3 . In 1987, a small company named Huawei was started in Shenzhen. After more than 30 years of development, the company has now beaten Apple and become the world’s second-largest maker of smartphones behind Korea’s Samsung. It has also become the world’s largest supplier （供应商）of 5G.

But recently, Huawei faced some difficulties. The U.S. government ordered a ban （禁令） on its sales in America. American officials said Huawei gave information that it collected to the Chinese government. At the same time, the U. S. government planned to stop selling parts and services to Huawei, which was believed that Huawei’s business would be hurt.

“We have never received such a request（要求）from the Chinese government and we have never tried to get into other systems to collect information.” Ren Zhengfei, Huawei’s founder and president said. “This ban from the U.S. would have little effect （影响）on our company. Huawei has enough ability to deal with the problems.” Ren added.

In an interview several years ago, Ren Zhengfei said, “I started Huawei with only ￡4,000 at the beginning, but now it has become a $100 billion company. The experience was not as romantic（浪漫的）as you imagine.”

Facing the ban of the U.S., Huawei is growing. Huawei’s smartphone sales around the world rose 50 percent compared to a year earlier in the first three months of 2019. At the same time, sales from both Samsung and Apple fell. So far, Huawei has grown into the world’s largest telecommunications equipment （电信设备）supplier, selling in 170 countries! It may beat Samsung as the largest smartphone maker in the near future.

5 . Green is an important color in nature. It is the color of grass and the leaves on trees. It is the color of most growing plants,too.

Sometimes, the word green means young,fresh and growing. Sometimes,it describes something that is not yet finished or plants that are not ripe.

For example,a greenhorn is someone who has no experience,who is new to a situation. In the fifteenth century,a greenhorn was a young cow or ox whose horns had not yet developed. A century or so later,a greenhorn was a soldier who had not yet had any experience in war（战争）.By the eighteenth century,a greenhorn had the meaning it has today——a person who is new in a job.

About one hundred years ago,greenhorn was a popular expression in the American west Old—timers used it to describe a man who had just arrived from one of the big cities in the east. The greenhorn didn't have the skills that he would need to live in the hard,rough country.

Someone who has the ability to grow plants well is said to have a green thumb. The expression comes from the early nineteen hundred.

A person with a green thumb seems to have a magic touch that makes plants grow quickly and well. You might say that the woman next door has a green thumb if her garden continues to grow long after your plants have died.

The Green Revolution（革命）is the name which was given some years ago to the development of new kinds of rice and other grains. The new plants produced much larger crops. The Green Revolution was the result of hard work by agricultural（农业的）scientists who had green thumbs.

6 . One day, Tom’s teacher, Miss Mark, held a class meeting. “There will be a flag day next Saturday. Does anyone want to join this meaningful event (活动)?” asked Miss Mark. Tom was interested in raising money for homeless children but he was not brave enough to talk to the strangers, so he kept quiet in his seat.

“Tom. You haven’t sold flags before,” said Miss Mark suddenly. “Would you like to have a try?”Tom was hesitant(犹豫的)，but he finally nodded.

On the flag day, Tom and Angela sold flags in a busy street. “Ex-cuse me, Could y-o-u pl-ea-se buy ...?” said Angela softly to the first person she met. The man smiled and put five-dollar coin into Angela’s collection bag. Then she said thanks and put a flag under his shoulder. “I did it!” said Angela happily. “It’s your turn now.”

Feeling nervous. Tom began to shake. Soon, he saw a young lady walking towards him. The lady was smiling and holding a few coins in her hand. She asked, “Are you selling flags for Fund for the Homeless Children?” Tom’s face became red and said yes. Then the lady made the donation(捐赠) and Tom gave her a flag. “You made it!” laughed Angela.

In the next couple of hours, Angela and Tom sold flags quickly and bravely. At last, their collection bags were so heavy that they had to hold them with both arms. They felt very proud.

How are you? It has been a month since my family left Hong Kong for England and we are fine.

