A Juice Carton’s Diary

January 16

I’m sitting on a shelf in a big store! I am an orange juice carton（硬纸盒）! I’m made of hard paper. This morning, something great happened. A little girl looked at my shelf for a long time, and then she chose me! She’s taking me to a picnic by the lake so I hope she’ll drink me.

January 17

I’m in a lake. The little girl drank the juice, but left me in front of the lake. The wind blew me into the water. I don’t like it here.

January 18

I saw a man taking rubbish out of the lake with a net. He saw my bright orange colour, and he saved me. He caught me and a plastic（塑料的）bottle in his net. Now, we’re in the boat, and we aren’t waste anymore. We’re happy.

January 19

I’m at the recycling factory. I feel a little afraid here because there are large machines that make loud noises. My plastic bottle friend is across from me. I think this is a good place.

January 20

I’m sitting on a shelf in a stationary store!

Everything here is made of paper. Yes, they recycled me into a notebook. I’m very happy and excited, and I really want to see the recycling factory again. Maybe next I’ll be a comic book!

【推荐2】Recently, Richard Watson has tied 200 special transmitters (信号发射机) to his cows’ necks. These devices (装置) are part of an artificial-intelligence (AI) system named Ida. The system sends messages to Watson’s phone at certain time. The messages tell him when his cows are eating and when they are feeling sick. “There may be ten sick animals out there,” said the dairy farmer (奶农), “but can you pick them out?” AI technologies are reinventing how people work. Al systems read and reply to lots of information. They are designed to save people s time and energy. The Ida system has attracted the interest of many dairy farmers. Watson is one of them. Standing on a March morning among his cows, he pulled out his smartphone to use his Ida app. It showed that Cow #97800 and #97782 were eating less. This might mean that they were feeling ill. Information like this, Watson added, could mean the difference between a cow's healthy milking and early death. This could save him and many other farmers hundreds of thousands of dollars each year.

Ida was developed by the tech company Connecterra. Yasir Khokhar, the company’s founder, said he came up with the idea while living on a Dutch dairy farm. The system was trained to understand cow behaviors by studying thousands of hours of video. It now tracks (跟踪) five cow behaviors: walking, standing, lying down, eating and drinking.

However, some farmers say they aren’t so useful. “I can know a cow that isn't feeling great just by looking in her eyes,” said Mark Rodgers, a neighbor of Watson’s. “I can’t draw or paint, but I can watch cows.”

【推荐1】Teachers help us become good students. So we need to thank them for all their hard work. How do American students thank their teachers?

First of all, American schools have a whole week in May to appreciate (感谢) their teachers! Teacher Appreciation Day is on the Tuesday of that week.

The school has parties with gifts and snacks (点心) that week. There are also signs (标志) everywhere to show their love for teachers.

American students like to give small gifts to their teachers. The teachers love getting thank—you notes from their students. Teachers also like getting hand—made things and small candies from students.

Students shouldn’t just wait until Teacher Appreciation Day. Thank your teachers all the time! They love to hear from their students. It helps them to do a good job.

【推荐2】This is a true story that happened between a passenger and a flight attendant(空中乘务员).It shows us the hidden power of smiles.

It was a cross-country flight. The plane had just taken off. One passenger wanted to take his medicine. He told a flight attendant that he needed a cup of water. The flight attendant told him that she would bring him water in ten minutes.

Thirty minutes later, the passengers ring for service sounded again. The flight attendant suddenly realized that she had made a terrible mistake. She was kept so busy that she forgot to bring the passenger water. She hurried over to him with a cup of water, but he refused it.

In the hours that followed, each time the flight attendant passed by the passenger, she would ask him, with a smile, if he needed help. The passenger, however, paid no attention to her.

The next morning, the flight landed. When he was going to get off the plane, the passenger asked the flight attendant to hand him the passengers' booklet (小册子). The flight attendant felt depressed (沮丧的). She knew he would write some sharp words. However, with a smile. she handed he booklet to the passenger.

