How to Improve Vocabulary Fast

    Your vocabulary refers to the words in a language you are familiar with. We should learn some ways to expand it.

    Read every day. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Choose reading material that is slightly above your level and keep a dictionary with you to look up words you do not know.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} If you do not meet with an unfamiliar word in your daily reading, use your dictionary to search for one.

    Learn the correct definition and pronunciation for each new word. Pronunciation is as important as definition because in order to add a word to your active vocabulary, you must be able to use it in speech.

    Elaborate(阐释)on the meaning of the word. Use imagery and personal relevance. If you have just learned that the word “stubborn” , think about the neighbor who will not lend you his car. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Use your new word in speech and in writing. E-mail your sister about how your cat is stubborn about sleeping on your pillow. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} But the more you use it, the more fluent you will become in its use. Soon it will be a regular part of your active vocabulary.

    Tell everyone you are trying to increase your vocabulary. Encourage them to ask you what your latest word is {#blank#}5{#/blank#}.The more you explain the meaning of a word to someone, the more likely you are to remember it.

A. Or let them ask for the definition of a new word you have used.

B. Your vocabulary contains the words you understand.

C. The vocabulary can be increased.

D. Imagine him shaking his head, and think of him as “stubborn in his refusal”.

E. The first time you use a new word in speech it may seem strange.

F. Find a new word every day.

G. The more often you read, the faster your vocabulary can grow.

    Florence Nightingale was named after her birthplace, Florence. Italy. When she was almost a year old, she returned with her family to England.

    Florence often helped her mother deliver (运送) food to the poor and sick. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}Her family was shocked because nursing was not a respected profession (职业).

    But Florence was determined. She studied books on medicine. Later, she visited hospitals in France, Germany and Ireland and learned everything she could.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    In 1854, Britain was at war with Russia, Florence went to the British hospital in Scutari and she was shocked. The hospital left men lying on the floor, and rats were running everywhere.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Many soldiers died before receiving help.

    The doctors wouldn't listen to Florence because they didn't like the idea of women in army hospitals – until one day 500 unexpected casualties (伤亡者) arrived.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}Florence made changes, making sure the men were washed and their injuries were cared for. Every night she would check the patients with her lamp.

    When she returned home after the war, a fund had been set up in her honor. Many of the soldiers she had nursed had made contributions (捐款). Now she could set up the Nightingale Training School in London.

    After years of hard work, Florence Nightingale saw cleaner and more cheerful hospitals.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}All of this was because of the “lady with the lamp”.

A. Nursing became an honored profession.

B. There was no running water and no heat.

C. She knew she had much to learn about nursing.

D. Florence saw the soldiers' health had improved.

E. As she grew older, she decided to become a nurse.

F. They soon realized that Florence could give a hand.

G. Upon returning home, she was an expert on hospital management.

What is bitcoin?

    Bitcoin is a kind of digital currency, which means it doesn't exist as banknotes. At first, bitcoins were only made for collectors. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} You can store it in an online “wallet”. And with that wallet, you can spend bitcoin online and in the physical world for goods and services. More and more businesses, restaurants and universities included, accept payments in bitcoins. And, of course, bitcoin has a valuation, which you may have heard about because bitcoin's price has fluctuated up and down.

    What's different about bitcoin?

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} That card is connected to information about you, such as your name and billing address. You can use bitcoin the same way, but unlike with a credit card, the trades you make with the currency are completely anonymous（匿名的）. They can't be used to identify you personally. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Is that why the WannaCry attackers picked it as a form of payment?

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    The bitcoin currency is unique—no authority can change the value. It's quick and easy to set up a bitcoin account. It's fast—it only takes a few minutes to transfer your payments. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    Possibly, Bitcoin has certainly gained fame in the news media as a technology that can result in crime. But even though the identities of people in a bitcoin trade may be hidden, the public ledger has increasingly helped law trace the movement of bitcoins from place to place.

A. What makes the bitcoin currency unique?

B. Another way of exchanging g bitcoins is at ATMs.

C. So you can use bitcoin to protect your privacy.

D. It's cheap—trade fees are usually zero, or less than 1 US cent.

E. Usually, if you pay for something on the Internet, you use a credit or debit card.

F. However, you can buy it with dollars or euros,, just like you can trade any other currency.

G. The bitcoin was introduced on the internet in 2008 by a software developer called Satoshi Nakamoto.

    Castles(城堡)and temples wear away after hundreds of years, but the symbols and E-books came from the development of words on the stone often survive.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} science and technology, and can be read online. Many people believe that regular books will be one day replaced by e-books.

