Some people have the feeling that nothing can be done about their poor reading ability（能力）.They feel hopeless about it.Can you learn to read better,or must you agree that nothing can be done about it?

    To be sure,people are different.You cannot expect to do everything as well as certain other people do.If all the students in a class tried out for basketball,some would be very good players,others would be very poor;and many would be in between.But even the very poor players can become much better players if they are guided in the right way,and with plenty of practice.It is the same with reading.Some seem to enjoy reading and to read well without any special help.Others find reading a slow and tiring job.In between,there are all degrees of reading ability.

    Many experiments have shown that just about every poor reader can improve his reading ability.In these experiments,the poor readers were given tests of reading ability.After some of the causes of their poor reading were discovered,they were given special instruction and practice in reading.After a few months,another test of the same kind was given.In nearly all cases,these people had raised their reading scores.

    British Airways booking secrets-and the best late deals this week: Short holidays and European city breaks.

    Dublin from $ 109 pp: Enjoy the Emerald Isle without the St Patrick's Day crowds. Departing 20th March, this package includes a two night stay at the four-star Kings Wood Hotel Citywest and return flights from London Stansted. Click here.

    Bruges from $ 159 pp: Treat mum to a mother's day city break in the medieval, fairly-tale town of Bruges and enjoy canal-side strolls and a nice helping of culture. Price includes two nights at the four-star NH Brugge with travel from London St Pancras, departing 20^th March. Click here.

    Madrid from $ 166 pp: Fly from Liverpool on March 27 for three nights' B& B at the three-star Espahotel Plaza de Espana. Real Madrid don't have a football game then, so sec if Ronaldo fancies a cerveza. Click here.

    French Alps from $ 499 pp: Save over $ 320 each on a week's skinning at Les Arcs 2000, staying catered at the Chalet Vanoise. Based on two sharing and includes flights from Manchester on March 18 and transfers. Six-day lift passes from $ 219, equipment hire from $ 65. Click here.

    Tenerife from $ 289 pp: Get your tan on early with a trip to the European home of beaches: Tenerife, with its postcard perfect golden sand. Spend seven nights at the four-star Hotel Spa La Quinta Park Suites, departing 6^th May and including return flights. Click here.

    Most of us have been in this situation: You're on your way to your friend's house, then you suddenly ask yourself,"Did I remember to turn the lights off?” For those with "smart homes", however, this wouldn't be a problem.

Over the last few years,smart home technology has become more popular. Thanks to user-friendly products like intelligent lighting and heating controllers, people can control nearly every electrical item in their homes from anywhere in the world.

    While smart homes aren't new, companies like Philips, Amazon and Xiaomi have finally brought automation to everyday people with affordable products like artificial intelligence(AI) speakers and sensors.

    “The obvious message is that you can stop wasting energy,” Tom Kerber, director of research for U. S -based digital company Parks Associates, told The Guardian.

    And the technology also has more meaningful uses. In Norway, for example, one company is using smart tech to make life easier for its elderly customers. Abilia's system allows carers to check up on patients through a tablet on a wall inside their home. The device sends patients reminders about tasks, such as when they need to take medication(冥想). It can even tell carers if there's any unusual activity in the home that could be life-threatening.

    “This kind of system allows people to take care of themselves, which is the most important thing,” Abilia's vice president, Oystein Johnsen, told the BBC. "It also saves the government money. In Norway, it costs 1 million kroner(about 0. 8 million yuan )per year to have someone in a care home. This system costs 15,000 kroner a year.”

    So, for those who have already "gone smart", will it ever be possible to go back to do things in the old-fashioned way? "I think it would be difficult. When we go to a friend's house or on vacation we find ourselves expecting the house to do things for us that we should do, "Poulson, 35, a senior program manager from Seattle.,U. S.,explained.

