What is a fair wage? {#blank#}1{#/blank#} These are some of the questions the United Nations International Labour Organisation(ILO) has recently investigated.

    With a global population of over seven billion, is it actually possible to measure an average amount? {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Using the total wage bill from over seventy countries, they have multiplied the amounts by the number of earners in each country. The economists then tallied up the results and divided them by the total number across the world The result was a world average wage equivalent to $1,490 a month. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} 

    This figure might seem very high because they calculated the amount using purchasing power parity dollars, which takes into account the fact that it is cheaper to live in some countries than others. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} 

    Calculating an average sum like this might not be a completely fair representation, but these figures do help us to understand how the world is developing, both economically, in the quality of life people are experiencing and their standard of living.

    But the result shows that the average wage is still relatively low and there remains a huge difference in levels of affluence around the world. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Is this fair? For many, pay equality still seems very far out of reach.

A. The ILO has now tried to work out the sums.

B. The ILO used statistics from over 70 different countries

C. Why aren't more people in the world offered pay equality?

D. That is approximately $75 a day for a 20-day working month.

E. Some people live on just two dollars a day, while others are earning more than a million dollars a year.

F. When someone works for themselves, what are they called?

G. The data also did not include the huge number of people who appear in poverty statistics or who are self-employed.

    NBA basketball players devote much of their lives to preparing for games. This preparation, which includes studying game films, practicing skills and treating injuries, is essential because of the pressure-packed nature of their profession.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Generally, on the day of a game, players get together in the morning for an hour shooting and also to review films of the opponent of that night. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Players receive treatments for injuries, put on their uniforms, discuss strategies(策略) with coaches and warm up during the remaining time before the game gets underway. As thousands of people cheer them on, a team's best players will play 40 or more minutes during the game. After the game, some players stick around to lift weights before showering and heading home.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} They must leave their families at home, spend hours on planes traveling around the country and try to stay rested while sleeping at a different hotel every night.

    The NBA's 82-game regular season is tiring. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} So many players focus on recuperating(恢复) for at least part of the off-season. Other players, may work on recovering from surgery to correct injuries.

    Weeks before the training camp, NBA basketball players start getting back in shape for the upcoming season. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Younger players often take part in developmental leagues during the summer months to increase their chances of getting onto an NBA team.

A．Trips can be difficult for NBA basketball players.

B．The league was founded in New York City on June 6, 1946.

C．It can even make the best-conditioned athletes tired.

D．It consists of 30 teams, 29 in the US and 1 in Canada.

E．The preparation may involve practicing basketball skills and lifting weights.

F．Following lunch, many players take a nap and eat a pre-game meal before arriving at the field.

G．An NBA basketball player's typical workday routine varies based on his team's schedule of games.

    My mother is a diligent and kind woman. She is very busy from morning till night. As a teacher, she works hard. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Both my brother and I love her dearly as she loves us.

    My mother has been teaching math at a middle school in my hometown. She goes to work early in the morning and does not return home until late in the afternoon. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} She treats them with patience and teaches them well. For her excellent quality and very good teaching results, she has been elected as a model teacher several times.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Every day, when she comes back home from work, she sets about doing housework, sweeping the living room and bedrooms or cleaning the furniture, and putting everything in good order. She seems to be busy all the time. As she has been very busy working every day, she looks older than her age. But she looks as cheerful and happy as ever. Mother never buys expensive dresses for herself, but she often buys some inexpensive but high quality clothes for us. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} She just eats a plain meal outside when she is too busy to cook herself. She lives a busy yet simple life, without any complaints.

    Often she says to us, “work while you work, and play while you play. That is the way to be happy and gay. If you do not work, you will become lazy and be of no use to society”. What a piece of good advice this is! {#blank#}5{#/blank#} This advice of hers will always serve as a guide to my behavior. My mother is great indeed, and I always feel proud of her.

A. She enjoys listening to classic music.

B. As a mother, she takes good care of us and gives us every comfort.

C. She loves her students and cares for them.

D. She never goes to expensive restaurants to enjoy meals.

E. My mother is hard-working and never wastes money.

F. I never forget it and always bear it in my mind.

G. Can you tell us something about your mother?

    It is necessary but difficult for English beginners to memorize new words, and long lists of words seem to make the mission impossible. They are puzzled why they try to memorize words with great efforts but forget them easily. That's why there are often inquiries about how to memorize new words.

