You have probably been told by your high school instructor that writing is an important and practical skill. However, you may not be convinced that the ability to write will be important in your own future. If so, you will be surprised at the results of a recent survey by the National Institute of Education. More than four thousand working men and women who had graduated fifteen years earlier were asked to name the courses they would have taken in college if they had known better. The designer of the survey expected people to name courses in computer science, mathematics, or business. But the course most often mentioned was writing.

    If you already have a job, you are probably not surprised at their answers. Many jobs require the ability to write. Despite the increasing use of the telephone and the computer, much information must be communicated in writing.Some ten million people—managers, engineers, sales representatives, and many others— write regularly as part of their jobs. Summaries, reports, reports, letters and speeches are required in today's work world. The ability to write, therefore, is an important skill. The successful individual is almost always the one who can communicate successfully in writing.

    Writing communicates your thoughts and feelings to others; it also tells you something about yourself. Maybe this is what Eldridge Cleaver had in mind in his autobiography, “I started to write... to save myself...I had to seek out the truth... I had to find out who I am and what I want to be ,what type of man I should be ,and what I could do to become the best of which I was capable.”

    Are you preparing for a big test? If so, you may want to go to play some basketball in between hitting the books. Doctors are starting to find more and more information that suggests a connection between exercise and brain development. Judy Cameron, a scientist at Oregon Health and Science University, studies brain development. According to her research, it seems that exercise can make blood vessels (血管), including those in the brain, stronger and more fully developed. Dr. Cameron is sure that this allows people who exercise to think better. As she says, “While we already know that exercise is good for the heart, exercise can actually cause physical changes in the brain.”

The effects of exercise on brain development can even be seen in babies. Babies who do activities that require a lot of movement show greater brain development than babies who are less physically active. Even a little movement can show big results. Margaret Barnes, a scientist, also believes in the importance of exercise. She thinks that many learning disabilities that children have in primary school or high school can result from a lack of movement as babies. Babies need movement that encourages and excites their five senses. They need to set up a connection between motion and memory. In this way, as they get older, children will begin to connect physical activity with higher learning,” says Margaret.

    Older people can develop their brains as well. Cornell University studied a group of seniors who have a short-term memory increase of up to 40 percent after exercising just three hours a week. The exercise does not have to be very difficult, but it does have to increase the heart rate. Also, just like the motion for babies, exercise for older people should not be too simple. Learning some new skills or actions, such as with yoga or tat- chi helps to open up memory paths in the brain that may not have been used for a long time. For most people, any type of physical activity that increases the heart rate is helpful. The main aim is to increase the brain's flow of blood. And your brain can benefit from as little as two to three hours of exercise a week.

    If you can't lay your hands on items you need because they're buried under piles of junk, if you're constantly moving items from one pile to a new temporary pile, if you find yourself thinking, “can't throw this away. {#blank#}1{#/blank#},” you're probably a clutter（杂七杂八的东西）victim. If you're ready to de-clutter, then we have a few simple tips.

    ⒈Choose a nice day and take the room contents outside. Psychologically it's easier to sort and let go if you're one step removed. It's also less likely that the clutter will make it back inside. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. Classify them as dump（丢弃）, donate and keep. Be realistic: if the item in question hasn't been used for over a year it is unlikely you will ever use it. Deal with the dump and donate piles. Do this before anything comes back into the house. It's much harder to mess up your good work if the stuff is physically gone.

    ⒉{#blank#}3{#/blank#}. Make sure there is one temporary box to house items which really belong in another room.

    As each room is sorted, those items can be replaced, and other misplaced items can be housed there while the de-cluttering process continues.

    ⒊Replace everything that remains. Keep small items in clear plastic boxes and store them in cupboards.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. It will make you think twice about acquiring something if you know something else must go.

    ⒋Once a week, take two bags and go through your home. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. When you've finished, throw the rubbish away and replace the misplaced items.

    Follow these small steps and you too can de-clutter your life.

A.     Sometimes, it's good to let go

B.     Sort everything into three piles

C.     It might come in useful one day

D.    Stick with that particular room until it's finished

E.     Place the remaining items in clearly labeled boxes

F.     One bag is for rubbish, the other for items in the wrong place

G.    When you're done, stick to a “one thing in, one thing out” rule

    Foxes and farmers have never got on well. These small dog-like animals have long been accused (控告)of killing farm animals. They are officially considered as harmful and farmers try to keep their numbers down by shooting or poisoning them.

    Farmers can do call on the services of their local hunt to control the fox population. Hunting consists of hunting a fox across the countryside, with a group of specially trained dogs, followed by men and women riding horses. When the dogs eventually catch the fox, they kill it or a hunter shoots it.

    People who take part in hunting think of it as a sport; they wear a special uniform of red coats and white trousers, and follow strict codes of behavior. But owning a horse and hunting regularly is expensive, so most hunters are wealthy.

    It is estimated (估计) that up to 100,000 people watch or take part in fox hunting . But over the last couple of decades the number of people opposed to fox hunting, because they think it is cruel, has risen sharply. Noisy confrontations between hunters and saboteurs have become so common that they are almost as much a part of hunting as the hunting of foxes itself. But this year supporters of fox hunting face a much bigger threat to their sport. A Labour Party Member of the Parliament, Mike Foster, is trying to get Parliament to approve a new law which will make the hunting of wild animals with dogs illegal. If the law is passed, wild animals like foxes will be protected under the ban in Britain.

    Often people use laptops(手提电脑) on trains and airplanes, in airports and hotels. These laptops connect people to their workplace. In the United States today, laptops also connect students to their classrooms.

    Westlake College in Virginia will start a laptop computer program that allows students to do schoolwork anywhere they want. Within five years, each of the 1500 students at the college will receive a laptop. The laptops are part of a $10 million computer program at Westlake, a 110-year-old college. The students with laptops will also have access to the Internet. Besides, they will be able to use e-mail to "speak" with their teachers, their classmates and their families. However, the most important part of the laptop program is that students will be able to use computers without going to computer labs. They can work with it at home, in a fast-food restaurant or under the trees—anywhere at all!

    Because of the many changes in computer technology, laptop use in higher education, such as colleges and universities, is workable. As laptops become more powerful, they become more similar to desktop computers. Also, the portable(便携式的)computers can connect students to not only the Internet, but also libraries and other resources. State higher-education officials are also testing laptop programs at other universities, too.

    The pine tree is a special kind of tree.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}This is because many people put pine trees in their homes at Christmas time. They decorate the tree with colored lights, and put Christmas presents under the tree. Pine trees are different from other trees because most other trees lose their leaves in winter.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}So pine trees are also called evergreens.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}They have hard, thin leaves called needles. Pine trees also have pine cones. Pine cones look like hard berries. If you walk in a forest, you will see many pine cones on the ground.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}When the seeds fall to the ground, a new tree starts to grow. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}The wood is used to make furniture and boats. Many kinds of birds build their nests in pine trees. The seeds of pine trees are food for small animals such as squirrels and mice and for bigger animals such as rabbits and black bears. The needles are good food for large animals such as deer and moose when they cannot find anything to eat in the winter. If you walk in a forest of pine trees, the air has a wonderful smell. In winter, the white snow on the dark green trees looks very beautiful.

A. Pine trees stay green all year long, even in winter.

B. Pine trees do not have soft leaves like the maple tree.

C. Some people call the pine tree a Christmas tree.

D. Pine trees are very beautiful all year round.

E. Pine trees are valuable for many reasons.

F. Inside the pine cones are seeds.

G. The seeds inside the pine cones are the favorite food for some animals.