In today's busy and competitive world, we all lead incredibly stressful lives. When stress becomes overwhelming, it can affect our mood and productivity. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} The good news is that it is manageable and can be reduced, or even relieved completely.

    Enter the world of books. Feeling stressed out? Pick up your favorite book and leave the reality and worries behind. It is the most effective way to relax and overcome stress. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Getting lost in a book before bedtime can calm your mind and prepare your body for a good night's sleep.

    Connect with people. Another way to successfully beat stress is meeting with friends. Friends and loved ones are important to any healthy lifestyle. If you're feeling a little overwhelmed and just can't seem to shake it off, call your best friend or a member of your family and talk to them. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Walk it off. You can also effectively relieve yourself of stress by simply taking a walk around your neighborhood. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} There's a whole new world up there that you never seem to notice while rushing to work or talking to someone. Take a moment to admire a new building or a balcony somewhere high up that reminds you of a castle from your favorite movie. Enjoy your time alone and seize every moment of it.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Nothing brings you back on track like a good laughter. It is the most powerful antidote(良方) to stress and it brings joy into your life. Laughing brings people together and drives away all stress-related problems as if they never existed. It is absolutely the best medicine there is, and it will keep you both physically and emotionally healthy.

    A class teacher, in my opinion, plays an important role in a child's development.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} This year, she is moving to Class Three and I can't wait to see how things are going on.

    Last year, my daughter did not like her teacher at all. It was so bad that she did not look forward to school. It was a year full of trouble and that worries.

   This year, Miss Purity is gentle and humorous. It's hard not to like her.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}.

    She becomes an early bird. Last year, mornings were like a fight because I had to force Tasha to hurry up when she was preparing for school. I had to pull her out of bed, tell her to take breakfast and then drove her to school. But now, our mornings are like a party. She wakes up early, prepares everything at a high speed and then rushes to school to be with Miss Purity.

    She's happy. She enjoys school and school work and keeps talking about what they did at school when she comes home.

    She's responsible.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} But now she never forgets even her water bottle at school. She makes her bed and helps in the kitchen.

    Her diary is full of praises. The diary is the tool of communication between the teacher and the parents. Last year, her diary was always full of negative reports. One time, she poured water in a child's lunchbox, another time she threw another kid's textbook in the toilet.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} She's always volunteering to clean the blackboard, the teacher's chair and desk.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Finishing her classwork was such a big problem. She had to do it at home. But now, she finished both the classwork and homework at school.

A. Here are the changes in my daughter.

B. Now she began to share her snacks with those who did not have anything.

C. Every year when my daughter moves to a new class, I have a usual big worry—her new class teacher.

D. Her diary was good.

E. She has a good class teacher.

F. She used to be careless and forgetful.

G. She does well in school.

    You may be more interested in a boxing or yoga studio. If you are interested in variety, you'll be better off going with a larger complex that might contain equipment for sports, for example.

    Pay more attention to the importance of position.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} So pick a sport that fits your sense when a visit would typically occur. The fitness equipment should be close to your home or workplace. Whether to make it convenient or inconvenient is often one of the greatest barriers to success.

    Take advantage of free trials.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} During your visit, you want to think about the number of people using machines, the friendliness of the staff, and whether showers are offered there.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} The two primary places to check for dirt and stain are in the locker room and the comers of the workout rooms. Also pay attention to smell. Make sure there is a way to easily clean equipment.

    Talk with personnel about the busiest times and the number of members using the gym on a typical day.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Learn about membership packages, extra fees and guest passes for friends and family.

    By thoughtfully considering gyms and fitness center you can ensure you will actually like your choice and use your membership. Considering the right aspects will help you pick good equipment.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Make sure everything is clean.

B. The places should be comfortable to use.

C. Good health is of great importance for you.

D. It's easy to ignore your body when you have a busy day.

E. The fitness center you like will offer a chance to try them out.

F. Find out whether they require pre-class registration or reservations.

G. So you can jump into achieving your fitness goals and improving your life.

注意：每个空格只填一个单词。

    Every January for the past 20 years, I have taken a few moments to consider the answer to the big question, “What is the meaning of life?” The reason I ask this question year after year is that my answer changes over time, which I find interesting and insightful. There is no objectively correct answer, I believe—only answers that are right for you at any given time. This question is so important—philosophically and practically in terms of how we live our lives— yet we are unable to really think about the answer.

