The world consumes hundreds of billions of single-use plastic bags each year. They are difficult to recycle, wasteful and damage the nature. Environmental activists want to ban plastic bags or—as many communities have done —charge a fee for them. But the plastic bag industry defends their use, saying people reuse plastic bags, and industry officials argue recycling is a matter of personal responsibility and should not be forced.

    City officials say New Yorkers use 5.2 billion plastic bags each year. They are offered free with nearly every supermarket, or convenience store purchase. Many people like them, even if they sometimes feel guilty about using them. But what happens to those bags after they've been used in a huge environmental problem. They are found on beaches. They are caught in trees. They are swallowed by marine life.

    Plastic bags are made of petroleum products and natural gas, and do not biodegrade (分解). And they are difficult to recycle. So New York City spends nearly $ 10 million dollars a year to send 100—thousand tons of plastic bags to landfills out of state.

    In Washington, D.C., a five percent charge on all single-use bags led to about a 60 percent reduction and in Los Angeles County in California , a 10 cent charge on single-use bags led to a 95 percent reduction. With a 10 cent charge on bags, customers are much more likely to stop and think about whether they need a bag or not. And that's really all that these laws are doing.

    Etiquette, or good manners, used to be the glue that held society together. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Sadly, these days it has mostly gone by the wayside. This list is several best rules of etiquette that have now disappeared.

    Opening the Door

    In days gone by, a gentleman would always open doors for ladies. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} This has now almost entirely disappeared and it is not entirely the fault of the men. I have seen women laugh at men for opening a door for them. They seem to be confusing manners with chauvinism（大男子主义）.

    Writing Thank-You Notes

    In days gone by, whenever a person received a gift, they would write a thank-you note as soon as possible. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Parents would sit children down after a birthday or Christmas and coach them in their first thank-you note. It is a shame that gift giving has now become a virtual obligation and the idea of a thank-you note would be laughed at.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    We seem to have completely lost the concept of correct timing when it comes to parties these days. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} After all, a party normally has a guest of honor-this is usually the oldest woman present. It was considered extremely rude in the past to leave a party before the guest of honor-and once the guest of honor left, it was a signal to all that they should begin their own preparations to leave.

A. Arriving on Time.

B. Leaving at the Right Time.

C. People leave with various excuses.

D. It enabled people to get on well with each other.

E. This rule was true even if the giver was a relative.

F. It could be the lady they were driving, or a stranger.

G. We've thrown away the concept of a guest of honor at will.

How to help children improve the ability to study

    Children often have trouble studying because they haven't developed good study habits. Teaching your child study skills early will give those skills to become habits.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}.

    Create a Positive Learning Space. To increase concentration, set up a workspace for your child.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}.  His or her desk should have as few distractions as possible and be well equipped with school supplies, like pencils, erasers, rulers, calculators, loose leaf paper and even a computer if your child is at a grade level where a computer is helpful or necessary. The environment should also be cheery and fun so that he or she has a good mental association with it.

Maintain a Reliable Schedule. Make sure your child studies at the same time every evening. This habit keeps children from wasting time ,and helps them focus. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. Most children have trouble focusing for more than an hour. Encourage your child to take a brief break can help him or concentrate more deeply when it's time to do so.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}.Encourage your child to turn off his or her cell phone, video games and computer unless the computer is needed for the task at hand. These devices often distract children and can lead to wasting time. You should also be reasonably quiet and calm while your child is studying. Avoid noisy activities like talking loudly on the phone, vacuuming or watching television while your child is studying.

    Give Positive Reinforcement(强化).Positive reinforcement is not simply a matter of rewarding good study habits or high test scores, but also of acknowledging a child's progress no matter how small. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}.It will help to improve his or her study skills in effective ways.

A. Studies show kids and teens are more willing to study when praised.

B. A loving, caring and optimistic reaction will often be just the thing that your child needs.

C. The following tips can help your child study better.

D. Keep your child away from electronic devices.

E. If possible, only use the space to complete homework.

F. Avoid Distractions.

G. Also, let your child take a brief break every hour or so.

    March 22 is World Water Day. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} As we know, water is the most important natural resource on the Earth.

    Water covers more than 70% of the Earth's surface, but most of that is sea water.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Fresh water takes up only 2.5% of the total water.

    People in many places arc facing serious water problems.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Many kinds of waste from cars, factories' farms and homes make rivers, lakes, and oceans dirty. In the beginning, waste from cars and factories pollutes the air. Then, when it rains, the rain water comes down and makes our drinking water dirty.

