A large part of China experienced larger amounts of smog (雾霾) than usual and the air was badly polluted this January. The distance one could see was shorter than 1,000 meters inBeijing,Tianjin, and the provinces ofHebei,Henan,Shandongand Anhui. In some areas, it was down to 200 meters.

People usually set off firecrackers (爆竹) to celebrate the Spring Festival. But because of the smog, this year seemed very quiet. It was really different. A man called Zhang Wei said that his friends and he hadnˈt set off a single firecracker.

“We all suffered from last monthˈs smog. If we donˈt call an end to the firecrackers, the environment will get worse and worse during the holiday.” Said Zhang Wei. He called on more people to set off fewer firecrackers during this yearˈs Spring Festival holiday by putting up a notice in his neighborhood.

More Chinese looked forward to celebrating the holiday in a greener way. They decided not to set off firecrackers. They also decided not to waste food. They said that the new celebrations sounded fashionable.

 To clean the sky, more than ten provinces including Guangdong, Zhejiang and Jiangsu have started to use national 4 standard (标准), which is expected to reduce (减少) vehicle emission (车辆排放) by 30% to 50%. Beijing even has started to use the stricter national 5 standard.

We still have a lot to do to improve the air quality. For example, using public transportation as much as possible is not a hard thing for us to do, but it matters a lot.

     If you take a picture of the sun every day, always at the same hour and from the same place,will the sun appear in the same place in the sky? A very fine picture, compiled (编纂) by Petricca from Italy, proves the answer is no.

     “The earthˈs 23. 50 tilt (倾斜) and its slightly oval orbit (椭圆形的轨道)make this shape ˈ8ˈ pattern（图案）, where the sun will appear at the same time throughout the year, ” said Petricca.

     This pattern is called an analemma（日行迹8字形轨迹）. It is interesting to notice that analemmas seen from different earth Latitudes (纬度) have a little different shapes, as well as analernmas created at different times of the day. Also, analemrnas on the other planets have different shapes.

     If the earth were not tilted, and if its orbit around the sun were a perfect circle. the sun would appear in the same place in the sky throughout the year. But then, we also wouldnˈt have seasonal change !

     In this picture, Petricca combined（结合）32 pictures of the sun taken at 12: 00 am local time throughout the months and seasons. “I was lucky to have the last year with good sunny skies at the right times, even if some months were really difficult to take photos, ” he explained. “The background view is the one from the first picture, January 4th, 2015, after three days of snow.”

Most people around the world are right-handed. This also seems to be true in history. In 1799, scientists studied works of art made at different times from 1,500 B.C. to the 1950s. Most of the people shown in these works are right-handed, so the scientists guessed that right-handedness has always been common through history. Today, only about 10% to 15% of the world’s population is left-handed.

 Why are there more right-handed people than left-handed ones? Scientists now know that a person’s two hands each have their own jobs. For most people, the left hand is used to find things or hold things. The right hand is used to work with things. This is because of the different work of the two sides of the brain. The right side of the brain, which makes a person’s hands and eyes work together, controls the left hand. The left-side of the brain, which controls the right hand, is the centre for thinking and doing problems. These findings show that more artists should be left-handed, and studies have found that left-handedness is twice as common among artists as among people in other jobs.

 No one really knows what makes a person become left-handed instead of right-handed. Scientists have found that almost 40% of the people become left-handed because their main brain is damaged when they are born. However, this doesn’t happen to everyone, so scientists guess there must be another reason why people become left-handed. One idea is that people usually get right-handed from their parents. If a person does not receive the gene (基因) for right-handedness, he/she may become either right-handed or left-handed according to the chance and the people they work or live with.

 Though right-handedness is more common than left-handedness, people no longer think left-handed people are strange or unusual. A long time ago, left-handed children were made to use their right hands like other children, but today they don’t have to.

Do you know a language everyone in the world knows? Yes, I do. That is laughter. Any two people who don’t speak a word of other’s language still know what he or she means when the other person laughs.

So laughter is a world-wide language. But how much do you really know about laughter?

People think that in the old days laughter had more to do with fear (恐惧) than happiness. People in those days might laugh when they were in danger. For example, when a tiger passed by, nothing was funny about nearly becoming the tiger’s meal. Though the tiger might be away for long, laughing was there before they felt relaxed.

