The best way to deal with an emergency is to avoid one if you can. Part Four of our ongoing series (系列片) on crime prevention focuses on protecting your home against burglary (入室盗窃). Sticky Fingers, an experienced burglar now serving a 6-year prison sentence (监禁), agreed to talk to our reporter.

Reporter: Sticky, what do you look for before burglarizing a house?

Fingers: Well, first, I make sure no one is home and no one is watching. I nose around neighborhoods where people don’t seem to know each other very well. That way, I won’t be noticed. Next, I try to find a house where the people are on holiday and not likely to return soon. I do this by looking for houses with no lights on in the evening. Then I look at doorways. They’re a sure giveaway (暴露). When newspapers, mail, and deliveries are piled up, I can tell that people have been away for days. I can even count how many days from the number of newspapers.

Reporter: How do you break into a house?

Fingers: Well, usually it’s easy and effortless. Lots of times people leave a window open, or doors and windows unlocked. Then I just slip in, when I have to break in, I look for a patio (露台) door on the first floor. They usually have weak locks and you can break them easily. I watch out for dogs, though. If I hear a dog barking, I go somewhere else.

You have probably never heard of Amy Hayes, but she is a most unusual woman. She lives in a house she built herself out of rubbish. The windows and doors come from old buildings around her town that were pulled down. The top of the house is an old boat turned up and down. And the gate in front of her house is made of rocks and old glass bottles.

Jassica wong from Hong Kong uses old clothes that people don’t wear any more to make bags. She opened a small shop where she sells her bags, and she also set up a website to sell them online. She especially likes to use old jeans to make handbags. Her bags are cute and useful. “I plan to write a book about new ways to use old clothes,” she said. “I hope people can read my book and enjoy it!”

Wang Tao set up a small business in Shanghai four years ago. He is known for using iron and other materials from old cars to make beautiful art pieces. Some are large pieces that look like animals or humans, and some are smaller pieces you can put at home. The more popular works can even be seen in art shops around the city. Wang Tao hopes to set up a “metal art” theme park to show people the importance of environmental protection. Not only can the art bring happiness to others, but it also shows that even cold, hard iron can be brought back to life with a little creativity.

5 . The opening of the Beijing—Zhangjiakou high-speed railway took place in December, 2019. The railway is a milestone in China’s railway development because it has used the latest technologies in railway building.

The railway is 174 kilometers long, with 10 stations. The stations are managed by one control center, which is described by China Railway Beijing Group — also known as CR Bejing — as an “intelligent (智能的) brain”. The center collects and shares the stations’ real-time information. “With the information, the workers in the center can control the stations’ lighting and temperature, monitor (监测) trains’ operation and deal with emergencies(紧急情况).” said Zhu Dianping, from CR Beiing.

Zhu said some trains on the Bejing—Zhangjiakou line are “smart” as they provide 5G signals and wireless charging (无线充电) for passengers, as well as intelligent lighting. These trains can start and stop, open and close doors, and deal with emergencies themselves.

All the ten stations provide e-ticket services. Travelers who have bought tickets online can use their ID cards instead of waiting in line for paper tickets.

At Qinghe Railway Station in Beijing, China’s first visual remote ticket vending machine (远程可视售票机) has been installed (安装) to help passengers who are not able to afford tickets online. Passengers keep in touch with the conductor through the machine and buy tickets according to video instructions.

In addition, the Badaling Great Wall Station, the deepest underground railway station in China, is another great example of the country’s achievements in railway building.

6 . Do you know 5G? It is the fifth generation（代）of mobile network technology. These new networks are coming.

China just issued commercial licenses（发放商用牌照）for 5G on June 6, 2019. This means that China’s telecom companies will be able to offer 5G networks for mobile phone users.

Each mobile network generation is faster and more powerful than the one before it. 1G let us talk to each other. 2G let us send messages. 3G gave us data（数据）and the Internet. And 4G made all of these things faster. What’s special about 5G?

