Have you heard about "Face Recognition (刷脸)" technology? It begins to become a popular and exciting development in China. In September 2017, a Kentucky Fried Chicken KPRO restaurant in Hangzhou utilized (利用) this new technology.

    Customers will go through the buffet (自助餐) line and then check out with their food using this "Just look with your face" payment method. When they get to the payment machine, they simply choose the Payment of facial recognition and then stand in front of the screen for 1-2 seconds. They then confirm their account and phone number and finish the payment process—all of it takes no more than 10 seconds!

    Nowadays, the words "Face Recognition" have become popular around China with the development of the ability to pay with facial recognition. Here are several examples of how you might hear the words in daily life in China. In Hangzhou, a high school provides a service where students can pay for meals by facial recognition. However, this isn't the only way we use the words in China! When you combine these characters together you also get another meaning: Jackie Chan got a dinner for free by "brushing his face".

    Do you know more about other meanings of "Face Recognition"? Please tell me more about it by sending an email to Susan2018@126.com or call me at 8524689. We'll talk about the topic next time.

    Developing healthy eating habits starts from childhood, therefore it is important for parents to teach and provide children with a healthy diet.

    DPHSS administrator of the Bureau of Nutrition Services, Charlie Morris said, "A healthy diet for a child always includes a lot of fruits and vegetables in the diet limiting the amount of simple sugars in the diet and high fat food and highly processed* food." This means staying away as much as possible from food such as chips, cookies, candies and sugary drinks, because all children need to have meals and the meals should be a well-balanced diet.

    Community nutritionist* Thelma Romoso said, "The fruit, the vegetable, the grain, the protein, and also the milk, the diary product are all necessary in the diet for a child. Among them, the fruit and the vegetable should come first. It's easy for a mother to go into the two plus three concept* of fruits and vegetables or five a day." This concept means that there are at least two servings* of fruits a day, three servings of vegetables a day which can be served for lunch and dinner.

    Morris also said that the child's hunger level influences how much is eaten and the parent controls what and when the meal is offered, saying, "Mom needs to make sure that the food offered is good food for the child to eat and she also needs to consider how active they are through the day. Snacks* are not a bad thing, so the mom should offer good kinds of snacks as well."

    When it comes to preparing your child's lunch and snacks for school, make sure to keep in mind that the food you provide should not only provide enough energy but also be healthy such as fresh fruits, and whole grain bread. But parents must be sure to remember that a good healthy diet must be balanced with physical activity, that is to say, it is important that children get outside and run around and play and get activity besides eating a good diet.

One day when Picasso was walking along a road, a woman passed by and saw him. She ran to Picasso for a painting as a gift. Picasso smiled and said {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(polite), "I'm sorry, Madam. I have nothing to paint. I am {#blank#}2{#/blank#}/ˈempti/ handed here. I may make you a painting some other time."

However, the woman didn't give up. She {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(keep) on, "Please, I am a big fan of you and I want to meet you for years." Hearing this, Picasso was moved and then took out a small {#blank#}4{#/blank#} of paper and a pen, and began to draw something. Within 10 seconds, Picasso finished {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(draw) and handed it to the woman, "Take this! It's a million-dollar painting."

But the woman thought Picasso was just playing a joke on her. How could it be {#blank#}6{#/blank#}/wɜːθ/ a million dollars just in 10 seconds? So she went to the market and was {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(surprise) to learn that it was true.

When meeting Picasso again, she wished she could be his student. She said, "Please teach me so that I can do the same thing {#blank#}8{#/blank#} such a short time."

Picasso smiled and said, "Dear, the drawing I made was not in 10 seconds {#blank#}9{#/blank#} my thirty-year efforts towards the arts!" The woman was speechless.

We fix our eyes on others' {#blank#}10{#/blank#}/səkˈses/ more often than the hard work and patience behind it. If we want to reach it, we need experience and struggle(奋斗).

On the final day of the summer camp, Ada and Lydia stood below the camp's highest, hardest rope (绳子) course. Lydia raised her hand and 1 to go first. Hands before feet, Lydia began her climb 2 the rope ladder.

"Go, Lydia, go! You're the best." Ada 3 from below. When Lydia made it all the way across, Ada smiled in relief for her friend but also felt 4 : it was her turn now.

Ada reached out her arms to the first wood rung on the rope ladder. Her arms felt shaky (颤抖的) as she felt the ladder swing a little because of her 5 . She walked her hands 6 forward to the next rung. About halfway across the ladder, Ada was starting to feel a little more confident. She could do this!

Ada 7 for the next rung, just as a strong wind made the rope ladder swing. Ada's hand did not hold the wood rung.8 , her hand hit only air and continued downward, followed by her arm, her shoulder and the rest of her body!

Almost immediately, the harness (保护带) caught her. Ada could see all the other kids staring up at 9 . As she was lowered to the ground slowly, Ada's face burned from 10 .

"Can I try again?" Ada said, holding back tears.

The coach looked at the watch. "I'm sorry, Ada. We don't have time."

On the bus home, Ada rested her head 11 the window. Beside her, Lydia sat silently and thoughtfully. "Hey, Ada?" Lydia said. "I couldn't have made it without you. I got so scared at first, 12 you encouraged me and I kept going."

"You got scared?" Ada asked.

Lydia 13 , her eyes widening. "Super scared. I'm surprised I didn't give up." Ada smiled a little. "You were just unlucky that the 14 came up," continued Lydia.

Right that moment, she knew her friend was trying to cheer her up. Suddenly falling off the ladder did not seem so 15 anymore. Anyway, she tried hard.

A few years ago, I went to Italy as an exchange student. Before leaving, I asked my mother what gifts I should take to the teachers and the classmates there. Mom said that the Chinese fan was a good choice, for China is praised as"the Fan Kingdom". I agreed completely, because it is more than a tool for cooling. And it's also an important part of Chinese culture. 

I went shopping and bought three kinds of Chinese fans. The first kind was the feather(羽毛) fan for the teachers, which was made of bird feathers. It was the symbol of Zhuge Liang, a very smart man in ancient China. The fans I bought for the girls were silk fans. They were also called"round silk fans". Fans of this kind were made of silk with paintings of beautiful women, birds or flowers. They were very popular with women of all ages. As for the boys, I picked the folding fans from Rongchang, a place in the west of Chongqing. The folding fans were made of paper and bamboo. There were great paintings and calligraphy(书法) on them. 

 At the welcome party in Italy, my new friends were all ____ to get the wonderful fans. And they were amazed at the stories and culture behind them. They were eager(渴望) to visit China and explore Chinese culture.