🍃 英文美文 · 第十七辑 🍃

Imagine turning on the tap in Beijing, and the water you drink comes from a river in Hubei — 1,432 kilometers away. That is exactly what the South-to-North Water Transfer Project does. It is the longest water project on Earth. For nearly 12 years, a man-made river has carried water from the Yangtze River to the dry north. It has moved over 800 billion liters — enough to fill 320,000 Olympic swimming pools. Nearly 120 million people in cities like Beijing and Tianjin now drink this water every day. The project did not just move water. It brought life to a thirsty land. And it is still flowing.

This summer, a 13-year-old boy in Henan became famous — not for gaming, not for sports, but for cooking. Every morning, he goes to the market to buy fresh food. Then he spends the afternoon washing, cutting, and cooking. By the time his parents come home from work, dinner is ready on the table. Braised pork feet, spicy boiled meat — these are not simple dishes. But he makes them with care, just by watching videos. His aunt said, 'He cooks better than many adults.' In a summer when most kids are glued to their phones, this boy chose the kitchen. And his family is eating well.

Thailand has never been to the moon. But that is about to change. Later this month, China will launch Chang'e 7 to the moon's south pole. On board will be a small science device — made by Thai engineers. It is Thailand's first moon mission. The device will study space weather and warn Earth about solar storms. Thai and Chinese engineers worked side by side to build it. The Thai science minister said, 'This is our first step into deep space.' For a country that has never left Earth before, this is not just a ride. It is a dream finally taking off.

This month, China's research ship Kexue returned home — after 35 days at sea. Its mission? To follow typhoons. Not to hide from them. The ship tracked Typhoons Bavi, Roxia, and Dolphin, one after another. While others ran from the storms, the scientists stayed. They measured the winds, collected water from the deep ocean, and watched how the sea and sky fought each other. They gathered over 9,000 liters of water samples. Why? To better understand El Niño — the strongest one in 150 years. Sometimes, the bravest thing scientists can do is sail straight into the storm.

What did you do this summer? In Nanjing, hundreds of students spent their vacation not at home, but in a real university lab. They built model rockets and flew them into the sky. They put on white lab coats and studied DNA. They asked robots questions — and the robots answered. One student said, 'I never knew science could be this fun.' Another built her first plane model. 'It flew for seven seconds,' she said. 'Best seven seconds of my life.' The summer camp was not about passing tests. It was about lighting a fire. And for these kids, the fire is still burning.

Eight hundred and fifty-six kids walked into a room in Shanghai last week. They came from every corner of China. Their mission? To show what they could build with artificial intelligence. Some wrote code. Some built robots that could pick up objects in a fake supermarket. Some trained large language models to answer tough questions. This was China's first National Youth AI Contest. The youngest competitors were just ten years old. One girl from Hong Kong said, 'We learned more in two days than in a whole school term.' The future of AI is not in Silicon Valley. It is already here — in a room full of teenagers.

From now on, if you talk to a chatbot in Europe, it must tell you the truth: 'I am an AI.' That is the new rule. The European Union just made it law. Any AI that chats with people, creates pictures, or makes videos must clearly say so. No hiding. No pretending to be human. Companies that break the rule could be fined millions of euros. Why does this matter? Because AI is getting so good that it is hard to tell what is real. When you cannot trust your own eyes, a simple label can help. 'I am a robot' — three words that make the digital world a little safer.

This summer, while most kids were playing on their phones, a 13-year-old boy in Gansu was doing something completely different. He was building armor — out of cardboard. No blueprints. No YouTube tutorials. Just old boxes, glue, and his own imagination. He spent ten hours on each piece. He made a helmet. A shield that folds. A full set of shoulder guards. Total cost? About fifty yuan. His work went viral. One comment said: 'This kid is a future engineer.' He never touched a phone all summer. Because when you love what you make, you do not need to scroll.

A restaurant owner in Changsha needed a summer helper. A university student needed money for a driving license. The deal was simple: 3,000 yuan for a month of work. But the boss had a better idea. Instead of making the student wash dishes, he asked him to teach his daughter. The student, a top university sophomore, agreed. He taught math, English, and physics — eight hours a day. After twenty days, the girl's grades went up in every subject. The boss had canceled her 12,000-yuan tutoring class. He saved 9,000 yuan and got better results. Sometimes, the best deals are the ones you never expected.

A mother in Hangzhou checked her daughter's smartwatch last week. What she found shocked her. Twelve group chats. Half the contacts were strangers. Her daughter, who is just ten, had joined game groups, desk game groups, and chat rooms — all through her watch. The mother deleted them all. Her daughter cried for days, saying, 'You do not respect me.' This is happening everywhere this summer. Kids are finding each other online faster than parents can keep up. The question is not just 'should I delete the chats?' It is 'how do I teach my child to tell a friend from a stranger?' And that lesson cannot be taught by deleting.

On August 10, a big clock started ticking. In exactly 100 days, leaders from 21 Asia-Pacific countries will gather in Shenzhen for the APEC summit. This is the third time China has hosted APEC — but the first time in Shenzhen. Why Shenzhen? Because this young city is China's window to the future. It is home to Huawei, BYD, and DJI. Foreign companies rushed to invest here — up 47 percent just this year. Delegations from 40 countries have already visited to see robots, electric cars, and AI labs. The theme is 'Openness, Innovation, Cooperation.' For 100 days, the world will watch Shenzhen. And Shenzhen is ready.

If you are starting college this month, you might be in for a shock. The 'freshman three-piece set' — a laptop, a phone, and a tablet — now costs nearly 18,000 yuan. That is 5,000 yuan more than last year. Laptops alone have gone up 15 to 40 percent. Some entry-level models that cost 3,000 yuan last year now cost over 4,000. The reason? AI. Tech companies are buying up almost all the memory chips and storage to power AI servers. What is left for student laptops is scarce — and expensive. One person saved 2,100 yuan just by buying a month earlier. For millions of families, the price of starting college has never been higher.

This summer, a new word went viral among Chinese parents: 'pre-made kid.' It means making your child study next term's entire textbook before school even starts. A fourth-grade boy in Hangzhou looked at his thick pile of preview work and said, 'Mom, I would rather not have a summer break.' His daily plan was packed: Chinese writing, poem recording, English word drills, math videos — every single day. His mother felt torn. 'If we do not do this, I am scared he will fall behind. But when I see his tired eyes, my heart breaks.' This is not just one family. Across China, summer has become a third school term. The question is: how much is too much?

As Typhoon Dolphin roared toward eastern China, an emergency meeting was held — not for a building, not for a bridge, but for a tree. Not just any tree. The 1,300-year-old Welcome Pine on Huangshan Mountain. On August 9, Huangshan closed to visitors. One hundred forest guards stayed behind. They tied ropes around the pine's famous 'welcoming arm' to stop the wind from tearing it. They placed support poles under its heavy branches. For 24 hours, they watched, measured, and waited. When the storm passed, the pine stood unharmed. Huangshan has had a 'pine guardian' since 1981. For 45 years, someone has watched over this tree every single day. Some things are worth guarding.