Imagine looking out of your window and seeing a whale swim by. That's the sight that surprises New York City residents recently. In the past years, humpback whales have been spotted in the two rivers surrounding the island of Manhattan, the Hudson River and the East River, {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Experts say that river cleanup efforts have improved water quality and led to an increase in the number of fish there. Fish are on the humpback's menu.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}The sighting is also an encouraging sign that conservation efforts are helping humpback whales come back. In 1973, the species was listed as the endangered. Now scientists say humpback whales are making a comeback.

    By the middle of the 20^th century, hunting whales for profit had nearly wiped out many whale species. In 1973, the U.S. set up the Endangered Species Act. People were no longer allowed to hunt them in the U.S. waters. In 1982, the International Whaling is illegal worldwide.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Last September, it was announced that nine groups of humpback whales are no longer endangered. Four groups are still endangered and a fifth is threatened.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} The number of them is growing particularly faster in the Southern Hemisphere like Tasman Sea and Coral Sea. And the number of humpback whales in Hawaii has made an amazing recovery. In 1966, there were fewer than 1,500 humpbacks there. Today there are about 10,000. But humpbacks in other parts of the world are still struggling.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}“We still have a lot of work to do,” says Angela Somma, head of NOAAS Fisheries' endangered species division. "But with the right protection, the number of humpback whales should continue to grow.

A. These efforts to save whales are paying off.

B. People are frightened when seeing whales in the river.

C. Last year, one even swam past where the mayor lives.

D. Today there are about 100,000 humpback whales worldwide.

E. The extra food in the rivers is mainly what's attracting the whales.

F. Scientists have carried out further research on the number of the whales.

G. Scientists say that the focus needs to be on the whales that are still struggling.

Your Teen Is Falling Asleep in Class

    Teens have a busy morning schedule as they need to wake up and get moving very early in order to catch a bus and get to school by the required time. This means teens need to get their rest the night before or they will be too tired to learn anything at school.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}．

    When a teen falls asleep in class, two things happen: he/she misses what is being taught and he/she loses the respect of the teacher. He/She may also receive a consequence (后果) from the school, depending on the classroom discipline (纪律) policy.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}．

    To prevent your teen from being sleepy in class, try these three tips：

    Set a time for “lights out” on school nights. This is never be any later than 10 p.m. and preferably 9 p.m.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Soft music can be on and used to help calm your teen.

    Help your teen develop a night­time routine that involves activities that slow them down for the end of the day.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}Turning off the computer and disconnecting from friends and the excitement of the day an hour before bedtime will also help your teen relax.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} This will reinforce (增强) what it feels like to be rested and capable of achieving what he/she wants.

A. What's worse, they may even fall asleep in class.

B. Taking a bath and reading are two activities that work well.

C. Set a good example and show him/her your love for learning.

D. Point out the positives after your teen has had a good night's rest.

E. “Lights out” means the computer, television, lights and cell phone should be off.

F. All of these things affect your teen's academic success and can be avoided.

G. While your teen keeps his/her goals in line with your expectations, he/she may have his/her own goals.

    Someone in the U.S. is diagnosed with blood cancer every three minutes. And although about three in ten blood cancer patients can find a matching donor in their families, 70 percent of patients depend on a stranger to step in. That was enough for me to know I wanted to help.

    I registered online with Delete Blood Cancer. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}Four years later I got an e-mail from the organization and it said I had a possible match. To make sure all systems were a go, I had a couple of extra blood tests. I needed to donate bone marrow (骨髓).{#blank#}2{#/blank#}And my bone-marrow recipient was a little girl.

    Four months later, donation day arrived. At 9 a.m., the procedure started. By noon, I was already on my way home from the hospital. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}My legs were sore, like I had bruised my bone or something. The doctors said the pain would gradually disappear a few days later.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}The discomfort was secondary to the emotional high of helping a little girl with cancer. To me, it doesn't matter that I've never met the girl who received my bone marrow or that I don't even know her name. I still feel like I have such a powerful connection with her.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    A year later, I haven't heard how my bone-marrow recipient is doing, Delete Blood Cancer hasn't come back to me asking for another bone marrow donation, so I hope that's a good sign. But if they do call me back, whether it's for her or someone else, I'd do it again.

