I now work 40 hours a week at a weather company and I love it Compared to when I became a mom, I don't feel bad about being away from my three kids. When I had my first child, I was a busy manager. My husband had a part-time job and cared for her the rest of the time. Once I became pregnant with my second kid, I quit my job to focus fully on writing.

    At first I felt like I was living the dream. I was a work-from-home mom who never had to be away from my children. But working from home can end up being more stressful than working full-time or being a stay-at-home mom.because you're frequently exhausted between work, keeping house and telling sweet faces you don't have time to play. Ever tried writing an article with a baby screaming? It was awful.

    I was so stressed that I eventually started taking my kids to 8 day care center a couple of days a week. The whole reason I worked so hard to be able to write for a living was to be at home with my kids and here I was taking them to a day care center.I thought I was a failure then.

    Over the past five years of being a freelancer(自由作家), I've realized a couple of things. As I wrote six months  ago, "I though I felt bad leaving my daughter for ten hours a day but now she is old enough to ask me to read her a story .Try telling your kid no, 20 times a day. It's cruel. You end up feeling worse for having to ignore them." I also realize not socializing with people weren't good for my mental well-being.

    Not only that, but I can now show my kids that Mom is important and has a job at a flashy office building, something they didn't realize when1 sat around in yoga pants typing on my computer all day long.

阅读短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。

    Human beings are the most intelligent of all animals because we are gifted with the ability to think and reason logically. Scientists and even common people with special intelligence have made a lot of inventions and contributions to modern lifestyle in the past. “Houses” have been the most popular area for discoveries and inventions in the past and even now.

    Many household items have been the result of inventions of people who desired better functioning of the existent products. Every individual has intelligence and if it is used properly for the right purpose it leads to invention of a new tool or device. Many new household inventions are made almost every day and there are specific companies, which particularly keep a record of all these inventions.

    A lot of inventions have been made recently in the household field. These products are patented(专利的) and have trade mark licenses. The patented sliding cinch is a very simple but effective method to prevent shoulder stress and injury for those who work before computers all day long. Vanity PC is a type of computer furniture that specifically hides all the computer wires and keeps a clean and good look. All the outdoor dust, mud and snow can be kept out of the house by installing(安装) the dirt drain(排水管) at the entrance of the door. Another important invention is the automatic toilet night-light, in which a small light starts when the lid of the toilet seat is opened and closes as soon as the lid is closed.

    These are some of the new household inventions invented mostly by common people. Thus, a variety of new household items are invented every day, which helps in a better functioning of household chores and in a more useful manner.

Top attractions

    Amsterdam is most famous for its artistic heritage. This tradition is proudly on display in the Rijksmuseum (translates as State Museum). Once you've taken in all that has to offer, artists, history fans, and families shouldn't pass up the chance to visit the Van Gogh Museum —containing around 700 paintings and drawings by Vincent and his contemporaries (同时代的人), including Gauguin, Monet, and Toulouse-Lautrec.

    Amsterdam is also home to the Anne Frank Museum, where Anne hid with her family during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. On a lighter note, taking a canal cruise through its extensive waterways is a rewarding way to see the Dutch capital.

    Art lovers get their kicks at:

    ♦♦ The Van Gogh Museum Rijksmuseum Museum het Rembrandthuis

    Food and drink

    Cheese lovers love Amsterdam. You can find an excuse to eat cheese at any time of the day here. Gouda is Holland's favorite, developing a more intense flavor the longer it's aged. Find a selection at the markets，try a cheeseboard at dinner time, or just order cubes with mustard for dipping to accompany a drink.

When you're hungry for non-cheese food groups, you'll find Michel in-starred restaurants, vegetarian, and organic restaurants that accompany an array of global cuisine. For old-fashioned and modern Dutch food, try these Amsterdam restaurants: Moeders, Haesje Claes, Loetje, Greetje, and De Silveren Spiegel.

