2 . Last August, I visited Melbourne Zoo and saw a baby Sumatran orangutan (苏门答腊猩猩). His birth was part of an international program to help the Sumatran orangutan survive as a species. At the moment these beautiful animals are in danger of disappearing in the next 10 to 20 years.

Melbourne Zoo is a modern zoo. Like most modern zoos, it cares very much about animals. It is not a cruel place. You could certainly argue that zoos were cruel places in the past, but I don't believe you can argue that they are cruel places today.

In the past, zoos were exhibition parks. Their only purpose was to give humans pleasure, by showing them wonderful animals that they would otherwise never see. Because animals were only there for the good of humans, no one took much care of them. They were transported thousands of miles around the world, then locked up in small, lonely cages (笼子). In those days, zoos were cruel.

These days, things are very different. The whole purpose of zoos has changed. Now zoos have three main purposes: education, conservation (保护) and research. They aim to make animals better off everywhere. Because of this, the way animals are cared for is also different.

Education is a big part of the activity at zoos. At Sydney's Taronga Park Zoo, for example, 130, 000 school children attend special programs every year to learn about how animals behave and what they need to live. The aim is to make children learn more about animals now so that they will care about them when they are adults.

Zoos play a major role in the protection and conservation of endangered species. The Sumatran orangutan is just one example of the many animals that are better off because of special programs.

Zoos carry out many important research programs which help animals in captivity (囚禁) and in the wild. Recent research, for example, has shown that many intelligent animals enjoy playing games while in captivity.

Modern zoos care about animals first, and people second. Zoos are not cruel places.

Paper lanterns are beautiful decorative lanterns     1    (original) made of rice or silk paper, covering a light source. They have been used     2    (decorate) rooms during festivals and other important     3    (occasion) for hundreds of years. Nowadays,    4    (hang) lanterns is still one of the traditional customs in many places.

Due     5    the thin covering of paper lanterns, the lanterns are very beautiful when they are lit. Different paintings and designs     6    (attach) to the thin covering that make the lantern more attractive. The only color not traditionally used in making paper lanterns is white; it is often used in memory of     7    dead in many Asian cultures. Paper lanterns have various shapes and sizes. A common design is the ball or globe design,     8    holds its shape by being stretched(伸展) over bamboo strips.

It is very unusual today to see paper lanterns that hold candles, unless the paper     9    (use) is fire resistant(耐火的). It's simply too easy for them to catch fire, otherwise. So in modern times, for     10    (safe), people often use a small electric light instead of a candle to avoid possible fires.

4 . Is there a time when you are away from your hometown? When do you feel homesick the most? What do you often do to relieve your homesickness?

If the West has the apple, the East has the king of fruits: the enormously big mango. Called “aam” in Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi, this tropical fruit traces its origins to South Asia. Urdu and Hindi literature are filled with references to this fruit that once filled the kitchens and gardens of emperors.

Everyone is crazy about mangoes during the summer months in South Asia. City streets in India are lined with vendors (小贩) selling all varieties of mangoes. Young and old bargain for better prices, mangoes can be sent as gifts, restaurants have special mango menu items and the fruit becomes a gesture of goodwill between India and Pakistan, with the choicest varieties sent across the border to celebrate each country’s independence days.

South Asians all over the world expect the coming of mango season. South Asian stores receive shipments (运输的货物) of the fruit, though they are limited in quality and quantity. Each year, I taste my mangoes, though I’m saddened that popular varieties aren’t easily available in Vancouver.

Mango memories take me back to the city I was born in: Rourkela in the eastern part of India. In late March, just as the days would start to become hot, I remember mango trees blooming (开花) with their fresh fragrance in the breeze as we biked to school. Come April, the trees would start bearing fruit. I remember the thrill of sneaking out (潜行，偷偷溜出) to collect raw mangoes, climbing onto the roof of our houses and eating them with pink salt and powdered red chilies (红辣椒粉) alongside my best friend.

Mango stories from my childhood are endless. But this summer in Vancouver, tired from the pandemic (疫情), I can’t help but remember my sweet mango memories. I realize that I need to wander the streets of my home country, to feel the intense heat of the summer months and soak in the country of my birth.

Instead, I am in a semi-lockdown state tasting mangoes, enjoying those I can find in Canada but missing the Indian varieties. This year, the enormously big mango has become a symbol of the sense of loss that each one of us is feeling.

6 . Future means a time that is not yet here. It can be a short time from now or a long time from now. Scientists think that many wonderful things may come true in our future life.     1    

Are you wondering whether there'll be televisions in the future?     2    . Television screens( 屏幕) probably will be large and flat, hanging on the wall or going across the four walls of a room. People on the screen will look as real as if they were right in the room with you.

    3    . What people may eat in the future will be man-made in factories from such surprising things as coal, limestone, air, and water. Worry about the taste? You may be wrong. The man-made food will be delicious and healthy because all the things that you need to live a long and healthy life will be put into it.

What about driving cars in the future? Well, a very small child probably will be able to drive a car. Computer systems will hold each car on the right road to get wherever the "driver" wants to go.     4    . Computer controls will make all speeding cars miss each other or stop in time. Driving cars will be as safe as being at home.

    5    . Cities may have large domes( 圆顶罩) over them to keep out snow, rain, or storms. When you plan a picnic in a park, you won't have to worry about the weather. It will rain only when the “weather man”thinks it is necessary. In all other days you will be able to enjoy pleasant weather.

The future should be a wonderful time in which to live. But the time you are living in now was also “a wonderful future” to the people who lived 100 years ago.

8 . The future is coming! All over the world there are many new ideas for new places to live and work in. Some of them will be in the sea! They will be very big and lots of people will live and work in them.

The Americans are planning to build a town called Atlantis City. It will be in the sea, about five miles away from the land. But the most exciting idea comes from Japan. It is Aeropolis. Aeropolis will be a huge sea city, with parks, schools, a hospital and an airport(飞机场). And it will move(移动)! It will travel slowly around the world. There are just two problems. Aeropolis will cost a lot of money to make. And for people who get seasick, it won’t be much fun.

10 . The development of artificial intelligence (AI，人工智能)is a hot topic these days. AI makes it possible for machines to learn from experience and perform human-like tasks. But what is the future of AI? Will it be a good thing? We asked students what they think.