We often close ourselves off when painful events happen in our lives. Instead of letting the world soften us, we let it drive us deeper into ourselves. We try to ignore the hurt and, pain, but we can't hide from ourselves. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    The items listed below are four tips you can open your heart more fully and completely.

    ⒈Breathe into pain

    Whenever a painful situation arises （出现）in your life, try to face it instead of running away. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. When the sadness strikes, take a deep breath and accept it. By using our breath we soften our experiences and allow more newness.

    ⒉{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    We're often confused （困惑的）at the next step to take. Actually, we can try a new decision making process. To start this process, we may ask, “Heart, what decision should I make here? What action feels the most right?” See what comes up, then put it into practice and evaluate（评价）the outcome.

    ⒊Spend time alone

    For most of our lives we're surrounded by people: our friends, family members, and strangers. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} When you spend time in solitude（孤独）, you're free from the influences of other people. It might be painful at first, but eventually you'll add a whole new understanding into your life.

    ⒋Get outside of yourself

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} But in reality, they actually work hand-in-hand. After you've explored the depths of yourself, you come away with a new understanding.

    Now, it's time to share that —not through telling others, but through being with others.

A. Have a light heart

B. Ask your heart what it wants

C. Is there anything I'm hiding from myself?

D. How often do we really spend time alone?

E. This may seem a little contradictory（对立的）to the last tip.

F. We should open our hearts and take action to heal（使愈合）the wounds.

G. When we run away from sadness, it gets stronger and more real.

Parents and the Young

    It is natural that young people are often uncomfortable being with their parents. They say that their parents don't understand them. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} And they tend to feel that their parents are too serious and too strict with their children, seldom giving their children a free hand.

    Parents often find it difficult to win their children's trust. And they always forget how they themselves felt when young. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} It is one of their ways to show that they have grown up. But older people worry more easily; most of them plan things ahead.

    Young people often make their parents angry with their choice in clothes, in entertainment and in music. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} It is just that they feel cut off from the older people's world, into which they have not yet been accepted. That's why young people want to make a new culture of their own, which makes their parents worried and upset.

    Sometimes you are so proud of yourself that you do not want your parents say “yes” to what you do. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} It is natural enough, after being a child for so many years, when you were completely under your parents' control.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} When your parents see that you have a high sense of responsibility, they will certainly give you the right to do what you want to do.

A. So how should you understand that?

B. But they do not mean to cause any trouble.

C. All you want is to be left alone and do what you like.

D. If you plan to handle your life, try to win your parents over.

E. They think that their parents don't keep pace with modern ways.

F. You will have better success if you ask before you really start doing it.

G. For example, young people like to act on the spot without much thinking.

Gardening 380 Kilometers above Earth

    Astronauts have to go through physical, psychological, and technical training. They also go through training in how to care for plants. These “astronaut gardeners” share their work and living space with plants.

    Taking seeds and plants along on a trip isn't a new idea. As space trips become longer, it will be necessary to grow food in space. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Because of this, it's not practical to send everything needed for a long journey, only to be used once and thrown away.

    Plants can serve many uses on a space journey. They can provide more fresh things. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Also, plants can help to make air quality better because they produce oxygen. They can improve the quality of the air inside the spacecraft—the only air the astronauts can breathe.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Due to the lack of gravity in space, the oxygen that the plants produce stays around the plants. This can actually kill them, so fans are needed to circulate the air. Without gravity, roots don't “know” to grow down, leaves don't “know” to grow up, and water doesn't easily travel up the roots to the leaves. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Besides, soil is too heavy to send to space, and special liquid gels (胶) are used to help plant growth.

    Scientists are also working on the plants themselves. They are trying to make plants grow more rapidly and grow with less water and light in space, and they are looking for ways to make plants more resistant to disease. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Imagine that deserts may one day provide lots of fresh food for local people, saving transportation costs. Similarly, plants that are resistant to disease could provide an important food supply. With the world's population now at seven billion (十亿) people, our astronaut gardeners may help discover ways to feed those billions.

A. Every plant grown in space must have several uses.

B. However, there are challenges with growing plants in space.

C. Such methods may result in improvements back here on Earth.

D. The cost of taking anything into space is about $22,000 per kilogram.

E. Specialized containers are being developed to help the plants grow correctly.

F. Astronauts will welcome the addition of fruits and vegetables to their diet of dry foods.

G. Currently all oxygen is taken aboard in tanks and then caught again so it can be reused.

    The history of writing instruments, with which humans have recorded and conveyed thoughts and feelings, is the history of civilization itself. This is how we know about our ancestors and their life.

