“Why is life worth living?” If you ask this question, you will get different answers.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} But we have put together a few reasons from different people as to why life is worth living.

    Learning. This is the reason we heard from school and college-going kids.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}. Right from studies to games, the eagerness (渴望) to do better and learn more makes their lives worth living.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. When we speak to a few office workers and professionals, this is the reason they give. The ability to create things that is a weekly report or a new document or a painting or composing a new song seemed to make life worthwhile for many.

    New Opportunities. This is another reason that is put forth by people in different professions. Both professionally and personally, these people look forward to moving ahead and getting appreciation. They like to catch the new opportunities life throws at them which can make their lives worth living.

    Exploring. Some people just like to say that they want to explore more and discover new horizons. Touring around the world, learning about the world history and visiting the most famous places do make life worth for many people.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}.

    Love. Well, this reason is an evergreen one. Life is worth living for the loved ones around that is a wife/husband, children or friends.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}. Being able to love someone and being loved back can certainly makes life worth living.

A. Creating.

B. There is no definite or right answer in this case.

C. Such relationships make life worth everything.

D. Get together and share special moments.

E. Getting wiser makes life worth living for many people.

F. Exploring religious and spiritual boundaries also seemed to be another reason.

G. People all look forward to knowing, learning and finding out more about everything.

                                                                                                                   Social Media

    Social media can be defined (解释) as web-based and mobile media that are used for people to interact, connect and communicate with each other. It often involves the creation and sharing of content (writing, pictures, and video) that people make themselves, mostly through the Internet.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} The first type involves people getting together to work on a project, for example, Wikipedia. Blogs and micro-blogs (such as Twitter) are another type of social media. There are other websites like YouTube that allow people to share content such as pictures, articles or videos.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} These sites allow people to stay in touch with friends, make new ones and join communities. Facebook is an example of this type. Many people like to play games on the Internet and, yes, there are social media games as well. These games allow gamers to interact with each other and play with or against other gamers.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} The final type of social media is websites like Second Life, where people can create avatars (化身) and use and create objects, as if they were in the real world.

    Social media are different from traditional media. With social media, many individual people in different places create content.

    Another difference is that people who produce content in social media don't need very special skills.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} It takes only a few minutes to write a twitter post, for example.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} But whatever you might think, social media is here to stay.

A. World of Warcraft is a good example.

B. And social media content can be produced much faster.

C. In general, there are six different types of social media.

D. Another type of social media are social networking sites.

E. Some people think social media is good and some think it is bad.

F. In traditional media，people need special skills to produce something.

G. Social media is one of the fastest-growing industries in today's world

                                   I love Fridays. And so I celebrate Fridays.

    After dropping my son off at school I head to Starbucks to pick up a coffee treat or another. Then instead of driving straight home I take a long route through the most beautiful roads I can find. I see footballs being passed on lawns, hamburgers being thrown on grill（烤架）, and parties everywhere swinging into action.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    The o0ther day I came out from the doctor's office happy over a positive prognosis（预断）. Seeing the signs of spring around me-flowers, birds, sunshine, I was suddenly ready to celebrate. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    My mind rebelled. “What are you doing? It's Tuesday! Coffee treats are reserved for Fridays!”{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Why should Fridays be any more special than any other day of the week? Why waste six days while waiting to celebrate the seventh? Minutes later I was walking back to my car with a big smile on my face and a coffee in my hand.

    A small victory, to be sure, but it's also an accurate example of how many of us live our lives. We're waiting for conditions to be right before we allow ourselves to enjoy our time here on earth. Maybe when we finally graduate from college and get a job, it will be time to celebrate, or perhaps when our babies are old enough to be in school all day. We'll celebrate when the car is paid off, or enjoy life when we're finally able to retire. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} What if we moved a little of that “Friday feeling” into our rainy-day Mondays, our dull Tuesday and our mid-week Wednesdays? {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    Steel is a hard metal that people use to make many different products. Car bodies, bridges, building frames, and containers are just a few of the things made from steel. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} But steel is better than iron in many ways. Steel is stronger but lighter than iron. Steel also lasts longer than iron.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}Then they add carbon to the liquid iron. They may also add other materials to make different types of steel. For example, steel with added chromium（铬）is called stainless steel. It will not rust（生锈）or stain. Finally, workers use machines to cool the liquid steel into bars or long sheets.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    People made the first steel as early as 1400 BC. Ancient people heated iron inside a pile of burning charcoal（木炭）. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. The result was not the same as modern steel, but it was stronger than regular iron.

