Fashion, a term that applies to clothing, hairstyle, footwear, furniture and so on, is like a wind and is changing rapidly. From school-going kids to working professionals, everyday wants to look their best. Fashion is promoted mostly by TV advertisements and celebrities. Many people defined their fashion statement as comfort. They wear whatever makes them feel comfortable. Of course you need to consider the occasion too. You can't wear a jogging suit and go for a wedding and similarly you won't wear a skirt to go jogging.

    Nowadays, fashion has become a common language for people all over the world, it helps to connect people internationally, because it travels from one city to another. Sometimes, fashion can be an inspiration for many to discover their hidden potential, and it persuades individuals to attend fashion schools and make something out of their career. In other words, fashion inspires some people to expand their knowledge and creativity to turn their hobby into a career. And therefore, fashion offers employment opportunities to those who dream about being a part of the fashion industry.

    Additionally, following your own fashion statement makes you a more independent thinker. If you think you have the ability to carry the attire(服装),then it fills you up with a great deal of confidence. It also helps you to make new friends easily. If you share the same interest as other people, then connecting with them won't be difficult. You will have a common thing to base your decisions on.

    However, there are also negative impacts of fashion. For example, today some students focus more and more on fashion than on their studies. They want to know everything about fashion, but little about their school or college activities. There are other problems, too. People experimenting with their hair or skin often forget about the allergies(过敏)they may have to face when using cosmetic(美容的)products. Being fashion-conscious can even make you anxious and depressed if you don't feel you are dressed up to the mark. Worse still, fashion can do harm to our environment through the procedure and ingredients used to produce fashionable products. Often, animal fur is used in jackets and fur coats. A large number of birds are killed, and experiments are done on animals to check if the products would be allergic to humans.

    On a concluding note, fashion will not be harmful to our society if we learn to create a balance between our studies and interests. There is no harm in being fashionable, but don't let it interfere with your way of life and career.

注意：每个空格只填一个单词。

    Social media is all about connecting with others. But a new study suggests that too much social media leads to disconnection and loneliness—basically the opposite of what we are led to believe.

    The study, Social Media Use and Perceived Social Isolation Among Young Adults in the U.S, which was published on March 6, 2017 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, found that heavy use of platforms such as Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram was associated with feelings of social isolation (孤独) among young adults.

    Study co-author Brian Primack and his team from the Center for Research on Media, Technology and Health at the University of Pittsburgh surveyed 1,787 U.S. adults aged 19 to 32 and asked them about their usage of 11 social media platforms (outside of work). They also asked participants questions related to social isolation, such as how often they felt left out. The participants who reported spending the most time on social media—over two hours a day—had twice the possibility of social isolation than those who said they spent a half-hour per day or less on the same sites. Additionally, people who visited social media platforms most frequently (58 visits per week or more) had more than three times the possibility of perceived social isolation than those who visited them fewer than nine times per week.

    According to Tom Kersting, psychotherapist and author of Disconnected, the key to understanding these results lies in our understanding of "connections." "Humans are social-emotional beings, meaning that it is in our DNA to be connected, face-to-face, with other humans," he told Reader's Digest. "Although people think being on social media all the time makes them 'connected' to others, they are actually 'disconnected,' because the more time one spends behind a screen, the less time one spends face-to-face."

    "Part of the issue of loneliness is that the majority of people who use social media aren't just posting, they are also viewing," Kersting continued. "They are spending a lot of time looking at everyone else's posts, where they are, where they are going and what they are doing. Then everyone else's 'perfect' life experiences cause them to have feelings of being left out, of being lonely."

    So what's the answer? It's simple, says Kersting—although it does involve a significant amount of will power. "To solve this, what you should do is resist the temptation (诱惑) to look at everyone else's life. Just focus on your own life, where you're going, what you are grateful for, and what you want to accomplish in this world. Then go out and do it and stop wasting so much time comparing."

How to improve vocabulary fast

    Your vocabulary refers to the words in a language you are familiar with. We should learn some ways to expand it.

    Read every day. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. Choose reading material that is slightly above your level and keep a dictionary with you to look up words you do not know.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}. If you do not meet with an unfamiliar word in your daily reading, use your dictionary to search for one.

    Learn the correct definition and pronunciation for each new word. Pronunciation is as important as definition because in order to add a word to your active vocabulary, you must be able to use it in speech.

    Elaborate (详尽阐述) on the meaning of the word. If you have just learned the word “stubborn”, think about the neighbour who will not lend you his car. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Use your new word in speech and in writing. E-mail your sister about how your cat is stubborn about sleeping on your pillow. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. But the more you use it, the more fluent you will become in its use. Soon it will be a regular part of your active vocabulary.

    Tell everyone you are trying to increase your vocabulary. Encourage them to ask you what your latest word is. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    The more you explain the meaning of a word to someone, the more likely you are to remember it.

