Tips for Cooking on a Tight Schedule

    From my experience, there are three main reasons why people don't cook more often: ability, money and time. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Money is a topic I'll save for another day. So today I want to give you some wisdom about how to make the most of the time you spend in the kitchen. Here are three tips for great cooking on a tight schedule:

    1）. Think ahead. The moments when I think cooking is a pain are when I'm already hungry and there's nothing ready to eat. So think ahead of the coming week. When will you have time to cook? Do you have the right materials already? {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    2）. Make your time worth it. When you do find time to cook a meal, make the most of it and save yourself time later on. Are you making one loaf of bread? {#blank#}3{#/blank#} It takes around the same amount of time to make more of something. So save yourself the effort for a future meal.

    3）.  {#blank#}4{#/blank#} This may surprise you, but one of the best tools for making cooking worth your time is experimentation. It gives you the chance to hit upon new ideas and recipes that can work well with your appetite and schedule. The more you learn and the more you try, the more ability you have to take control of your food and your schedule.

    Hopefully that gives a good start. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} And don't let a busy schedule discourage you from making some great changes in the way you eat and live!

    Do you know that over ten million American kids go to camp every summer ?{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Back then, hot city summers made people feel bad and even unhealthy for children, so escaping to the country for a few weeks became popular. Today, kids have different reasons for making camp a part of their lives.

To meet new people

    Camp is a great way to make new friends and learn about different places and cultures. Michiko, 13, put it like this, “I loved camp. I met this girl named Manny who lives in New York and she is cool.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}We taught each other words.”

    To challenge (挑战) yourself

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Activities like trying new sports, learning new games, or pushing yourself to achieve something need a lot of courage. Arabella, 13, told us, “I went to summer camp and I passed my swimming test! I can hardly swim, so it was a big progress.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}”

    To experience nature

    There's a great big natural world out there, and going to camp helps you learn how beautiful and important it really is.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}Getting out into the woods or mountains can give you a better understanding of the world.

A. Not all the things that kids do at camp are easy.

B. She speaks Spanish and I speak Japanese.

C. I felt great afterwards.

D. It's also a great way to learn about teamwork.

E. Summer camp has been a U.S. tradition for over 150 years.

F. Going to camp is all about having a good time.

G. Without trees, soil, water, and wildlife, the Earth couldn't survive.

    Abralda, one of the largest coral reefs in the world, is truly an amazing place for scientific research. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    However, when we arrived there, things didn't go as smoothly as expected. It was raining so hard that we couldn't dive into the sea for research. What's worse, we didn't know how long we had to wait. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} We did hope it would stop raining soon.

    Since we couldn't dive, we stayed on our boat that was meant to keep track of us when we were diving. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}We dived quickly down in depth into a warm and colourful place. Meanwhile, the boat was following us all the way.

    There were various sea creatures swimming around us. Interestingly, I was joined by a turtle which stayed on ray mask for a while. And it followed me during the rest period of my dive. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} I was amazed and even shocked! Beautiful living coral covered nearly 100 percent of the bottom! Besides the turtle, many more sea animals passed by me closely. It was so fun. All stress, noise and troubles of life were left at the surface of the sea.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} I dived for as long as I could that day. This was how I felt about Abralda—I loved it and never wanted to leave. In fact, we are already planning another diving research in Abralda.

A. It made us disappointed and upset.

B. We were dissatisfied and decided to leave there.

C. However, we had to do research on wildlife there.

D. I looked around to explore the fantastic underwater world.

E. Exploring so well underwater, I was unwilling to leave the sea.

F. Luckily, the rain stopped on the fourth day，and we went diving.

G. Therefore, we went to study and record the wildlife there months ago.

Easy ways to keep your brain sharp

    Everyone is forgetful, but as we age, we start to feel like our brains are slowing down a bit — and that can be a very annoying thing. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Read on for some techniques worth trying.