    Scientists say that in 30 years, more than half of the people in the world won't have enough clean water.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Here is some advice.

    Turn off the tap while you arc brushing your teeth. You can save as much as 450 litres (升) of water each month.

    Leaky (漏水的) taps waste a lot of water. Fix them right away!

    You can easily cut your shower time short, and you'll be still clean.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. It reminds us to save water.

B. One of them is water pollution.

C. We have to learn how to save water.

D. People can't use it directly in daily life.

E. Water problems are quite serious today.

F. Many people in Africa don't have enough water.

G. When you wash the dishes, don't let the water run.

    At a meeting of the State Council, China's Cabinet, on Tuesday, Premier Li Keqiang said it is important to keep the social insurance premium（保险费） policy stable（稳定）, which to a large extent has eased people's worries at a time when a new regulation on premium collection has aroused public concern.

    The general offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council recently issued a reform plan for tax collection, which includes pension, medical, unemployment, occupational injury and maternity insurance will be uniformly collected by the taxation authorities from Jan 1, 2019.

    In fact, the taxation authorities have been collecting social insurance premiums for more than one decade. Social insurance premiums in 19 provinces and regions are collected by the local taxation authorities.

    In particular, companies have expressed concern over the uniform collection of social insurance premium by taxation authorities mainly for three reasons.

First, the new regulation indicates the reform of the collecting system as a result of institutional reform of the State Council. The companies are worried especially because they believe compulsory collection of social insurance premium will increase their expenditure on social insurance.

    Second, since the taxation authorities are fully in charge of social insurance premium collection, the companies fear that the establishment of a new collection system will prevent enterprises escaping paying the social insurance premium.

    Third, the media have reported that lately the local authorities in provinces such as Jiangsu, Heilongjiang and Hubei have been ordering enterprises to pay the arrears （ 欠 款 ） in social insurance premium they should have paid in the past years.

    These factors have increased the companies' concern over the new premium-collection regulation. Some people assume the reform will increase the companies' cost, and some companies have even begun to lay off employees fearing that “winter is coming”.

    Thanks to the current premium-collection system, the companies have managed to not pay a huge amount of social insurance premium. Take urban workers' basic pension insurance for example. It is estimated that the companies have paid only about two-thirds of the total amount of social insurance premium. Calculating on the basis of the data for 2017, this year the actual social insurance premium collection is 3.34 trillion yuan ($487.71 billion), while the total amount should be 5.08 trillion yuan. The due amount is more than one-third of the total that should have been paid.

    Some background information about the social insurance It is of {#blank#}1{#/blank#}to keep the social insurance premium policy stable.

    The State Council issued a reform plan for tax collection, {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Healthy, convenient and increasingly popular over the past few years, sushi has become as common a dish in the UK as in India or China. It's a popular lunch-choice for city-workers all over the country and you're never far from a restaurant or supermarket selling the traditional Japanese dish. But it turns out sushi may not be as healthy a choice as we thought — leading biologists have warned that it is in fact harming both the environment and our health.

    The UK sushi market is worth £69 million a year, but because we're eating so much of it, the tuna (金枪鱼) population in the oceans is dwindling. According to Professor Daniel Pauly and Dr Dirk Zeller, the leaders of British Columbia, Bluefin and yellowfin tuna populations have reached dangerous levels.

    Bluefin tuna is often served in high-end, excellent sushi restaurants, while yellowfin is more common in high-street sushi bars and supermarkets. Increasing global need means tuna populations are being overfished. Most of the UK's sushi comes from the Indian Ocean, but according to Professor Pauly we now only have 2-3 percent of what we had 200 years ago.

    Professor Pauly and Dr Zeller believe it is our love of healthy tuna that's causing the problems in our oceans. The fish is popular not just for its taste but for its health benefits. But while sushi has earned popularity for being low in calories and high in nutrients (营养物), we may have overestimated (高估) its health value.

    In advance of a lecture at the Zoological Society of London lately, Professor Pauly said he believes most high-street restaurants serve sushi that contains plastic microbeads (塑料微珠). “Microbeads are poison pills which take in all the pollutants and they are eaten by little fish which are then eaten by tuna.”

    So what should we eat instead? Dr Zeller and Professor Pauly are asking the public to step away from sushi and eat more fish like anchovies (凤尾鱼) — less attractive, but better for your health and the environment.