You know that eating a sensible diet and getting plenty of exercise help make your body healthy and strong.But do you know that there are ways to make your brain healthier and smarter? Here are some steps toward a smarter brain.

Limit your TV viewing

    ① Never spend too much time on TV viewing, for it needs very little brain activities.Your brain will become weak just as your muscles do.If you do watch TV, choose something educational and meaningful.

Travel

    Travelling to another country forces you to see and do things in a fresh way, bringing stimulation to the brain.

    Learn a new language

    Learning a new language involves different learning methods.Learning a language sharpens your brain and helps prevent memory problems that you may meet in later years.

Read often

    As you read, take the time to look up people or places that aren't familiar.Reading makes your vocabulary much larger if you always search for words and definitions that you don't know.Each week, choose an animal, a bird or fish, and read everything you can about it.Stretch your brain as you become an expert on the subject.

Calculate （计算）when you shop

    As you put things in your grocery cart, total everything in your head.See how close you get to the actual total.

    Use your non-dominant（不占优势的）hand

    If you are right-handed, use your left hand for everyday activities, or use your right hand if you are left-handed.Doing familiar things in a different way will make your brain create new neural （神经）networks.

Wechat（微信）

    ② Read messages from various people.They have different interests.And some say that learning to express yourself in just 100 words is a great brain challenge.

    Have a try and do these every day.Little by little you can get into the habit of challenging your brain, and make your brain smarter!

    Do you often eat out？Do you often like to use disposable (一次性的) chopsticks？Do you think the chopsticks are safe？ {#blank#}1{#/blank#}.

    China produces 80 billion (十亿) pairs of such chopsticks every year. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. Can you imagine how many trees have to be cut down every year？20 million. Can you imagine how old the trees are？20 years old.   

    Many people choose to use such chopsticks because they think they are cleaner. In fact，they're not safe. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}.

    Several months ago, Huang Bo, a popular actor, wrote a message on his micro blog (微博)．{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Once he went to a restaurant with his friends. He tried to wash the disposable chopsticks. He was surprised to find the chopsticks turned the water yellow and gave off a bad smell.

    That's true. The smell show that they may be dealt with sulphur (硫磺) and other chemicals (化学制品)． That's very bad for people's health.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. It is not only good for our own health but also helpful to save the environment.

    The Internet is shaping our lives. We already have online shopping services and mobile payment. However, this is just a start. The world's leading tech companies are planning to build smarter online communities. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} It was held in Wuzhen, Zhejiang last year. The development of artificial intelligence(AI,人工智能) was a hot topic at the conference(会议). If a machine can learn and solve problems as humans do, it can be called AI.

    The company Alibaba uses AI technology in its unmanned supermarket in Wuzhen. There is no salesperson in the supermarket, just a tablet on a desk that says "please smile". {#blank#}2{#/blank#} The bigger your smile is, the more discounts(折扣) you will get. Payment is done automatically(自动地) through your Alipay(支付宝)account. When you first enter the supermarket, the supermarket's AI recognizes your face and your account.

    There is also AI that can read lips. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} It recognizes your mouth, s movements and turns them into voices or text messages. This could be very useful when you are trying to talk to someone on your phone in a noisy place. Police could also use the technology to help them find criminal suspects by lip﹣reading recordings from video cameras.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Microsoft's chatbot Xiaolce can not only provide useful information, but also chat with people like a real friend. Xiaolce has a WeChat account. After following the account, users can start talking with her. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} She keeps improving herself by talking with users.

    These technologies are being put into wider use. We may see a smarter world and better lives in the near future.

A. She knows when to comfort you or tell jokes.

B. They discussed this at the World Internet Conference.

C. Sougou brought its lip﹣reading system to the conference.

D. If you smile, it will give you a special discount for your goods.

E. Another type of AI focuses on understanding human emotions.

    Those days when you go on vacation, you spend most of your money just getting there. Travel is expensive, but don't stay home only because you are short of money! Here is some advice:

    Travel during off season if possible. Flights and hotels are much cheaper when tourism is low.

    Choose a hotel that's a little farther from popular attractions. If you're staying several days, check out prices on vacation homes-- they can end up being cheaper than a hotel.

    Take public traffic, such as buses or subway, instead of taking a taxi.

    Plan your meals, and cat like locals. Don't waste money at expensive hotel restaurants or fast- food chains. Depending on where you stay, it may be cheaper to make food on your own.

    Check online for special discount (折扣)—if you're a student, the old or the parents traveling with children, you could get discounts! A little research could save you a lot of money.

    Whether you're backpacking alone or going on a family vacation, your trip doesn't have to cost a lot of money. The key is to plan ahead and write down what you spend. Then put the money you save toward your next trip!

    It was Saturday again. Grace and Karen disliked, Saturdays. Unlike their classmates, they had to get up early at seven every Saturday to prepare for their lessons. Grace had to attend the drawing lesson and Karen had to attend her ballet lesson. "How I wish I could do something different today," said the twins with one voice. All at once, an idea came to Grace and Karen at the same time. "Do you want to be me for a day?" they asked each other. It seemed like a wonderful plan to them. After giving each other a description of their own friends, Grace put on Karen's ballet dress while Karen put Grace's brushes and paints into her bag. Then they left for their classes.

    When the drawing lesson started, Karen was lost. Unlike Grace, Karen was poor at drawing. When the drawing lesson finally ended, Karen didn't dare to hand in her work.

    Meanwhile, Grace was struggling in the ballet class as well. As she had no idea about the dance steps, she had to follow her classmates blindly. As a result, she kept knocking into them. Their ballet teacher became impatient with her, "Karen, you should remember the basic steps. You can't rely on copying what others are doing."

    When Karen and Grace got home, they were tired out. They decided that they would never try to be someone else they were not. It seemed that the grass was not always greener on the other side.