“As easy as falling off a log” is often used to describe a job that does not take much effort. You might hear a student say to her friend that her spelling test was “as easy as falling off a log”. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. It is easier to fall off the log than to stay on it.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. One is “easy as pie”. Nothing is easier than eating a piece of sweet, juicy pie unless it is a “piece of cake”.

    “Piece of cake” is another expression that means something is extremely easy to do. A friend might tell you that his new job was a “piece of cake”.

    Another expression is “as easy as shooting fish in a barrel”. It is hard to imagine why anyone would want to shoot fish in a barrel. But, clearly, fish in a barrel would be much easier to shoot than fish in a stream. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}.

    Sometimes, things that come to us easily, also leave us just as easily. In fact, there is an expression —“easy come, easy go”—that recognizes this. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. Easy come, easy go.

    When life itself is easy, when you have no cares or problems, you are on “Easy Street”. Everyone wants to live on that imaginary street.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. It means to treat a person kindly or gently, especially in a situation where you might be expected to be angry with him. A wife might urge her husband to “go easy on” their son, because the boy did not mean to damage the car.

    As we all know, friendship is of great importance in our daily life. A friend can give us help and share our difficulties and happiness. But how to make friends is still difficult to some of us. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    1). Be friendly to others. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} You should try to make a stranger feel at home wherever he happens to be. Think more of others than of yourself and never judge a person by his appearance and clothes.

    2). Be reliable. If you and your friend agree to meet somewhere, don't be late. If you're not going to make it on time or make it at all, call them as soon as you realize it. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Be someone that people know they can depend on.

    3). {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Listen carefully to what people say, remember important details about them （their names, their likes and dislikes）, ask questions about their interests, and just take the time to learn more about them.

4). Encourage your friends: A true friend always gives courage to his friends. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Never make fun of or laugh at your friends in front of others. You should come to support them.

    It is now mandatory(强制) for drivers or passengers to wear seatbelts while in a car in all states. In addition, it is also mandatory for kids of be in some kind of specialized car seat. Given the strict requirements in other vehicles, why don't buses have seatbelts?

    The main answer, at least for school buses, is that seatbelts do not make school buses safer. Overall, traveling on school buses is the safest way to travel—40 times safer than riding in a car—with only a handful of deaths occurring to passengers on school buses every year. The seats on the school bus are placed very close to each other and have high backs that are thickly padded. As a result, in an accident the students would be propelled forward a very short distance into a padded seatback that in a way is like an airbag. In addition, the fact that people sit high off the ground on school buses also makes it safer to travel on them.

    While school buses feature high backed seats and elevated seating locations, the same cannot be said of city buses. However, from a practical angle, there's little need to require seatbelts on city buses. Although the design of the modern low—floor city bus is less safe than the design of school buses, the fact that city buses rarely travel at speeds greater than 35 miles per hour means that any collision is likely to be small, Also, given that most trips on city buses are short and that many trips have standing passengers, the presence of seatbelts will make even less of a difference.

    Another answer why buses do not have seatbelts is cost. It is estimated that adding seatbelts to buses would add between $8,000 and $15,000 to the cost of each bus. In addition, seatbelts would take up room currently used as seats, meaning that each bus would have fewer seating places. The additional room in the bus taken up by seatbelts would mean that bus fleets would have to increase by as much as 15% just to carry the same number of people. Such an increase would be especially difficult in cities that experience overcrowding on their vehicles.

    Regardless of whether their passengers have seatbelts, all buses provide seatbelts for drivers and most bus companies make their drivers wear seatbelts in order not to be influenced by a collision.

    Tips for making small talk

    Some people are not good at small talk.Making small talk doesn't have to be either awkward or boring.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Have some conversation starters ready.

    When you are sharing the same experience with someone,it's easy to start a conversation.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}If you are at a party and a song comes on that you like or that reminds you of something,you can talk about that.

    Ask open-ended（开放式的）questions.

    These types of questions require more thought and more than a simple one-word answer.If you ask questions that need more details to answer,the conversation will go on longer.If you are at a summer pool party,don't ask people if they like summer.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Become a student.

