Ways to Improve Your Luck

    Some people have all the luck! Or does it just seem that way？Why did your co-worker get that big promotion while you were overlooked？Why do some of us seem to experience these lucky things more than others and how can you improve your luck？ {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

What You Tell Yourself Matters!

Do you know that people who are lucky tell themselves they're lucky？Has your own self-talk been filled with less-than-lucky talk？Do you say things like："I'm just not a lucky person." or "Good things never happen to me?" {#blank#}2{#/blank#}They say things like—"This setback is only temporary．I know things will turn around．"or" Things have a way of working out for me．"

Expect and Acknowledge Your Good Luck．

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Research suggests keeping a "good luck journal" helps people become even luckier．Did someone bring you coffee at work today？Did you find a random quarter on the street？Did your husband or wife do something nice for you today？Did your child get a good grade at school？Write them down!    All of these things count. Begin to notice all the good that comes to you．

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    Make contact with people．Take risks．People who try new things are much more open to luck and good fortune than those who don't．This doesn't mean you have to quit your job or take up skydiving! It could be as simple as starting a conversation with a stranger，taking a class in an unfamiliar subject, learning some words and phrases in a foreign language，or trying a new ethnic restaurant．{#blank#}5{#/blank#} And this greater openness can help promote chance opportunities in their lives．

A．You probably have many more lucky things happening in your life than you think．

B．Lucky people generally expect good fortune．

C．Do Something New and Different.

D．You will never forget your lucky friends．

E．Here are ideas that researchers tell us about luck．

F．A lucky person generally receive good fortune in the future．

G．Lucky people score much higher on openness than unlucky people．

    Among all the fast growing science and technology, the research of human genes, or biological engineering as people call it, is drawing more and more attention now. Sometimes it is a hot topic discussed by people.

    The greatest thing that gene technology can do is to cure serious diseases that doctors at present can almost do nothing with, such as cancer and heart disease. Every year, millions of people are murdered by these two killers. And to date, doctors have not found an effective way to cure them. But if the gene technology is applied, not only these two diseases can be cured completely, bringing happiness and more living days to the patients, but also the great amount of money people spend on curing their diseases can be saved, therefore it benefits the economy as well. In addition, human life span （寿命） can be prolonged.

    Gene technology can help people to give birth to more healthy and clever children. Some families, with the English imperial （皇家的） family being a good example, have hereditary diseases. This means their children will for sure have the family disease, which is a great trouble for these families. In the past, doctors could do nothing about hereditary diseases. But gene technology can solve this problem perfectly. The scientist just need to find the wrong gene and correct it, and a healthy child will be born.

    Some people are worrying that the gene research can be used to manufacture human beings in large quantities. In the past few years, scientists have succeeded in cloning a sheep, therefore these people predict that human babies would soon be cloned. But I believe cloned babies will not come out in large quantities, for most couples in the world can have babies in very normal way. Of course, the government must take care to control gene technology.

    When asked how technology might improve the lives of people with vision impairments (视力障碍), Joann Becker presented a misleadingly simple challenge. “Well,” the vision impairments tech specialist recalls saying. “I'd like to be able to find my bus slop through Be My Eyes”.

    Be My Eyes, which went live in 2015, establishes a direct video connection between visually impaired users and sighted volunteers. The assumption is simple: Many people who are blind don't need any actual assistance in completing their daily tasks, but merely need a little help.

    A sighted volunteer might be asked to help identify which of two cans contains tomatoes. In this case, the visually impaired user can cook a meal just fine on his/her own-all he/she needs is a quick confirmation that he/she has the correct can. The model appears to be working; more than 540,000 volunteers and nearly 40,000 people with low vision are registered on the app.

    “An elderly woman can now help a visually impaired technician set up his computer,” says founder Hans Wiberg, who has very low vision. “She doesn't need to know a thing about computers. She only needs to read what is presented on the screen. Then he can do the rest.”

    Early assistive technology centered on dedicated devices (专用设备), because of the niche market (缝隙市场), which sold for hundreds or even thousands of dollars. But the smartphone, multipurpose and near-universal, has completely changed the economy of scale.

    “There are larger market forces driving high-powered computation, high-quality engineering and high-quality battery management in the smartphone market than those in a specialty product,” says Aaron Steinfeld, a research professor at the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University.

