{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Sleep, as we know, is important to us because it helps restore tired organs and tissues in our body. But how much sleep do we actually need?

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

    For most of us, eight hours seems to be about the right amount. Yet we know that there are a great many people who get along perfectly with less sleep and some who may even need more. A great deal depends on the way we live. But a good general rule to follow is to sleep as long as we have to in order to feel happy and be able to work at our best when we are awake.

{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    There are actually different levels of sleep. There is a deep sleep and a shallow sleep. In a shallow sleep our body does not get the same kind of rest as it gets in a deep sleep, so that after eight hours of a shallow sleep we may still feel tired. But a short deep sleep can be very restful.

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

    Alexander the Great was able to get a deep sleep whenever he needed it. Once, during the night before an important battle, he remained awake longer than anyone else. Then he wrapped himself in a cloak and lay down on the earth. He slept so deeply that his generals had to wake him three times to give command to attack!

{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    Normally when we go to sleep, our “ sleep center” blocks off nerves so that both our brain and our body go to sleep. One prevents us form wanting to do anything and the other makes our internal organs and limbs go to sleep. But someone will fall asleep (brain sleep) and keep on marching, because his body is not asleep!

    Choosing the right college for you is not so easy. You should have a general idea of what you want and don't want. The idea can guide you to find what fits your needs best.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Think about what major you want to study in college. If you know that, just look at colleges that have your major{#blank#}2{#/blank#}So think carefully about your major and interests before choosing one.

    Where the college is located matters. Anyone who tells you the location isn't important is lying{#blank#}3{#/blank#}If you look forward to working in the publishing industry, New York may be your best bet. If your parents want you to stay close to home, please don't consider anywhere that requires a plane ticket to get to.

    Think about how much you can afford. Are your parents paying for your education? If so, how much are they willing to spend? Do you have to contribute anything? Financial aid and scholarships exist, but don't count on anything.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}These are all things to consider before you fall in love with a college.

    Make sure you're going to spend time with the right people. The cool thing about college is that each different one attracts different kinds of people. For the first thing in your life, you get to choose where you get to spend your time and who you get to spend it with.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}Make sure that the people you're with for four years are your kind of people.

A. College is about learning what you love.

B. You'd better choose a major that is popular.

C. Go to the college with some people you like.

D. Remember, above all, it is the people that make the place.

E. Are you willing to go into major debt over a school?

F. If you don't like cold weather, stay away from northern schools.

G. These guidelines will help figure out what college you want to go to.

    Recently, I've been following a simple rule that is helping me crush procrastination(拖延症) and making it easier for me to stick to good habits at the same time. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} There are two parts to the 2-Minute Rule.

    Part 1—If it takes less than two minutes, then do it now.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} For example, washing your dishes immediately after your meal, tossing the laundry in the washing machine, taking out the garbage, sending that email, and so on.

    If a task takes less than two minutes to complete, then follow the rule and do it right now.

    Part 2—When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do.

    Can all of your goals be accomplished in less than two minutes? Obviously not. But, every goal can be started in 2 minutes or less. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    It might sound like this strategy is too basic for grand life goals, but I beg to differ. The 2-Minute Rule works for big goals as well as small goals because of the inertia(惯性)of life. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} I love the 2-Minute Rule because it embraces the idea that all sorts of good things happen once you get started.

    The most important part of any new habit is getting started—not just the first time, but each time. It's not about performance, it's about consistently taking action.

    I can't guarantee whether or not the 2-Minute Rule will work for you. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Anyone can spare the next 120 seconds. Use this time to get one thing done. Go.

A. I call this little strategy the “2-Minute Rule”.

B. And that's the purpose behind this little rule.

C. Here's what you need to know to stop procrastinating.

D. Once you start doing something, it's easier to continue doing it.

E. But, I can guarantee that it will never work if you never try it.

F. The goal is to make it easier for you to get started on the things you should be doing.

G. It's surprising how many things we put off that we could get done in two minutes or less.

As a new teacher at Doull Elementary school in Denver, Kyle Schwartz thought of a simple way to know her third graders, most of whom came from poor families. She asked them to complete the note, "I wish my teacher knew..." and share something about themselves. Their honest answers gave the teacher a chance to understand her students' difficulties." I wish my teacher knew I have no pencils to do my homework," wrote one child. "I wish my teacher knew sometimes my reading homework is not signed because my mom is not free a lot," wrote another. Some showed hope for the future. "I wish my teacher knew that I warn to go to college."

"Some notes are really heartbreaking." Schwartz tells ABC News. "I care deeply about each of my students and I don't want them to be poor forever." She explains, "I hoped to know more about their lives and how I could better support them. So I decided to let them tell me what I needed to know. That was why I created the fill-in-the-blank exercise."

       the third graders were allowed to answer anonymously （匿名地） , most wanted to include names. And some were even excited to read their notes out loud, like one shy girl who bravely said that she was lonely. "After she told the class, 'I don't have friends to play with me, I was worried about what they would do," Schwartz tells Us Weekly. However, I felt encouraged to see how much support the other kids offered her. They invited her to play at break and sit with them at lunch. You see, children have an unusual ability to express empathy（同情） ."

