(B)

Stress: Good or Bad?

    Stress used to be an almost unknown word, but now that we are used to talking about it, I have found that people are beginning to get stressed about being stressed.

    In recent years, stress {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (regard) as a cause of a whole range of medical problems, from high blood pressure to mental illness. But like so many other things, it is only too much stress {#blank#}2{#/blank#} does you harm. It is time you considered that if there were no stress in your life, you would achieve a little. If you are stuck at home with no stress, then your level of performance will be low. Up to a certain point, the more stress you are under, the {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (good) your performance will be. Beyond a certain point, though, further stress will only lead to exhaustion, illness and finally a breakdown. You can tell when youare over the top and on the downward slope, by asking yourself {#blank#}4{#/blank#} numberof questions. Do you, for instance, feel that too much is being expected of{#blank#}5{#/blank#}, and yet find it impossible to say no? Do you find yourself getting impatient or {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (annoy) with people over unimportant things? If the answer to all those questions is yes, you had better {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (control) your stress, as you probably are under more stress than is good for you.

    To some extent you can control the amount of stress in your life. Doctors have worked out a chart showing how much stress is involved in various events. Getting married is 50, pregnancy 40, moving house 20, Christmas 12, etc. If the total stress in your life is over 150, you are twice as likely {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (get) ill.

    According to a recent study, plants are able to make intelligent decisions. They are a lot{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(smart) than we thought. Scientists have discovered that the pea plant can make decisions on how{#blank#}2{#/blank#} (survive) best, even though it does not have a brain. Researchers grew several pea plants that had their roots {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (separate) between two pots. Each pot contained different amount of nutrients. One pot always had the same amount{#blank#}4{#/blank#}the other pot varied between a lot and a little. The plants turned out to be{#blank#}5{#/blank#} (amaze) consistent（一致的）at turning their roots to the pot with the most nutrients.

    Researcher Alex Kacelnik says the experiment raises a question, not about plants{#blank#}6{#/blank#} about animals and humans. He wonders whether the pea plant is more efficient in using its limited resources about {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(make) decisions than humans. He says, “We have a very wonderful brain, but maybe most of the time we're not using {#blank#}8{#/blank#}” Professor Kacelnik does not think that pea plants are intelligent in the human sense, but that they exhibit complex{#blank#}9{#/blank#} (behave) to efficiently take advantage of natural opportunities. It will be interesting to see how our lives would be different if we{#blank#}10{#/blank#} (adopt) similar strategies.

    Strange things happened {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Tangshan Earthquake happened. The well walls had deep cracks. A smelly gas came out of them. The water pipes {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (crack) and burst. At 3:42  {#blank#}3{#/blank#} the morning of July 28, 1976, everything began to shake. It seemed as if the world was at {#blank#}4{#/blank#} end. Steam burst from holes in the ground. Hard hills of rock became rivers of  {#blank#}5{#/blank#}  (dirty). Soon the whole city lay in {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(ruin). Many people died or were {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (injure). Everything in the city was destroyed. People were {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (shock) at this and wondered how long the disaster would last. The army organized teams to dig out those {#blank#}9{#/blank#} were trapped and to bury the dead. Workers built shelters for {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (survive). Fresh water was taken to the city. Slowly the city began to breathe again.

    The sun was dying out, and people all around the world built giant planet thrusters (火箭助推器) to move Earth out of its orbit and to sail Earth to {#blank#}1{#/blank#} new star system. Yet the 2500 years' journey came with {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (expect) dangers, and in order to save mankind, a group of young people in this age of a wandering Earth came out {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (brave) and fought hard for everyone's {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (survive). The Wandering Earth is a 2019 Chinese science fiction film directed by Frant Gwo. It is based {#blank#}5{#/blank#} the novella of the same name by the Locus Award and Hugo Award {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (win) author Liu Cixin, and was released on February 5, 2019.

    In the past nine days, Chinese sci-fi film The Wandering Earth {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (make) $420 million at the Chinese box office alone and will soon become the second film {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (reach) three billion yuan within ten days of being released. This also makes it 2019's {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (large) grossing(总收入)film to date with some box office prophet (预言者) wondering {#blank#}10{#/blank#} it will even outperform Captain Marvel.

    Cathy Martin is a hurricane hunter with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). For six months each year, she is part of a team that collects {#blank#}1{#/blank#} she describes as "vital data, to save life and property."

When winds pick up, {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(spin) toward the Caribbean and U. S. coastline, Martin and {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(she) flight team spring into action.

    They use instruments called dropsondes, which {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(set) free from a tube at the back of the plane. As a dropsonde makes its 10,000-foot landing into the sea, it sends out information about air temperature, pressure, humidity, and the speed and {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(direct) of the wind.

    On an eight-hour flight, Martin's team {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(typical) drops 15 to 20 dropsondes while flying from one side of the storm {#blank#}7{#/blank#} the other, trying to cover as much ground as possible. They head for the center (or eye) of the storm, {#blank#}8{#/blank#} there's no wind, and also search for the strongest winds, to help people on the coast prepare for what's coming. Sometimes, they will use an unmanned aircraft {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (gather) data closer to the ocean's surface.

    Though these flights can be long,{#blank#}10{#/blank#}(tire) and often last several days in a row, Martin likes her job and wishes she could fly every day.

An honest taxi driver Mr. Joseph Inso from Sagada, Mt. Province returned the cellphone which was dropped from the pocket of my niece to {#blank#}1{#/blank#} front seat of the taxi Ganduyan.

We boarded the taxi at Lubas {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (go) to Km 4, La Trinidad, Benguet at about 9:00 am on May 26, 2019. However, when we arrived at the house, my niece noticed her cellphone was missing. She searched her pockets and her bags only {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (find) it in neither of them. So she suspected (怀疑) she might have {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(accidental) dropped it in the taxi we boarded. Right away we contacted the{#blank#}5{#/blank#} (lose) cellphone and it was ringing but no reply.

It's after two days {#blank#}6{#/blank#}the taxi driver found the cellphone. Then the taxi driver {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (remind) of the calls that we had sent him. So he contacted me this afternoon and I met him at Slaughter Compound, Baguio City. I was very {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (appreciate) of his returning the cellphone.

I asked for his name and took pictures {#blank#}9{#/blank#}the taxi. To the taxi driver, thank you very much for your {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (honest).