    “The reality is, most sighted people don't know somebody who is blind.” Becker says. “They think the solutions that a blind person needs arc far more expansive, it turns out, they need to be. I think these apps are enabling sighted people to see that blind people just need some simple clues to help them do any number of things in their lives.”

    Compared to the history of China, the history of the United States is quite short.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} In 1776, 13 colonies（殖民地）located on the eastern coast of North America declared independence and fought a revolution against the British. In 1783 the colonists won the revolution and gained their independence.

    After the revolution, the United States bought a large section of country from Napoleon of France. This purchase doubled（加倍）the size of the United States. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} If he hadn't needed that money, the United States might have stayed a small country. Texas and most of what is now the southwestern part of the United States belonged to Mexico. The people of Texas fought a revolution against Mexico. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Later, the United States and Mexico went to war. If Mexico had defeated the United States in that war, California and New Mexico would have been part of Mexico today.

    The British and the Americans both claimed the northwestern part of the country. They settled their differences with a compromise. South of the 49th parallel was the United States. North of the 49th parallel was Canada. In 1861 one half of the United States did go to war with the other half. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} President Lincoln wanted to free slaves. He was supported by the North but opposed by the South. The South wanted to separate from the rest of the country and become independent. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    Following the Civil War, the United States bought Alaska from Russia. Today it is the largest state in the country and a very important one, too.

A. This was the Civil War.

B. It was controlled by England then.

C. It began little more than 200 years ago.

D. After 4 years of war, the South was defeated.

E. Napoleon needed money for his European wars.

F. They became independent and joined the United States.

G. At that time many people didn't think Alaska was important.

    A newspaper reporter's job can be very interesting. He meets all types of people and lives quite a busy life. He is on the rush for news all the time, then after several years he may get a desk job, and life becomes a bit more settled. Let's look at his work a little more closely. In a day he may have to interview the prime minister of a foreign country, and the next day he may be writing about a football match. Sometimes he may be so busy that he has hardly any time to sleep. And at other times he may go on for days looking out for news materials yet return empty-handed.

    In the beginning, a reporter has to cover a very wide field. After the early years he becomes more specialized in his work. For example, he may finally be asked to write only on court cases or politics or sports. Some reporters may become so specialized that they are asked only to write on a special thing: horse racing, for example. In most newspaper houses there is at least one special racing correspondent. Some newspapers have book reviews. Their job is delightful. They read the latest book and then write reviews on the ones they like. Then there are those who write on films, so they get to see them even before they are shown in the cinema. How lucky, you would say!

    A reporter's job can also be very dangerous. A number of them have died rushing from one assignment to another, and if there is a flood or a riot(暴) they may get hurt or even be killed. Three years ago there was a reporter whose camera was smashed by a group of men, because they were angry with him for taking their picture. Dangerous or not, one thing is certain, and that is, their job is never dull!

    You'll need to take a deep breath before hearing this news. An astonishing 93% of kids around the world live in environments with air pollution levels that are damaging their health, according to a new report by WHO.

    Air pollution is to blame for the deaths of 543, 000 kids under 5 in 2016, with more than one in four deaths of children under five years old being related to environmental issues. Exposure (暴露) to air pollution can damage the health of kids in a variety of ways, either causing or being associated with everything from low birth weight to childhood obesity and so on.

    "The large toll of disease and death revealed (揭示) by these new data should result in an urgent call to action for the global community especially for those in the health department WHO stated. "Strong action to reduce exposure to air pollution offers an opportunity to protect the health of children." The report stressed that health experts should communicate with families, communities and policy-makers about the serious risks of air pollution exposure. "Although more researches into how air pollution affects children's health will continue to be valuable, there is already evidence to justify strong, swift action to prevent the damage it clearly produces," WHO added.

    Disease caused by dirty air is more common in low-and-middle in some countries, especially those in Africa, South-East Asia, and Western Pacific regions. Poor countries in these areas have the highest levels of exposure to household air pollution due to the use of polluting fuels and technologies for basic needs like cooking, heating and lighting.

    Advised solutions include cleaner transport, cleaner cooking and heating fuels and technologies energy-efficient housing and urban planning, safer industrial technologies and better waste management.