England is very different from Hong Kong. The weather is terrible and it rains a lot. The buildings are funny. They are in rows and not high. I love them because the rooms are much larger. I’m having a wonderful at my new school and my new home!

Mum and Dad are happy with their new jobs. But my brother Jack doesn’t like moving to England because he misses his friends so much.

I’ve made lots of new friends at school. My teachers are really nice too and my English has improved a lot. After school, we can take part in relaxing activities such as sport, watching films or playing computer games. There’s a park near the school where I often go with the other students at the weekend.

We are travelling back to Hong Kong for the summer holiday. I will visit you and bring you a present!

Write back soon!

8 . A new rubbish sorting system (垃圾分类系统) has been put into use in Fangchengyuan Community in Beijing. Local people not only sort their rubbish, but also put QR codes (二维码) on it.

“When the rubbish is collected and the codes are seen, I will get reward points to exchange for small gifts and even some money,” one of the local people told reporter. “It’s really creative and encouraging.”

China produces quite a lot of rubbish every year. Much of the rubbish is buried (填埋) in soil or burned without being sorted. Landfills (填埋场) take up a lot of land and have a risk of polluting the soil and water nearby. And burning rubbish can produce harmful gases. Through rubbish sorting, we can reduce the use of landfills and air pollution.

What’s more, rubbish sorting saves resources, which could bring economic benefits (经济利益). For example, a ton of waste paper can be reused to make about 850 kg of paper, saving 17 trees and 50 percent of water. Because of their benefits, some countries have developed successfully sorting systems.

Japan has a strict and detailed system. When people throw away a water bottle, the cap, the wrapper (包装纸) and the bottle itself have to go into three different bins.

In Australia, every family is provided with three rubbish bins—the red lid (盖子) bin for “general waste” like food and plastic bags, the yellow lid bin for “recycling” like steel and glass, and the green lid bin for “green waste” such as grass and leaves. On the streets, the bins are printed with pictures of the things that are allowed inside. It makes recycling quite easy.

9 . In 1769, long before computers were invented, a man from Hungary(匈牙利) built a machine that could play chess very well. Many people believed that it was a truly thinking machine. However, other people thought it was a hoax. The secret of the machine was finally revealed(揭示) in 1837. An article explained that there was a man inside the machine playing chess.

On November 9, 1874, an article in an important newspaper in New York reported that all the animals in the New York Zoo had suddenly escaped and were running all over the city. It also said that there were 27 people dead and 200 injured. People in New York were afraid, but there was really no reason to be frightened. The article was a total hoax from beginning to end.

On April 21, 1980, the first woman to cross the finish line of the Boston Marathon was 23-year-old Rosie Ruiz. However, as she climbed the stairs to receive her prize, people began to doubt(质疑) her because she didn’t even seem to be out of breath(气喘吁吁).None of the other runners saw her, and her pictures never appeared in photographs or TV broadcasts of the race. Later, several people said that they saw her join the race near the end. She had run only one half of a mile! Her prize was taken away, of course!

10 . Whenever the Sun dropped and the blue sky came up, my father and I used to climb the mountain near my house. Walking together, my father and I used to have a lot of conversations through which I learned many life lessons. He always told me, “You should have goals like climbing the mountain.” Without the mountain climbing that we both enjoyed, we couldn’t have enough time to spend together because my father was very busy. I really learned a lot from mountain climbing. It gave me time to talk to my father and to be in deep thought as well as to develop my patience.

Once we climbed a very high mountain. It was so challenging for me because I was only ten years old. During the first hours, I enjoyed the flowers, trees and the bird’s singing, but as time passed, I got a pain in both of my legs.   I wanted to quit. In fact, I hated mountain climbing at that moment. But my father said to me, “You can always see a beautiful sky at the top of the mountain, but you can’t see it before you reach the top. Only there, at the top, can you see all of the nice things—just like it is in your life.”

At that time, I was too young to understand his words. But later after that, I got new hope and confidence. I found myself standing at the top of the sky, which was as clear as crystal