London has become a cycle-friendly zone after the launch of a new bike hire scheme.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

   {#blank#}2{#/blank#}First you have to sign up to the scheme to be sent a key. The key will unlock one of the bikes, which are kept at docking stations in and around central London. You have to pay an access fee for the key and then you pay as you go, for the length of time you use the bike.

    Transport for London, which runs the scheme, are hoping to have 6,000 bikes and 400 docking stations in place by the end of the year. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}London Mayor Boris Johnston launched the scheme and said London has been “filled with thousands of gleaming (发光的) machines that will transform the look and feel of our street and become as commonplace on our roads as black cabs and red buses”.

{#blank#}4{#/blank#} On the first day some people found they couldn't dock their bike properly and their usage of the bike had not registered. Transport for London did admit they had been expecting a few “teething problems” and have said they would not charge for the first day as a “gesture of goodwill”. Some other people have criticized the lack of docking stations and locks for the bikes as well as the price it costs to hire the bicycles.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}“My crusade for the capital to become the greatest big cycling city in the world has taken a great pedal-powered push forwards.”

A. So how does it work?

B. How do you like it?

C. However, there have been a few problems since the scheme was launched last Friday.

D. Despite the comments, the green-thinking London Mayor still says with certainty.

E. However, the London Mayor is confident of the scheme.

F. It has been designed to encourage more people to cycle in and around central London.

G. The new hire system is hoping to ease congestion(拥挤) in London and is expected to create up to 40,000 extra cycle trips a day into the city centre.

    Art is considered by many people to be no more than a decorative means of giving pleasure. This is not always the case, however, at times, art may be seen to have a purely functional side as well. Such could be said of the sandpaintings of the Navaho Indians of the American Southwest; these have a medicinal as well as an artistic purpose.

    According to Navaho traditions, one who suffers from either a mental or a physical illness has in some way disturbed or get in touch with the supernatural—perhaps a certain animal, a ghost, or the dead. To break away from this, the ill person or one of his relatives will employ a medical man called a "singer" to perform a curing ceremony which will attract a powerful supernatural being. During the ceremony, which may last from 2 to 9 days, the "singer" will produce a sandpainting on the floor. On the last day of the ceremony, the patient will sit on this sandpainting and the "singer" will rub the sick or injured parts of the patient's body with sand from a specific figure in the sandpainting. In this way the patient absorbs the power of that particular supernatural being and becomes strong. After the ceremony, the sandpainting is destroyed so its power won't harm anyone.

    The art of sandpainting is handed down from old "singers". The materials used are easily found where the Navaho settle: brown, red, yellow, and white sandstone, which is ground（研磨）much as corn is made into flour. The "singer" holds a small amount of this sand in his hand and lets it flow between his fingers onto a clean, flat surface on the floor, with a steady hand and great patience. He is thus able to create designs of stylized people, snakes and other creatures that have power in the Navaho belief system. The traditional Navaho doesn't allow copying sandpaintings, since he believes the supernatural powers that taught him the craft have forbidden this; however, such reproductions can in fact be purchased today in tourist shops in Arizona and New Mexico. These are done by either Navaho Indians or by other people who wish to preserve this craft.

    Children like to imagine they are someone else in a game. As a parent you might never guess how it can benefit your child. It helps your child:

Develop Social Skills

    As children play pretend games, they explore relationships between family members, friends and coworkers and learn more about how people interact. Playing doctor, they imagine how physicians care for their patients. Imaginative play helps of a game or to lose a pet, they are better able to help those in need. They become more willing to play fair, to share, and to cooperate.

Build Self-confidence

    Children have very little control over their lives. Imagining oneself as a builder of skyscrapers or a super hero defending the planet is inspiring to children. It helps them develop confidence in their abilities and their potential.

Promote Intellectual Growth

    Using imagination is the beginning of abstract thought. Children who can see a king's castle in a mound of sand or a delicious dinner in a mud pie are learning to think symbolically(象征性地). This skill is important in school where a child will have to learn that numbers symbolize groups of objects, letters symbolize sounds, and so on.

