Dear Sally,

    How are you? I'm happy that you can do the things you 1 at home. I never have fun, because there are too many 2 in my family. My parents are strict. I have to  3 at six o'clock every morning. And I have to make my bedroom4 before breakfast and then go to school. I can't play with my friends after school. I have to do 5 homework. After dinner I have to take the dog for    6 walk in the park. I can't watch TV on school nights. I have to  7 the violin for an hour. I can't go to bed late. I have to be in bed 8 nine o'clock. On weekends I have to clean my room and 9 the dishes. I also have to go to learn the violin on Sundays. I'm 10  tired. Can you help me?

                                                                                                                                                                    Yours,  

                                                                                                                                                                      Lisa

    There is a zoo in my town. I often go there with my parents by 1 on the weekend. It usually takes my father about 2 minutes to drive there. We often leave home at about eight and 3 there at about twenty past eight.

    I like many kinds of animals, but I like  4 best. First, they are very cute. Second, they are friendly, and they are one of China's 5. but now pandas are in great danger, so we must  6 them.

    Now, I'm watching the two pandas in the zoo. I  7 want to go near and play with them. 8 I also want to give them some food. But 9 the rules in the zoo: 1. Don't go near tothe animals. 2. Don't give10 to the animals.

    To make animals live a happy life, everyone needs to follow the rules.

Why Live Near the River?

Imagine pioneers traveling west in the 1800s. In those days, it was hard to find running water and shops where to buy things. As time went by, most pioneers had to make their homes near a river so that they could get water easily.

How did rivers help people live in the past?

Back in the pioneer days, people grew their own food, caught their own fish, and collected their own water.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}People also used rivers as roads, traveling on boats. Traders shipped goods (货物) to people from other areas.

{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

When building many factories right next to rivers for the water's power to make machines work, some people choose to live near a river for working. They use the river to ship large goods, and some of them work at these factories where power factories provide electricity for homes and businesses.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

Who wouldn't want to live near a river?

Some people are nervous about living near rivers because rivers can cause floods (洪水). Every once in a while, floodwaters rise higher than a house, ruining (毁坏) many things in the house.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Such waste causes water to smell bad and pollutes the crops (作物) we eat. Water and crops in polluted areas can make people very sick.

How do people decide where to live?

 {#blank#}5{#/blank#}Rivers can provide jobs and fun activities in a beautiful place. However, those living by rivers should be willing to accept possible problems as well.

Do you have trouble trying to create the next big idea?

Sometimes the answer isn't to just force an idea out of your mind.

Instead, you might want to try sitting back, relaxing and letting your mind wander（走神）. Yes, you heard that correctly. If you are in need of a new idea, try daydreaming.

Daydreams allow your mind to run freely and even increase productivity in some cases. Daydreaming develops creativity which is why you have an ah-ha moment and sudden insight（领悟） about a situation. Daydreaming allows you to uncover thoughts and ideas you did not realize you even had and get the thoughts hidden under the surface.

Researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara, found a connection between daydreaming and creative problem-solving. Their study includes making participants first do an "unusual-use task". They had to try to come up with as many different ways to use an object as they could.

Then, the participants choose to do one of the following four things before doing the "unusual-use task" again; complete a difficult task, complete an easy task, take a 12-minute break, or skip a 12-minute break and move right on to the task exercise again.

Surprisingly, the group that performed best was the one that completed the easy task. Many participants reported that they were daydreaming while performing the easy task. So the researchers believed that this daydreaming might have helped unlock their creativity.

But how could daydreaming help the brain come up with creative ways? The answer is something known as "unconscious thought". Even when you are not actively working to solve a problem, it is still in the back of your mind. Your brain is still thinking about the problem, but in a way that you are unaware of.

When you daydream, your mind is allowed to think in ways it normally would not. Because it is free of control, it can create completely new and out-of-the-box ideas.

Great ideas never come easily, but that does not mean you always have to work hard to get them. Feel free to do what you want and let your mind wander.