    In the 1800s people began to use huge ovens to make large amounts of steel. In the late 1800s builders used steel to make some of the first skyscrapers. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. In the 1900s new processes made steel-making easier. Today steel remains one of the most popular building materials in the world.

A. This added carbon to the iron.

B. Steel is quite different from iron.

C. The hardened steel may then be made into products.

D. Steel is basically iron mixed with a little carbon.

E. Then they will be cooled and put on the market.

F. To make steel, workers hear iron until it melts.

G. They also used steel to make large, modern bridges.

    Every person wants to achieve the goals set at the beginning of a new school year. The following are some ways to help you achieve your goals.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}When it comes to choosing your goal, ensure that it states precisely what it is that you want to achieve. Don't generalize. Your goal should involve both what you want to achieve and the effort that you will put in to achieve it. 

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}Having a copy of your goal makes it real. You can write you goal in a journal you'll be keeping all year, or you can write it on a poster and stick it on your desk so that you can look at it each day. Every time you remind yourself of your goal, you're training your brain to accept the effort needed to make the goal happen.

    Try various methods. One may not work while another may be just right for you. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Some people learn best through writing, some through listening and reading, and some through talking it through. Once you realize which way works for you, you can work better and achieve your goal easily.

    Think positive. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}Negative thoughts are unhelpful and they became roadblocks. Stop telling yourself you can't and start telling yourself you can, and talk about you are doing rather than hoping you can do something. Always believe that you're capable, even if you have difficulty along the way.

    Reward yourself along the way. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}Occasionally, when you've achieved certain “milestones” in your goal plan, take a break and reward yourself. Watch a movie, visit a friend who lives across town, go to the ice cream shop with your friends or buy yourself something new.

A. Write down your goal.

B. Choose specific and realistic goals

C. Be aware of the way you learn best

D. Remember that everyone makes mistakes

E. Set aside some time each week for exercise

F. All study and no reward can break your spirit

G. If you're not in the right state of mind, you won't be able to succeed.

Happier Babies Have an Edge

    Parents and teachers want children to grow up to be happy and successful.

{#blank#}1{#/blank#} A wide range of research, however, indicates happiness brings success in adults, and achievements do not always make adults happier.

    Recently in new study, John K. Coffey II, assistant professor of psychology at Sewanee, the University of the South, found that happiness during infancy (婴儿期) predicted childhood IQ and adult educational success.

    In his 29-year study, Coffey used the Fullerton Longitudinal Study (FLS). In 1978 the FLS research team recruited 130 parents with babies for a study that now has run for more than 30 years. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} When each baby was 18 months old, one parent reported how often his or her baby expressed positive and negative emotions and researchers measured the infant's IQ. When babies were children (ages 6 to 8), they completed IQ tests. When babies had grown into 29-year-old adults, they reported how many years of education they had completed and their life satisfaction.

    As expected, Coffey found that regardless of intelligence during infancy or parents' wealth, happier babies were more likely to graduate from high school and college. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} It suggests that happier babies learn more between infancy and childhood.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Parents wishing to help their children enjoy greater happiness can focus on small changes they can make in their day-to-day lives to create more positive moments. Parents do not need to aim for intense experiences or "best day ever" for their children. Although peak experiences can be fun, they also tend to be tiring for both children and their parents, which can lead to anxiety and conflict.

    Currently, Coffey and other researchers are exploring when and why some children are happier than others or whether we can increase it. Happiness during infancy and childhood is predicted by relationships with caregivers and teachers or by learning new skills. Inexpensive and easy-to-do activities like practising acts of kindness or appreciation can boost happiness. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. We often think that achieving success will ultimately make us happy.

B. We can use these activities to help children grow into happy and successful adults.

C. To test his theory, Coffey looked at how intensely children's emotions are experienced.

D. These happy babies aren't just growing up to be successful, but they are also happy adults.

E. Further, happier babies had more growth in their IQ scores between infancy and childhood.

F. Another important clarification is that happiness is about how often emotions are experienced.

G. Early on, parents reported on their background, for instance, education level and employment.