    Nobody knows everything.So,as someone is answering one of your open-ended questions,they raise something about which you know nothing.So,tell them!{#blank#}4{#/blank#}They feel good about sharing their knowledge and you get to learn something.It's a win-win situation.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    Some people do not like their jobs or maybe they don't want to talk about them.So,instead of asking,“What do you do for a living?”ask something like,“So,what have you been doing these days?”or “So,what have you been up to?”One general question can contribute to an opportunity to share something you have in common.Ask people about their families,their passions,their ambitions or even their fears.However,balance these questions with comments about yourself.Asking too many questions may make people feel they are in an interview rather man in a conversation.

A.Don't ask,“So,what do you do?”

B.This lets the other person become the teacher.

C.By doing do,you can show that you are a modest person.

D.Here are some tips to improve your small-talking ability.

E.Instead,ask them what they like or dislike about summer.

F.It can be a lot of fun if you practice doing it,again and again.

G.You simply notice and comment on what's going on around you.

    Traveling alone gives you the freedom to create your own schedule and do as you please. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} For example, a travel partner can provide practical support and celebrate in the rewards of first-hand experience with unfamiliar locations and cultures. Here are several steps to find a travel partner who will improve your journey. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Traveling should be fun. When you are on a trip, you will want to do lots of activities that you enjoy. Preferably, your companion will want to do the same things as you.

    Discuss financial plans. Before you travel, you should plan a budget. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} You don't want to be planning an expensive getaway when your friend is looking for budget travel.

    Have an honest conversation. If you are thinking about traveling with a companion, take some time to have an open discussion. Schedule a time to sit down and talk. Try saying, "I know we've talked about the idea of traveling through Europe together. Let's have a coffee this week and actually talk that through." {#blank#}4{#/blank#} You should also talk about your travel style.

    Find someone who is flexible. Choose a travel partner who can adjust. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}Maybe it will rain on the day you planned to visit the Grand Canyon. Or you might not be able to get reservations at that French restaurant you've been dying to try.

A. Look for someone with common interests.

B. You should discuss your goals for the trip.

C. Travel with a friend who is pretty easygoing.

D. But traveling with a partner has its benefits, too.

E. Make sure that you are on the same page concerning money.

F. Try to meet your new travel partner in person before your trip.

G. No matter how carefully you plan your trip, it is likely that something will go wrong.

Is it better for our bodies to work out at certain times of the day? Scientists have known for some time that every tissue in our bodies contains a kind of biological clock that goes off in response to messages related to our daily exposure to light, food and sleep.

However, whether and how exercise timing might influence metabolic (新陈代谢的) health has been less clear, and the results of past experiments have not always agreed. A much-discussed 2019 study found that men with Type 2 diabetes (糖尿病) who completed a few minutes of high-intensity interval (间隔) sessions in the afternoon improved their blood-sugar control after two weeks. Patrick Schrauwen, a professor of nutrition and movement sciences read that 2019 study with interest. He had been studying exercise in people with Type 2 diabetes, but had not considered the possible role of timing. Now, seeing the varying impacts of the intense workouts, he wondered if the timing of workouts might similarly affect how the workouts changed people's metabolisms.

Incidentally, he and his colleagues had a ready-made source of data in their own prior experiment. Several years earlier, they had asked adult men at high risk for Type 2 diabetes to ride stationary bicycles at the lab three times a week for 12 weeks, while the researchers tracked their metabolic health. They also had noted when the riders showed up for their workouts. The researchers pulled data for the 12 men who consistently had worked out between 8 and 10 a.m. and compared them with another 20 who always exercised between 3 and 6 p.m. They found that the benefits of afternoon workouts far outweighed those of morning exercise.

He says, "This study does suggest that afternoon exercise may be more beneficial for people with disturbed metabolisms than the same exercise done earlier. The particular and most effective exercise for each of us will line up with our daily routines and exercise tendencies because exercise is good for us at any time of day—but only if we choose to keep doing it."