Do you want to learn a new language?{#blank#}1{#/blank#}Do you need it for a practical reason,such as your job or your studies?Or perhaps you're interested in the literature,films or music of a different country.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Most people learn a language best by using a variety of methods.However,traditional classes are an ideal start for many people.They provide an environment where you can practice under the guidance of someone who's good at the language.We all lead busy lives and learning a language takes time.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}As a result,you should try to develop a routine.It doesn't matter if you haven't got a long time.Becoming fluent in a language will take years,but learning to get by takes a lot less.

    Many people start learning a language and soon give up.“I'm too old,” they say.Yes,children do learn languages more quickly than adults.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}And learning is good for the health of your brain,too.I've also heard people worry about the mistakes they make when learning.Well,relax and laugh about your mistakes.I'm sure you're much less likely to make them again.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}But with some work and devotion,you'll make progress.And you'll be amazed by the positive reaction of some people when you say just a few words in their own language.Good luck!

A.Learning a new language is never easy.

B.The very first thing to think about is why.

C.You must inspire your kids to learn it well.

D.You will have more success if you study regularly.

E.Maybe you know the language will help your work a lot.

F.Sometimes you have to quit it because of too much work.

G.But research has shown that you can learn a language at any age.

    Age has its privileges in America, and one of the most important of them is the senior citizen discount. Eligibility(资格) is determined not by one's need but by the date on one's birth certificate. The discounts have become a routine part of many businesses—as common as color televisions in motel rooms and free coffee on airliners.

    People with gray hair often are given the discounts without even asking for them; yet, millions of Americans above age 60 are healthy and solvent (有支付能力的). Businesses that would never dare offer discounts to college students or anyone under 30 freely offer them to older Americans. The practice is acceptable because of the widespread belief that ＂elderly＂ means ＂needy＂. Perhaps that once was true, but today elderly Americans as a group have a lower poverty rate than the rest of the population. To be sure, there is economic diversity within the elderly, and many older Americans are poor. But most of them aren't.

    It is impossible to determine the impact of the discounts on individual companies. For many firms, they are a stimulus to revenue. But in other cases, the discounts are given at the expense, directly or indirectly, of younger Americans. Moreover, they are a direct irritant(刺激物) in what some politicians and scholars see as a coming conflict between the generations.

    Generational tensions are being fueled by continuing debate over Social Security benefits, which mostly involve a transfer of resources from the young to the old. Employment is another sore point. Supported by laws and court decisions, more and more older Americans are declining the retirement dinner in favor of staying on the job—thereby lessening employment and promotion opportunities for younger workers.

    Far from a kind of charity they once were, senior citizen discounts have become a privilege to a group with millions of members who don't need them.

It no longer makes sense to treat the elderly as a single group whose economic needs deserve priority over those of others. Senior citizen discounts only enhance the myth that older people can't take care of themselves and need special treatment; and they threaten the creation of a new myth, that the elderly are ungrateful and taking for themselves at the expense of children and other age groups. Senior citizen discounts are the essence of the very thing older Americans are fighting against—discrimination by age.

    If anyone had told me three years ago that I would be spending most of my weekends camping. I would have laughed heartily. Campers, in my eyes, were people who enjoyed insect bites, ill-cooked meals, and uncomfortable sleeping bags. They had nothing in common with me.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} 

    The friends who introduced me to camping thought that it meant to be a pioneer.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} We sleep in a tent, cooked over an open fire, and walked a long distance to take the shower and use the bathroom. This brief visit with Mother Nature cost me two days off from work, recovering from a bad case of sunburn and the doctor's bill for my son's food poisoning.

    I was, nevertheless, talked into going on another fun-filled holiday in the wilderness.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Instead, we had a pop-up camper with comfortable beds and an air conditioner. My nature-loving friends had remembered to bring all the necessities of life.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} We have done a lot of it since. Recently, we bought a twenty-eight-foot travel trailer complete with a bathroom and a built-in TV set. There is a separate bedroom, a modern kitchen with a refrigerator. The trailer even has matching carpet and curtains.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} It must be true that sooner or later, everyone finds his or her way back to nature. I recommend that you find your way in style.

A.I must say that I have certainly come to enjoy camping.

B.Things are going to be improved.

C.I was to learn a lot about camping since then, however.

D.The trip they took me on was a rough one.

E.After the trip, my family became quite interested in camping.

F. This time there was no tent.

G. There was no shade as the trees were no more than 3 feet tall.

    Find a quiet location. Keep a routine. Focus on one subject at a time. It all seems like sound advice for students who need to hit the books, {#blank#}1{#/blank#} . Here's a list of tips from Carey, a scientist, for getting the most out of your study time.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}.