{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Here are some tips to help.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} We too often separate the process of new words memorization from pronunciation. In fact these two can be combined and each will enhance the other. Saying the word to ourselves helps activate aural(hearing) memory, which helps the memory. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} The more familiar we are with the word,

the greater chance we will have to keep it for the rest of our life.

    Never memorize single English words. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Relate the word to terms we already know, either as synonym or antonym. For example, the word "gargantuan" is similar in meaning to words "gigantic", ”huge" and "large". Make a sequence of words: "small, medium, large, gigantic, and gargantuan".

    Create a mental image of the word that involves strong emotions. Think, "The gargantuan whale is going to swallow me whole".

    Learning English words requires action. Complaining how difficult it is to memorize new words will be of little help. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Have a try with ten words a day and you will see what a difference you will make in our English learning.

A. So take action right now.

B. Speak the word while memorizing it.

C. Memorizing new words is very important.

D. Actually, some have given up learning new words.

E. In fact, learning new words needn't be that difficult.

F. Make as many associations and connections as possible.

G. The sound of word helps us recall the spelling and familiarizes us with the word.

Painting

    The art of creating pictures using colors, shapes and lines is called painting. Museums and galleries show the paintings of professional (专业的) artists. But painting is also a popular form of entertainment and creative expression.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}Experienced painters usually use a brush to apply oil paints to a canvas cloth surface. Young painters usually use watercolors on pieces of paper. Very young children may use finger paints to create paintings.

    Painters can use their art to express devotion to a religion, to tell a story, to express feelings and ideas, or simply to present a pleasing picture. Religious paintings often show a god or a scene from a sacred text (圣典). Other common subjects have been famous legends and events in history, as well as scenes from daily life. Artists also paint portraits (画像), or pictures of people{#blank#}2{#/blank#}All of these types of paintings show the human figure in some way.

    Some kinds of paintings do not focus on people. In landscape (风景) painting the focus is on scenes from nature. Artists also paint still objects such as fruits and vegetables{#blank#}3{#/blank#}Some artists communicate their ideas through pictures that do not represent any object.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}Paintings dating back 15,000 years have been found on the walls of caves in France and Spain{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Samples of painted pottery (陶器) from at least 5,000 years ago have been found in China and Iran. The ancient Egyptians decorated their temples with beautiful paintings. People in ancient Greece painted decorative objects such as vases in addition to the walls of temples.

A. These works are called still-life paintings.

B. These works can communicate a special feeling.

C. Humans have been making paintings for thousands of years.

D. People of all ages create pictures using a variety of materials.

E. Cave paintings generally show animals that early humans hunted.

F. The design of a painting is the plan of its lines, shapes and colors.

G. Sometimes artists make portraits of themselves, which are called self-portraits.

    How to become a better reader?

    Language and literacy(读写能力) are among mankind's greatest inventions. Evolving and even dying over the course of human history, languages are a reflection of our cultural and societal attitudes. Most humans acquire language in early childhood and speak fluently when they are about three years old, but our continued relationship with language gives shape and meaning to our lives. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    ⒈Take it slow

    Many readers feel that they read too slowly, especially compared with others but the truth is that the faster you read, the less likely you are to comprehend fully what you're reading. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Reading is a lifelong process; learning to read closely and slowly will help you become faster over time without missing anything.

    ⒉{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    When humans first began reading written words, it was unusual to read in silence. Though general inappropriate for commuters or for late-night adventurers, reading out loud is one of the best ways to improve your reading ability. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} If so, you will begin to read more accurately and with better vocal expression. Try listening to the author reading their own work-you'll be surprised to find how clearly it comes through on the page.

    ⒊Write

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} How and what you read affects how and what you write, and the best readers often make the best writers. But while much can be learned from close, repeated readings, there are many secretive pleasures to language that can only be experienced through the practice of writing.

A. Read aloud.

B. Get into the rhythm of the authors voice.

C. Here are 3 ways to become a better reader.

D. Writing and reading go hand -in-hand.

E. Try writing every day for a month; you will never read the same again.

F. The ability to read is important to form an identity and express one's feelings.

G. In that case, do not hesitate to re-read the passage.