Blowing bubbles is fun! The best thing about bubbles is that it's easy to make your own bubble solution(溶液). You can make as much as you want and blow as many bubbles as you'd like. If you add a "secret" ingredient(配料), you'll get bigger and stronger bubbles! Do just as follows:

    Measure 6 cups of water into one container, then pour 1 cup of dish soap into the water and slowly stir it until the soap is mixed in. Try not to let bubbles form while you stir.

    Measure 1 tablespoon of glycerin(甘油) or 1/4 cup of corn syrup（玉米淀粉） and add it to the container. Stir the solution until it is mixed together.

    You can use the solution right away, but to make even better bubbles, put the lid on the container and let your super bubble solution sit overnight. The soap mixture on the outside of a bubble is actually made of three very thin layers: soap, water, and another layer of soap. A bubble pops when the water that is trapped between the layers of soap evaporates(蒸发). The glycerin or corn syrup mixes with the soap to make it thicker. The thicker skin of the bubbles keeps the water from evaporating as quickly, so they last longer. It also makes them stronger, so you can blow bigger bubbles.

    Dip a bubble wand or straw into the mixture, slowly pull it out, wait a few seconds, and then blow. If you don't have a ready-made "bubble wand", you can make your own by cutting off the end of the bulb of a plastic pipet. Dip the cut end in solution and blow through the narrow end. You can also make a loop out of thin wire or pipe cleaner. Just twist a round end on your wire to blow the bubbles through. You can even make it heart-shaped, square or use other shapes if you're clever enough to bend it well.

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。

    Green is an important color in nature. It is the color of grass and the leaves on trees. It is also the color of most growing plants.

    Sometimes, the word “green” means young, fresh and growing. For example, a greenhorn is someone who has no experience. In the 15th century, a greenhorn was a young cow or an ox whose horns(角)had not yet developed. A century later, a greenhorn was a soldier who had no experience in war. By the 18th century, a greenhorn had the meaning it has today—a person who is new in a job.

    Someone who is good at growing plants is said to have a green thumb(大拇指). The expression comes from the early 20th century. A person with a green thumb can make plants grow quickly and well.

    Green is also the color used to describe the powerful feeling , jealousy(嫉妒). The green-eyed monster （怪物）is not a dangerous animal from outer space. It is an expression used about 400 years ago by the British writer William Shakespeare in his play “Othello”. It describes the unpleasant feeling when someone has something he wants. For example, a young man may suffer from the green-eyed monster if you get a pay rise and he does not.

    In most places in the world, a green light means to move ahead. In everyday speech, a green light means agree to continue with a project.

    There is one type of illness in the world that has a severe effect on more people than anything else and is very deadly. If untreated, this illness could affect everything you do. What is this illness? Depression. Serious depression requires professional treatment. Self-induced depression is something each of us can change.

    Everyone's circumstances are different, but the causes of self-induced depression are common: low self-esteem, hurtful thinking and a bad attitude.

    So how can we change the way we think, feel, and have a cheerful attitude?

    First we must look at ourselves, truly and honestly examining our motives for what we wish to accomplish. If you are dissatisfied because you feel you haven't or can't do anything, then one step is needed—to set goals.

    Always start your goals relatively small and easy to attain. Think of them as sand; one grain may be insignificant(微不足道的) but as a group they form the beach. Once you have set and attained small goals for yourself, move on to slightly larger, more challenging goals.It takes not just setting goals but positive thinking. How can we obtain this?

    There are a number of factors that can make us think negatively and one of those is diet.In my opinion, a person who eats a lot of take-out and fast food is feeding their body junk. Start by eating better foods which give the body much NEEDED minerals. If your physical body is happy, it's much easier for your mental body or “thinking ability” to be happy.

    Next, exercise. Half an hour a day is recommended for positive well-being. Then think about good memories you had, or generally think of things that make you smile. Remember, everything you wear costs money but to wear a smile is free. A smile can be the difference between an average day and a great day.

    If you follow these steps, positive change is on the way.

    Photography（摄影） is a very popular art form. Anyone with a camera – or a mobile phone – can practice it. A picture communicates in a way that words often can't. As the photographer Destin Sparks put it, “Photography is the story I fail to put into words.” And there's no better chance to practice the art of photography than during our vacation time.

