Have you ever heard of the expression “birdbrain”? People use it to talk about someone who is stupid, but crows(渡鸦) prove that this is unfair. Now it has been discovered that crows may understand analogies(类推法).

It was once thought that only humans could understand analogies, which help us to solve problems creatively and make scientific discoveries.

To testthis ability in animals, scientists do RMTS tests. If a pair was AA, for example, then picking BB to match it would be correct.

Monkeys have learnedRMTS, but scientists wanted to know if crows could do it, too. An international team led by Edward Wasserman in the US first trained two crows to match things by color, shape, and number in what is called IMTS, then moved onto RMTS.

For theIMTS test, the birds were put in a cage with a plate that had three cards and two cups in it. The card in the middle was the sample card. The cups on either side were covered with the other two cards: One was the same as the sample（in the color, shape, or number of shapes pictured）, while the other wasn’t. The cup with the card that matched the sample card had some food to eat.

In the second partof the experiment, the birds were tested with RMTS tests. A card with two same-sized circles, for example, meant they should pick the test card with two same-sized squares and not two different-sized circles. The birds did well in the more difficult test and picked the correct card more than three quarters of the time, Science New reports.

Wasserman was surprised that crows were able to solve the problem without any training in RMTS. “What the crows have done is surprising,” he said.

Being attacked by killer bees usually only happens in thriller movies or nightmares(噩梦). For a couple in Texas, the nightmare turned into reality on Wednesday night. Kristen Beauregard, 44, and her boyfriend were in their garden exercising their two ponies. Ms Beauregard told reporters that everything was normal until one of the ponies started kicking and jumping. The animal was very frightened about something. Suddenly she saw a dark cloud in the sky and she realized it was a large group of bees. She said: “It got all dark, like it was night time, there were so many bees.” The bees attacked the couple and their horses.

Luckily，they had a swimming pool, so the couple jumped in. Ms Beauregard was stung over 200 times by the bees. Her boyfriend counted over 50 stings on his arms, neck and head. The pool probably saved their lives because the bees could not attack them under the water. Kristen explained how terrifying it was. She said: “We were trying to stand up in the water but every time we stuck our heads out for air, they would cover us and start stinging us. We were trying to breathe and they were stinging us on the face and on the nose.” Unluckily, the two ponies could not escape from the bees. They got stung thousands of times. One died on the farm, the other passed away at the vetˈs clinic later that evening.

E-waste is becoming a serious problem around the world. This report will examine this problem and provide some possible ways to solve it.

   We live in a society that is producing and using electronics all the time. It is often cheaper to buy new products than to repair old ones. Also, through clever advertising, companies always encourage people to change their old TVs，mobile phones and computers for the latest models.  E-waste is created when we throw away old ones. In the EU alone, about 8, 700, 000 tons of  e-waste is produced each year. Sadly, just over 1, 000, 000 tons is recycled.

   Burying e-waste or burning it causes serious problems for the environment. Electronics have dangerous things in them. These things can then get into the ground or pollute the air when they are burnt.

In recent years, _______. However，their plans are not always managed correctly. Sometimes electronics are just sent to poor countries . There they are often burnt in public areas, which is very bad for people’s health. Setting up recycling centers is a good way to solve this problem. E­cycling centers could recycle the parts that can be reused and deal with the rest properly.

   Another way is to make producers responsible (有责任心的) for their used products. This means that producers must take back old products which are no longer wanted and then make sure they are properly recycled or reused.

   As for us students, we should try to reduce e-waste. Buy electronics only when we have to. And don’t buy a product just to have the latest model.

   E-waste is a serious problem in the modern world. Both producers and users must take actions and try to keep it to the smallest amount (数量).

If wearing Google Glass—a pair of smart glasses—on your faces isn’t cool enough, you might want to take a look at Nokia’s new skirt. It’s made of 80 mobile phones! It’s believed to be the world’s first smart skirt and has been shown at London Fashion Week. The smart skirt was created by the mobile phone company Nokia, fashion designer Fyodor Golan and creative design house kin.

It’s not easy to make a smart skirt. It took three months to complete it. The biggest challenge in making the skirt was getting all of the mobile phones on the skirt, and allowing all the mobile phones to work together.

The screens are all connected to a computer. As the skirt moves, the screens change colors and the skirt looks like silk. That’s not the only trick. The mobile phones are also connected to a hidden camera in the wearer.

Unsurprisingly, the skirt won’t be making its way to shops. Instead, it’s more of an art piece. Nokia said they wanted to find a way to connect the smart technology and fashion together. “We used drawings, 3D printing, and programming languages to ‘build’ the skirt,” explained Nokia.

