Little Free Library is a nonprofit organization that inspires a love for reading and builds community. It is also referred to {#blank#}1{#/blank#} neighborhood book exchanges around the world. This is a creative idea {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (think) up by Todd Bol and Rick Brooks in 2009, which seeks {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (put) small book exchange boxes right in front of a house or on a street corner to offer free books to {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (member) of the local community. Mini libraries of all shapes and sizes exist, from a {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (bright) painted wooden house to a library based on Doctor Who's TARDIS.

     {#blank#}6{#/blank#} makes the idea so special? Their website states: "Little Free Libraries have a unique, personal touch and there is an understanding that people are sharing their favorite books with their community. These are not just any old books {#blank#}7{#/blank#} a carefully organized collection. Besides, the library {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (it) is a piece of neighborhood art!"

    Through Little Free Libraries, millions of books {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (exchange) each year among readers of all ages and backgrounds. They also play an important role in remote areas by {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (provide) access to books and encouraging a love for reading.

    In Canada and the United States, people invite friends over for a meal, a party or just for coffee and conversation.

    Here are kinds of things people say when they invite someone to their homes:

    "Would you like{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(come) over for dinner this Saturday night?" "Hey. We {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(have) a party on Friday. Can you come?"

    To reply to an invitation(邀请), either say thank you and accept, or say you're sorry and give {#blank#}3{#/blank#} excuse. "Thanks, I'd love to. What time would you like me to come?" or "Oh, sorry. I have a ticke{#blank#}4{#/blank#}a movie."

    Sometimes, however, people use words {#blank#}5{#/blank#} sound like invitations but which are not real invitations. For example, “Please come over for a drink sometime." "Why not get together for a party sometime?" "Why don't you come over and see us sometime soon?"

    They are really just polite ways of {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(end) a conversation. They are not real invitations because they don't mention(提到；谈到) a certain time or date. They just show that the person is trying to be{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(friend). To reply to {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(expression) like these, people just say "Sure, that would be great!” or "OK. Yes, thanks."

    So next time when you hear such sounds like an invitation, listen{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(careful). Is it a real invitation {#blank#}10{#/blank#} is the person just being polite?

    Last night was the last game for my eight-year-old son's soccer team. It was the final quarter. The score was two {#blank#}1{#/blank#} one, my son's team in the lead. Parents surrounded the playground, offering encouragement.

    With less than ten {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (remain) seconds, the ball suddenly rolled in front of my son's teammate, Mickey O' Donnel. With shouts of “Kick it!” echoing across the playground, Mickey turned around and gave {#blank#}3{#/blank#} everything he had. All around me the crowd erupted (沸腾). O' Donnel had scored!

    Then there was {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (silent). Mickey had scored all right, {#blank#}5{#/blank#} in the wrong goal, ending the game in a tie. For a moment there was a total hush. You see, Mickey has Down Syndrome（综合症）and for him there is {#blank#}6{#/blank#} such thing as a wrong goal. All goals were celebrated by a joyous hug from Mickey. He had even been known to hug the opposing players when they scored.

    The silence was finally broken when Mickey, his face filled with joy, hugged my son {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (tight) and shouted, “I scored! I scored. Everybody won! Everybody won!” For a moment I held my breath, not sure how my son {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (react). I need not have worried. I watched, through tears, as my son threw up his hand in the classic high-five salute and started chanting, “Way to go Mickey!” Within moments both teams surrounded Mickey, joining in the chant and congratulating him on his goal.

    {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (late) that night, when my daughter asked {#blank#}10{#/blank#} had won, I smiled as I replied, “It was a tie. Everybody won.”

    Birth order, whether you are an older, middle or younger child in your family, affects career path as well as personality, a new research shows.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (reach)their conclusions, researchers studied many successful people from different career groups. One of the most important{#blank#}2{#/blank#} (discover) is that middle children are more likely to become CEOs than other children. Among them{#blank#}3{#/blank#} (be) Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook. The reason could be that they are more{#blank#}4{#/blank#} (competition) and flexible to fight for attention from the parents,{#blank#}5{#/blank#}makes them fit for high-flying roles.{#blank#}6{#/blank#} is claimed that consideration of others and high levels of management are required.

    Interestingly, they found the {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(major) of astronauts are eldest children, the {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (one) born children in the family. While youngest children were found to be more likely to have careers in classical music, because they are{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(possible) more sensitive and romantic. As for only children, the study suggests they are more likely to become artists due {#blank#}10{#/blank#}their personality of doing things perfectly and maturely.

Is Hothouse Earth Avoidable?

    Nearly 50 years ago, the Club of Rome's report "Limits to Growth" warned that if economic growth continued fast without regard for the environment, the world could face ecological and economic collapse in the twenty-first century. Yet that is essentially {#blank#}1{#/blank#} has happened. As new research for the Club of Rome shows — and the latest report from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states — the world {#blank#}2{#/blank#} well be headed towards disaster.

    Many wrongly {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(interpret) the "Limits to Growth" as an attack on uncontrolled economic expansion. In fact, the report argued that {#blank#}4{#/blank#} the unlimited-growth pathway was chosen, it would require complementary policies (including funding) {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (preserve) the planet's limited life-support systems.

    This argument {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (ignore). Instead, the world has continued to pursue fast growth, without regard for the environmental consequences. This has enabled us to make enormous progress in reducing poverty, increasing longevity, and increasing wealth. {#blank#}7{#/blank#} it has come at a high cost to the formation of the society and the restoration of the planet.

    As scientists have conclusively shown, in the last decade, we have entered a new geological era, the Anthropocene, in which human activity — in particular, economic activity — has been the dominant factor {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(influence) Earth's climate and environment. In the Anthropocene, our planet's life-support system is changing faster than ever.

Climate change now represents a clear and present danger. If our planet becomes just 2℃ warmer than pre-industrial temperatures, we may be placed irreversibly on the path toward "Hothouse Earth" — a situation {#blank#}9{#/blank#} temperatures are many degrees warmer than today, sea levels are considerably higher, and extreme weather events are {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(common) — and more destructive — than ever.

    Once a group of {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (high) successful engineers got together to visit their old university professor, Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. While they were {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (talk), the professor went and prepared coffee in the kitchen. Then back with a pot of coffee and cups {#blank#}3{#/blank#} different kinds, some ordinary-looking, some expensive, some delicate, the professor told them to help {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(they) to hot coffee. When they all had a cup of coffee in their hands, he said, "If you noticed, all the nice-looking expensive cups {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(take)up, leaving behind the plain and cheap-looking ones. While it's normal for you to choose the best for yourselves, that's the source of your problems and stress. In {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(real), the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. What mattered most was coffee, not the cup, {#blank#}7{#/blank#} you went for the best cups directly and {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (bad) still, you began eyeing each other's cups. If life is coffee, then the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They're just tools {#blank#}9{#/blank#} hold and contain life, but the quality of life doesn't change. Sometimes by {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (concentrate) only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee in it."

    Don't let the cups drive you, and enjoy the coffee instead.