【推荐1】Thomas Edison lit up the world with his invention of the electric light. Without him, the world might still be in the dark. However, the electric light was not his only invention. He also invented the motion picture camera and 1200 other things. About every two weeks he created something new.

Thomas Edison was born in 1847. He attended school for only three months. His mother taught him at home, but Thomas was mostly self-educated. He started experimenting at a young age.

When he was 12 years old, he got his first job. He became a newsboy on a train. He did experiments on the train in his spare time. Unluckily, his first work experience did not end well. They fired him when he accidentally set fire to the floor of the train. Then Edison worked for five years as a telegraph operator, but he continued to spend much of his time in experimenting his first patent（专利）in 1868 for a vote recorder run by electricity.

Thomas Edison was totally deaf in one ear and hard of hearing in the other, but he thought of his deafness as a blessing（上帝的恩宠）in many ways. It kept conversations short, so that he could have more time for work. He always worked 16 out of every 24 hours. Sometimes his wife had to remind him to sleep and eat.

Thomas Edison died at the age of 84. He left a great many inventions that greatly improved the quality of life all over the world.

【推荐1】Peter was the best table tennis player in his school and hardly ever lost a match. He hated losing anything. When he won, he would feel really good. If he lost, he would feel terrible. It seemed to Peter that losing was the worst thing in the world.

A new kid, Albert, came to Peter’s school. He was good at table tennis, too. Soon there would be a match between Peter and Albert. Peter worked hard to get ready for the match, but Albert didn’t seem to think much of it. When the match began, Albert was a real player. There was always a smile on his face, while Peter looked serious all the time. Peter thought it was so important to win the match that he even wanted to cheat, but he lost in the end.

“You played very well, Peter. I think we can play again sometime,” said Albert.

But Peter didn’t feel happy and couldn’t fall asleep that night.

One day, Peter saw Albert playing basketball. Though he lost again and again, the happy smile never left his face. Peter found Albert was great at table tennis but bad at basketball. However, he enjoyed both of them.

Whether he won or lost the game, Albert enjoyed it. Peter came to realize that enjoying a game was much more important than winning or losing it. He felt happier than ever before.

【推荐2】In the past five years, Lord（公爵）Michael Bates, has walked in hundreds of cities to promote（推广）peace and charity. “I am not a natural outdoor person, ” he says, “but I can only walk when I have a clear purpose（目的）. ” He has walked at least 12, 000 kilometers and raised more than 460, 000 pounds（英镑）. The money has helped many children through education and sports.

In 2015, Lord Bates set out from Beijing all the way to Hangzhou and raised a total of 90, 000 pounds for children with disabilities（残疾）. And his book Walk for Peace has just come out in China. The Chinese government thanked Lord Bates for his contribution to peace and charity, as well as building the bridge of understanding between the two countries.

“Lots of people want world peace, but world peace starts with having better relations in your own society, better relations in your family, and building friendship abroad. It begins with us, ”says Lord Bates.

【推荐3】Mrs. Brown asks Mary, “Do you like to have a treasure hunt (寻宝游戏)?” “Yes, Mom,” Mary says. Mrs. Brown gives her a green note (便条).

It says, “You can find books in it.” Mary comes to the bookcase and sees a purple note in it. It says, “You can sit (坐) on it.” Mary comes to her bed, but she can’t find a note. She comes to her chair and sees a brown note. It says, “You can put (放) your tape in it”.

Mary comes to her tape player and sees a yellow note next to it. It says, “Dial (拨) 786-0387.” Mary comes to the phone on the table and dials 786-0387. “Hello? This is Frank.”

“Oh, Uncle Frank, my treasure (宝藏) is you!” says Mary.

Can anyone be an astronaut?

Of course not. You don’t have to have a science degree but most astronauts do. Most of them are pilots too. Life in a spaceship is hard so you must have a healthy body and mind. You need to be easy going, patient, and helpful to spend so much time in a small space with other people.

What’s the training like?

People have to train for a year to learn how to stay healthy and safe. They practise space walking and living in zero gravity. They train in difficult conditions to learn how to solve problems and to work in a team. Everyday tasks like eating, washing and sleeping can be difficult in a spaceship. There is no running water so you have to wash with wet tissues; it’s hard to enjoy the dry food that astronauts have to eat. And to sleep you must cover your eyes because the sun rises every 90 minutes on the International Space Station. You also have to tie yourself to something so you don’t fly away!

What health problems do astronauts have?

Life in zero gravity causes changes to our bodies. Bones and muscles(肌肉) become thin and weak so you must do a lot of exercise in space to stay fit and to help the heart move blood around your body. Astronauts often get backache because people grow in space-up to 8 centimeters! It’s also common to have headaches and to feel sick, especially at the beginning. You must have vitamins to take the place of fresh fruit and vegetables. But you don’t have to put on sun cream because space suits protect your skin.

Are you still interested?

So now you know. If you want to go to space, study hard, learn to fly and take care of your body and mind.

On August 20, 2021, Chinese astronauts Liu Boming and Nie Haisheng did the second spacewalk of the Shenzhou XII mission (任务). They set up equipment (设备) and lifted camera outside the Tiangong space station (空间站).

    1    . There is no air in space, of course. And it’s filled with harmful radiation (辐射). But the spacesuits (宇航服) can protect astronauts.

A spacesuit is like a small station.     2    . For example, China’s spacesuits are filled with air and have six layers (层). The sixth layer is made of special fibers (纤维) that protect astronauts from radiation.

Astronauts are connected to the space station with safety ropes. The suit has headphones and speakers for them to communicate. There is also a mirror on the wrist (手腕).     3    .

Each suit costs around 30 million yuan and it takes four months to make just one!     4    . Zhai Zhigang wore it to carry out China’s first spacewalk for about 19 minutes. The suits Chinese astronauts wear today are the second generation (代). It can support walks as long as eight hours and can be used more often.     5    , while the second generation can be used 15 times within three years.

At 15:40 on December 9th, 2021, the “space teacher”, Wang Yaping, made some experiments in the Tianhe Core Module of the Chinese Space Station.

“Welcome to the ‘Tiangong Classroom!’ ” said Wang Yaping.

Taking a “spacewalk” is difficult.

Ye Guangfu was working hard to walk, but his body floated (漂浮)! Then he tried to turn around but he couldn’t. “In space, astronauts are in a weightless(失重的) environment. So we need to use nearby devices (装置) to move,” he said.

The paper flower “blooms”.

In the “Tiangong Classroom,” Wang Yaping made a beautiful water film. Then she took out a paper flower and placed it on the film of water. The pink flower slowly “bloomed”! “I hope your dreams can bloom in the huge universe!” she said.

“Space Happy Ball” brings fun.

Wang Yaping asked the children on the ground to put their ping-pong ball in the water. The density (密度) of the ball was less than that of the water, so it floated up.

In space, when she put the ping-pong ball into the water, it did not float up to the surface. It stopped in the center of the water!

“The buoyancy (浮力) disappears in a weightless environment in space so the ping-pong ball cannot float,” Ms. Wang explained.