Don't leave without tasting:

    ♦♦ Patat (hot chips with toppings) Stroopwafel (waffle cookie) Chocomel (chocolate milk)

    Amsterdam Fast Facts

    Approximate flight times:

    ♦♦NYC/Newark 7 hours 20 minutes Philadelphia 8 hours Boston 7 hours

    ♦♦Miami 9 hours 45 minutes Los Angeles 10 hours 15 minutes

    Entry requirements: Passport must be valid for at least 3 months beyond your planned departure from the Schengen area and have 2 blank pages for entry stamp.

    New Zealand's government is hoping to make the nation greener by planting 100 million trees each year, ensuring the electricity grid（电网） runs entirely from renewable energy, and spending more money on cycle ways and rail transport. The government's plan is to reduce its net greenhouse gas emissionto zero by the year 2050.

    New Zealand's prime minister Jacinda Ardern has set ambitious environmental policies to confronta warming planet. “We will absolutely focus on the challenge of climate change,” said Ardern. “That will include a zero carbon government policy. That will include an independent climate commission. That will include making sure that we have an all gases, all sectors emissions trading scheme,” she added. According to the Associated Press (AP), Arden said the goal of doubling the amount of trees the country plants each year is “absolutely achievable.”

    Not everybody is happy with the plans. Many farmers are worried they will be required to pay more if they are absorbed into an emissions trading plan. “There is concern that if this should happen, New Zealand will become less competitive with other food-producing nations.” said Katie Milne, the president of Federated Farmers.

    More than 80 percent of New Zealand's electricity already comes from renewable resources. The AP reported that Ardern wants to increase it to 100 percent by 2035, in part by investing more in solar, which currently takes up only 0.1 percent of the country's total renewable energy slice.

    If 62 is the number in red on the top of your math test, for most of us, it's a total disaster. Your entire week is ruined, and 62 is what races through your head for the rest of the day. If 9 is the number of likes on that cute photo you posted the other day, many will feel rather disappointed.

    Our lives have become a constant system of ranks, assessments, and numbers. The days of passing judgment on others based on personality are gone, and now we judge based on how good a person's numbers are. We compare ourselves to the numbers of others, such as how low another person's weight is how high their paycheck. Self-worth is no longer based on quality of character, but quantity of numbers.

    In today's social media consumed society, it has never been easier for people to broadcast their numbers to the world. A simple click of a button can take you to a page where you can observe the number of friends or followers a person has. Teenagers have taken on this mentality that if you don't have a certain number of followers, then you aren't "cool". Many feel they are not important if very few people are witnessing their status updates. This state of mind is harmful and not at all accurate. Twitter and Facebook can let the world witness your updates, but they will never let anyone see who you really are. In the end, self-worth should be based on what you think of yourself, not what the world thinks of you.

    So next time you receive a failing grade or you lose a follower, remember that these things cannot and should not define (定义) you. You are not your numbers. You are a person-a3-D living and breathing person with ideas and creativity and love that the rigidity of numbers cannot represent. You are the things you love and the things you laugh at and the way you treat others.

    Professor Martin's report says that children who attend a number of schools, because their parents have to move around the country, probably make slow progress in their studies. There are also signs, says Professor Martin, that an unusually large number of such children are mentally affected.

    The professor says, "It's true, my personal feeling is that children should stay in one school. Our feelings are based on research and not on any personal feeling that I or many assistants may have on the subject."

    Captain Thomas James, an army lecturer for the past 20 years and himself a father of two, said, "I've never heard such rubbish. Taking me for example, no harm is done to the education of my children who change school regularly—if they keep to the same system, as in our Army school. In my experience—and I've known quite a few of them—Army children are as well-adjusted (适应) as any others, if not better. What the professor doesn't appear to appreciate is the fact that in such situations children will adapt (适应) much better than grown-ups."

    When this was put to Professor Martin, he said that at no time has his team suggested that all such children were backward or mentally affected in some way, but simply that in their experience there was a clear tendency (倾向).

    "Our findings show that while the very bright child can deal with regular changes without harming his or her general progress in studies, the majority (大多数) of children suffer from constantly (不断地) having to enter a new learning situation."