    Books and e-books share lots of similarities. They are both items created by great minds, {#blank#}2{#/blank#} .You can draw lines or highlight some details on books or e-books as notes. The notes can be kept for a long time.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. Firstly, books don't have to be charged, while e-books need electricity if we want to read them. Meanwhile, spending too much time reading e-books may do harm to our eyes. Moreover, e-books don't share the same weight when held in the hand as regular books, nor do they give that sense of fulfillment that comes from finishing a thick book. However，e-book devices(设备)are easy to carry.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}.

    A disadvantage of e-book devices is that people tend to get distracted(分心)when they're using one, as many devices often have apps or games on them.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}.

    Whichever you prefer, both books and e-books are just a way to help us gain knowledge and get to know other people's experiences. They are both necessary, so it's too early to say one will disappear.

A. But they have differences as well

B. They take less space than books

C. Indeed our lives are formed by what books we read

D. This is similar to how the words in books manage to live on

E. They all have an index to introduce the main topic of each book

F. But with a regular book, your mind is always absorbed in the words

G. Each individual can decide which reading method is best for them based on their own needs

    A lack of sleep causes many medical conditions that greatly affect the quality of life. While no one knows why we sleep, it is a universal biological need.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    How much sleep do I actually need?

    A study in Finland found that the amount of sleep that relates to the fewest sick days was 7.63 hours a night for women and 7.76 hours for men.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}When we get sleep fewer than seven hours or our sleep often falls below six hours, we are at an increased risk of health problems.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Today, some people practice “polyphasic (一昼夜活动和休息多次的)sleep”,based on the idea that by dividing your sleep into parts, you can get away with less of it .Professor Dinges concludes it's possible to train oneself to need less sleep in short periods.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}And he notes that even for those who can function well on less sleep, we still don't know how the practice might be affecting chemical processes, mood, and other factors.

    I can't sleep. Is my phone really keeping me up?

    When light enters your eye, it hits your retina to send signals to the hypothalamus (下丘脑),which controls sleep cycles. When your retina takes in less light, your hypothalamus assumes it's time to sleep and it'll signal the pineal gland (松果腺)to make you sleepy. And when the hypothalamus senses light, it tells the pineal gland to stop its work.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Some research suggests that the light from phones and tablets are especially influential in human sleep cycles.

A. Adequate sleep can benefit us a lot.

B. Can I train myself to need less sleep?

C. How can I make myself sleep less?

D. No animal with a brain can survive without it.

E. This is why we're told to minimize screen time before bed.

F. And most adults function best after seven to nine hours of sleep a night.

G. But he adds it doesn't seem possible to train oneself to need less sleep per 24-hour cycle.

    Is there a best way to pack clothes? The following ideas are of great help to those who are always on the way.

    Where to start?

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Once you see how much you lay in front of you, be brave and reduce about a third. Because the truth is like your wardrobe, you never seem to use as much as you take.

    How to deal with clothing?

    Start with your shoes. Put underwear or socks inside them to hold the shape of your shoes. Thus, you can make use of every square inch of space. Once your shoes are firmly in place, fill small gaps with very soft items. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Lay out the first clothes with one end inside the suitcase and the other end dropping over the edge. Put the next clothes on top of this, but place them the other way around. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} In this way, you'll get another flat layer soon. Finally, one by one, fold the clothes back in.

    Where to put non-clothing?

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} These awkward shaped items are difficult to pack. You'd better put them towards the middle give maximum protection. Remember.to double bag your toiletries kit (洗漱袋) to avoid spotting your clothes.

    Top tips:

    If you take a belt, slip them along the inside of your case. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} That will take more space. Next, use the hard shape of the case to offer protection. Leave your toiletries kit in your suitcase, when you return home. It's ready for the next time you travel.

 A. Don't roll belts up.

B. Be sure to put away socks.

C. This idea will create a flat first layer.

D. And then continue laying other clothes.

E. That will make the job a whole lot easier.

F. Lay everything you want to take with you on the bed.

G. Non-clothing items are things like books, toothbrushes and cameras.