A. The vocabulary can be increased.

B. Find a new word every day.

C. Or let them ask for the definition of a new word you have used.

D. The more often you read, the faster your vocabulary can grow.

E. The first time you use a new word in speech it may seem strange.

F. Imagine him shaking his head, and think of him as “stubborn in his refusal”.

G. Your vocabulary contains the words you understand.

    Every animal sleeps, but the reason for this has remained foggy. When lab rats are not allowed to sleep, they die within a month.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    One idea is that sleep helps us strengthen new memories. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} We know that, while awake, fresh memories are recorded by reinforcing (加强) connections between brain cells, but the memory processes that take place while we sleep have been unclear.

    Support is growing for a theory that sleep evolved so that connections between neurons (神经元) in the brain can be weakened overnight, making room for fresh memories to form the next day.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Now we have the most direct evidence yet that he is right.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} The synapses in the mice taken at the end of a period of sleep were 18 per cent smaller than those taken before sleep, showing that the connections between neurons weaken while sleeping.

    If Tononi's theory is right, it would explain why, when we miss a night's, we find it harder the next day to concentrate and learn new information — our brains may have smaller room for new experiences.

    Their research also suggests how we may build lasting memories over time even though the synapses become thinner. The team discovered that some synapses seem to be protected and stayed the same size. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} “You keep what matters,” Tononi says.

A. We should also try to sleep well the night before.

B. It's as if the brain is preserving its most important memories.

C. That's why students do better in tests if they get a chance to sleep after learning.

D. Similarly, when people go for a few days without sleeping, they get sick.

E. The processes take place to stop our brains becoming loaded with memories.

F. Tononi's team measured the size of these connections, or synapses, in the brains of 12 mice.

G. “Sleep is the price we pay for learning,” says Giulio Tononi, who developed the idea.

    “Sorry for keeping you waiting. I left my cell phone at home, so I went hack to get it,” Adam said as he apologized to Vicky after arriving an hour late for their first date. Vicky tried to be polite, so she forced a smile and replied, “It's all right. Let's order something to eat.” While they were waiting for their food. Vicky discovered that Adam had been checking his cell phone. Just as she got the chance to talk to him Adam's cell phone rang and he answered it without delay. He talked continuously and totally ignored his date, who was sitting right next to him. Twenty minutes later, when Adam finally hung up and turned hack to Vicky, he saw nothing but an angry face. “Why don't you date your cell phone?” said Vicky. Then, she stood up and shouted, “Don't ever call me again!”

    We can understand why Vicky was so angry at Adam. In fact, like Adam, many people in modern society can't stand to be separated from their cell phones. With their cell phones, they talk to others, listen to music, check e-mall, and download applications as well as photos. Their dependence on this technological device has become so great that the cell phone is now often considered a necessity rather than a luxury (奢侈品). Some people cannot even imagine life without their cell phones. As a result, a psychological(心理学的) phrase known as "disconnect anxiety" was born.

    According to psychologists, when these people are not using their phones, they may start to feel uneasy. Some feel socially separated without their cell phone. Others worry about not being able to respond to emergencies in time. Still others are so psychologically influenced by their cell phones that they often believe their phones have been ringing without their knowledge. Those who suffer from disconnect anxiety frequently check their cell phones for any missed calls or messages. In addition, they like to keep in touch with their friends-even just to kill time. What's more, if these heavy cell phone users discover that they have forgotten to bring their cell phones along with them, they will insist on returning home to get their "cells".

    It's nice to have a cell phone, and it makes sense, of course, to enjoy all the advantages this clever product has brought. However, we need to use it wisely. For example, when we are doing something important, we should turn off our cell phones to concentrate on our work. As for Adam, he had better leave his cell phone at home on his next date with Vicky-if he gets another chance to go out with her!

    The environmental group Heal the Bay organized a beach clean-up. And I was one of the volunteers. We went to Venice Beach to clean up the trash.

    At first glance, the beach didn't look dirty at all. But then I saw a Styrofoam(泡沫)cup half buried in the sand on the beach. I pulled hard and finally got it out. As we moved farther, we found pieces of Styrofoam spread all over the sand. The Heal the Bay representative had told us that these little pieces of Styrofoam and other small pieces of plastic are what actually harm sea life most. Sea animals eat the plastic. After eating it, they think they are full. As a result, they can die of starvation as they are cheated by their feeling and don't think they need to eat any food.

    We kept on picking up the trash. Then I saw someone with a full Heal the Bay trash bag and I went to see what was inside. When I opened the trash bag, I found everything from a pair of old jeans and a brown belt to headphones and some plastic bags. It made me very angry with the people who left their things behind without thinking what effects they might have on the ocean.

    It is really important to protect the ocean. The ocean covers 70 percent of the Earth's surface. A clean ocean not only helps animals in the ocean survive but also helps us survive.

    By noon, the sun was shining and the temperature was rising. The volunteers that had spread out across Venice Beach were coming back to throw the trash they had collected into the truck. I could not believe how much trash there was. All together we collected more than 135 bags of trash. I do hope that next time people go to the beach, they will stop littering.