Many people believe that laughter is the best medicine. Norman Cousins, an actor, look for a common treatment(治疗法) for a bad illness, but didn’t feel better after trying many ways. Finally he made himself healthy by watching many funny movies and TV show. He said laughter helped him a lot.

Jim and Mike are talking about the year 2030.Jim asks, “What will our world be like in the year 2030?” “I don’t know,” says Mike.“What do you think?” “Well, no one knows, but it’s interesting to guess.” “In the year 2030 everyone will carry a pocket computer(便携式电脑).The computer will give people the answers to all their problems.” “A lot of people will live and work under the sea. Perhaps there will be big towns, factories and farms under the sea, too.” “Robots will do most of the work, so people will have more holidays, perhaps they’ll work only two or three days a week. They’ll be able to fly to the moon by spaceship and spend their holidays there.” “I’m looking forward to the year 2030.I hope to go to the moon!” “And I hope I’ll be able to live under the sea,” says Mike.“Won’t that be very interesting? Just like a fish!”

There are many wetlands in China and some of them have become internationally important wetlands. The Chinese Yellow Sea Wetlands are one example. They are in Yancheng, Jiangsu Province. They are the ideal home for many different kinds of birds and animals. The world’s largest Milu Deer Nature Reserve(麋鹿自然保护区) is there. More than 700 milu deer live freely there. There are not many red-crowned cranes(丹顶鹤) in the world, but every winter you can see some in the Red-Crowned Cranes Nature Reserve in the Yellow Sea Wetlands.

   The temperature in the wetlands is usually not too high or too low. There is a lot of rain and sunshine, too. They are really good places for wildlife. They offer food and home for some special kinds of animals and birds. It is not the only reason why we need to protect wetlands. Wetlands are important because they also prevent floods. But some people want to change the wetlands to make space for farms and buildings. This means there will be less and less space for wildlife.

Do you often throw away things you don’t need anymore? Have you ever thought about how these things can actually be put to good use? Nothing is a waste if you have a creative mind.

You have probably never heard of Amy Hayes, but she is a most unusual woman. She lives in a house in the UK that she built herself out of rubbish. The windows and doors come from old buildings around her town that were pulled down. The top of the house is an old boat turned upside down. And the gate in front of her house is made of rocks and old glass bottles. Amy recently won a prize from the Help Save Our Planet Society. The president said, “ Amy is aninspirationto us all.”

Amy isn’t the only one who is good at recycling. Jessica Wong fromHong Konguses old clothes that people don’t wear anymore to make bags. She has been doing this for a few years now. She opened a small shop where she sells her bags, and she has also set up a website to sell them online. She especially likes to use old jeans to make handbags. Her bags are cute and useful. “I plan to write a book about new ways to use old clothes,” she said. “ I hope people can read my book and enjoy it.”

Wang Tao set up a small business in Shanghai four years ago. He is known for using iron and other materials from old cars to make beautiful art pieces. Some are large pieces that look like animals or humans, and some are smaller pieces you can put at home. The more popular works can even be seen in art shops around the city. Wang Tao hopes to set up a “metal art” theme park to show people the importance of environmental protection. Not only can the art bring happiness to others, but it also shows that even cold, hard iron can be brought back to life with a little creativity.

Have you ever wished to have an umbrella that makes your hands free? Alan Kaufman has come up with the “Nubrella”, which means “new”+ “umbrella”. It is the first truly hands-free umbrella in the world. The inventor says that it stops rain, wind and snow and can keep your head, face and hair dry.

   “I never planned to invent a product. I just noticed a problem and came up with a solution.” said the inventor. The idea for the invention began on one rainy day. Mr. Kaufman was standing in one of his stores. He began to look at people's umbrellas. He found that they had to try very hard to keep their umbrellas in the right place. At that moment an idea came into his mind. He ran to his desk and drew a picture. In this way, the Nubrella was born.

One cool feature of the Nubrella is that you don't hold it like a normal umbrella, you wear it. The shoulder straps(肩带) of the Nubrella allow people to be fully hands-free, so when walking in the rain with the Nubrella, you are able to use your cell phone or drink a hot cup of coffee. Also, the Nubrella will never be inverted(颠倒) in the wind. The new umbrella is far safer than traditional ones, because it has no sharp points.