A new rubbish sorting system (垃圾分类系统) has been put into use in Fangchengyuan Community in Beijing. Local people not only sort their rubbish, but also put QR codes (二维码) on it.

    "When the rubbish is collected and the codes are seen, I will get reward points to exchange for small gifts and even some money," one of the local people told reporters. "It's really creative and encouraging."

    This smart system has been carried out in 350 communities in Beijing. The capital of China has joined a list of cities in the country that take action to support rubbish sorting. For example, Shenzhen and Shanghai have made laws to punish people and organizations for not sorting rubbish correctly.

    China produces quite a lot of rubbish every year. Much of the rubbish is buried (填埋) in soil or burned without being sorted. Landfills (填埋场) take up a lot of land and have a risk of polluting the soil and water nearby. And burning rubbish can produce harmful gases. Through rubbish sorting, we can reduce the use of landfills and air pollution.

    What's more, rubbish sorting saves resources, which could bring economic benefits (经济利益). For example, a ton of waste paper can be reused to make about 850 kg of paper, saving 17 trees and 50 percent of water. Because of the benefits, some countries have developed successful sorting systems.

    Japan has a strict and detailed system. When people throw away a water bottle, the cap, the wrapper (包装纸) and the bottle itself have to go into three different bins. Every year, families receive special rubbish sorting timetables and directions from their local governments. They are advised to follow the timetables and directions when they throw away rubbish.

    In Australia, every family is provided with three rubbish bins—the red lid (盖子) bin for "general waste" like food and plastic bags, the yellow lid bin for "recycling" like steel and glass, and the green lid bin for "green waste" such as grass and leaves. On the streets, the bins are printed with pictures of the things that are allowed inside. It makes recycling quite easy.

Scientists from Washington State University invented a robot. It could help old people with dementia (痴呆) or people who have difficulty living by themselves in their own homes.

The Robot Activity Support System, or RAS, uses sensors (传感器) to find out where its owners are, what they are doing and when they need help with daily activities. It runs around rooms to find people on its own and can even lead them to things like medicine or snacks in the kitchen.

At present, about half of the adults over 85 in the US need help with daily activities and the cost is nearly $2,000 billion every year. That's why scientists invented RAS. Scientists did a study to show how RAS could make life easier for older adults. In the study, they asked 26 young participants (参与者) to complete three activities in a smart home with RAS. The participants needed to walk the dog, take medicine and water house plants. When the sensors found someone was struggling with one of the things, RAS received a message to help. The robot then used its sensors to find the person and provide help.

When scientists asked the participants about the robot, someone said, "When I get older, I prefer to have one in my home." Others also thought so.

Confucius teaches us wisdom to deal with confusion, anxiety and fear. 

Confusion, worry, fear. . . Having such bad feelings is not strange to us. But how can we get through these challenges? We can find Confucius' wisdom in The Analects of Confucius. 

子曰："知者不惑，仁者不忧，勇者不惧。"——《论语》

Confucius said: "The wise are free from doubts, the benevolent from anxiety, and the brave from fear. "—The Analects of Confucius

What does it mean?

Wei Shengkun is a Chinese teacher from the Affiliated High School of Peking University in Beijing. He shares that being wise, kind and brave seem simple and easily understood. However, what makes a person truly wise is questioned. 

Zhu Xi, a great thinker in the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), believed that a truly wise person understand s the main rules of the world. This shows the importance of learning and thinking, because only through these can we truly become wise. Zhu also pointed out that the most important thing in life is to be kind to others and have a heart full of kindness. Such a person won't worry because their kindness helps people around them and helps themselves as well. This person will also have the courage to face the unknown, so they won't fear anything. 

In all, to overcome(克服) bad feelings, we need to start learning as soon as possible and look for the world's greatest truths. 

Hello! We are students from China, and we want to save pandas. Pandas are in great danger—There are fewer than 2, 000 pandas in the world. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} If they are taken good care of by us, they can live to be about 30 years old. People like pandas because they are very cute. They are very shy and don't like playing with strangers(陌生人). {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Panda is one of China's symbols. But they face a lot of difficulties. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} So pandas are losing their homes. Besides(而且), pandas do not have babies very often. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Let's take action to protect them. 

A. So please be very quiet when you see them. 

B. So we must save them. 

C. And some of the babies only live for a short time because of illnesses. 

D. That's because they are very lazy. 

E. When people build more cities and farms, they cut down more trees. 

What else can we do to protect pandas? (答案不多于15词) {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

①Winter can be a hard time for animals. The weather may be very cold. Food can be hard to find under the snow. How do animals live in this season? Let's have a look. 

②In autumn, when the weather gets cool, some animals go away from cold places. Some birds fly south together. They move south because the weather there is warm and food there is easy to find. When spring comes, they will return. 

③Many animals store(储存) food before the cold days. That is what a pika(鼠兔) does. A pika looks a little like a rabbit, but with short ears. Pikas live in high mountains where winters are long and cold. In summer, they prepare lots of grass to eat in winter. By the end of summer, a pika may store about 22 kilos of grass. 

④Some animals change themselves to live in winter, like snowshoe rabbits in America. In summer, the rabbits' fur is brown. But they grow new, white fur in winter. The new fur keeps them safe in the snow. In autumn, they eat to get fat(脂肪), because the fat can also help them keep warm in winter. 

⑤Other animals sleep all winter long and don't eat at all. Before winter, these animals eat a lot to grow fat. When winter comes, they go to sleep. Black bears in cold areas make warm beds to sleep in. Some of them can sleep for seven months. By the time spring comes, they have lost most of their fat.