    The handy sharpened-stone was adapted into the first writing instrument. Around 24 000 BC, the cave man started drawing pictures with the stone onto the walls of his cave. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Walls at the Apollo site in Namibia are believed to be the oldest rock paintings to date.

    Before paper came along, people used clay or wax tablets on which they wrote with sharp objects such as metal sticks or bones. Around 6000 years ago, the Egyptians invented the first paperlike material called papyrus. The word "paper" actually comes from the word "papyrus".

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Bones or metal sticks were no longer useful as the papyrus could not be scratched. So the Egyptians created a reed-pen perfect for the papyrus. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} And thus, ancient Egyptians transformed bamboo stems (茎) into an early form of a fountain pen.

    Another writing instrument that remained active in history for a long period was the quill (鹅毛) pen. Introduced around 700 AD, the quill was a pen made from a bird feather. Goose feathers were most common. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} For making fine line drawings, crow feathers were the best.

    When writers had better inks and paper and handwriting had developed into both an art form and an everyday occurrence, man's inventive nature once again turned to improving the writing instrument. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Now something was needed to write upon the papyrus.

B. The papyrus became the most popular material at that time.

C. Swan feathers were of a high quality, being rare and most expensive.

D. Bamboo stems were better and much more expensive than goose feathers.

E. This led to the development of the modem fountain pen in the 19th century.

F. These were mostly the stems of grasses, especially from the bamboo plant.

G. These drawings showed events in daily life like the planting of crops or hunting victories.

    My mother is a diligent and kind woman. She is very busy from morning till night. As a teacher, she works hard. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}Both my brother and I love her dearly as she loves us.

    My mother has been teaching math at a middle school in my hometown. She goes to work early in the morning and does not return home until in the late afternoon. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} She treats them with patience and teaches them well. For her excellent quality and very good teaching results, she has been elected as a model teacher several times.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Every day, when she comes back home from work, she sets about doing housework, sweeping the living room and bedrooms or cleaning the furniture, and putting everything in good order. She seems to be busy all the time. As she has been very busy working every day, she looks older than her age. But she looks as cheerful and happy as ever. Mother never buys expensive dresses for herself, but she often buys some inexpensive but high quality clothes for us. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} She just eats a plain meal outside when she is too busy to cook herself. She lives a busy yet simple life, without any complaints.(抱怨)

    Often she says to us, "work while you work, and play while you play. That is the way to be happy. If you do not work, you will become lazy and be of no use to society". What a piece of good advice this is! {#blank#}5{#/blank#} This advice of hers will always serve as a guide to my behavior. My mother is great indeed, and I always feel proud of her.

A. She enjoys listening to classic music.

B. As a mother, she takes good care of us and gives us every comfort.

C. She loves her students and cares for them.

D. She never goes to expensive restaurants to enjoy meals.

E. My mother is hard-working and never wastes money.

F. I never forget it and always bear it in my mind.

G. Can you tell us something about your mother?

Everyone knows that early to bed and early to rise is good for your health.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}It takes a lot of willpower to get out of bed early on a cold winter's day. For this, we specially recommend a "painless early rise" guideline.

{#blank#}2{#/blank#}The secret to becoming a morning person is exposure to natural light. Jennifer Martin, president of the board of directors for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, agrees with it firstly. That's because natural light holds back melatonin, a chemical that plays an important role in our bodies. "The sun is the driver of our internal clock," she says.

Ease in gradually. For some people like those who need to drive long distances, those first few days of being tired from switching to a new schedule aren't safe.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}"What I'll suggest to people is to shift half an hour, wait a few days, shift another halt an hour, wait a few days, and then shift another half an hour," she says.

Hold on — even on weekends.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}. Decide what time you're going to wake up every day. And stick to it without exception.

Plan something to look forward to. To force you out of bed,{#blank#}5{#/blank#}. You're not worrying if you think of that. "Now is the time to go to buy your favourite coffee or pick up some cakes to have when your alarm goes off at 5 a.m.," she says.

A. Adjust yourself to the schedule at night.

B. Seek out as much natural light as possible.

C. Becoming a morning person is a seven-day-a-week job.

D. But the reality is that getting up late is the norm for many of us.

E. In that case, Martin recommends gradually easing into the early-bird life.

F. Martin suggests treating yourself to something special you can enjoy first.

G. You should cut back on how much exposure to bright light you're getting.