There are many ways for us to reduce waste. For example, we can reuse paper and plastic bags. We can also recycle newspapers, glass, and cans (易拉罐) make new things. Here are some useful ways to reduce waste.

    ◆Write on both sides of paper. Many people write on only one side of their paper. Why not stop wasting the other side? Some students only use half the pages of their notebooks before getting new ones. Try to use up all the paper. People often give cards on birthdays or festivals. How about trying to send e-cards instead?

    ◆Don' t throw away your old batteries. Maybe you do not know that old batteries make the Earth dirty. This is because they have poisonous parts. So, don't throw away batteries. Keep them together. Try to use rechargeable (可充电的) batteries for your game machines and CD players.

    ◆Donate (捐赠) all your unwanted clothes. There are many poor families in China, You may ask your mother to collect your unwanted clothes. Then you can pass them on to those poor children who do not have clothes to wear. You will feel happy that you are helping someone else. Also, you can ask if your friends or relatives want them before throwing them away.

    The 21st century discoveries about the human brain and its functioning have showed the surprising fact that human abilities are not fixed at birth. In other words, what you are able to do with your life is not fixed when you are born. It is not all in the genes (基 因 ). It is not just nature: nurture (教育, 培育) plays an important part in the moulding (塑造) of what a person is, and what he/she can be.

    Brain plasticity (可塑性) or neuroplasticity (神经可塑性) refers to the amazing ability of the human brain to modify (修改) its structure and functions according to the changes within the body and/or in the outer environment.

    In his book „The Brain that Changes Itself‟ psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Norman Doidge, M.D., offers an introduction to the great scientists strongly supporting neuroplasticity and the people whose lives they've changed. The book describes real life stories of stroke( 中 风 ) patients learning to speak again, and the amazing story of a woman born with half a brain that restructured itself to work as a whole. It is a book that changes the way we think about our brain, its nature, and its potential (潜能).

    The genes we receive from our parents are finite (有限的), no doubt about that. However, our brain's ability to develop is infinite. New brain cells are being born all the time, and to keep them alive and growing, we have to stimulate (刺激) them.

    Here lies the promise of neuroplasticity in the moulding of children into adults who are capable of realizing their potential. For, genius is nothing but a human being who has realized his /her inborn potential! What Mozart, Einstein and da Vinci had was inborn potential plus (和，外加) the right environment.

    All geniuses started life in exactly the same way. They had parents who supported the development of their individual gifts and talents. They had the right environment and stimuli (刺激， 刺激物) that led to the best development of themselves.

    You can think about your child's gifts as the merging (融合的) colours of a rainbow. The possibilities are endless. All children are born with three natural abilities that provide them with the potential to think like a genius: the abilities to think, to learn and to develop their own individual way of thinking and learning.

    Can your child be a genius? Yes, he/she can be, if you give him/her the right environment, the right stimuli and the right guidance.

写作提示:

1.What life skill do you want to learn?

2. Why do you want to learn this skill?

3. How do you learn this skill?

写作要求:

1.文中须包含所有要点;

2.文中不能提及本人的真实姓名、地名和校名;

3.词数 100 左右，开头已经给出，不计入总词数。

Little Life Skills Are a Big Help

Life skills are necessary for us teenagers. To live more healthily and happily, we are supposed to learn more new skills.

The Internet has changed the world, people are able to get and share information in seconds. Nowadays, people begin to wonder: Is the Internet good or bad? "It's impossible to answer that question because the Internet means so many things," says psychologist （心理学家） Patricia Greenfield.

Some are truly wonderful. In many ways it makes life easier and simpler. It helps us get things done more quickly. It opens up the world to us. And if a friend lives far away, the Internet makes it easy to stay in touch.

However, the issue （话题）    isn't black and white. Some can become real problems if we don't take care. Spending too much time online is bad to people's health. It may even cause them to be less social with family and friends. Aside from that, some people attack the web or use the Internet to steal others' personal information, even banking information. Most of the young students think the Internet is simply an icon （图标） on the screen（屏幕）. Kids won't realize that the Internet is a network of millions of computers until about 10 years old.

The Internet can be a useful tool, but don't let it take up all of your time. Use the Internet properly and carefully and it can make your life more colourful.

要点：
1. 说明你或周边的朋友是否存在学习效率不高的问题；
2. 分析出现学习效率不高的原因，并举例说明；
3. 给出建议。

Have you ever heard the word "body image"？It means the way we see our own bodies and how we feel about them. Some people have a good body image﹣they know that while their bodies might not be perfect，they are still healthy and happy. 

But many others，especially women，have a "broken" view of their bodies. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

{#blank#}2{#/blank#}I often see them complain about their weight，even though they are already in good shape. I want to tell them to stop worrying and complaining（抱怨），but It's not my place to do that. This phenomenon（现象） has been a problem in the US and other countries for many years. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Some of you may remember the "A4 challenge" of

2016. Women put pictures online，comparing their waist to the width of a piece of A4 printing paper. A4 paper is only 20cm wide. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

Unluckily，society and the media will probably always promote（提倡） these kinds of strict beauty ideals. But one thing to remember is that as long as you are not very thin or overweight，you are probably in good health. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}