2 . Traffic Management

Traffic lights are key tools for regulating traffic now.They are not, however, perfect.Drivers exchange the traffic jams that would happen at unmanaged crossings for a pattern of stop-go movement that can still be annoying, and which burns more fuel than a smooth passage would.

Creating such a smooth passage means adjusting a vehicle's speed so that it always arrives at the lights when they are green.That is theoretically possible, but practically hard.Roadside signs wired to traffic lights can help get the message across a couple hundred metres from a crossing, but such signs are expensive, and are not widespread.Margaret Martonosi and Emmanouil Koukoumidis at Princeton University, and Li-Shiuan Peh at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, however, have an idea that could make the process cheaper and more effective.Instead of a hardwired network of signs, they propose to use mobile-phone applications.The driver must load the team's software, named SignalGuru, into his phone and then put it on a special thing attached to the inside of his car's windscreen, with the camera lens （镜头） pointing forward.SignalGuru is designed to detect traffic lights and track their status as red, yellow or green.It broadcasts this information to other phones in the area that are fitted with the same software, and — if there are enough of them, the phones thus each know the status of most of the lights around town.Using this information, SignalGuru is able to calculate the traffic-light schedule for the area and suggest the speed at which a driver should travel in order to avoid red lights.

Tests in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where five drivers were asked to follow the same route for three hours, and in Singapore, where eight drivers were asked to follow one of two routes for 30 minutes, revealed that SignalGuru was capable of predicting traffic-light activity with an accuracy of 98.2% and 96.3% respectively, in the two cities.This was particularly impressive because in Cambridge the lights shifted, roughly half-way through the test, from their unbusy schedule to their afternoon-traffic schedule, while in Singapore lights are adaptive, using detectors fixed under the road to determine how much traffic is present and thus when a signal   should change.In neither case was SignalGuru fooled.

Fuel consumption fell, too —by about 20%.SignalGuru thus reduces both annoyance and fuel use, and makes going back and forth to work a slightly less horrible experience.

An Unforgettable Trip

Different countries have different bicycle-sharing systems towards children. Chinese children are welcomed on the country's using bicycle-sharing systems at age 12. In Paris, 14-year-old children     1     (allow). The age minimums for US bicycle-sharing systems   are generally 16 or 18. Research shows children    2     do some exercise in the morning concentrate better in school. When more people ride bikes, air quality improves, aiding everyone's health. Having a bicycle also teaches responsibility and    3     (confident). People learn how to ride    4     (safe) on city streets and respect rules of the road. When   students are riding in the street , there’s a real ownership that they feel over their city. Of course, it's very important for riders to understand traffic rules.

6 . 4 Eco-Friendly Bikes to Ride This Summer

Nowadays, many drivers are searching for more environment-friendly ways to get around and are starting to look back to bikes. Bikes don’t require gas. In terms of convenience, bikes can be easier to park and can help riders get their daily exercise in.

Companies everywhere are beginning to take the traditional bike and adapt it to people’s needs. Below are eco-friendly bikes to consider adding to your morning ride.

1. Bamboobikes

Ccycles produces Bamboo Bikes. The company sources bamboo and carbon fiber joints for their bike frames. Bamboo is ideal for bikes because it can absorb significantly more shock than carbon fiber. It is also very lightweight compared to traditional bike materials, like steel. But bamboo is incredibly strong and can take on twice the compression force as steel.

2. Cowboy

Cow offers Cowboy, a bike hides the battery in its frame under the saddle. The removable battery takes about two and half hours to charge and has a range of roughly 31 miles, but the best part is the app features. The Cowboy app gives travelers a real time dashboard (仪器板) to check out their speed and distance. Riders never need to worry about getting lost since it has navigation and can pull up your route history from your ride states. This smart tech also gives riders updates about the bike’s status. The Cowboy has a high tech locking system so the owner is the only one who can start up the bike.

3. The Faraday Bicycle

Faraday ebikes have a 250W motor, and the battery can be fully charged in less than 4 hours. Faraday recently partnered with the organization One Tree Planted to help reforest California after the state underwent serious damage from wildfires that destroyed thousands of acres of land in the area. The company stepped up and donated $100 from every bike sold to plant 100 trees.

4. The Donky Bike

Wilson, who works for Donky, created The Donky Bike, a practical cargo bike. This bike was designed to easily carry a cargo load on the frame. Like any great workhorse, this bike was built with simple low-maintenance components and has a strong, durable frame.

7 . Journey to the West

If you have a dream, go for it.