    Holiday photos have been a part of the culture of travelers for a long time. For decades, vacationers have made sure they've packed a camera along with bathing suits, Hawaiian shirts and sunglasses. A camera is an important holiday item. But over the last 10 years, photography has become much more popular. It's easy to capture ( 捕捉 ) still and moving pictures of places of interest, and it's also easy to show off these pictures on social media. Armed with their smart phones, tourists, this year more than ever, are capturing the beauty of our planet.

    Of course, travel companies have caught on to this. Trekksoft has an example of photo-tourism from the United States, a land with a vast choice of beautiful locations. Antelope Slot Canyon Tours in Arizona specializes in tours of the state's famous canyons（峡谷）, which gives photographers the chance to capture them on camera.

    Most of the tourists are able to make beautiful images with just their mobile phones. Still, help is on hand from the tour guide for those who aren't great at using their cameras. These tour guides have taken a course in photography in case the skills they've learned would help their customers.

    The origin of “holiday” is easy to see, coming from “holy day”, a day of particular religious significance, often celebrating the life of a saint (圣徒), during which no work was to be done. As far back as the 11th century, “holidays”, especially the major feast days, were times of “celebration and amusement”, as the Oxford English Dictionary puts it.

    The number of holidays steadily increased during the Middle Ages, until a medieval Englishman would have had the luxury of 40 to 50 days a year off work, depending on where he lived, in addition to a free day on Sundays.

    During the Reformation, Henry VIII abolished most of the holidays partly because of the Protestant (新教徒的) suspicion of saints, but more practically, because, according to historian Eamon Duffy, “A large number of holidays were making the people poor by limiting agriculture.” The people took a different view and organized a protest march—the Pilgrimage of Grace—partly to protect their days off.

    Though at first the religious and festive senses of holiday were combined, the word gradually came to be used for any kind of relaxing break from work. As the word was drawing away from a religious society, the number of authorized holidays was reduced, until by 1834 most workers had only four official days off a year, in addition to Sundays. Many factory workers amplified this time by staying home on “Saint Monday” to recover from what they had gotten up to the day before.

    By the late 19th century, employers were compromising and offering half-day Saturdays, the beginning of the “weekend”, a term first used in 1879. In 1908, an innovative mill in New England gave its employees all of Saturday off, and the practice spread widely during the Great Depression as a way to keep employment up. It took 400 years, but finally workers could enjoy as many holidays as they had in the 15th century.

    For those who may not be familiar, there is no such thing as a bicycle grants(补助金). As a matter of fact, there are a number of organizations and programs offering bicycle grants to bicyclers all over the world. Now of course, you can't simply receive money, because you want to buy a new mountain bike. Usually, those awarded grants are working on improving the quality of life. People are excited about the bicycle grants. This type of influence and achievement is gaining the attention of various companies that want to help by providing the necessary funding.

Eastman Kodak Company

    Kodak has developed a fund called the “Kodak American Greenways Awards". They are cooperating with the National geographic Society and the Conservation fund. Each year, they present grants as high as $2,500. The “seed” grant award is awarded to organizations that focus on improving blue ways, greenways, natural areas, and trails.

    US Government

    The government has developed their only program for bicycle riders, called" The US Department of transportation's Recreational Trails Program". The government's program is primarily focused on funding trail projects. The benefits of the fund is recreation, which includes bicycling, hiking, in-line skating, snowmobiling, all-terrain(地面)vehicle riding, and so forth. The great addition to the fund is that they distribute the funding to all the states. This means that everybody has the opportunity of receiving bicycle grants.

    Bikes Belong Coalition

    The Bikes Belong Coalition makes putting more people on bicycles their priority. They advocate for a better environment, recreation, sports, and better health, by way of bicycling. At the same time, they provide funding for supporting projects and bicycle facilities. Some of the projects they accept are paved lanes and bike paths. Applications for their grants can be submitted by either a facility class or a supporting class. Also, Bikes Belong Coalition are not quick to award bicycle grants to those who have been awarded in the past 3 years. This is partially due to their limited amount of funding