Virtual reality is no longer a concept of the future. 3-D technology can now change a desktop computer into an interactiveworld of adventure, fashion, fun and entertainment.

Using the Internet as an entry platform, the new technology is blurring the lines between the real and virtual worlds.

In contrast to a traditional two-dimensional（二维的）interface, the 3-D environment provides a very large and highly social world, enabling access to people and places that would be impossible in the real world.

Through the use of avatars（虚拟替身）, a virtual replica of yourself, or whoever you want to be, life can take on new dimensions in cyberspace.

Shopping online is not such a new world to most people, but the 3-D experience is completely different. Via avatars, shoppers can pick up, try on and test out products in virtual shopping centres. The avatar, set with real-life measurements, can try on a new pair of jeans, get a trendy haircut and see if certain accessories suit.

Avatars can also join with like-minded people as they travel, take on adventures and socialize.

From a businessman’s point of view, interactive 3-D experiences allow him to exactly judge consumer demand via instant feedback and requests.

Buying property and taking a holiday in the real world also presents great virtual opportunities. Before buying a home, renting an apartment or booking a hotel, you can walk through a digital version of the property, making sure that it meets all your needs.

For people short of time and money in the real world, virtual tourism allows adventures in a virtual dimension. A virtual tourist can step inside the Louvre, trek into the Sahara, or go bungee jumping in New Zealand.

“3-D technology will influence many aspects of human life in that we can entertain ourselves from similar cyber games and experience exciting 3-D tourism,” explained Martin Tong, marketing director of The 1st Virtual Business and professional creator of a vitual world.

“Our understanding of the virtual world is to give customers a strong interactive experience; it is not only a game, but also life itself,” he added.

The new way of traveling will not necessarily meet everyone's satisfaction. Dong Lifen, an engineer in China Unicom commented that while the virtual world gives the freedom of traveling to popular destinations, it is not the same as the real thing.

   Onions make you cry, add flavor to food and win popularity for their medicinal benefits. Now the vegetable has another use—_____ green energy.

Anew system debuts（首次亮相）on Friday that _____ onion juice into electricity at Gills Onions, the largest fresh onion processor in the United States.

The Oxnard, California-based company _____ its new onion-fueled power to reduce its electric bill by $700,000 a year and _____ its annual greenhouse gas emissions by up to 30,000 tons.

The _____ ending to this green energy tale, however, started with another question: how to _____ onion waste.

“_____ we peel an onion, 35 to 40 percent of the onion comes off before we have a(n)_____ onion. That's the top, tail and skin around the onion, and _____ we can get to the meat,” said Steven Gill, co-owner of the 25-year-old company.

They used to pull the waste to the fields for compost（混合肥料）, but that turned out to be a tough ______. Ten years ago, Gill started looking at technology for a(n) _____, including microturbines（微型燃气轮机）.

“We ______ cutting the skins into pieces and extracting all the ______, which is very high in sugars, and bacteria love that stuff,” Gill said.

In the new system, bacteria ______ methane（甲烷）gas from the juice. The gas then goes to two 300 kilowatt fuel cells, creating ______ power for 460 homes. If everything goes smoothly, ______ are that the company will get 35 to 40 percent of its electricity from the on-site generator.

The company ______ $ 9. 5 million in the project and will receive $2. 7 million from Southern California Gas Co. _____ cutting its electric bill, the company will save $400,000 in costs and expects paybacks in the new future.

The onion grower now has a new ______: to be a zero-waste facility in the coming decade.

“We want to ______ it all the way through and make the full circle,” Gill said.