B

The Futian Railway Station in Shenzhen has been finished．It will be Asia's largest underground high-speed railway station．Shenzhen is a very important city in south China's Guangdong Province．It links（连接）Hongkong and Guangzhou．When people go between the two places，they have to go through Shenzhen．The station is expected to be put into operation by the end of the year，said the Guangzhou Railway Group on November 15，2015．By the time，people will save much time when they are traveling from Shenzhen to Hongkong and Guangzhou．

    The Futian Railway Station，the Hong Kong-Shenzhen-Guangzhou high-speed railway link，will enable a 33-minute ride from Guangzhou to Shenzhen．And after the section of that link of Futian to Hong Kong is finished，it will only take 45 minutes to go from Shenzhen to Kowloon district（九龙区）in Hong Kong．

    The station covers an area of 147，000 square metres，and it has three storeys（层）．It is as large as 21 football fields．It is also the world's second largest underground railway station，only after the Grand Central Station in New York City，the United States．

A

    At the beginning of the new term，freshmen(大学一年级新生)of Ningbo Institute of Technology at Zhejiang University received a letter from the school saying that parents should give their children 600 yuan each month to cover basic expenses．But freshmen don’t think it is a good idea．

    “I know universities want to encourage us to save money．But 600 yuan is far from enough，”said Ma Yuhan，a freshman at Hubei University of Medicine．The 21-year-old spends 1，500 to 2，000 yuan every month，of which more than 1,000 yuan is spent on food．“I may starve(饥饿) to death if my parents only give me 600 yuan，”he said．

    Basic expenses

    According to Ying Zhongyuan，Secretary(秘书) of the Youth League Committee at Ningbo Institute of Technology，a student’s basic expenses are made up of four parts：food，communication，electricity and water bills，and things for daily use．

    “The standard we set is based on our university’s specific situation and food plays big role．The average(平均) cost for three meals is 15 yuan，so that’s about 450 yuan per month．The remaining 150 yuan should be enough to cover all other expenses considering that everything is quite cheap on campus(大学校园)，”Ying said．

    Social cost

    Shen Jiawei，21，is another freshman at Hangzhou Normal University．He spends all of his pocket money on meals．He said socializing causes high expenses．Before Shen went to university，his parents told him that they would give him 1，000 yuan each month．But after the first semester，Shen found that 1,000 yuan is not enough．

    “I made many friends and we hang out together a lot．It costs 700 yuan to eat in the cafeteria each month，but much more if eating out，”he said．“Now my monthly expenses are about 1,500 yuan，”he said．

    Wu Luping，a member of the China Youth ＆ Children Research Association，believes that such an expense is reasonable．When interviewed by Beijing Morning Post，he said，“There are three layers(层次) of expenses，basic needs，development，and entertainment．”Apart from basic costs，students want to spend money on interpersonal(人际的) relationships and entertainment．“There’s no need to avoid such expenses，”he said．

C

 Nowadays, the food that you buy comes from many different countries. Have a look in your fridge, cupboard, and fruit bowl and check the origins(来源) of the food. Perhaps there are apples from California, lamb from New Zealand, or potatoes from Egypt? You will probably be surprised how far food travels to get to your plate. This journey, from “field to plate”，is called “food miles”. A food mile is the distance that food travels from the farmer's field to the person who buys the food. Nowadays, food often travels thousands of miles to get to the consumer(消费者). Why is this, and what is the influence of these long distances?

Traditionally, farmers sold their food in the local market, so the food didn't have to travel very far. The consumers also did not travel very far because they went to their local market to buy the food. This was a good system for farmers and consumers. However, there were some disadvantages. For example, consumers could only buy food that farmers produced locally. Besides, they could only get food that was in season. Now, because of modern technology, food comes from all over the world. We do not have to wait for spring or summer to buy strawberries or tomatoes. They are available in winter if we want.

Some countries have to import(进口) most of their food. This is because they have difficult climates. The United Arab Emirates (UAE), for example, gets 85% of its food from other countries. Even food made in the UAE often uses imported materials.

What's wrong with “food miles”？ Is this not a good way of increasing international trade? I believe these miles are worrying for a number of reasons. First of all, because food travels such long distances, we need more planes, lorries, and ships to move the food. This means we use more oil or petrol, so there is more pollution and more global(全球的) warming. In addition, food that travels a long way is not fresh and usually not very tasty. Tomatoes, for example, are picked early and stored for their long journeys. For this reason, they are usually tasteless when they get to the consumer. Local food has a better taste, and it also reduces the amount of global pollution. We need to buy more local food.

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Have you ever had dreams about building a robot？Or putting together a spaceship？Or even seeing your face made out of chocolate？If you have a 3-D printer，your dream will come true．

    All the users have to design an object on the computer and choose a material to print．The printers print in hundreds of different materials including glass，sugar and even skin！When the user presses“print”，the 3-D printer spreads the material layer(层)and like magic the object is produced．

    The first 3-D printer was invented in 1986 by an American．Charles Hull．But 3-D printing has only become cheap enough recently for most people to use．Designers now use 3-D printing to create unusual things．The Dutch artist Dirk Vander Kooj prints furniture made from old fridges．And doctors have used 3-D printing to print human body parts！The Telegraph reported((每日电讯报》in February that scientists from Cornell Medical College even printed a man-made ear．

    But like a lot of new technologies，if 3-D printing gets into the wrong hands，it Can be dangerous．In 2011 a group of four men in the US used 3-D printing to produce ATM skimmers(提款机盗刷器)．These were placed on an ATM and stole over $400，000 from users of the ATM．It is terrible to think that criminals like them might one day use a 3-D printer to print a gun．

    But for better or for worse，3-D printing has been put into use．In a few years，you'll probably be wondering how you could ever live without your 3-D printer！