    Doing this simple exercise might even help you live longer. According to two separate studies —one with 9,000 participants around age 65 and another with 6,000 people between 20 and 75—those who could explain the meaning and purpose of their lives died later than those who saw their lives as aimless. It didn't seem to matter what meaning participants ascribed to their lives, whether it was personal (such as happiness), or creative (such as making art). It was having an answer to the question that mattered. The connection to longevity（长寿）could be causal—having purpose may help one manage daily stress, as other research has shown. But it could also be that those who think about life's meaning are more likely to do other activities that promote good health.

    Great thinkers have given the question thought. Leo Tolstoy wrote, “The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity.” Albert Einstein said: “Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.” My favorite answer, though, is “The purpose of life is a life of purpose.”

    Some have concluded that life's meaning is subjective. “There is not one standard meaning for all,” author Anaïs Nin once said. “There is only the meaning we each give to our life, an individual meaning, an individual plot, like an individual novel, a book for each person.” I agree, which is why I recommend formulating（构想）your own answer. Taking a few moments to record your response to the question “What is the meaning of life?” is the kind of simple exercise that effectively adds meaning to your life.

    And then I suggest answering it every year. Looking back at how your thinking has evolved and been influenced by experience tells you something more about yourself. Then, it gets you closer to a deeper self-understanding.

    If you do the annual “meaning” exercise, I suggest not looking at past answers before answering anew. I write them down on the same now-yellowing piece of paper and keep it someplace safe.

    The last suggestion is to turn your answer into action. If you conclude, as Tolstoy and Einstein did, that the meaning of life is helping others, that should help motivate you to do more of it.

    This is not a theoretical exercise. Whatever small step you take toward finding the meaning of life is a step toward a more meaningful, and longer life. Why not do this simple annual “meaning” exercise from now on?

Yellow Robot deliver snacks to your home

    A robot makes its way back to a supermarket after making a delivery during a demonstration in Beijing.

    Along a street on the outer edges of Beijing, a yellow and black cube about the size of a small washing machine moves leisurely to its destination. This “little yellow horse” is a delivery robot, transporting daily essentials like drinks, fruit and snacks from the local store to the residents. Equipped with GPS system, cameras and radar, the robot is seen by its creator as the future of logistics(物流) in China.

    “The weak point is that it can't deliver directly to the door like a human.” said one customer, who does not live on the ground floor. “But it is still quite practical. The robot delivers relatively quickly.”

    The robot takes off for Chinese customers' love of cashless payments and smartphone shopping. China is the world's biggest online shopping market with more than half of its population making at least one smartphone purchase per month, according to professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. Whether buying electronics, toilet paper or clothes, Chinese customers are used to simply tapping a button on their smartphone and getting a home delivery.

    To get a delivery via the “little yellow horse”, customers select the desired products, tap in the address and pay via their phone. Then, the supermarket staff place the items in the robot.

    Liu Zhiyong, founder and CEO of Zhen Robotics, which manufactures the robot, sees a bright future for his creation. “At the moment, there are 100 million packages delivered every day in China. It will be one billion in the future,” Liu said. “ There will not be enough humans to make the deliveries. We need more and more robots to fill this gap and reduce costs.” These costs are especially high in the last kilometer of a delivery.

South Africa still has a long way to go on the right to food

    Fifty-four percent of South Africans are hungry or at risk of hunger. Hunger affects people's health, as well as their ability to live full and productive lives because the rights to dignity, health and education are affected by hunger.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} There are significant race, class and gender differences. For example, black South Africans are 22 times more likely to be food insecure compared with white South Africans. Food insecurity is defined as not having physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.

    This unequal distribution indicates a situation of severe food injustice in South Africa. Yet from the research with urban farmers it's clear that people do not know of the right to food, and don't see unequal access to nutritious food as an injustice. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}While there are frequent protests around access to jobs, education, housing, water and electricity, we rarely, if ever, see protests about access to food.

    One of the drivers of unequal access to food is the way in which the industrial food system works. For example, a few large companies dominate each aspect of the food value chain. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Because the large companies dominate the supply chain, they are able to maximize profits at the expense of small-scale producers, to whom they pay very low prices.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}It needs to ensure that marginalized producers, processors and retailers have an opportunity to earn a decent living. At the same time corporate dominance needs to be addressed.

    Anyway, at the most basic level, it requires that South Africans know they have a right to food in the first place.

A. As a result, questions of hunger are largely absent in South African politics.

B. Handling food injustice requires a transformation of the undesirable structure of the food system.

C. Therefore, the government has put forward numerous food and nutrition security programs to fight against hunger.

D. This means that smaller scale producers, processors and retailers are squeezed out.

E. Hunger, lack of nutrition and related illnesses are not equally spread.

F. There are international examples of governments taking their obligations seriously with regard to the right to food.