"The results have been surprising," says Schwartz. "It shows the importance of giving people a voice and really listening to them."

（以下A（易）、B（难）两种题型任选一种，前4个小题为A（易）题型，后4个小题为B（难）题型，做A种题型的不做B种，做B种题型的不做A种）

    Directions：Read the passage carefully. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.

    Most parents know that they need life insurance. But many would rather have a root canal than shop for the best life insurance policy.

    “People don't think about, What will my family do if I am gone and not earning a living?'” says Peter Katt, a fee-only life insurance adviser.“ The whole point of this kind of planning is to provide the family with maximum flexibility so they're not stuck.”

    Planning for your death is not a cheerful topic. Too often, parents make a quick decision, ignoring important considerations. Among their mistakes one is that they do not buy enough life insurance. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}“They don't think that the person who is not bringing in an income needs life insurance,” says Greg Daugherty, executive editor of Consumers Union. But if that person dies, the other parent can't stop working and usually has to pay someone to help care for the family.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Katt recommended that one young couple should buy $3 million for the husband who earns $100,000 a year and $1 million for the stay-at-home wife.

    At the same time, many families rely on employer-provided life insurance, but employer-provided coverage is rarely sufficient to support your family. Many employer-provided policies provide a death benefit of $10,000 to $25,000—barely enough to cover your funeral expense. Some employers provide a year's salary, but that may also fall well short of the amount your family would need to maintain its standard of living.

    Some employers let workers buy group life insurance through payroll deductions. They may be a good deal for workers who have health problems that would disqualify them for an individual policy. But if you're young and healthy, you may be able to get a better rate on your own.

    Another drawback is that if you leave your job, you may not be able to take your insurance.“ Given the job market, most of us are not absolutely certain that our jobs are secure,” Daugherty says.“{#blank#}3{#/blank#}”

    On the other hand, some families buy too much insurance. Not everyone needs life insurance. Some people buy life insurance for babies, which is unnecessary, unless the baby is a child model who is supporting the family, Daugherty says: The purpose of insurance is to replace the income that a family has been relying on. Single people and those who have no children to care for usually don't need life insurance.

    Katt says a man with substantial savings in stocks and bonds and other sources of income recently asked him how much life insurance he needs.“ I said none,” Katt says. “{#blank#}4{#/blank#}”

A. There are people who don't need life insurance but have it and many more people who need it but are woefully uninsured.

B. Families don't always insure a parent who is staying home to care for the children.

C. Most people put off buying life insurance for any number of reasons if they even understand it.

D. Even if you have a lot of insurance at work, it makes sense to have some more insurance on your own.

E. If you fall seriously ill of suffer significant injury later, it will make it tougher to get that kind of policy, if any at all.

F. To make insurance more affordable, you may not need to buy the same amount of insurance for both parents.

When I was at school, our teacher used to tell the class: "You are what you eat." Actually, he was trying to show us the importance of eating the right food to stay healthy. And there are clear proofs that you become what you eat.

Japanese people are considered to be the healthiest in the world because of the food they eat. Most of them eat rice and fish and vegetables every day. They drink green tea or water when they're thirsty, and snack on dried fish, fruit or ginkgo nuts. This tradition diet helps them live a longer and healthier life.

Food has great effect on our physical and emotional health. Have you ever heard any of the following advice?

·Lettuce(生菜)or milk can make you sleepy.

·To stop feeling sleepy, you should eat dried fish.

·To keep your teeth clean, you should eat apples often.

·Garlic helps you not to catch cold.

But some advice may be contradictory to each other. While some people say "eating chocolate makes you fat and gives you spots", some others say “chocolate contains the essential minerals like iron and magnesium(镁)." In this case, what you need to do is to figure out what type of chocolate and how much of it to eat.

Some restaurants have already had their menus list the nutritional content and the benefits of their dishes and drinks. Let's take the restaurant "Winners" as an example. Its dishes are specifically designed to help people win sports competitions. There is a typical Night before dish, a vegetable lasagne(宽面条)with rich tomato sauce full of vitamin and soft, easy-to-digest vegetables, which is lopped with a little fresh cheese—just enough to help you get a good night's sleep. Or you can choose the Go-faster salad, which is a large bowl of mixed raw vegetables in a light salad dressing. The vegetables are carefully chosen to include plenty of natural vitamins and minerals. It gives you energy without making you gain weight.

The concept of eating food only because it's tasty is going out of fashion. And food producers are changing. Cola companies are making sugar-free and caffeine-free drinks. Food companies are making cookies with dried fruit because it is healthier. So in the future you might be able to eat your way to your idea of perfection.