worrying because temperatures in this area have remained rather constant(不断的) and actually even lower at time. Melting occurs when temperatures increase and since temperatures have remained, the ice should not be melting. However, satellite data(数据) shows melting around west Antarctica.

    Within just the last few months, new reports from around the world have been coming in and most agree that our climate situation is much worse than previously expected. At this point, it doesn't matter what is causing it, but rather, what can be done about it. On the other hand, our world is getting more and more unstable(不稳定) every year. Natural disasters(灾难) are becoming more frequent(频繁的) and serious.

    However, other planets are experiencing global warming as well as our own and some scientists believe there may be some connections between these. No one knows anything for sure at this point because there is simply not enough data.

B

    In 2017, when the high speed train. Furing, left Beijing for shanghai at a speed of 350 km/h, it amazed the world. It is China's newest high-speed train and also the fastest train in the world.

    There were 2, 959 high-speed trains running across China by 2016. They make up60 percent of the world's total high- speed trains. Chinese companies have also built more than 10 high-speed railways in Europe, Southeast Asia and South America. And the high speed trains has become a new name card for China.

    Besides the high-speed trains, many other innovations(创新)have also changed people's lives in China.

    For example, though bike sharing is not new itself China has made it much more convenient. And popular. When the Chinese bike sharing companies reached Singapore and Britain months ago, users there excited and couldn't wait to post photos of themselves riding the bikes on social media(媒体).

    Cashless payment has become a lifestyle choice in China it is common that people in China go shopping with no cash(现金)in pockets. Many people just pay with their bile phones by scanning a quick respond code(QR，二维码)from the seller. Even a person selling vegetables has a QR code.

    Many foreigners have experienced lives without carrying any cash in China. They say they can't do it when they are back home in Europe.

    China is now in a great time. It has made great achievements in innovation. They are true pictures of national strength. It seems that China is really leading in some ways. And Chinese people have every reason to believe in an even brighter future.

    Babies born after 2017 may never need to take a driving lesson because of the development of self ­driving cars. Some scientists say that self ­driving or driverless cars(无人驾驶汽车)may hit the roads within 15 years, and it is possible that driving may become unnecessary, or more relaxing and enjoyable.

    Companies like Google, Baidu, Apple and Alibaba are working on driverless cars. But, if the tests are successful, these electric self­ driving cars could be put into use very soon. This kind of cars may change the way we live in the future. All you have to do is to type in the address!

    According to Baidu, driverless technology has the following four advantages. Firstly, driverless cars are actually safer. With driverless cars, the number of deaths caused by accidents will decrease. Secondly, driverless cars are more efficient(效率高的) than manned cars. Thirdly, driverless cars follow the traffic rules. Therefore traffic control will be easier to achieve. At last, the cost of transportation will be reduced as the labor cost becomes less.

    There are many different technologies needed to make a successful self ­driving car. The most difficult technologies of all are environmental perception(感知), behavior prediction, planning control, HD mapping, and exact GPS.