America's holiday shopping season started on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Shoppers make the most money this time of year, about 20 percent to 30 percent of all revenue all year. About 136 million people shopped during the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} In an era of instant information, shoppers can use their mobile phones to find deals. Nearly 80 percent of this year's holiday shoppers, or about 183.8 million people, shopped on Cyber Monday. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Online spending on Black Friday rose 15 percent to hit $2.7 billion this year. Cyber Monday spending increased 12 percent to $3 billion. NBC News reported that for many, shopping online was a more comfortable alternative than crowded malls.

    The shift to online shopping has had a big impact on solid shopping malls. Since 2010, more than 24 shopping malls have closed and an additional 60 are struggling. Fortune says the weakest of the malls have closed. However, the business in malls is thriving again, it adds.  According to a survey, 94.2percent of malls were full with shops by the end of 2014. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    The average American consumer will spend about $805 on gifts. That's about $630.5 billion between November and December – an increase of 3.7 percent from last year.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}That goes to China's Singles' Day, celebrated on November 11, which posted record sales of $14.3 billion in 2015.

A．More and more people shop online nowadays.

B．That is the highest level in 27 years.

C．It is the busiest shopping day of the year.

D．One-in-five Americans used a tablet or smart-phone.

E．The traditional mall industry can hardly survive.

F．Cyber Monday falls on the Monday after Thanksgiving and Black Friday.

G．Nonetheless, Cyber Monday is not the biggest online shopping day in the world.

The Winner's Guide to Success

    Do you know what makes people successful? To find out the answers, an American reporter recently visited some of the most successful people around the world.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

Be responsible for yourself

    Sometimes you may want to blame others for your failure to get ahead. In fact, when you say someone or something outside of yourself is stopping you from making success, you're giving away your own power.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

Write a plan.

    It's very difficult to try to get what you want without a good plan. It's just like trying to drive through strange roads to a city far away.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Without this “map”, you may waste your time, money and also your energy; while with the “map”, you will enjoy the “trip” and get what you want in the shortest possible time.

{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

Nothing great is easy to get. So you must be ready to work hard—even harder than you have ever done. If you are not willing to pay the price, you won't get anything valuable.

Never give up.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}When you are doing something, you must tell yourself again and again: Giving up is worse than failure because failure can be the mother of success, but giving up means the death of hope.

A. A good plan is like a map to you.

B. It seems to us that everyone knows this, but it is easier said than done.

C. Some people achieve success much later in life because they don't work hard earlier.

D. You're saying, "You have more control over my life than I do."

E. Someone else's opinions of you don't have to become your reality.

F. Be willing to pay the price.

G. Here are some keys to success that they give.

    How to prepare for exams?

    Here are some tips you can read with your child.

    The first step in preparing for examinations is to set a fixed time each day to study and a schedule to say when to start the revision and for which subject. The plan should include how many chapters to revise and how many worksheets (活页练习题) to work on. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Parents who do not know the examination schedule can search “exam timetable” to see the official examination schedule. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    The second thing is to decide on the place to study. Some need total silence in a library before they can concentrate while others like to have some background music like in the cafeteria, {#blank#}3{#/blank#}So there is no need to tell your child to change the study place if he is producing the desired results.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}For lessons, pupils must participate in lessons and discussions actively. For exercise, work on the simple ones in the textbook. For theory, pupils can use the mind map method to summarize the facts.

    At last, be smart. Focus on chapters that are the core of the subject or difficult chapters. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Next the most effective way to revise is to use an active approach.

B. Making good preparations counts.

C. The mind map can help you a lot in your revision work.

D. Your child has to be self-disciplined (自律的) to follow the plan.

E. It is not necessary to read from the first to the last page.

F. The best time to start revision is one or two months before the examination.

G. Both are alright as long as your child is comfortable with it.

    Here are six diet foods that can hurt your weight loss journey.

    Diet soda.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Drinking diet soda can make you likely to overeat. The answer is because your body is tricked into believing you're ingesting sugar and it makes you crave more.

    Microwave popcorn.

    Microwave popcorn contains the organic compound diacety to give you that butter taste. Try to avoid this ingredient! {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Granola bars.