My dad talked of the jewel in China’s western part, Tibet Autonomous Region. Tibet was a region I wanted to see and discover but its remoteness and my inability to find the right time to go delayed my journey. After a few talks with my dad, we decided to take a pause in our lives for a few weeks in July 2019 to start an amazing adventure.

We started our journey on a Saturday morning at the Guangzhou train station in south China. We started the first leg of the journey admiring the mysterious mountains of south China. The next day it changed quite suddenly to the dry, waterless landscape of central-west China as we passed through Shanxi and Gansu provinces. That evening we arrived at Xining, Qinghai Province, where we got onto the Xining-Lhasa train.

We were greeted on the train with Tibetan yogurt. The train signs were also written in Tibetan, the beautiful handwriting matched its environment and people. The following afternoon we arrived in Lhasa. Lhasa, one of the highest-altitude cities in the world, is a gem hidden on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. We started our tour of the jewel by exploring the palace and watching local people do morning prays and dances in the park. Overlooking the Jokhang Temple, we enjoyed an amazingly beautiful breathtaking view, just like we had been in the fairyland. It’s a stunning (令人震惊的) golden temple in the middle of old Lhasa, which we visited next before wandering in the old quarters and Barkhor Street in the evening. Barkhor Street is the ideal place to try local food and buy local products.

The following day, we started our journey to the Qomolangma base camp by road from Lhasa. Along the way we stopped to admire the beautiful Yamdrok Lake, a huge freshwater lake that is one of the three largest sacred lakes (圣湖) in Tibet. Yaks (牦牛) in blankets and bells at the lake made for a picturesque impression of perfect countryside Tibet.

About a week later, the highlight came in the afternoon when we arrived at the Qomolangma base camp. We were staying in a guesthouse just next to the base camp. After dropping off our backpacks, we headed straight outside to see the magnificent Mt Qomolangma. There it was, the top of the mountain peeking through the clouds, astonishing us with its unbelievable height. We enjoyed the mountain waves and saw the beautiful clouds separated until the sunset over the peak, feeling I would have regretted for the rest of my life if I hadn’t made the journey.

Ten years ago, people bought electric vehicles (EVs) to reduce their carbon footprint.     1     the limited range and high price made EVs something of a rare sight on roads. A lot can change in a decade. Advances in battery technology     2     (mean) electric cars now travel much further on a single charge. Government grants (补贴) serve to draw buyers away from gasoline-powered cars. The change will have a huge impact     3     life. Roads will become far     4     (quiet) and pollution levels will be reduced quickly, potentially leading to improved quality of life.

In most big cities, it is easier to hire a taxi at a moment’s notice when the weather is good. But when it’s raining, people have a much harder time     1    (find) one. One obvious reason is that many people who walk short distances during good weather prefer to take a taxi in the rain.     2    , taxis tend to be more fully occupied on rainy days. Besides, the supply of available taxis is also smaller because taxi drivers can     3     (easy) reach the target fares and go home early.

Beijing Daxing Airport is Finally Open

Beijing Daxing International Airport (PKX), also known as Beijing New Airport, is the biggest airport in the world. It is also the second international airport of Beijing along with Beijing Capital International airport. Daxing Airport is located in Daxing District (the southern suburbs of Beijing). Its location was selected after thorough analysis. With a 46km-distance from Tiananmen Square, a 67km-distance from Beijing International Airport and a 26km-distance from Langfang City Center, Daxing Airport aims to become the main airport hub of the serving area. It is expected to handle up to 45 million passengers per year by 2021 and reach an outstanding 100 million in the future.

Daxing Airport was called “Starfish” because of its impressive shape. There is a huge terminal building (航站楼) covering a 700,000m² area while the ground transportation centre extends to 80,000m². For the time being, Daxing Airport has four runways and 79 airport stands. The 4 runways’ size is impressive while the airport stands are suitable both for one twin-aisle (双通道) and two single-aisle planes. Eventually, the airport will have 7 runways in total and will be able to serve about 620,000 flights annually.

The airport’s design is pioneering. Its terminal building is the impressive outcome of the collaboration between ADP Ingeniérie (ADPI) and the architecture team of Zaha Hadid (ZHA) who tragically passed away in 2016. Then, in August 2018, Hong Kong design studio Lead 8 undertook the design of the new commercial terminal which is expected to respond to every passenger’s needs.

Daxing Airport was designed to show high respect to environmental protection. Besides, to simplify passenger procedures, there are only less than 600 meters between checkpoints and gates and a minimum waiting time for baggage claim. Furthermore, the designers paid great attention to the convenient ground transportation system of the airport. High-speed and intercity trains, metro and public buses will connect the new airport to Beijing city and other major areas in a fast and efficient way.