【推荐1】For me, Facebook is about staying in touch with friends, whether that means writing on someone’s ‘wall’or sending them a private message. It’s a useful website for finding long-lost friends, arranging parties and sharing photos. But that’s not all: Facebook is now being used by all kinds of people for all kinds of reasons!

Do you want to play computer games? Log on to Facebook. There are now thousands of entertaining games and puzzles to help you pass the time. Do you want to find cafés, cinemas and bowling alleys in your area? Log on to Facebook pages that you can join and ‘like’, which makes it very easy to search for fun things to do near you. I think it’s brilliant to have all the information that you want on just one website!

People are now joining Facebook to make professional connections too, either with people who do the same kind of work, or with businesses that are looking for new people to work for them.

It’s a pretty good idea since so many people use Facebook these days, especially young people! Even students log on to Facebook to look for summer or part-time jobs.

And that’s not all! Now there are hundreds of pages about sports teams, TV programmes and pop stars to look at on Facebook. However, I believe the main reason most young people use Facebook is because it’s so easy to let the world know what you think about different things or people, whether it’s about a new film at the cinema or whether you prefer Rihanna with long or short hair. You can even write comments directly on other people’s Facebook pages including some stars’ pages. But you have to be careful because giving your opinion online can be dangerous.

We mustn’t forget that Facebook is meant to be fun and shouldn’t be used for saying bad things about people around us. I recently read a news article about a student who had to leave school because she made rude and unfair comments about a teacher on her Facebook wall. Several other school students have been in trouble for similar comments and opinions. In fact, it really annoys me when I see somebody has written nasty things about another person!

It’s true that Facebook is becoming more and more part of our daily lives for many different reasons, and it can be really helpful as well as being a lot of fun. But, as with all websites, we must be careful about how we use it.

【推荐2】When you do your homework, you may often meet some problems. How do you solve them? Linda, a middle school student, would take out her smartphone, open a special app(应用)and search the problem. Answers soon appear on the screen.

Nowadays, many students do homework with the help of the special apps like Linda. “It’s convenient. You don’ t have to go out or wait for a tutor(家庭教师) at home.” Linda said. “You also learn by seeing how others work them out. It’s very helpful and improves students’ abilities” said John, another student. He said it was especially true for new types of homework.

John’s Chinese teacher often asks students to give speeches on great writers. When it comes to John’s turn, he usually searches online, picks out certain stories and makes PPTs. “I’ve become skilled at finding information online and using Microsoft Office,” John said.

However, many people think this trend (趋势)also brings up problems. Some students just copy the answers online without thinking. They become lazy.

Head teacher Mr. Wang in Linda and John’s school thinks that knowing how to use the Internet is important. The key is to have good self-control. “No matter how difficult the problem is, think about it by yourself first. Remember not to depend on the Internet too much.” the teacher said. “Be sure to understand the reasons behind the answers, or you won’t make progress. If you don’t have confidence in your self-control, ask your parents for help.”

【推荐2】In recent years, there have been many films about robots trying to take over the world. Studies show that up to 20 million factory jobs worldwide could be taken by robots in the next 10 years. Some people are worried about what might happen in the future.

On 8th September, 2020, the Guardian published an article written by a robot called GPT-3. It wrote that “robot” comes from the Greek word for “slave” (奴隶) and humans have nothing to fear from robots because they are only here to help humans. However, the fact that a robot could write such an article has made some people feel even more uneasy. Where is the robot technology heading? Can robots and humans work together?

YES—they’re here to help humans. Robots are created by humans for humans. Robots take on jobs that are too dangerous for people to do by themselves. Although robots might take some people’s jobs, they will create new types of work, and they will possibly create more jobs than they take away. Besides, robots’ programming could actually make them more trustworthy(值得信赖) than humans, because they are not influenced by feelings.

NO—humans should not trust robots. Robots are already taking over the world. Jobs that used to be done by human beings are now being taken by robots. Although robots are under our control now, that might not always be the case. An experiment in Switzerland found-that some robots had learnt how to lie to each other. With the development of AI(人工智能), robots could start to act in their own interests. Wherever possible, humans should do things themselves.

What’s your opinion on this matter?

【推荐3】Science and technology can be seen everywhere. They are making our life more convenient(方便的) and comfortable. Some scientists recently added amazing ideas to four common things and made great changes to them.

