China's first manned spaceship lifted off at 9 a. m. on Wednesday, October 15th, 2003 in Jiuquan, Gansu Province. It carried China's first astronaut, Yang Liwei, 【小题1】 was a pilot in the army. The launch was 【小题2】（success）. "When the spaceship separated 【小题3】 the rocket, I suddenly got 【小题4】 feeling of soaring into the sky because of the zero gravity, "said Yang Liwei. The Shenzhou V circled the earth 14 times. When the spaceship 【小题5】（do）its seventh circle, Yang showed the flags of China and the United Nations, 【小题6】（express）the wishes of the Chinese people 【小题7】（explore）and use space 【小题8】（peaceful）. Yang landed in Inner Mongolia safely at 6：23 a. m. on October 16th. He told 【小题9】（report）that when Shenzhou V let out its parachute, he felt the ship was shaking. Millions of people all over China were watching TV when the spaceship landed safely. Yang was happy to return home 【小题10】 he thought 21 hours was too short to stay in space.

   Since 1964，colleges and universities in the U. S. have used Test of English as a Foreign Language，or TOEFL，to measure an international applicant's（申请人的）level of English. Universities in English-speaking European countries began using the International English Language Testing System，or IELTS，in 1989. These two tests have been the main choices for English ability testing in higher education admissions for international students until now.

In recent years，several companies have developed new English language tests that are low-cost and easy to use. And they aim to do more than just offer greater choices in the admissions process.

Founded in 2012, Duolingo creates software that teaches users many different languages, including English. In 2014, the company launched its own test of English language ability.

Jennifer Dewar works with Duolingo, helping to develop the test. She formerly worked as an admissions official at Washington University in St. Louis, Misouri. The school is one of hundreds of colleges, universities and other organizations in and outside the U. S. that now accept the test results for international admissions into their study programs.

Dewar says Duolingo created the test to lower the barriers to higher education for people worldwide, especially those in developing countries.

TOEFL and the IELTS cost about $ 300. They are given in a limited number of centers around the world. Some test-takers have to travel to take the tests, adding to the costs. Duolingo offers its test entirely over the Internet for $ 49. All test-takers need is access to a computer with a microphone，listening device and self-facing camera.

TOEFL，the IELTS and Duolingo measure a person's English reading，listening，speaking and writing abilities. But it takes about 45 minutes to complete a Duolingo test，compared to three or four hours for TOEFL or the IELTS. It is possible because Duolingo uses artificial intelligence（人工智能）to adapt to test-takers' abilities，using fewer questions to measure their skills.

   A solar-powered car that can be charged as it runs is being tested in Germany.

Munich-based manufacturer（制造商）Sono Motors has built the new type, named Sion, and will likely help the European powerhouse hit its national target of 1 million electric cars on the road by 2020.

Sono Motors has solar cells fixed into Sion’s bodywork, with a total of 330 solar cells built into the roof, bonnet and sides of the vehicle. These enable the vehicle’s battery to be charged when sunlight is hitting the solar cells, whether it is on the road，or parked in the sunny spot in a car park.

The solar-powered vehicle is set to be launched in Germany in 2019.

Sono Motors wants Sion to be universal and allows the car to be charged using solar energy as well as conventional outlets（电源插座）, so car owners aren’t left on cloudy days.

The firm has made a 2019 date for mass production，which will be undertaken by a European manufacturer. Some 6,500 people have already placed orders for the electric vehicle. Prices for Sion tend to start from € 16,000 next year. The all-electric vehicle will offer a range of around 250 km before the battery runs out completely and it needs recharging either by solar power or using a wall plug, the company said.

Sion was designed originally as an environmentally conscious car，but will also include a number of features designed around comfort to help it compete with other modern vehicles.

“We have a seat heater, air conditioning, and a large entertainment system where I can also connect my phone, which means I really have a full vehicle,” Laurin Hahn, co-founder of the company told Reuters.

   Blind people can read. They do so by running their fingers along a line of raised points or dots on paper. Of course, they first have to learn the code（代码）. Here are some examples of it. One dot stands for the letter “A”. Two dots side by side mean “C”. Four dots arranged to look like a box（：：） stand for the letter “G”. By placing the dots in special patterns, all the letters of the alphabet can be formed.

This code was made up by a Frenchman called Louis Braille. Though he could see at birth, he became sightless when he was only three. Braille was cutting leather in his father’s shop. His knife slipped and cut his eye. Infection（感染）spread to both eyes, and he became blind.

At 10, he was placed in a home for the blind. But young Braille had great talent. He became a skilled musician and soon got a job as a church organist（风琴弹奏者）in Paris.

Because he had talent and was quick, he became a teacher at a school for the blind. While there, he heard that a captain had sent messages to his soldiers that they could read at night without light. His messages were in the simple form of raised dots and dashes. This was the clue Braille needed. At the age of 15, he worked out his own six-dot code. Each group of dots is called a cell. The cells are three dots high and two dots wide. For the rest of his life, Braille taught his young flock to read both written and musical works using his code.

For the last 17 years of his life, Braille was ill with tuberculosis. He died at the age of 43.