5G has a very short delay between sending and receiving information. Now, 4G takes about 100 to 200 milliseconds（毫秒）to send and receive data. But 5G will get it down to 1 millisecond or less-this is almost real-time.

This big change will not only make our mobile Internet faster, but also deeply change our lives. Read on to find out how.

5G + entertainment（娱乐）

5G networks are about 100 times faster than 4G. This means you can download a movie in seconds using 5G.

Also, virtual reality (VR) games will become more popular with 5G. The short delay of 5G will make the games feel even more real.

5G + transport

5C will also bring us safer self-driving cars. These cars can send signals（信号）to each other. They also talk to traffic lights and road sensors（传感器）. 5G will allow cars to react（反应）even faster than human drivers.

5G + smart homes

5G also makes the Internet of things possible. Internet of things is a large network that connects everything to the Internet. Smart homes are part of it.

For example, your toaster can automatically（自动地）start making breakfast after your alarm rings. And if its sensor feels the air becoming dry, a smart sprinkler（洒水器）could water your plants by itself.

This famous poem, with four couplets, was written by Du Fu (712-770, Tang Dynasty) when he was living and farming in Chengdu. His farming experience taught him to be thankful to nature.

The very first word, “good”, shows the poet’s joy and love for the spring rain. The rain is good because it “knows” the proper time to come. Here the poet uses personification, as if the rains were smart enough to come in time for the farmer’s busy season.

When the rain comes, it appears during the night without making any noise. Unlike the summer storms, the spring rain finishes its task without being known.

In the third couplet, the poet describes a peaceful scene to us. In the night sky, the clouds look dark and heavy. It’s a sign that there will be enough rain during the night. The light from the riverboat makes the dark scene a bit livelier.

Lastly, the poet starts to imagine. Tomorrow morning, he thinks, the city of Chengdu will become beautiful when all of the flowers bloom(盛开)after the rain.

8 . Does blue light actually influence your health? Blue light before bedtime can make it harder to sleep, and the screens on phones, computers and televisions give out a lot of blue light. It is true. But if you think blue light as a main problem influencing your sleep or your eye health, it’s time to think in another way.

A researcher says that blue light is part of sunlight, and your eyes are under the sunshine all the time. You’re fine. There are studies of mice that have found blue light can be bad for the eyes, but mice are nocturnal creafures(夜行性动物) whose eyes are different from ours. In a sense, their eyes can protect themselves.

However, adding more protection isn’t likely to help. You can buy glasses to stop the blue light, but the researcher points out that the way will waste your money. You could get the same effect just by holding your phone far from your face. Try it now and see if you notice a difference. No? Then it shouldn’t surprise you that a recent research result said that blue—blocking(防蓝光的) glasses have no special effect(影响) on sleep quality(质量).

If you’re worried about your eye health or your ability to get to sleep on time, you already know what to do: put the screens away at bedtime. Read a book or find something else to do. While you’re using screens, take a 20—second break every 20 minutes.

10 . Do you know the two lovely mascots (吉祥物)? You may know the five “Fuwa” dolls from the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. On September 17 of this year, the two lovely mascots first showed on TV. Now, let’s see who they are.

It is a black and white panda that wears a full-body “shell” made of ice and looks fat, so we call it “Bing Dwen Dwen”.The red heart shape in its left palm(手心）means welcoming the friends from other countries. The bright colours of the circles around its face stand for ice and snow sport tracks, meaning connectivity and advanced technologies. “Bing Dwen Dwen” likes ice sports very much and is good at them. That’s why it is the mascot of 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games.

Do you think the red mascot looks like a lantern? The lantern’s name is “Shuey Rhon Rhon”. When the Chinese New Year comes, people always make or buy red lanterns. Red is the colour of hope and good luck, so people think their dreams will come true in the new year. Take a look at its head. There are paper cuttings of doves(鸽子）. They make up a circle. “Shuey Rhon Rhon” can give players hope and help them do well in the 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympic Games.

Many people in different countries like the two mascots very much, and they show their love for them on the Internet.