1 . Nowadays, it seems that we cannot live without technology. We learn, work and relax by using phones, computers, iPads, AI robots and so on. Now, let’s see what’s going on in Julie’s life.

Julie usually wakes up at the ring of a mobile phone. Then, she eats her breakfast to a video on the phone. When she gets to her company, she deals with the business on the computer. And she often downloads（下载）and stores things that she needs on her iPad. When she needs something, she can just turn on the iPad and search for it. She carries the iPad wherever she is on business because it’s light. When she is at home in the evening, she sometimes uses ChatGPT, a smart AI chat robot, to write her projects. She only needs to type in some key words and then she can get some ideas in a second. It can make her use less time to do more things. In the late evening, she always falls asleep at the soft music from Xiaodu.

Julie lives with technology, and so do we. However, technology brings us some problems at the same time. Staring at screens too much is bad for our eyes. Many of us are near-sighted（近视的）or have other eye problems. AI is making some of us unwilling to think and explore on our own. We may copy ideas from AI robots. We may even like chatting in the virtual（虚拟的）world better because of so many chat robots.

So, I think that technology is a double-sided sword（双刃剑）. We should use technology correctly and wisely to make our life easy, colorful and convenient.

2 . China is a noodle paradise（天堂）.The home of wheaten food（面食）across the world is China, and the home of wheaten food in China is Shanxi province. As an American student, my first experience with noodles was in Shanxi when I was an exchange （交换）student.

Everyone knows noodles are the king of Shanxi food. There are more than 100 ways to make noodles. Among them, my favorite is the knife-cut noodles. The knife-cut noodles are one of the top five noodles in China, with the other four being Hubei’s hot-dry noodles, Sichuan’s Dan Dan noodles, Beijing’ s fried sauce noodles and Shandong’ s Yifu noodles.

Once in a restaurant, I ordered knife-cut noodles and I was lucky to see how the cook made them from the window of the kitchen. I felt really surprised to see the cook shave （削）the noodles so quickly! When I tasted the noodles for the first time, I felt super glad.

When I first learned to make knife-cut noodles, the more I practiced, the harder it seemed. But later, when I got the angle （角度）right, it became a lot easier. In fact, you need a lot of skills if you want to cook them. The first thing you need to do is to make a dough （禾口面）.After that, let your dough rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Then cut the noodles by running the knife up and down. The most difficult part is getting the right angle between the knife and noodles. Finally, let them cook in the hot water for 5 minutes.

The reason why people like knife-cut noodles is that they have a special taste. Also, the way to make them is an art form that takes years of practice.

3 . Domestic trips (国内旅游) made in China during the Spring Festival in 2023

During the Spring Festival in 2023, various (不同的) cultural and tourist activities were held in China to stimulate consumption (刺激消费).

Primary and junior high school students now are allowed to stay at school for two hours after school is over. Students can enjoy their hobbies. They can also take part in other after-school activities.

This is one of the key measures (措施) of the “double reduction” policy (“双减”政策) across the country. The policy tries to reduce students’ stress caused by too much homework and off-campus training.

When students leave school, they can see their parents, instead of their grandparents, waiting outside to pick them up. Students are happy about it, and so are their parents.

“It’s good that I can come to pick up my son,” said Mrs Wang, a mother of a second grader. “I’ve bought extra exercise books for him to do since he has no homework now. I still need to know how well he has learned.”

The changes also mean that students can choose to do their homework at school after school is over.

“We have a reading course after classes end at 4 pm,” said Zhang Zirui, a primary school student. “Then we do our homework at school. I don’t have to do homework when I go back home.”

Lan Lan, a student at a junior high school, has less homework now. “The teacher has cut out the repetitive (重复的) contents in the homework, which I welcome a lot,” she said, “and there are lots of afterschool activities for us to take part in. It’s great.”

Mr Wang, a father of a junior high school student, said the measures showed the government’s great efforts to lighten the burden (负担) on schools, parents and students.

In many places, wildfires destroy（毁灭）thousands of square kilometers of forest and farmland each year. They can spread out of control and put homes and sometimes whole towns in danger. To keep the homes and towns safe, wild grass and brush（柴枝）must be cleared. This need has led to an interesting solution（办法）, which has many advantages.

First, goats and sheep spend all their time eating grass. When they arrive in an area, they can clear an acre（英亩）in as little as three days. Besides, they are more environmentally friendly than machines, and they can clear grass on hills where people and machines cannot arrive.

Goats have been widely used in California for clearing brush around farms, neighborhoods, and cities. An example is the city of Anaheim, which is home to Disneyland. The city uses goats to clear the nearby hills all year round. The goats can have their stomachs filled, and the city can be out of danger. It is really a win-win!

10 . There are many healthy diet habits for kids that will help them to develop a healthy relationship with food. We live in a world full of overweight and obese(肥胖的) children, many of whom will go on to become obese adults. We care for our children’s health, and should also care about our children’s eating habits. Here are a few eating habits that we can model and teach our kids.

Respect(尊重) your kids: We are all different! We should not force our kids to eat foods they dislike, because there are so many healthy foods.

Eating without distraction: Mindless eating leads to overeating. We can teach our kids to eat at the table, not in front of the television, and not with a big bag of potato chips or cookies!

The half plate rule: This rule states that half of your plate should be full of fruits, salads and vegetables. Let them choose the salads, and fun vegetables that they would love to try!

The 20-minute rule: This rule says it takes 20 minutes to know that your stomach is full, so we need to eat slowly. Dinner should be a family time of sharing, not just a rush to the next television marathon(马拉松).

Of course there are many other healthy eating habits for our kids. But no matter what the rules are, moms are the gatekeeper of the family food, and our kids will model our eating habits! Let’s make sure we are teaching our kids great food habits!