    Doing practice quizzes can help you retrieve（检索）information on test day. “Tests have a very bad reputation as a measurement tool,” Carey says. But psychologists have found self-tests slow down the forgetting of material you've studied. “If you study something once, and then you test yourself on it,” Carey says, “you do better than if you study it twice over.”

    Move around

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} . “If you move around and study the same material in several places,” he says, “you may be forming multiple associations for the same material. So it's better anchored in your brain, and you can pull it out easier.”

    Mix it up

    Think about a football who does strength training, speed training and drills. Carey says alternating between different facets facts of a subject in a single sitting can “leave a deeper impression on the brain”. For example, when studying French, do some verbs, some speaking and some reading. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} .

    Space it out

    Information learned in a hurry is lost just as fast. So if you really want to learn, space out shorter, hour-long study sessions. “There's no doubt that you can cram for（突击备考）an exam.” Carey says, “{#blank#}5{#/blank#} . And once it's gone, “it's gone. You're not getting it back.”

A. Test yourself

B. Study it and practice more

C. and it turns out that some of them are in great help

D. but recent studies indicate the conventional wisdom is wrong

E. The problem is that it's so easy to forget what you just crammed

F. Changing up where you study can help you keep more information

G. Spending your time in deep concentration on just verbs isn't effective

    Can just one person make a difference? You bet! In a community every person counts, and getting involved is not difficult. Take stock of your own talents and interests. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Don't wait for someone else to act first. Take the initiative! Once you see what you can accomplish, you'll want to keep going.

    Here are just a few ways to make a difference in your community. How many more ways can you come up with?

    Clean up the community. People often throw litter in places where there is already litter. And the problem only becomes worse until someone gets fed up and does something. Could your neighborhood use a cleanup? Neighborhood cleanups are often sponsored by local businesses or schools. But if your community doesn't have a cleanup program, get together with friends to organize one. You could pick up garbage in a larger area twice a year, or you could clean a smaller area every few months. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Include the isolated. Do you know anyone who is housebound? Almost all neighborhoods have a few people who have to stay at their homes. These people are often elderly and unable to leave their homes to perform simple tasks. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} By letting them "borrow" your legs and eyes, you can make them feel included. You can run errands for them like shopping or paying bills. They might like you to read to them if their eyesight is failing. Governments provide some of the services these people need, but programs cannot give them friendship; that's what communities are for!

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Reading clubs are popular all over Europe and North America. Members might read at home to prepare for discussion, or they might read aloud to each other and talk about what they just read. Either way, a book or article can spark lively discussion and this often challenges people to take action.

A. Cleaning your community will have a positive effect on others in society.

B. They find a need or an issue you really care about.

C. But they belong to the community, too.

D. Living in a clean neighborhood will be its own reward.

E. Don't hesitate to take part in the community's activity.

F. Round up some readers.

AlphaZero--an Updated Model of AI

    Soon after Garry Kasparov, the former world chess champion, lost his rematch against IBM's Deep Blue in 1997, the short window of human-machine chess competition slammed shut forever. Unlike humans, machines keep getting faster, and today a smartphone chess app can be stronger than Deep Blue. However, as people see with the new AlphaZero system, machine dominance has not ended the historical role of chess as a laboratory of cognition.

    Much as airplanes don't flap their wings like birds, machines don't produce chess moves like humans do. Based on a generic algorithm (算法), AlphaZero incorporates deep learning and other AI techniques like Monte Carlo tree search to play against itself to develop its own chess knowledge. Unlike the traditional program Stockfish, which employs many preset evaluation functions as well as opening and endgame moves, AlphaZero starts out knowing only the rules of chess, with no preset human strategies. In a few hours, it plays more games against itself than have been recorded in human chess history. It teaches itself the best way to play, reevaluating the relative values of the pieces. It quickly becomes strong enough to win 28, draw 72, and lose none in a victory over Stockfish. Since AlphaZero can program itself, this superior understanding allows it to outclass the world's top traditional program despite calculating far fewer positions per second. It's the typical example of the cliché, "work smarter, not harder".

    AlphaZero shows that machines can be the experts, not merely expert tools. Explainability is still an issue—it's not going to put chess coaches out of business just yet. But the knowledge it produces is information humans can learn from. AlphaZero is surpassing humans in a profound and useful way, and researchers are working on transferring the knowledge acquired from AlphaZero to other fields.

    Machine learning systems aren't perfect. Even though great progresses have been achieved, AI algorithms are still struggling on open problems such as computer vision, natural language understanding... There will be cases where an AI will fail to detect exceptions to its rules. Therefore, as Kasparov writes, "We must work together to combine our strengths. I know better than most people what it's like to compete against a machine. Instead of raging against them, it's better if we're all on the same side."