Use your parking space

An unused parking space or garage can make money. If you live near a city center or an airport, you could make anything up to £200 or £300 a week. Put an advertisement for free on Letpark or Atmyhousepark.

Rent a room

Spare room? Not only will a lodger earn you an income, but also, thanks to the government-backed "rent a room" program, you won't have to pay any tax on the first £4500 you make per year. Try advertising your room on Roomspare or Roommateeasy.

Make money during special events

Don't want a full-time lodger? Then rent on a short-term basis. If you live in the capital, renting a room out during the Olympics or other big events could bring in money. Grashpadder can advertise your space.

Live on set

Renting your home out as a "film set" could earn you hundreds of pounds a day, depending on the film production company and how long your home is needed. A quick search on the Internet will bring up dozens of online companies that allow you to register your home for free — but you will be charged if your home gets picked.

Use your roof

You need the right kind of roof, but some energy companies pay the cost of fixing solar equipment (around £14,000) and let you use the energy produced for nothing. In return, they get paid for unused energy fed back into the National Grid. However, you have to sign a 25-year agreement with the supplier, which could prevent you from changing the roof.

The day Madelyn McClarey's twin sons, Aaron and Aubrey Hough, each received scholarships(奖学金)to Florida A&M University, she figured that after they moved seven hours north from Hollywood to Tallahassee, she'd be lucky to see them on weekends.

But her sons had something else in mind. The twins told her they'd move to Tallahassee on one condition. She had to go with them—and work toward the college degree she'd always wanted. And that is how McClarey ended up in a green cap and gown this month at FAMU. Cheering her on were her twins. "Our mom is so determined and dedicated, we're lucky to have her as our mother," said Aaron. "It was a lot of hard work, but she never gave up."

McClarey's sons jumped as she was awarded a bachelor's degree (学士学位)in English with a minor in education, excited that their mom finally had the degree she'd dreamed about for more than twenty years. Her professional goals were put on hold when she became a single mom looking after two kids. Before motherhood, before divorce, McClarey had gone to business school.

McClarey, who described herself as "40ish," said that when her sons insisted she go with them to college four years ago, her jaw dropped, having known most teens are eager to start lives away from their parents once they graduate from high school. She said, "But I was also delighted when I realized they weren't joking and weren't going to leave home unless I moved with them, so I said, 'Well, all right—let's go, then.'"

Now that McClarey has graduated, she doesn't plan to leave Tallahassee anytime soon. She wants to stick around to encourage and support her sons, but there is also another matter to deal with. "My goal is to become an author someday," she said. "So this summer, I'll be working on getting my master's degree."

In early twentieth-century France, a new form of entertainment was becoming a hit— motion picture. People crowded into theatres for short, silent, black-and-white films that showed everyday happenings, such as a train pulling into a station. These pictures were dimly projected onto white sheets. Usually, there was no sound. Sometimes, men at pianos played music to match the scenes.

Moving images in theatres are no longer new, but back at the beginning of the art form, surprises lurked around every corner. During the first showings of basic silent movies, some people in the audience screamed in fear, reacting to what they saw as if it were happening in real life. Moviegoers were known to leap out of the way of trains on the screen. At that time, few people understood what motion pictures were, so audience members could easily be fooled.

Today, people crowd into theatres for the latest 3D movies. Even older movies, such as the popular Star Wars series, are being re-released in 3D. Moviemakers are excited about the ability to involve the audience more directly in the story or film. In addition, theatres spend tens of thousands of dollars on high-quality audio systems so that everything from the safest whispers to the largest explosions sounds clear and realistic.

What will movies be like 100 years from now? Will audiences be able to smell scents in the films, taste the food that characters are eating, or even becoming part of the stories themselves? Only time will tell.

Pirates: Romance and Reality

In the movies, pirates have exciting and adventurous lives.  Which aspects of the movie pirate are real, and which are invented?

A Pirate's Life

While movie pirates are men in search of adventure, the average pirate was usually trying to escape from a difficult life. Some were ex-sailors who were treated poorly on their ships.  They came from many different backgrounds. But on a pirate ship, equality was important. Men elected their captain and created the ship's rules together.

In movies, pirates have chests full of gold and piles of money stolen from other people. However.it was far more common for pirates to steal things like cloth, spices, and even medicine. They often sold these things.  They spent it as soon as they could on women and alcohol.

Pirate Style

Movie pirates often wear eye patches and have wooden legs. Many real pirates also looked like this. Why?  "Life at sea was hard and dangerous," says David Moore, a maritime museum employee in the U.S. Disease was also common. For these reasons, some pirates lost eyes and legs.

A. Pirate Heaven

B. Pirate Treasure

C. One reason was the poor living conditions.

D. Others were escaped slaves who wanted their freedom.

E. But what was life actually like for an 18th-century pirate?

F. The men also divided the income from stolen goods fairly.

G. Also, unlike movie pirates, real pirates didn't bury their money.

Itzhak Perlman, the world famous violinist, got polio (小儿麻痹症)as a child. 1, you know that getting on stage is not easy for him.

On November18, 1995, he came on stage to give a 2 at Lincoln Centre in New York City. That night Perlman walked 3 to his chair. Then he sat down and began to play. But suddenly, one of the strings on his violin broke. You could hear it break with a loud 4.

People thought to themselves, "He would have to get up to either 5 another violin or another string for this one." But he didn't. 6, he waited a moment, closed his eyes and then signaled the conductor to begin again. The orchestra (管弦乐队)began, and he played from where he had 7. He played with such passion and such power. Of course, everyone knew that it was 8 to play a symphonic work with just three strings. But that night Itzhak Perlman 9 to know that. You could see him changing and recomposing the piece in his head.

When he finished, there was a 10 in the room. Then people rose and cheered. We were all 11, doing everything we could to show how much we 12 what he had done. He smiled and then he said in a quiet tone, You know, sometimes it is the artist's task to 13 how much music you can make with what you have left."

His words have 14 in my mind ever since I heard them. That is also the way of life. Perhaps our 15 in this quickly changing world in which we live is to make music, at first with all that we have, and then, when that is no longer possible, to make music with what we have left.

Many scientists believe our love of sugar may  (actual) be an addiction. When we eat or drink sugary foods, the sugar enters our blood and affects parts of our brain  make us feel good. Then the good feeling goes away,  (leave) us wanting more. All tasty foods do this, but sugar has a particularly strong effect. In this way,  is in fact an addictive drug, one that doctors recommend we all cut down on.

"It seems like every time I study  illness and trace a path to the first cause, I find my way back to sugar," says scientist Richard Johnson. One-third of adults worldwide have high blood pressure, and up  347 million have diabetes(糖尿病). Why?" Sugar, we believe, is one of the  (reason), if not the major one," says Johnson.

Our bodies  (design) to survive on very little sugar. Early humans often had very little food. In this way, we had energy stored for when there was no food.  today, most people have more than enough. So the very thing that once  (save) us may now be killing us.

1）表达安慰；

2）给出建议；

3）你的祝愿。

注意：1）词数80左右；

2）可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。