A. I won't lie—for a while, I was in pain.

B. I immediately broke down into tears on the phone.

C. There's something in our DNA that brought us together.

D. That's most often the case with young blood-cancer patients.

E. Even though the doctors gave me painkillers, I didn't try any.

F. I met with all of the doctors who would be performing the procedure.

G. Then my DNA was collected to see if I was a match for any patients in need.

Five steps to better handwriting

    Some kids love handwriting, but others hate when it's time to put their pen to paper. Maybe they are worried about their handwriting. Are you one of them? {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Here are five steps that really work!

    Get a great grasp

    Try this — hold your pencil at the top and try to write your name. Pretty hard? But when you hold your pencil the correct way, writing is much easier. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Hold it in place with your thumb, and your index (食指) and middle fingers.

    Let the lines be your guide

    Lined paper is your friend! Those lines can help you create letters that are the right size and proportion (均衡). {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Also be sure to fill up the lined space completely. Those capital letters should be from the bottom line to the top one.

    Slow down

    If your writing is hard to read, try slowing down a little. If you rush, it's hard to control where you stop and start your letters.

    Lower the pressure (压力)

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}That makes it harder to make the smooth lines. Try easing up and don't hold the pencil too tightly.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    Lots of games require you to write or draw pictures. So even though it's not schoolwork, you're still using the skills you need to control your pen better.

A. Play games

B. Ask for more advice

C. So "a" should be half the height of a capital "A".

D. You've been writing since you were a little kid.

E. Some kids press down really hard when they write.

F. The good news is that just about everyone can improve their handwriting.

G. The best way to hold a pen or pencil is to let it rest next to the base of your thumb.

    Who would win in a competition to memorize numbers, a chimp or a teenager? The teenager? Think again. Scientists have proved that chimps perform better than human beings when it comes to this kind of problem.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}.

    Memory is our ability to learn something, save it and recall it when needed. Our memories are important to our sense of self, our personalities, and our ability to understand the world.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} There is short-term memory and long-term memory. Your short-term memory saves information for a few seconds or a few minutes. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Long-term memory involves the information you try hard to keep, because it's meaningful to you-an example is data about family and friends. And then there is visual memory and sound memory. But these are not hard and fast. In fact, Scientists argue a lot about the nature of memory.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Some memorize better with the help of pictures. Others are helped more by sounds. One thing's for sure though: If you can put the different kinds of memory together, there can be great results. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} At the same time, you could listen to recordings of the same group of words. These things may help when it comes to memorizing the words.

    Imagination and association can be useful too. By imagination, scientists mean picturing a word in your mind, while association means relating the word to something you already know.

A. So why not try pictures with English words?

B. Then how do chimps have better memories than us?

C. Scientists say that there are different types of memory.

D. We may have to rethink what we believe about human memory.

E. Scientists have also found that people memorize things in different ways.

F. For example, the time it takes to compare the prices of a few items in a store.

G. Short-term and long-term memory differ in the amount of information they can store.

How to Build a Better Breakfast

    We've all heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and that may actually be true. A study found that breakfast eaters were more likely to lose weight than those who didn't eat a morning meal. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} But it's not just when you eat; it's what you eat. These tips will help you really rise and shine:

    ⒈Eat even if you're not hungry.

    Although you might not feel like eating first thing in the morning, it's a good idea to get something into your system. Eating within 90 minutes of waking up will jump­start your metabolism（新陈代谢）and keep you from getting hungry later. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    ⒉Be boring.

    Changing what you eat is a good idea in theory, but if you are watching your weight, you might want to stick with the same old menu. People who allowed their breakfast calories to change have larger waists（腰围）and a higher incidence of metabolic syndrome（代谢综合征）than folks who keep their morning calorie intake constant, no matter how much they eat the rest of the day. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    ⒊Add peanuts or peanut butter.

    By eating peanuts or peanut butter, the carbohydrates(碳水化合物）are taken in more slowly and blood sugar does not rise as high. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} So they are less likely to snack later.

    ⒋{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    There's an old saying that advises "Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper." It's worth following. Those who eat a balanced 700­calorie breakfast over a 12­week period lower their blood sugar and blood pressure twice more than people who eat a 200­calorie meal. They also lose an average of 19.2 pounds and have lower levels of ghrelin, the "hunger hormone（激素）.

A. Go big.

B. Pile on the produce.

C. Other studies link skipping breakfast with a higher risk of developing high blood pressure, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes（糖尿病）.

D. So it's worth making the effort to hold it steady.

E. It could set you up for overeating throughout the day.

F. Just a banana will do the trick.

G. Plus women feel fuller for up to 12 hours after eating the peanut butter or peanuts.