America's holiday shopping season started on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Shoppers make the most money this time of year, about 20 percent to 30 percent of all revenue all year. About 136 million people shopped during the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} In an era of instant information, shoppers can use their mobile phones to find deals. Nearly 80 percent of this year's holiday shoppers, or about 183.8 million people, shopped on Cyber Monday. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Online spending on Black Friday rose 15 percent to hit $2.7 billion this year. Cyber Monday spending increased 12 percent to $3 billion. NBC News reported that for many, shopping online was a more comfortable alternative than crowded malls.

    The shift to online shopping has had a big impact on solid shopping malls. Since 2010, more than 24 shopping malls have closed and an additional 60 are struggling. Fortune says the weakest of the malls have closed. However, the business in malls is thriving again, it adds.  According to a survey, 94.2percent of malls were full with shops by the end of 2014. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    The average American consumer will spend about $805 on gifts. That's about $630.5 billion between November and December – an increase of 3.7 percent from last year.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}That goes to China's Singles' Day, celebrated on November 11, which posted record sales of $14.3 billion in 2015.

A．More and more people shop online nowadays.

B．That is the highest level in 27 years.

C．It is the busiest shopping day of the year.

D．One-in-five Americans used a tablet or smart-phone.

E．The traditional mall industry can hardly survive.

F．Cyber Monday falls on the Monday after Thanksgiving and Black Friday.

G．Nonetheless, Cyber Monday is not the biggest online shopping day in the world.

    The news media in the U. S. consist of radio, television and newspapers. Together they are everywhere on the lives of many Americans and influential on their daily routines. Many Americans begin their day by reading the newspaper or watching a morning news program on television while drinking their coffee.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Throughout the day the news is broadcast repeatedly on the radio and television.

    In the evening news is a main feature on television with up to two hours of news in the early evening and more news late at night. For those who prefer reading, the evening newspaper offers the reader the possibility of reading the news others see and hear on television.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}It is up to the general public to choose what to read, watch or listen to. Therefore, the media must have sensitivity to the interests of the public.

    News is a big business. However, it is a very competitive business, as each station or each newspaper competes for audiences and readers.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} When an item becomes news worthy, such as an election or a war, Americans will become familiar with the details as the news media try to be as informative as possible.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    The news media report the same news items regarded as the most interesting and impressive.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} However, most Americans would not criticize their news media too harshly. The truth of the news media is generally acknowledged and accepted by the American public.

A. Americans don't have to pay for the services.

B. The news media are free of government control.

C. But the result is that the news becomes repeated.

D. Sometimes they have to bear boring advertisements.

E. Each tries to present the news Americans want to know.

F. While driving to work, the news can be heard on the car radio.

G. Listeners, viewers or readers might find it difficult to be selective.

    The first TV was made by John Baird in 1925. It had one color. It could only show 30 lines. This was just enough room for a face. It didn't work well, but it was a start.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} It was in New York- Few people had TVs. The broadcasts were not meant to be watched. They showed a Felix the Cat doll for two hours a day. The doll spun around on a record player. They were experimenting. It took many years to get it right.

    By the end of the 1930s, TVs were working well. America got its first taste at the 1939 Worlds Fair.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} There were 200 small, black and white TVs set up around the fair. The U. S. President gave a speech over the TVs. The TVs were only five inches big but the people loved it.

    By 1948 there were 4 big TV networks in America. They aired their shows from 8 to 11 each night. Local shows were aired at other times{#blank#}3{#/blank#}TV was not "always on" like it is now.

    Color TVs came out in 1953.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Also, shows were aired in black and white. By 1965, color TVs were cheaper. TV stations started airing shows in color. People had to switch if they wanted to see the shows.

    Now most TVs are high-def (高清). This means that they have many lines on them.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}TVs have come a long way since Baird's 30 line set. High-def TVs have 1080 lines. There are state of the art sets called 4K TVs. These TVs have 3,840 lines. Some people watch TV in 3D. I wonder what they will come up with next.

A. This makes the image clearer.

B. They cost too much money for most.

C. A big TV factory was opened in 1927.

D. The first TV station was set up in 1928.

E. People watch news and shows on them.

F. This was one of the biggest events ever.

G. Most of the time, nothing was shown at all.

    Do you have the experience of digging out your suitcase, deciding what to bring and being afraid that you've forgotten something? {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. Hope they can transform the way you pack.

    Keep a Basket Handy

    Do you wait until the last minute to pack? Keep a basket in your bedroom, living room, or bath room that you can use to throw in items you'll need to pack as you come across them. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. Besides, you can just put the contents of the basket into your suitcase if you are in a hurry to leave for the airport.

    Buy Wrinkle-free Clothing

    You won't need to worry about carefully packing your items of clothing if they're made from wrinkle-free materials. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. You'll still look fresh and bright when you are in them at your destination.

Keep Old Packing Lists

    Chances are that you end up taking trips that require you to pack similar items. Keep old packing lists from former vacations to the beach, ski resort, and city—that way, you'll always have a list of at least the basics. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. So you don't need to waste your effort to remember where you left your hand-written packing lists.

    Schedule a Packing Time

Time can slip away from you before a trip—you may be caught up at work, at home, or be occupied with other responsibilities of daily life. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. That way, you will not need to do your packing crazily from the last minute to 1 o'clock on the day you leave.

A. This makes you less likely to forget the stuff.

B. The best way to do this is to save them on your computer.

C. Buy necessary stuff when you arrive.

D. Determine a night well in advance of departure to pack.

E. That's why I've distilled (提炼) the art of packing down to some essential tips.

F. Just ball them up or put them at the bottom of the suitcase.

G. Rolling your clothes is the best way to save space for the suitcase.

    People who experience face blindness can have a hard time in their social life. They have trouble remembering or recognizing faces. The term 'face blindness' isn't exactly accurate though. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} They just can't put all the parts together into one coherent image that they remember and recognize when they see it again, which is why proper name for face blindness is prosopagnosia, or literally "not knowing the face".

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} These clues include the way they sound (their voice or accent), the way they look (body size, shape or height), the way they smell, their clothing, their hair(style, colour or length) and obvious features on their face(beards, piercings heavy eyebrow, glasses).

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Because they're not always unique to one person and they can change. This is why face blindness can cause so much stress.

    If you don't experience face blindness, you've probably never given much thought to your ability to recognize familiar people or how important that is to your social interactions and feelings of safety. But imagine if you didn't know whether the person approaching you is a friend or a stranger. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Or imagine not being able to find the teacher when you need to use the toilet, because your teacher wears glasses and none of the adults in the room are wearing glasses today. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A.These are important ways to remember someone's face.

B.Do you say hello or just keep on walking?

C.Those with face blindness have to use other clues to recognize people.

D.It's easy to see the effect this would have on your social skills and confidence.

E.These are much less effective ways to recognize someone.

F.There are tests you can take to get an idea about your face-recognizing abilities.

G.They actually can see faces.

    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.