【推荐1】China has taken a whole new step in its moon exploration. President Xi Jinping on Dec. 17, 2020 congratulated the complete success of the Chang’e-5 mission(任务) that brings back the country’s first samples collected from the moon. Following America and Russia, China has become the third country in the world to collect rocks from the moon.

Chang’e-5 first took off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in Hainan on November 24, 2020. It landed on a massive lava plain (熔岩平原) of the moon on December 1, 2020. Then it started to collect the samples. The samples may help scientists understand more about the moon’s origins. It may help work out how the moon comes into being and how it develops. Hopefully, the success of the collection will set an example for other more difficult missions in the future which will be carried out on other planets.

After the returning capsule (太空舱) landed back on Earth, it will be taken to Beijing by plane, where the capsule will be opened and the samples will be ready for study. “China will also provide some of the samples to scientists in other countries”, said Pei Zhaoyu, a director at the CNSA.

As the Chang’e-5 mission has been completed successfully, Chinese scientists are already making plans for future moon exploration, including project to build a scientific research station on the moon. “We hope to work together with other countries to build the international lunar scientific research station, which could provide a shared platform for lunar scientific exploration and technological experiments,” Pei said.

【推荐2】Astronauts (宇航员) may soon be going to the moon again. NASA plans to build bases (基地) there. Astronauts will not be able to take all the food they will need. So they may have to grow some of it on moon farms.

But can plants grow on the moon? Maybe. That is according to a new study. Scientists used soil (土壤) brought back from the moon. They used it to grow plants on Earth. It turned out that success could depend on where on the moon you do your planting.

In the 1960s and 1970s, NASA ran the Apollo program. It sent astronauts to the moon. In the new study, scientists used soil that astronauts collected there.

Scientists put this soil in little cups. Each cup got about a teaspoon of moon soil. Other cups got Earth soil. The scientists planted seeds (种子). They watered the soil and put the cups under growth lights.

In the Earth soil, plants grew healthy leaves. In the moon soil, plants grew leaves, too. But those plants were smaller. And they were less healthy. The older the moon soil was, the worse the plants grew.

Stephen Elardo is one of the scientists. He says it still might be possible to grow plants on the moon. The key could be finding the right place. Scientists still have much to learn. But this study brings humans one step closer to calling the moon home.

What might a moon farm look like? Tyler Jones helps us imagine it. He created a model moon farm. He also used the same kinds of plants that scientists grew in moon soil. His pictures show how moon farms might work.

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【推荐3】Scientists think that there has been life on the earth for hundreds of millions of years. However, we have not found life on any other planets yet.

The earth is a planet and it goes around the sun. Seven other planets also go around the sun. None of them has an environment like that of the earth, so scientists do not think they will find life on them. The sun and its planets are called the solar system, and our solar system is a small part of much larger group of stars and planets, called the Galaxy or the Milky Way. There are billions of stars in the Galaxy, and our sun is only one of them.

Scientists have also discovered many other galaxies in the universe. They are very far away and their light has to travel for many years to reach us. So how large is the universe? It is impossible to imagine.

Scientists have sent spaceships to the planet Mars to take photos. They have even sent spaceships to travel outside the solar system. However, no spaceship has travelled far enough to reach other stars in our Galaxy.

Scientists have always asked the questions: with so many stars in the universe, are we alone, or is there life out there in space? Have there been visitors to the earth from other planets? Why has no one communicated with us? We do not know the answers... yet.

【推荐1】Easter is one of the two important Christian festivals. Easter celebrates the resurrection(复活) of Jesus Christ, while(然而) Christmas celebrates his birth. It’s not a festival as big as Christmas. It usually starts in late March or early April and the Easter holiday is Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. It’s quite a long holiday for everybody.

The main symbol(象征) of Easter is Easter eggs. Children like Easter eggs because they are made of(由……做成) chocolate. Eggs are a symbol of new life.

Easter is also a time for families to get together like Christmas. Many people see Easter as a nice long holiday and they have a good time with their families and friends.

【推荐3】The class in America is almost the same as that in China. But some things are different.

1.In America, if the teacher asks you a question but you don’t understand, you should put up your hand and ask the teacher to repeat it. If you don’t know the answer, it is all right to tell the teacher that you don’t know. Then he or she knows what you need to learn.

2.You mustn’t be absent on a test day. If you’re seriously ill, call and let the teacher know that you will not be there for the test. If your teacher allows a make-up test (补考)，you should take the test in one or two days after you go back to school.

3.Be on time! It is impolite to be late. If you come in late, be sure to do it quietly. Take your books out of your bag after you enter the room. Then go to your seat and sit down quietly. In the US, you needn’t knock at the door before you come into the classroom.

4.If you have to leave during the class, do it quietly, too. There is no need to ask for the teachers agreement.