Practice Language Skills

    Kids who pretend with their friends do a lot of talking. This helps increase their vocabulary, improve sentence structure and develop communication skills.

Get Rid of Fears

    Pretending can help children get rid of their fears and worries. When children role-play the big, bad monsters under the bed, they gain a sense of control over him and he doesn't seem quite so big or so bad.

    When you are sitting in class, have you ever drawn pictures in the margins (页边的空白处) of your notebooks? If so, you are doodling. Many people think of doodling as a distraction (分心) from more important things. But it might be just the opposite.

    One study shows that doodling may help you remember things you hear 29% more. Besides, doodling can help you think creatively. Walking away from a problem to draw might actually help you solve it. When you come back, you'll have a fresh perspective and figure out an answer more quickly.

    An author named Sunni Brown wrote a book on doodling. She argues that doodling is a tool that can help people think. In fact, she runs a business that helps companies improve organization and planning through doodling. Brown believes doodling is helpful because it includes many ways of learning. You learn in four ways: seeing, hearing, reading or writing, and through movement. The more ways you use, the better you learn. And when you doodle while listening to a lecture, you use all four.

    You might think that being good at drawing is important for doodling. But if the point of doodling is to help you think, then it doesn't matter what the picture looks like. Even if you're not an artist, doodling can help you. So next time you need help focusing, pick up a pen and doodle away!

    When your pen is broken, the batteries (电池) in your toys run out, or you have some leftover food, what will you do with these things? You will probably throw them all into one bin. But actually, all of these pieces of rubbish need to be sorted (分类) separately.

    Rubbish sorting is a big problem worldwide. In recent years, some Chinese cities have been working hard on it. Shanghai has worked with Alipay to create a "green account (账户)" service. Account owners get points by correctly sorting their rubbish. Through the Alipay app, they can exchange the points for milk, phone cards or other products. The city is asking all people living there to sort their rubbish into four groups: wet, recyclable, harmful and dry.

    Wet waste is something you don't want but that pigs can eat. Plastics, glass, paper and other things that can be reused are recyclable waste. Harmful waste includes things like medicine, batteries and bulbs. Finally, any waste that's not wet, recyclable or harmful will go in the "dry waste" bin.

    Many other Chinese cities are also sorting their rubbish in this way. For example, Shenzhen has been doing this since 2012. Students there also receive waste-sorting guidebooks that they must study.

    In fact, there are still many workers specially working for sorting rubbish by hand in China. There is still a long way to go. But it's never too late for every Chinese to learn how to sort rubbish properly and protect the environment.

    If you don't sort your rubbish, all of it will go to a landfill (垃圾填埋场) and be buried together.

    These landfills can take up much ground that could be used for planting. The electronic waste you throw away, such as batteries or used mobile phones, can cause pollution. Other pieces of rubbish, like the metal part of a pen, can be used to make other things if they are properly recycled.

Lots of sports idioms have found their way {#blank#}1{#/blank#} everyday language，{#blank#}2{#/blank#} make language more colourful and expressive.The English language is full of idioms which{#blank#}3{#/blank#} （think）to have come from football，such as "moving the goalposts"{#blank#}4{#/blank#} （mean）they unfairly change the rules or{#blank#}5{#/blank#} （require）of a process while "scoring an own goal"means that someone makes a bad mistake which {#blank#}6{#/blank#} （intention）harms their own interests.Baseball is another old and popular sport that has given the English language many different idioms. "Three strikes and you are out" is also an idiom that is often used to talk about situations {#blank#}7{#/blank#} you miss three chances.English also has a large number of idioms{#blank#}8{#/blank#} （relate）to boxing，which has been a popular sport for thousands of years.Sport is {#blank#}9{#/blank#}（challenge） and so is the study of the English language.Work hard，be careful not to score {#blank#}10{#/blank#} own goal，and you are sure to make it!