【推荐1】All the cities are quite the same. Living in a modern Australian city is not very different from living in an American city. But there are some differences between living on farms.

In many parts of the world, farmers and their family live in villages or towns. In the United States, each farm family lives in its own fields. Usually their neighbours live far away. It’s hard for them to see each other on weekdays. Their children take school buses to the nearest schools. These schools are only for the farm families in this area. In some areas, there are small schools for a few farm families, and the children walk to their schools. But in Australia it is very different. Farmers live near each other and their children can walk to school and often go home for meals.

Life keeps changing for everyone, so do farmers. Today there are cars, good roads, radios, television sets and there are modern machines for farming. All of these are changing farmers’ life.

【推荐2】If you want a more interesting experience when you arrive in a new city or country, here are some better ways to travel, both for you and for the environment.

Way 1: Get out of the car and walk. It’s slower but it’s the greenest way to travel. It’s also the most rewarding(有益的) way to see a city, but remember to wear comfortable shoes.

Way 2: Cycling is also a good choice. Many hotels now offer free bikes to guest. It is convenient for people to travel around the city. Some also provide electric bikes that make it easier to go up hills and no longer journeys. Some cities also have mobikes, and you can pick up one easily. It’s not free but very cheap.

Way 3: If you have to take transport in a city, try to take public transport. Most cities now offer lots of information and very clear maps at the city’s website.

Way 4: If possible take buses, trains or ships to travel from city to city. They are usually greener than cars and planes.

Way 5: When he only way to travel is by car, rent(租) an electric car. Many car rental companies now offer them, so always ask!

【推荐1】ChatGPT, a new chatbot model! Developed by Open AI, it has taken the internet by storm, winning 100 million users since it came out in November 2022. It can write emails, computer codes (代码), songs, poems, and even short stories, and has passed a number of tests within seconds. Experts around the world are discussing whether AI should be used in education. Some schools have banned (禁止) it. The New York City’s Department of Education, for example, banned ChatGPT from its public school networks, and some people are warning that it could encourage more students to cheat, especially in exams.

Many more welcome this app, saying that, like most technologies in history, ChatGPT is a powerful tool for the development of education.

Accepting AI as early as possible is a good choice. Schools should make preparations for including AI in their teaching plans. They can start by offering AI courses, because by understanding how it works, they can make better use of it. Besides, students with good knowledge of AI are more competitive (竞争的) when it comes to getting a job, as an increasing number of jobs are being done by computer programs. AI powered education technologies can be used to make the learning experience more suitable for each student. As for teachers, AI can free them from doing some boring work so they can focus on their teaching.

Since we cannot avoid ChatGPT and other AI powered apps from entering the field of education, we should make efforts to make sure they have a positive impact (影响) on society and the future of education. AI helps to make learning much more interesting and enjoyable, but humans need to work very hard to win the race with technology.

【推荐2】According to the notice from the government, our school will close and your child can stay at home if it snows in order to avoid the traffic inconvenience and possible danger. But Snow Day is not a homework-free holiday. We will call it Snow Learning Day.

Snow Learning Day is a time for students to continue learning at home when they miss a day of regular school study. Students will have the opportunity for skill improvement through computer or paper worksheets.

We will send home a packet to each student that contains work for Snow Learning. Please sign your name in the following activity boxes when you make sure your child completes for each Snow Learning Day we have. Your child needs to return this sheet and all completed work to Mr. Turner within 5 days after they return to school.

ACTIVITY BOX ON SNOW LEARNING DAY

【推荐3】Thomas Edison was a great American inventor. When he was 7 years old, his mother had an appendectomy(阑尾手术). But it was too dark. So Edison put mirrors near oil lamps to light up the room.

The story is in a Chinese textbook for primary school students by People’s Education Press. But the publisher recently said it will remove(去除) the story. That’s because many people think it’s not true. Many believe that the world’s first appendectomy was in 1886. But when Edison’s mother had the so-called appendectomy, it was 1854.

The publisher also said it will avoid using some other fake(假的) stories. For example, there’s a story about the first US President George Washington. The story says young Washington cut down a cherry tree in the yard of his house. But in fact, there was no cherry tree in the area at that time.

So what’s the problem? Experts say that some editors care too much about the educational meaning of a story and fail to check first if the story is true.

The publisher says, in the future, they will pay greater attention to the truth of the stories in the textbook. “We will invite experts to check our stories,” it said in a statement.

【推荐1】My uncle has two dogs, a big one and a small one. He likes them very much.

One day, my uncle’s friend Mr. Smith comes to his home, and he sees two holes (洞) in the door, a big hole and a small hole. He is surprised (惊讶的) and asks, “My friend, why are there two holes in your door?” “I have two dogs. My dogs can come in and come out from the two holes.” My uncle says. “But why do you need two holes? One is enough (足够的)!” Mr. Smith asks. “But how can the big dog go through (通过) the small hole?” my uncle says.

Mr. Smith laughs and says, “You can keep (保留) the big hole, and the small dog can go through it too.”

【推荐2】Max and I used to share toys (玩具) with each other. But things became different when he got a model car from his grandma on his birthday. He didn’t even ask me to touch it. I was so sad that I decided to buy one.

I told my mom about it, but she didn’t agree. I talked to her again and again, and finally we made a deal (协议). I would clean the recyclable rubbish bin (可回收垃圾箱) in the kitchen for 10 days. If I could do my job well, Mom would buy me a model car. It didn’t sound like a big deal, did it? I said yes even before my mom finished her talk.

However, I made a mistake on the first day. There were three big bins of different colors in front of our house. I opened one and threw the rubbish into it. When I was about to leave, I found that was a red bin for common rubbish. I didn’t know what to do. Then Mom came out and helped me get all the rubbish out and put it in the yellow bin. When everything was done, Mom said, “It’s OK to make a mistake, but be careful next time.”

I did carefully from then on, and finally I got my model car. It was my great work that helped me get it. My heart began to sing when Mom handed it to me!