    ⒈{#blank#}2{#/blank#} 

    People who regularly made plans and looked forward to upcoming events had a 50 percent reduced chance of Alzheimer's disease (早老性痴呆症), according to a recent study. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Something as simple as setting a goal to have a weekly coffee date with a friend will do. There's evidence that people who have a purpose in life or who are working on long or short-term goals appear to do better. In other words, keep your brains looking forward.

    ⒉Go for a walk.

    Mildly raised glucose (葡萄糖) levels can harm the area of the brain that helps you form memories and physical activity can help get blood glucose down to normal levels. In fact, exercise produces chemicals that are good for your brain. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    ⒊Learn something new.

    Take a Spanish class online, join a drawing club, or learn to play cards. A study found that mental stimulation (刺激) limits the weakening effects of aging on memory and the mind. But the best thing for your brain is when you learn something new and are physically active at the same time.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Or go dancing with your friends.

A. Focus on the future.

B. This can be especially harmful to the aged.

C. It should be something like learning gardening.

D. So take a few minutes each day to do some reading.

E. But don't worry if your schedule isn't filled with life-changing events.

F. Luckily, research shows there is a lot you can do to avoid those moments.

G. In other words, when you take care of your body, you take care of your brain.

Voluntourism — New Trend in Travel

Volunteering to help people in need combined with travelling to faraway places is a new trend in the travel industry. It is called voluntourism. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} On the other side, they volunteer to help others who are not as well off as they are.

    Recent statistics show that in the past few years voluntourism has been one of the fastest-growing areas of tourism. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} They work in orphanages (孤儿院), help build schools, assist in hospitals and do farm work in developing countries. Some of them establish lasting bonds with people far away.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Students see it as a gap year after school; others simply want to take some time off from a job and do something else. Then there are these who are bored and merely seek adventures. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} They think it is a cheap way of travelling and don't really want to get involved in hard work.

    Not everyone sees voluntourism in a positive way. Critics (评论家) say that if people really want to help those in need there are many opportunities in their own community to do this. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Travel experts also point out that in some cases voluntourists are made use of by organizations that set up the trips.

A. voluntourism has been expanded into many countries.

B. There are many reasons why people engage in voluntourism.

C. However, many voluntourists do not see volunteering as what it is.

D. Besides, volunteers are often not skilled enough in the tasks that they do.

E. More than 1.6 million people around the world are volunteers in other countries.

F. Standard development programs are often sponsored by international organizations.

G. People travel to other places, learn languages and other cultures and gain new experiences.

    Parents of children and teens who play football may worry about their bodies getting injury. Younger football players have the lowest chance of injury. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Therefore, it's necessary for players to know the rules of playing football whether they are young or old. The following can be used to reduce the chance of injuries while players are still enjoying the game.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} The American Academy of Pediatrics advises players and their families talk about whether the risks of injury outweighs the benefits of playing football. Football has many benefits, including regular exercise, learning to be part of a team, and social growth and development. Families who decide to play can take steps to reduce the chances of serious injury.

    Play by the rules. When players know the rules of the game—what's legal and what's not—fewer injuries happen. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} For example, players should know that in football they can't come from behind, crash into a player's legs, and steal the ball. It's legal and safer to go after the ball rather than the player.

    Wear legal equipment. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Because illegal equipment leads to serious injuries of the head and neck. It's also the leading cause of severe injuries in football, but remember the protection of legal equipment doesn't depend on its quantity.

    Get good training. Players should learn the right way to use a tackle (装备). {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Correct training could lower injury for younger players. Older players could be at a greater risk of injury if they first learn to use tackle and never learn the correct skill.

A. Take steps to lower football injury.

B. Weigh the risks and benefits.

C. The more legal equipment players wear, the less injury they will get.

D. Legal equipment can give football players important protection.

E. Players should know what to expect from each other.

F. Doing this and practicing the skills often make sure players are correctly trained.

G. As players get older, stronger and faster, the chance of injury goes up.