1 . As Chinese, we feel very lucky. These years, China is getting better and better. Let’s see some numbers about Chinese achievements.

98%: In China, all schools in the country have the Internet. About 98% of the students can have classes in multimedia classrooms.

170: May 10th is China Brand (品牌) Day. Chinese brands are very popular in our country and other countries. Huawei, for example, is a top telecoms equipment maker. About 170 countries Huawei’s telecoms equipment.

160,000: China has the world’s largest expressway network (高速公路网). It’s about 160,000 kilometers long in all at the end of 2020.

13,700,000,000: China’s “Sky Eye”, the world’s largest single-aperture radio telescope(单孔射电望远镜), opened to the world on March 31st, 2021. It can see things about 13.7 billion light years away.

These are a small part of China. Come on, China!

2 . We use the Internet for many things: business, shopping, writing letters, talking to people, finding information and so on. In recent years, a new kind of English has grown on the Internet. There’s no real word for it yet, so we’ll call it e-talk.

People don’t like typing too much. To save time, they turn phrases (短语) into a few letters called acronyms (首字母缩略词). Acronyms are often used in chat rooms. Some of them are:

People also use many abbreviations (缩写词). They are shortened forms of words. Some common abbreviations are:

We usually don’t see people when we communicate on the Net, so people have new ways to show feelings. Most people use their keyboards to draw “feeling”, such as:

There are even whole new words, like “newbie”—someone who is new on a chat board or forum (论坛). When you write something bad about someone else, it’s called “flaming” the person.

It takes time to get used to e-talk. Also, different groups on the Net have their own special ways of communicating. Newbies sometimes have to ask other people what they mean. As the Internet grows, e-talk will continue to grow and change.

3 . In the middle of 1990s, people started doing business on the Internet. At that time, there were two kinds of companies. First, there were traditional companies which sold things at stores. Then, there were the Internet companies which didn’t have stores. They sold things only over the Internet.

Traditional companies didn’t want to lose any business. Quickly, they created their own websites and began selling things over the Internet. These are the so-called “brick and click” (线下和线上) companies. Many stores are made of brick（砖）, and you click on your mouse to buy things with your computer. That’s where the name “brick and click” comes from. By the late 1990s, e-businesses were in trouble. Their profits（利润）were not very high, and there was a lot of competition. Many of these businesses lost a lot of money, and in 2000, many e-businesses were out of business.

Why are some brick and click companies very successful? First, many customers know and trust their names. Their websites are easy to remember. These companies also have a lot of experience. They know how to run a successful business.

In the world of e-commerce（电子商务）, companies around the world are fighting for every dollar and every customer. Will brick and click companies win the war? Only time will tell.

7 . Everything is made of something. Take away cloth, plastic, glass and the other materials (材料) from our lives and we are left nothing on our body. There are 5 basic materials: metal, glass, wood, cloth, plastic. Most things are made with these materials.

Let’s talk about metal first. Metal is very heavy. And it is very hard and strong. It usually feels cool if you touch it. We use it for knives. We use it for keys. We use it for cars. We use it for these things because it is very strong.

Next, let’s talk about glass. Glass is very smooth. It feels cool to touch. It is not as heavy as metal. It is hard, but it is not strong. It breaks very easily! Then why do we use it? We use it because it is transparent! You can see through glass! That’s why we use it for windows.

Now, let’s talk about wood. Wood is lighter than metal and glass. It is not as strong as metal. But it is much stronger than glass. Things made of wood are usually light, hard and strong. Chairs and tables are made of wood.

Now let’s talk about cloth. Cloth is very light. It is much lighter than wood. And it is very soft. We use cloth to make lots of things. For example, it is used to make clothing.

Last, let’s talk about plastic. Plastic is also very light. But it is different from cloth. Sometimes it is soft, and sometimes it is hard. Plastic can be used to make thin plastic bags. These are light, soft, and strong.

There are some other materials. But they are not used as much as these 5 materials.

9 . Earth Day comes every April 22. It’s a day to do some good for the planet. It’s also a time to think about how to help year-round. Get inspired by reading about three young people who have taken action for Mother Earth.

10 . It can be really awkward (尴尬的) if someone sees you talking to yourself. But don’t feel bad about it! Talking to yourself actually has a lot of benefits.

You probably know that thinking is good for the brain. It helps us do things like making plans and managing our feelings. Speaking out loud is like showing this quiet inner (内在的) speech. It can help us do better in different areas like school, sports and work.

When encouragement comes from oneself, it adds to self-confidence. A 2023 study invited 72 tennis players to take part in some matches. Researchers put the players into two groups: one group that said nothing while playing, and the other that talked to themselves while playing. They found that the self-talkers showed more confidence and played better than those in the silent group.

Talking to yourself, especially in the third person, can also help us manage bad feelings. “Referring to (指代) yourself in the third person leads people to think about themselves more similar to how they think about others,” said Jason Moser, a professor from Michigan State University, U. S. This can help us see things from a different point of view, especially when we’re feeling sad or angry.

Self-talk also helps improve memory. Researchers tested four different ways to memorize things: reading silently, reading aloud, listening to someone else reading and listening to a recording of oneself reading. Those who read out loud recalled the information the best, researchers said in their study published (发布) in the journal Memory. It’s because the information is likely to become a long-term memory if said out loud.

What can you say to yourself?

·What’s my plan for today?

·This task is so hard!

·I’ve got to stay focused and get this done!

·Wow, the sunset is so beautiful!