    Commercial granola bars can be loaded with corn syrup, salt and processed oils that can add to your waistline.   {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Veggie burgers.

    Say isn't so! Going veggie could damage your diet. Read the labels.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}Also Hexane has been found in veggie burgers. This a gasoline by-product used during the process of separating soybeans into oil.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    Yup. Low fat-products like yogurt can be loaded with sugar. In a cup of Stoneyfield Farm French Vanilla yogurt, there are 20-plus grams of sugar.

    Blue chips.

    Blue corn chips or vegetable chips are a great alternative to potato chips. But again, there needs to be portion control. They can be loaded with salt and fatty oils.

A. Roast meat.

B. Low fat yogurt

C. Diet soda can actually make you gain weight

D. You're better off making your own popcorn

E. Some are made with processed soy and loaded with oils and butter

F. It is as important for thinking as it is for lifting, especially as we age.

G. Opt(选择)for making your own granola at home, but watch your potions.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} I say this a lot because it's important: you need to walk more. There are a few main reasons why I'm so fond of walking, also known as moving frequently at a slow pace.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}Walking might not be as effective as other forms of exercise, but frequent walking will help anyone with two functioning legs that allow movement who would otherwise meld into the couch lose some body fat.

    It's good for your brain.

    Walking does much more than work the area underneath your neck. The farther an older person can walk in six minutes, the better he or she performs on memory and logic tests. Folks who perform poorly on the walking test tend to have reduced grey matter volume in certain sections of their brains.

    It reduces stress.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Go for a walk, preferably in a natural setting. For me, it's the beach of the Malibu hills. For others, it might be the woods or even a park.

    It prevents falls in the elderly.

    Walking on uneven, natural ground like hiking trails, improves balance and reduces falls in the elderly. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} The earlier you start habitually walking, the better your ability to navigate the land without falling will be.

    It gives you a chance to think.

    When we walk, we think. And because walking is a low-difficulty effort, we can direct our executive functioning to more internal matters. We work through problems, come up with ideas, replay conversations, scheme, and discover solutions. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. It modestly reduces body fat.

B. It lowers blood pressure, especially after meals.

C. Don't wait until you're already at risk of falling, though.

D. What do I do when I need to get away from a particularly stressful day?

E. Try to keep the walk as close to the meal as possible to aid in weight loss.

F. Even though some of you may be tired of me saying this, it needs saying.

G. Or maybe we just think about that funny dog we saw on the way to work the other day.

    Nowadays people tend to digitalise everything from watches to fridges. It seems you can choose any item labeled as “smart”.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}However, there are plenty that can be used to reduce emissions and save money.

    If you're a part of the digitalisation movement, you might be interested in the concept of smart homes. It means that every element of your house can be controlled from a panel on the wall or your phone.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}Use your mobile to power them on or off, and you may feel truly modern or truly lazy. Asides from the benefits of living a more comfortable life, this presents an opportunity to cut down on your electrical bills.

    Electricity generation today represents 31% of total global fossil fuel use and around 40% of all energy-related CO₂ emissions.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}It is considered as the first step to prevent global climate change. Connect a smart thermometer to the heating and cooling system and set a specific temperature at which the heating begins to work. Doing so, the room will be at a desired temperature when necessary and switches on a power-saving mode when not occupied. Similarly, by installing a CO₂ sensor, you can have an automated ventilation (通风) system.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    In a 150,000m₂ office complex near Munich, called Campeon, energy costs of up to 117,067 Euro were saved after the use of environmental control devices this year. In this way, they are contributing to a large decrease in CO₂ emissions. Clearly, smart homes are about much more than just living a comfortable life.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. It is actually about living a green life.

B. Smart devices have been installed worldwide nowadays.

C. It starts working only when CO₂ concentrations reach a certain limit.

D. There seem to be an ocean of such so-called “smart” inventions.

E. Bearing this in mind, measures should be taken to make buildings more energy-efficient.

F. Alternative energy must be discovered before the fossil fuel runs out in the future.

G. This includes basics such as heating and lighting and many other appliances.