Friendship Day is a great day for celebrating friendship. It falls on the first Sunday of August every year. Celebrating the festival was firstly started by the US in 1935. But now this doesn’t only happen in the US. People in other countries are interested in it, too.

The idea of spending the day with friends was spread all over the world. With more and more countries joining in the celebrations, Friendship Day soon became an international festival.

Between 1936 and 1997, Friendship Day didn’t have a symbol（象征）, like Santa Claus for Christmas. However, in 1997, the United Nations named Winnie the pooh as the world’s Ambassador（大使）of Friendship.

The traditional celebrations include activities such as meeting with friends and exchanging（交换）cards, flowers and gifts. Some people may have parties with their friends. Some may have lunch or dinner together. Others may hang out or go to the movies with friends on this special day. These are popular among all age groups from teenagers to old people.

Although Friendship Day and its celebrations may have changed over the years, the basic idea behind the festival remains the same. People enjoy the moment they spend together and express love and care for their friends.

2 . It is important to sort（分类）your rubbish. If you sort your rubbish, you are helping to protect the environment and save our earth. If you don’t do this, the rubbish will be everywhere and we can’t plant things on it. Some kinds of rubbish will pollute the soil（泥土）and the water. For example, the bad things in phones can run out and pollute the ground. Other rubbish, like some parts of pens, can be used to make other things.

Here are four kinds of rubbish:

Recyclable（可循环的）: Things that can be reused, such as paper, metal（金属）, glass and old clothes.

Wet: It is also called “household waste”. “You don’t want these things but pigs can eat,” Guangzhou Daily said.

Harmful（有害的): such as medicine, batteries（电池）and phones. If you throw them away, they may pollute the soil and water.

Others: It is also called “Dry”. Any waste that doesn’t belong to Wet, Recyclable or Harmful.

3 . The 24th Beijing Winter Olympics will begin on 4th February, 2022. The Winter Paralympics(残奥会) will begin a month later. Let’s meet the mascots!

I’m Bing Dwen Dwen. I’m the mascot(吉祥物) of the 2022 Winter Olympics. I am a black and white panda wearing a full-body ”shell” made of ice. The red heart shape in my left palm(手心) means welcoming the friends from other countries. The bright colors of the circles around my face stand for ice and snow sports tracks, meaning connectivity and advanced technologies. I look like an astronaut, making full use of new technologies for a future with all kinds of possibilities.

Shuey Rhon Rhon is here! I’m the mascot of the 2022 Winter Paralympics. What do you think of when you see me? Does a red lantern come into your mind? That’s what I look like. Take a look at my head. There are paper cuttings of doves(鸽子). They make up a circle. Follow me. I’ll light the way to the Paralympics.

4 . Artificial intelligence (人工智能), or AI in short, is the science of giving computers and machines ability to think and work like humans. AI scientists and engineers have made a lot of cool technologies.

AI is rapidly catching up with the human ability to read faces. As a result, facial recognition (识别) is used a lot in the world. Chinese police use this technology to identify criminals (罪犯). Once they caught a criminal when he attended a concert. It also checks the ID of ride-hailing (网约车) drivers and lets people pay for things with a smile.

AI is also used in self-driving cars, which are believed to be the future of driving. Most drivers may wave or nod at passers-by to let them cross the street, but self-driving cars don’t have this ability. Car makers are testing a light signal system to help them “speak” to humans. The system can show what self-driving cars will do. For example, if a driverless car is yielding (让路), it will flash two white lights side to side. A rapidly flashing light tells passers-by that the car is about to speed up.

Service Robots also show you how powerful AI is. Imagine this—you come back home from school and your robot housekeeper is waiting for you at the door. After dinner, he teaches you to play the piano, just like a real music teacher. Such thoughts will soon happen in the real world. In the future, more and more service robots will become good home helpers.

AI is so powerful that it can help human beings and even replace us in many jobs.

5 . Welcome to your future life!

You get up in the morning and look into the mirror. You look young. In 2035, many people can live to be about 150 years old. So at the age of 40, you’re not old at all. And your parents look the same age as you!

You say to your shirt, “Turn red.” It changes from blue to red. In 2035, “smart clothes” can change the color and style as you like. You walk into the kitchen. You pick up the milk, but you hear the voice, “You shouldn’t drink that!” Your fridge remembers the information about the milk. It knows that the milk is not fresh. In 2035, every household appliance(家用电器) is like your secretary(秘书).

It’s time to go to work. In 2035, cars drive themselves. Just tell your “smart car” where to go. On the way, you can call a friend with your watch. Such “smart technology” is all around you.

So will all these things come true? “All these things will come true, even better.” says a scientist.

I couldn’t agree more with the scientist. I am looking forward to the new life.

10 . The number of buses, taxis and other transportations on Kenya’s roads is growing every day.

Now, the country’s first electric-powered motorbike is being made. The motorbike is designed（设计）to cut down on pollution. It’s much cheaper so that most of people can afford it.

Most motorbikes used in Kenya depend on gas as fuel（燃料）, but not this new motorbike. Its energy comes from sunlight.

Three university students developed the new motorbike. It receives the sun’s energy, stores it in batteries（蓄电池）and uses it to charge（充电）the electric motorbike.

Robert Achoge is one of the student inventors. “Our hope is that by the fifth year, we will be able to cover the whole Kenya with the electric motorbike in order to improve the environment and provide affordable transport.”

The students have set up a fueling station for the motorbikes in Nairobi. Riders can charge the motorbikes in the station. The small battery can run for 70 kilometers when they’re fully charged. Once the power is used up, the motorbike has to return to the fueling station while another charged battery is connected to the motorbike. The US African Development Foundation is providing some money for two solar-powered charging stations in the Kenyan port of Kisumu.

Each motorbike costs about $700. One motorbike rider says the new motorbike costs less to ride than motorbikes running on traditional fuel. “When talking about buying fuel, there is no need. It’s basically good for everyone. Even though you won’t carry quite a heavy load, you can go with it anywhere.”

A Nairobi dealership is selling the motorbikes. Businessman Kennedy Kusimba hopes they will become popular. “We also know they are more reliable, compared to the gas-powered motorbikes. They are more useful and they will last longer.”