【推荐2】Every now and then, you may hear news of satellites (卫星) sent into space. On Feb 21, for example, US company SpaceX took 46 satellites into orbit (轨道). On Feb 27, China sent 22 satellites into orbit. Why do we need satellites?

There are more than 3, 000 active satellites moving around the earth, according to a Germany company. Satellites have all kinds of roles, such as sending TV signals (信号), showing you the way on the road, helping scientists with their studies, etc.

For example, the 22 satellites China just sent up are part of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (北斗卫星导航系统). Shared bikes that use BeiDou chips (芯片) can provide more correct places, making them easier to find. Drones (无人机) can also use BeiDou while flying.

Before satellites, TV signals don’t reach very far. Mountains or tall buildings would block the signals. Phone calls to faraway places were also a problem. With satellites, TV signals and phone calls can be sent directly to a satellite and back down to different places on the earth. SpaceX is trying to go further. It plans to use satellites to provide people with Internet all over the world.

Satellites can also provide information about clouds, oceans, land and ice. They help scientists know changes in weather. By watching wildfires and volcanoes (火山), satellites can help to deal with natural disasters (灾害). Farmers can use satellites pictures to decide the best time to water their plants.

Do you wonder what your work environment will be in 10 years? Imagine you walk into your office, with the temperature just right. You sit down and begin a nice day.     1     It uses technology to provide a more comfortable environment for the staff.

    2     For example, it can cause back and waist (腰) pain. Sanon, a company in Zhejiang, built UP7 to help solve this. As a smart lifting desk,     3     When it reaches the time set by the user, it will “tell” the user to stop working by sending messages to the user’s phone.

The company also designed (设计) a kind of smart chair to match with the table.     4     It can adjust (调整) the arms and height according to your body shape. In smart offices, you probably won’t use paper notebooks. Instead, you can try electronic paper books to put every work document online. NIO, created by Hanvon Technology in Beijing, is a new “notebook” like this. It uses a screen that doesn’t produce much light. Users write on it with an electronic pen.     5    

Are you looking forward to working in such a comfortable and friendly work environment in the future?

【推荐1】We saw an interesting documentary some days ago. It says that before you go to another country, it is a great help if you know the language and some of the customs of the country.

When people meet each other for the first time in Britain, they say “How do you do?” and shake hands. Usually they do not shake hands when they haven’t met for a long time or when they will be away from each other for a long time.

Last year, a group of German students went to England for a holiday. Their teacher told them that the English people hardly shake hands. So when they met their English friends at the station, they kept their hands behind their backs. The English students had learned that the Germans shake hands as often as possible, so they put their hands in front and got ready to shake hands with them. It made both of them laugh.

【推荐2】There are many modern ways of shopping in America today. Do you know all of them?

One popular way is catalogue shopping (目录购物). There are catalogues for almost anything you need—like clothes, toys, computers, things to cook with and so on.

Another ways is shopping by TV. It began around 1986. About 5% to 8% of the Americans now shop by TV. People say that it is easy. TV shopping is late at night, so people can go shopping happily after a day’s work.

Online shopping is interesting to more and more people. Is online shopping the way tomorrow? Now people can use their computers to buy many different things, such as computers flowers, food and clothes. Soon people may be able to shop for anything, anytime and anywhere the world.

【推荐3】The year 2023 is a big year for sports in China. That’s because it held the 19th Asian Games(亚运会) in Hangzhou.

Hangzhou won the hosting right for the 2023 Asian Games in 2015. It is the third Chinese city to host the Asian Games after Beijing and Guangzhou in 1990 and 2010.

First held in 1951, the Asian Games is the largest multi-sport event in Asia. It also means a lot to China. The Beijing Asian Games was the first large international sports event to be hosted by China, China News Service reported.

To make the Games a great success, Chinese people worked hard to prepare. Beijing built a great number of roads and gyms, including the famous Beijing Olympic Sports Center and Asian Games Village. The Games helped the world see China and its achievements. Since then, China has improved its global image (国际形象), China Youth Daily reported.

For the 2023 Asian Games, Hangzhou has already started building 33 sports centers, according to China Youth Daily. The themes of the Hangzhou Asian Games are green, smart, economical and civilized. All the Games’ buildings is environmentally friendly.