As a man {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (pass) the elephants, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (tie) to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at any time, break away from their bonds, {#blank#}3{#/blank#} for some reason, they did not.

    He saw a trainer nearby and asked why these animals just stood there and made no attempt {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (get) away. "Well," the trainer said, "when they are very young and much {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (small) we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, {#blank#}6{#/blank#} is enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe {#blank#}7{#/blank#} rope can still hold them, so they never try."

    The man was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn't, they were {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (stick) right where they were.

    Like the elephants, how many of us go through life {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (hang) onto a belief that we cannot do something, {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (simple) because we failed at it once before?

    Failure is part of learning; we should never give up the struggle in life.

    Winter break was fast approaching. All Scott wanted to do was to go snowboarding. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (fortunately), Scott's parents had different plans. They had booked a weeklong trip to Hawaii. Scott hated warm weather and asked {#blank#}2{#/blank#} he could just stay at his best friend's house so that he could snowboard every day. His parents didn't want to hear anything of it. He kept {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (debate) with them about the topic, but they would not change their minds. Family time was important to them, and it was a tradition that they spent winter break together.

    The Day After Thanksgiving (Friday) is known as Black Friday. This used to be unofficially or officially the start of holiday shopping season. Almost all stores come out with special early bird offers {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (attract) consumers to their shop. People stand in line hours before the stores are opened, to grab the bargains of the year. In the last few years, we {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (witness) a trend towards bringing those Black Friday Sales online before Friday.

    In the last few years (starting from 2013 to be precise), Black Friday Sales have started before Friday—with some stores {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (start) their Black Friday sales on Thanksgiving day or even on Wednesday and Monday. It would not be surprising to see Black Friday sale starting on Monday on the Black Friday week.

    The closest reason for {#blank#}4{#/blank#} it is known as Black Friday {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (give) in Wikipedia. Many retailers report some of {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (they) highest profits on Black Friday. The black portion of the name, “Black Friday” relates to businesses recording their {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (lose) in red ink and gains in black. This tradition lives on in modern accounting software.

    Deals websites like Dealsofamerica.com started to highlight “Black Friday sales” from 2003 {#blank#}8{#/blank#} then the retailers picked it up. {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (essential), Black Friday is an Internet term. But before it, people used to regard the sales {#blank#}10{#/blank#} “Day after Thanksgiving Sale”.

    Researchers examined the benefits of singing among people with mental health conditions {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (include) anxiety and depression.

    They found people who took part in a community singing group improved their mental health and that the combination of singing and socializing was an important part of {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (recover).

    The grassroots action runs weekly singing workshops for the people {#blank#}3{#/blank#} mental health conditions as well as the general public. It {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (original) began at a hospital in 2005, {#blank#}5{#/blank#} afterwards moved into the community. Around 120 people now attend four free workshops each week across Norfolk, two thirds of {#blank#}6{#/blank#} have had contact with mental health services.

    The research project followed the group for six months and {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (undertake) interviews and focus groups with participants, organizers, and workshop {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (leader).

    The report shows how singing and socializing gave participants {#blank#}9{#/blank#} feeling of belonging and wellbeing that often lasted a day or {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (many), as well as improved social skills and confidence.

    A hotel chain is employing human bed warmers to help guests get a good night's sleep. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (dress) in special all-in-one sleeping suits, the walking electric blankets are sent to warm the beds of guests staying at the Holiday Inn {#blank#}2{#/blank#} they get under the covers.

    Dr Chris Idzikowski, {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (direct) of the Edinburgh Sleep Centre, said the idea could help people get off to sleep. He {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (explain) that "There's plenty of scientific evidence to show that sleep starts at the beginning of the night {#blank#}5{#/blank#} body temperature starts to drop. The drop occurs partly because the blood vessels (血管) {#blank#}6{#/blank#} the hands, face and feet open up and release heat." "A warm bed –approximately 20 to 24 degrees Celsuis –is {#blank#}7{#/blank#} good way to start this process while a cold bed isn't. It helps people sleep well especially as it's taking much {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (long) for them to warm up when they come in from the snow."

    Dr Chris Idzikowski and {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (he) colleague Jane Bednall said the idea was like "having a giant hot water bottle in your bed". The five-minute free bed warming sessions will be tried out in London and Manchester {#blank#}10{#/blank#} the end of next month.

How to Become a Morning Person?

You have grand ambitions: to start a business, to write a book. But chances are you work long hours, or household responsibilities consume your days. By the time you finish all you have to do, you will have had no energy {#blank#}1{#/blank#}anything you want to do beyond turning on the TV.

Yet some busy people do make time for their priorities. The secret is giving the most attention to {#blank#}2{#/blank#}at the very beginning of a day. They get up earlier than they have to. Morning by morning, they make progress on something {#blank#}3{#/blank#}matters.

It's not fun to force yourself out of bed, but these early hours are often the best time to do things for yourself. With a little schedule reorganization, {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(become) a morning person is more doable than you think.

I first learned that mornings {#blank#}5{#/blank#}be transformational years ago, when I was studying a busy lawyer's schedule. She wanted to spend more time with her son, but she had little control over when she left work. This state of affairs kept her sad {#blank#}6{#/blank#}she realized she and her son were both early risers and the morning time could be made full use of. After thinking it through, the lawyer decided to get up even earlier. Then, when the boy stepped into the dining room, she {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(finish) preparing a rich breakfast so they two could enjoy the meal to the fullest together.

Mornings are also great for focused thinking. Getup an hour earlier, and you can knock out your most important task of the day. Or you can spare some time for those creative desires {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(bury) deep in your heart and hard to nurture.

But many will argue：I'm not a morning person! The fact is that there are not so many true night owls. When most people take an honest look at {#blank#}9{#/blank#}they're spending the hours before bed, they'll find they have wasted much time on the TV programs they don't mean {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(watch). Also, they often browse through photos on social media of people they didn't like in high school anyway.

A better approach is to sleep earlier, rise earlier and turn unproductive evening hours into productive morning hours.