【推荐1】Qingming Festival (Tomb Sweeping Day) is a traditional Chinese festival for families to pay respect (尊敬) to their ancestors. People visit their ancestors’ grave sites and offer food, drinks and flowers. The festival falls on April the fourth this year. There are some Chinese poems that offer clues to Chinese history and culture through ancient expressions. Here we look at one of the classic poems in the history of Chinese literature:

In China around the time of Qingming Festival, there is more rain. The poet is traveling far away from home on these rainy days. The rain and lonely walks lead to the separation of the soul and body, which adds a sad mood to this poem. The writer, Du Mu describes a rainy scene in a village in the first two lines. Then in the last two lines, the poet wants to find a place to take a rest, drink some wine (酒) and get rid of the sad mood. Where can I find a good tavern? In the last line, a cowherd points to a direction, which vividly depicts (生动描绘) two people looking far ahead on the rainy day.

Mourning Day

Drizzling rain falls like tears on the Mourning Day,

The mourner’s heart is going to break on his way.

Where can a wineshop be found to drown his sad hours?

A cowherd points to a cot amid apricot flowers.

(Translated by Xu Yuanchong, Chinese translator)

In this poem, Du Mu presents a village with apricot flowers around as the direction of the tavern. He doesn’t describe its details on a rainy day but leaves it to the readers’ imagination.

Qingming is not only a sad festival, but can also be a happy time for people to enjoy the spring and get closer to nature in an outing. Trees are green and flowers are blooming, so it’s a good time to be outside.

【推荐2】Today many people say that it is difficult to find a good hobby. Why don’t you open up a garden in front of your house? Having a garden means you need lots of space and free time. But there are many reasons why gardening is a good hobby to develop.

One of them is that plants bring color to any room and keep the air nice and fresh. And, if you keep some flowering plants outside your windows, they may even attract (吸引) cute bees and butterflies. In a word, it’s good for places around us. Gardeners also feel very close to nature. This is quite important.

There are another two reasons for gardening as well. One is that it makes people more relaxed. Studies show that people who do gardening feel more peaceful (平静的) in their lives. This is because gardening makes them feel less stressed. Another one is that it keeps you healthy. Gardening keeps you active and provides fresh food. Both of these are helpful for a healthy way of life.

If you are looking for a hobby, try gardening. You will find the fun of getting your hands dirty and pleasure that comes with growing something. Nothing tastes better than vegetables you grow in your garden.

【推荐3】Have you ever read the four great novels yet? Let’s have a look at them.

	Journey to the West Wu Cheng’en, a famous Chinese writer, probably finished it in 1573. The book introduces the amazing experiences of Xuanzang and his three students: the Monkey King, Pigsy and Sandy in the Tang Dynasty. Director Yang Jie made it into a TV series in 1986.
	The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Mark Twain, an American writer, wrote it. It was published in 1876. The story happens in a town in the USA. It tells some exciting things about a boy named Tom who has many exciting adventures. It also tells how young people grow, how people love each other and how bad people receive a punishment.
	Harry Potter It was written by J. K. Rowling, an English writer. It is her first book. It was first published in England in 1997 and appeared in the USA the following year under the title Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. The book describes the adventures of Harry Potter in his seven years of study at Hogwarts. It was sold in more than 200 countries and was translated into about 80 different languages.
	Oliver Twist It was written by Charles Dickens, an English writer. It was published in 1838. It tells a story about an orphan (孤儿) named Oliver and his sad life experiences. The book shows many social problems at that time and it has been adapted (被改编) several times for films, television and stage plays.

【推荐1】American boys and girls love to watch television. Some children spend six hours a day in school and four to six hours a day in front of the television set. Some even watch television for eight hours or more on Sunday.

Televisions are like books or films. A child can learn bad things and good things from them. Some shows help children to understand the news and places from other countries or other times in history. With television a child does not have to go to the zoo to see animals or to the ocean to see a ship. Boys and girls can see a play, a concert or a game at home.

Televisions bring many places and events into our homes. Some programs show crime and other things that are bad for children, so parents sometimes help them to find other interesting things to do.

【推荐2】There are about 6,000 languages that people are speaking around the world. But 43 percent of these languages are dying out, according to UNESCO(United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization，联合国教科文组织).

This has many reasons. One is that some communities of native(本土的) speakers of the languages are gone, Huff Post reported. These people sometimes leave their communities and move to cities or towns. What's more, to get better education and jobs, young people have to focus their attention on learning dominant (占主导地位的) languages rather than their own languages. Dominant languages are like English, French and Chinese.

Once a language dies, it is hard for it to come back to life. Governments across the world are taking actions to prevent this. In New Zealand, the government has said it wants more than 20 percent of the country’s population to be able to speak Maori (毛利语) by 2040. The country plans to provide Maori lessons in all New Zealand schools by 2025, The New York Times reported.

China is also trying to protect its languages. About 130 languages are spoken in China. In 2015, the government started a project to record all the languages spoken in China, Xinhua reported. Universities like Minzu University of China have created more language majors for their students.