Kites were once called zhiyuan in North China and yaozi in South China. The name fengzheng came into use curing the Five Dynasties.     1     He lived in the Five Dynasties. He once tied a whistle (哨子) made of bamboo to the upper (上面的) part of his kite so that a zheng sound was made when he was flying the kite. The word for wind is feng, so fengzheng came into use.

Who really invented the kite?     2     But it’s widely believed that the earliest kite in the world was made by Mo Di, a famous Chinese philosopher (哲学家) who lived about 2,400 years ago. He spent three years making a “bird” with wood and successfully flew it. The “bird” was later regarded as the first kite in the world.     3     Lu Ban improved on kitemaking. He made a kite out of bamboo and it flew into the air for as long as three days.

Kite-flying became a kind of activity probably in the Tang Dynasty.     4     Because making kites at that time is expensive. Later, the paper-made kite was invented. Paper-made kites were cheaper to make and then they spread quickly among the common people.

    5     The well-known British scientist, Dr. Needham, once described kites as an important invention that spread to Europe from China in his book. A foreign kite expert said, “The invention of the kite encouraged humans’ dream to fly and led to the invention of the plane.”

【推荐2】Recently, TIME chose 15-year-old scientist Gitanjali Rao as its Kid of the Year for 2020 and put her on its cover. Gitanjali was chosen from over 5,000 young kids.

TIME has long been famous for its “Person of the Year”. In 2020, it decided to honor young people in the US with its first ever Kid of the Year. TIME looked at kids between the ages of 8 and 16 who were really making a difference, no matter how small.

Gitanjali is one of them. She invented a system to test drinking water for lead (铅) at eleven. The invention made her the title of America’s “Top Young Scientist” in the 2017 Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge. She also made an app called Kindly. She hopes the app can help cut down on online bullying(欺凌). “It gives you a chance to rethink what you’re saying so that you know what to do next time,” Gitanjali said.

Gitanjali worked with schools, museums and other groups around the world to teach young people how to come up with their own solutions to problems. “If I can do it,” she told them, “you can do it and anybody can do it”.

【推荐3】Did you run out of coffee or tea? Find no eggs in the fridge and the nearest shop is too far away? Well, all that can change in the future.

If all goes well, smart kitchens will soon help solve（解决） all your problems. The kitchen of the future will help plan your menu for the day. Worried about your weight? It will tell you the right diet and what is good for your health. It will even keep in mind your likes and dislikes!

If you are not good at cooking, the computer system（系统）will spell out the ingredients （配料）that the diet says each dish needs and tell you how to mix them! The smart kitchen downloads（下载） the diet from the Internet after checking the ingredients in the fridge. Want to make the rich, creamy chocolate cake? The kind that mother or grandmother makes? You have it.

With the help of the kitchen’s computer system, this smart kitchen will keep an eye on your fridge. So what happens if the fridge is empty like old Mother Hubbard’s? The kitchen will automatically call and place an order at the local supermarket.

【推荐2】①Facial recognition technology is widely used today. For example, police use it to search for bad guys. It’s also used to unlock phones or doors. Now, a similar technology, known as facial detection (探测), is entering a new field:the business of advertising.

②Such systems are going through tests in a small number of stores. One facial detection system can judge a person’s “happiness” or “fear” level. That helps businesses see how people feel as they look at products or advertisements in the store. Another system can detect whether someone is wearing eyeglasses. If so, stores can send advertisements for new glasses to him.

③Facial detection technology is also placed inside some large advertising boards. Cameras in those boards can detect information like people’s ages and five levels of feelings—from “very happy” to “very unhappy”.

④Supporters of the technology say it could improve buyers’ experience by showing products they might like or by offering them products at lower prices.

⑤Some are against the idea of using such systems. Pam Dixon, the head of a privacy (隐私) group, is one of them. She thinks ________. For example, a business could raise the price of a product according to a person’s age and feelings.

⑥However, one store testing the technology explained they wouldn’t store people’s information like names or ages. And the advertising board system maker said it didn’t keep any personal information or record any videos.