A student is learning to speak British English. He wonders: Can I communicate with Americans? Can they understand me? Learners of English often ask: What are the differences between British and American English? How important are these differences?

    Certainly there are some differences between British and American English. There are a few differences in grammar. For example, speakers of British English say “in hospital” and “Have you a pen?” Americans say “in the hospital!” and “Do you have a pen?” Pronunciation is sometimes different. Americans usually sound theirs in words like “bird” and “hurt”. Speakers of British English do not sound theirs in these words. There are differences between British and American English in spelling and vocabulary. For example, “colour” and “honour” are British, “color” and honor” are American.

    These differences in grammar, pronunciation, spelling and vocabulary are not important. However, for the most part, British and American English are the same language.

    You can either travel or read, but either your body or soul must be on the way. The popular saying has inspired many people to read or go sightseeing. Here are several books we recommend that you take on your trip.

⑴ Destination: US

Recommended book: On the Road, 1957, by Jack Kerouac

    The book is a globally popular spiritual guide book about youth. The protagonist(主人公) in the book drives across the US continent with several young people and finally reaches Mexico. After the exhausting and exciting trip, the characters in the book begin to realize the meaning of life.

⑵ Destination: Sahara Desert

Recommended book: The Stories of the Sahara, 1976, by Sanmao

    The book describes the author's simple but adventurous life in the Sahara Desert, which seems a bare and dull place. The vivid natural scenery and life there, along with the author's romantic emotions will inspire you to explore the mysterious land.

⑶ Destination: England

Recommended book: The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, 2013, by Rachel Joyce

    The novel tells a story of a 60-year-old man who lives a boring and unhappy life, until one day, he received his old friend's letter who got cancer. In deep shock and sorrow, he went out to send his reply letter. By thinking of his life, he walked past one mailbox after another, and finally walked from the Southwest end to the Northeast end of England. 627 miles in 87 days, he walks depending on one belief that “ his friend can survive as long as he walks.”

⑷ Destination: North Europe

Recommended book: So Slow, So Beautiful, 2015, by Luo Fu

    Following a girl's step to look around North Europe, who has been living there for 10 years. Check out how North Europeans seek their happiness, which more originated from a simple, natural and tranquil mentality.

根据短文内容，选择最佳答案，并将选定答案的字母标号填在题前括号内。

    Stress(压力) is a popular cause of major diseases affecting people worldwide. It is so common that people have begun to search for the best and easiest ways to reduce stress. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

Exercise for a better life.

    Regular runners say that there is no better feeling than the one you get when you finish your daily run. Exercising is a good way for you to remove stress from your life. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} And it can also lift your mood. An additional benefit of exercising is that it keeps you fit and healthy!

Organize it.

    Keeping your workplace and home organized is also a way for you to avoid stressful situations. Working in a messy(凌乱的) area keeps your brain thinking on several different things at the same time.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

Manage your time wisely.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Sticking to(坚持) your schedule gives you focus and a goal to work on. It also helps you avoid missing out on deadlines which are a great source of stress. Managing your time wisely means managing your stress.

    In a word, we shouldn't let stress stop us living a normal and healthy life. Stress will naturally appear due to the modern way of life. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Don't let stress get the better of you and make you lead an unhappy life.

A. Avoid stressed people.

B. Know what causes your stress.

C. Plan your day ahead and stick to it.

D. Here are some ways to say goodbye to stress.

E. Regular exercise gives you time to think things.

F. And it gets hard to focus on (思想集中) just one thing.

G. But just like fire, if we control stress it can't hurt us.

    A black hole is created when a large star burns out. Like our sun, stars are unbelievably hot furnaces(熔炉) that burn their own matter as fuel. When most of the fuel is used up, the star begins to die.

    The death of a star is not a quiet event. First there is a huge explosion. As its outer layer is blasted off into space, the dying star shines as brightly as a billion suns.

    After the explosion, gravity pulls in what's left of the star. As the outside of the star sinks toward the center, the star gets smaller and smaller. The material the star is made of becomes tightly packed together. A star is so solid that a teaspoon of matter from it weighs billion of pounds.

    The more the star shrinks(收缩), the stronger the gravity inside it becomes. Soon the star is very tiny, and the gravity pulling it in is unbelievably strong. In fact, the gravity is so strong that it even pulls light into the star! Since all the light is pulled in, none can go out. The star becomes black when there is no light. Then a black hole is born!

    That's what we know about black holes. What we don't know is this: What happens inside a black hole after the star has been squeezed into a tiny ball? Does it keep getting smaller and smaller forever? Such a possibility is hard to imagine.

    But if the black hole doesn't keep shrinking, what happens to it? Some scientists think black holes are like doorways to another world. They say that as the star disappears from our universe, it goes into another universe. In other words a black hole in our universe could turn into a "white hole" in a different universe. As the black hole swallows(吞噬) light, the white hole shines brightly--somewhere else. But where? A different place, perhaps, or a different time--many years in the past or future.

    Could you travel through a black hole? Right now, no. Nothing we know of could go into a black hole without being crushed(挤压). So far the time being, black hole must remain a mystery.

    Black holes are a mystery--but that hasn't stopped scientists from dreaming about them. One scientist suggested that in the future we might make use of the power of black holes. They would supply all of Earth's energy needs, with plenty to spare. Another scientist wondered if a black hole could some day be used to swallow earthly waste--a sort of huge waste disposal(处理) in the sky!

    Fix it on your own

    Did you know that a bowl of rice could save your iPod if you drop it in a swimming pool by accident? Or that the camera on your phone could tell you what's wrong with your TV remote control(遥控器)? The experts at Geek Squad have made a gadget (小机件) rescue guide. So, let's take a look at some of their useful advice.

    How to get more juice out of your phone battery (电池)

    If your battery goes dead but you need to get a number or send one last text, try warming it up. That may give you a tiny bit of power. Take the battery from the phone and rub it between your hands. Or warm it under your arm for a few minutes. Then try to start the phone-but use it quickly.

    What to do if your gadget gets wet

    First, try drying it out with a vacuum cleaner(真空吸尘器). If a vacuum cleaner isn't at hand, fill a pot or bowl with uncooked rice and put your wet gadget inside. The dry, uncooked rice will absorb all the water and, after a few hours, you should be able to use the gadget. Don't forget to remove the battery and SIM card before you dry it.

    What to do if your TV remote control stops working

    If replacing the batteries doesn't work, get the camera function up on your phone and point the remote at the lens (镜头). When you press a button on the remote, if it is working, the glass bobble (小球) at the front of the remote will light up when you look at it on the screen of your phone. This is because the screen on a phone or digital camera picks up infrared rays (红外线), even though your eyes don't. If the glass bobble doesn't light up, the remote is broken. If it does, the receiving device is broken.

    The European Union(EU) is an organization of European countries. The countries are independent and are governed in different ways. In the United Kingdom, for example, the head of state is a king or queen. In France, on the other hand, the head of state is a president. But each of them sends representatives to European Parliament, which has some control over what happens in each of the member countries.

    The idea of the EU began in the 1950s. The first members were France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Italy. Little by little, the number increased during second half of the twentieth century. By the year 2000, there were 15 member countries. The new countries were Austria, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

    In 2004, the EU increased to 25 members. The Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia, plus the Mediterranean islands of Cyprus and Malta all became members. The expanded EU has a population of more than half a billion people, twice as big as the population of the US.