Is it good to be in a middle school? Most American children think so. In America, middle schools often have sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. It is different in different places.

    For children, going to a middle school is a big change. Most middle schools in America have a special day for new middle school students. On that day, they are showed around the school by their new teachers. And they could know a lot about the history of the school. They also would make friends with the old schoolmates (校友).

    They will grow up and learn some different and difficult things in a middle school. A new middle school student will learn foreign languages, computer, music and art, health, and other skills, such as cooking.

    A middle school will have sports teams, clubs and have activities for children. They can choose what they like and join them. If they are good at singing, playing basketball or something else, or if they want to learn, they can join them. Most American children think it's good to be in a middle school.

2023 is a breakout year for Al. It is changing how we live in every way. For example, there is an Al restaurant in Shanghai. Let's see what it is like.

The Al restaurant, located in the Hongqiao Area, covers about 130 square meters. It can serve about 300 people every day, most of whom are old people living nearby or office workers in the area. 

At the restaurant, people need to order food on a screen. For those who are not sure what to eat, the restaurant's robots can give advice. Then. the robots cook the dishes according to the order. They can make different kinds of Chinese dishes. like gongbao chicken and mapo toufu. What's more. the robots can control (控制) the temperature for dine-in or take-away food to keep the dishes warm. At the self-service area, people simply need to place their dishes on. a smart cash desk and the robots will tell them the price of the meal. People can pay in different ways, like asking bank cards or QR codes (二维码). The prices of the food at the AI restaurant are pretty low. Every meat dish costs only 8 yuan while every vegetable dish costs only 3. 5 yuan.

"The meals cooked by robots taste as good as those cooked by humans. It is cheap and convenient (方便的) for us to eat in the Al restaurant," said-an old man.

Would you like to have a meal in such a smart restaurant? How could AI help people next? Let's wait and see.

Quan Hongchan comes from Zhanjiang，Guangdong. She is {#blank#}1{#/blank#}great diving（跳水） player in the world. 

Quan was born on March 28，2007. She is the {#blank#}2{#/blank#}（three）among（在……当中） the five children in her family. 

She spends over seven hours practicing diving every day. It is difficult，    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} she practices it hard. 

It was a hard time for Quan when she just went to the sports school. She had to live far away {#blank#}4{#/blank#} her home. The girl cried a few times，but she {#blank#}5{#/blank#}（keep） on trying. "My mother was sick（生病的） and my family was poor，so I wanted {#blank#}6{#/blank#} （make） more money for my family. "Quan said. She was hard—working. She did very {#blank#}7{#/blank#}（good） at the Tokyo Olympics （东京奥运会） in 2021. 

Quan has good living {#blank#}8{#/blank#}（habit）. She gets up and goes to bed early every day. She never eats unhealthy food like ice—cream because her coach（教练） He Weiyi doesn't let {#blank#}9{#/blank#}（she） do so. 

Quan's dream is to get more champions（冠军） for China. I think her dream can come {#blank#}10{#/blank#}. "My father told me to stay true to my dream，"she said. She always tells herself to keep going. 

Young people and older people don't always agree with each other. They sometimes have different {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(看法) about living, working and having fun. But last month in one special program in New York, adults and teenagers lived together and {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (影响) each other in a friendly way.

Each summer 200 teenagers and 50 adults live together for eight weeks as a group. Everyone works for several hours each day. Lots of vegetables and fruit are {#blank#}3{#/blank#}（种植） on the farms, i{#blank#}4{#/blank#}carrots, tomatoes and apples. Teenagers learn to{#blank#}5{#/blank#}（修理）things like tables and chairs with the help of the adults. 

When people live together, rules are always{#blank#}6{#/blank#} (必要的). In this program the teenagers and the adults make the rules together. Also, they make a {#blank#}7{#/blank#}（协议）to decide everything together. If someone breaks a rule, the whole group will discuss the problem. Sometimes, adults are w{#blank#}8{#/blank#}than teenagers in solving problems, but teenagers have quicker mind.

One of the teenagers says about the experience, "We don't only think about o{#blank#}9{#/blank#}. We learn to think about the{#blank#}10{#/blank#}(整个的）group."

The traditional Chinese Lunar Calendar divides the year into 24 solar terms. Great Heat (大暑), the 12th solar term of the year, begins this year on July 22 and ends on August 7. During Great Heat, most parts of China enter the hottest season of the year. The following are some things you should know about Great Heat.

A season of harvesting and planting

During Great Heat, the sunshine, high temperatures, and heavy rainfall are good for agricultural crops. But like Slight Heat, many natural calamities such as floods, droughts (干旱) and typhoons also happen during Great Heat. Therefore, it's important to harvest and plant in time to avoid setbacks (挫折) caused by natural disasters.

Sending the Great Heat ship in Zhejiang

The ship is filled with various animals for sacrifice (祭祀) such as pigs, sheep, chickens, fish and shrimps. More than 50 fishermen take turns carrying the ship as they march through the streets. The drums are played and fireworks are lit. Both sides of the streets are filled with people praying for blessings. After a series of ceremonies, the ship is finally carried to the wharf (码头). Then, the ship is pulled out of the fishing port and burned at sea. People carry out this ritual (典礼) to pray for good harvests (收成) and health.

Eating litchi and Mizao in Fujian

On the day of Great Heat, there is a custom of eating litchi and Mizao in Putian, Fujian Province, as a celebration of Great Heat. Litchi is a nutritious fruit. People usually soak litchi in cold well water first and eat it. Mizao is made of fermented (已发酵的) rice. On the day of Great Heat, people cook it with brown sugar.