    We've all fantasized about it—after a rough day at work, stuck in traffic with commuters (上下班的人) we'd rather not have in our personal space, and bills to pay, plus the sound of the crying baby in the apartment next door. How nice would it be to go solo and live on an island of one, population: me?

    Well, this is the reality for 84 year old Elsie Eiler of Monowi, Nebraska. She is the sole resident of her hometown, which is the smallest recognized locality in the United States.

    Looking back at the 2000 census (人口普查), the town used to have another resident: Elsie's husband Rudy. Since he died in 2004, Elsie has lived in the town by herself. She considers herself to be the mayor, treasurer, and town librarian. Her main source of income is the bar that is frequented by truckers and other people passing through—the Monowi Tavern, which she founded with her late husband back in 1971 . She received a lot of public attention after it was discovered that she was the sole resident of Monowi, and in an interview she stated that many visitors from around the world have come to meet her in Monowi.

    When asked if she ever gets lonely, she said "I know I could always move closer to my children or stay with them whenever I want, but then I'd have to make all new friends again. Hopefully I will be able to stay here. It's where I want to be."

The Alexander technique

    Until earlier this year, I didn't know anything about the Alexander technique—and saw no reason to think I should. One day, the backache I regularly suffered was more painful. I was brought up to think that the preferred way of dealing with aches is to do nothing and hope they'll go away, but I eventually went to the doctor. After examining me, he said, "You actually have bad posture (姿势). Go off and learn the Alexander technique." Three months later I could walk straighter and sit better.

    The Alexander technique is a way of learning how you can get rid of harmful tension in your body. The teaching focuses on the neck, head and back. It trains you to use your body less severely and carry out the movements that we do all the time with less effort. There is little effort in the lessons themselves, which sets apart the Alexander technique from yoga or pilates, which are exercise-based. A typical lesson involves standing in front of a chair and learning to sit and stand with minimum effort. You spend some time lying on a bench with your knees bent to straighten the spine (脊椎) and relax your body while the teacher moves your arms and legs to train you to move them correctly.

    The technique helps to break the bad habits accumulated over years. Try folding your arms the opposite way to normal. This is an example of a habit the body has formed which can be hard to break. Many of us carry our heads too far back. The head weighs four to six kilos, so any inappropriate posture can cause problems for the body. The technique teaches you to let go of the muscles holding the head back, allowing it to go back to its natural place on the top of our spines.

    So who was Alexander and how did he come up with the technique? Frederick Alexander, an Australian actor born in 1869, found in his youth that he had vocal (声音的) problems during performances. He analyzed himself and realized his posture was bad. He worked on improving it, with excellent results. He brought his technique to London and opened a teacher-training school, which is still successful today.

    So if you're walking along the road one day with shoulders bent forward, feeling weighed down by your troubles, give a thought to the Alexander technique. It will help you walk tall again.

The giant panda,also {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (know) as panda bear or simply panda,is a bear native {#blank#}2{#/blank#} south central China.For the past many years,the giant panda  {#blank#}3{#/blank#}  (drive)out of the lowland areas where it once lived as a result of farming,deforestation and other {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (develop).Wild population estimates vary:one estimate shows that there are about 1,590 individuals {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(live)in the wild,while a 2006 study estimated that this figure could be as high as 2,000 to 3,000.Some reports also show that {#blank#}6{#/blank#} number of giant pandas in the wild is on the rise.

The West first learned of the giant panda on March 11,1869,  {#blank#}7{#/blank#} the French missionary(传教士)Armand David received a panda skin from a hunter.In 1936,Ruth Harkness became the first Westerner  {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(bring)a live giant panda named Su Lin to the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago.To protect the pandas,in 2012,Earthwatch Institute,a global non-profit organisation that teams volunteers with scientists to conduct important {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (science) research,launched a program called"On the Trail of Giant Pandas".This program allows volunteers to work up close with pandas cared for in captivity(圈养),and help them  {#blank#}10{#/blank#}  (gradual)adapt to life in the wild.