After all the passengers had got off the plane, the night attendant nervously opened the booklet. A smile came to her lips. Do you know why? Well, the passenger had written, During the night, you asked me if I needed help twelve times in all. I didn't need any help, but how could I refuse your twelve sincere smiles?

That's right! Who can refuse twelve sincere smiles from a friendly person? So, would you like to smile more often at people around you? You would then feel the power of smiles yourself.

【推荐3】Sometimes choosing where to eat in Suzhou is something of a challenge. No matter how good the food tastes at a chosen restaurant, one may always wonder, “Is there anything better on the next street?” However, I’ve found the answer to this question. When I’m asked to name my favorite place to eat in Suzhou, I will reply right away, “Song He Lou Restaurant”. Why is Song He Lou so special among hundreds of restaurants? Well, for me it comes down to a perfect balance of delicious food, pleasant atmosphere（氛围）and a near-perfect location.

Before coming to Suzhou, I was warned by my friends from other cities in China that the food could be too sweet. For the first few months I chose to eat in Sichuan or Hunan style restaurants instead of eating much local food. However, after falling in love with the city, I came to realize that the food is so closely connected with its local culture. So I asked a local friend to recommend the best place to try real local style food. She came up with the suggestion of Song He Lou.

For a first-time visitor, “Song Shu Gui Yu” and “Xie Fen Tofu” are excellent choices. Suzhou has now become my home and I have a lifetime to enjoy each and every dish on the menu.

【推荐1】How are American school days like？Do students in America have the same school life as we do in China? And what do they often do on weekends?

Well, in America, from Monday to Friday, the students spend about six hours(小时) a day in studying at school. They don’t have morning readings and there are seven classes a day. A classroom is not very big and there are twenty or thirty students in a class. They have different lessons in different classrooms. They often sit around teachers and discuss(讨论) problems with them. They have little homework after school. They often read books, listen to music, or do sports.

American students’ weekend life is varied. On Friday evening, they usually have a party, go to see movies in the cinema or have a meal at a restaurant. On Saturday, they often have some lessons, help their parents at home or play games in friends’ houses. Many students go to the church(教堂) on Sunday and then go home to do homework and stay with family.

【推荐2】Everyone needs friends. We all like to feel close to someone. It is nice to have a friend to talk, laugh, and to do things with. Surely there is also some time when we need to be alone. We don’t always want people around. But we would feel lonely if we never had a friend.

No two people are just the same. Sometimes friends don’t get along well. It doesn’t mean they no longer like each other. Most of time they will make up (重归于好) and become friends again.

Sometimes friends move away. Then we feel very sad. We miss them very much, but we can call them or write to them. And we would even see them again. And we can make new friends. It is surprising to find out how much we like new people when we get to know them.

There is more good news for people with friends. They live longer than people who don’t have friends. Why? It could be that they are happier. Being happy helps you stay well. If someone cares about you, you will take better care of yourself.

Sometimes children need extra help to learn at school. In some schools in England, volunteer tutors work with children who are struggling to learn and write. The tutors spend time with them, away from their class, to help them learn to love books and enjoy school. These children can then become more confident about school and learning.

Lorna is six years old and struggling with her reading and writing. This is a report from her tutor, Mrs Snow, who has been visiting her at school.

When I first started working with Lorna, she was very shy and didn’t really enjoy reading.

Her class teacher told me she was very quiet in class. During our lessons together we spent lots of time reading books. We also played word games to help with her spelling and writing. As time went on, Lorna began to relax and became more confident. She realized that reading and writing could be lots of fun!

Lorna even wrote a book by herself about Beauty and the Beast. She also drew some lovely pictures to explain it. What great progress!

Her favorite reading book was called Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. She was very happy every time we sat down to read it!

Her class teacher is very pleased with how well Lorna is doing. Lorna proudly tells her classmates about what she has done in each lesson. I think they all want to join in as well!

I am very pleased that Lorna is also spending more time at home reading with her mom and dad. They are all enjoying reading together. Lorna tells me that they have bought her a special bookmark to use in her reading books.