You don't have to be bored on a rainy day. Here are some new ideas:

    Tell stories. You might tell stories you have heard before, or you might make up some wonderful stories.

    ①___________. You can learn to cook a pizza or maybe some cookies. Give your friend a chance to help in the kitchen and make something tasty.

    ②___________. You might write stories on your own and then read them aloud to others, or you might write a story together.

    ③____________. Think of some scenes and then play a game. Act as teachers, doctors, nurses or policemen. You can dress up in whatever you may have.

    ④____________. Pick out some music and dance around in the room. You can also sing while others are dancing.

So on the next rainy day, try some of these ideas for a day full of fun!

    In 1901, H. G. Wells, an English writer, wrote a book describing a trip to the moon. When the explorers (探险者) landed on the moon, they discovered that the moon was full of underground cities. They expressed their surprise to the "moon people" they met. In mm, the "moon people" expressed their surprise. "Why are you travelling to outer space when you don't even use your inner space?" they asked.

    H. G. Wells could only imagine the travel to the moon. In 1969, human beings really did land on the moon. People today know that there are no underground cities on the moon. However, the question that the "moon people" asked is still an interesting one. A growing number of scientists are seriously thinking about it.

    Underground systems (体系) are already in place. Many cities have underground car parks. In some cities, such as Tokyo, Seoul and Montreal, there are large underground shopping areas. The "Chunnel", a tunnel connecting England and France, is now completed.

    But what about underground cities? Japan's Taisei Corporation is designing a network of underground systems, called "Alice Cities". The designers imagine using surface space for public parks and using underground space for flats, offices, shopping and so on. A solar dome (太阳能穹顶) would cover the whole city.Supporters of underground development say that building down rather than building up is a good way to use the earth's space. The surface, they say, can be used for farms, parks, gardens, and wilderness. H. G. Wells's "moon people" would agree. Would you?

    When we talk about the universe, we mean not only the earth, the sun and the moon, but also the stars and space between them. There are millions of stars in our sky. The sun is one of them. Around it there are eight big planets moving, including the earth. The moon is our nearest neighbor in space. If you look at the sky on a clear night, it is possible to see about 3, 000 stars. They look small, but they are really very big hot balls of burning（燃烧着的）gas. Some of them arc huge（巨大的）, but others are much smaller like our planet Earth. The biggest stars are very bright, but they can only live for a short time. Every day new stars are born and old stars die.

    All the stars are very far away. The light from the nearest star（except the sun）takes more than four years to reach the earth.

    Hundreds of years ago, people used stars, like the North Star, to know which direction（方向）to travel in.

Today you can still see that star.

    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.

    A 22-year old British student has invented a mobile fridge that could save millions of lives across the world.

    Will Broadway's "Isobar" has been designed to keep vaccines(疫苗) at the ideal temperature while they are being sent in developing countries. And Will doesn't plan to make money from his creation. His purpose is to get vaccines to people who need them, which is why he won't be trying to get a patent(专利). Will's Isobar has won him the James Dyson Award that challenges young people to "design something that solves a problem".

    Present methods of transporting vaccines can lead to the vaccines freezing(冻住) before reaching their places in developing countries, but the Isobar keeps a temperature of 2 to 8 degrees for 30 days.

    Will's invention is expected to save the lives of 1.5 million people across the world, a number he says is "amazing". Having now finished college education, he is making an effort to take the Isobar into production. "I would be hands-on, all the way through it, knowing that it works," he says. "It's amazing to just give it a go, even in my back yard, and see the potential(潜能) of the technology."

    The product has been designed to transport vaccines, but already Will sees the possibility of other medical uses in the developing world and beyond. "Blood donations, organ transplants(器官移植)- if they get trapped in traffic, you still use cold bags that really aren't good enough for a long time," he says.

    There is also a possible, non-medical use of the Isobar. "It would be a great thing to take on a five-day trip where you have no power," he says. But he insists vaccine transportation is the primary function(功能) of his invention.