This Way to Dreamland

Daydreaming means people think about something pleasant, especially when this makes them forget what they should be doing. Daydreamers have a bad reputation for being unaware of what's happening around them. They can seem forgetful and clumsy. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} ey annoy us because they seem to be ignoring us and missing the important things.

         But daydreamers are also responsible for some of the greatest ideas and achievements in human history.  {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Can you imagine what kind of world we would have without such ideas and inventions?

         So how can you come up with brilliant daydreams and avoid falling over tree roots or otherwise looking like a fool?

First, understand that some opportunities(机会) for daydreaming are better than others. Feeling safe and relaxed will help you to slip into daydreams.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} And if you want to improve your chances of having a creative idea while you're daydreaming, try to do it while you are involved in another task—preferably something simple, like taking a shower or walking, or even making meaningless drawings.

It's also important to know how to avoid daydreams for those times when you really need to concerntrate. “Mindfulness”, being focused, is a tool that some people use to avoid falling asleep. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

            Finally, you never know what wonderful idea might strike while your mind has moved slowly away.  {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

           Always remember that your best ideas might come when your head is actually in the clouds.

A. Having interesting things to think about also helps.

B. They stare off into space and wander by themselves.

C. Without wandering minds, we wouldn't have relatively, Coke or Post-it notes.

D. At one time, daydreaming was thought to be a cause of some mental illnesses.

E. It involves slow, steady breathing for self-control that helps people stay calm and attentive.

F. Daydreams are often very simple and direct, quite unlike sleep dreams, which may be hard to understand.

G. Therefore, it's a good idea to keep a notebook or voice recorder nearby when you're in the daydream zone.

Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in the numbered blanks by using the information from the passage.

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.

    Since the earliest civilizations, people have controlled rivers to meet society's demands. Today, rivers are controlled for many reasons, primarily to maintain reliable water supplies for daily, agricultural and industrial needs, for power generation, for navigation (航行), and to prevent flooding.

    River control is achieved by channelization, a term that covers a range of river engineering works, including widening, deepening, straightening and stabilization of banks, and by the construction of dams.

    An important period of channelization took place in Europe during the l9'th century, when many large rivers were straightened and their beds deepened. One of the most dramatically changed was the Tisza River, a branch of the Danube that flows through Hungary. The controlling of the Tisza, designed to reduce flooding and make land for agriculture, included cutting off more than 100 meanders (河曲), shortening the river's length by nearly 400 kilometers.

    One of the most common ways in which people control rivers is by damming them. The past 50 years or so has seen an increase in dam construction worldwide, and at the beginning of the 21^st century, there were about 800,000 dams globally, some towering more than 200 meters in height.

Despite their successes, many dams also cause significant environmental changes that prove harmful. Some particularly deep reservoirs (水库) can bring about earthquakes due to the stress on their bottom rocks caused by huge volumes of water. Downstream of a reservoir, the river is certainly influenced in many ways: water volume, speed and quality are all affected, leading to changes in the landscape and among plants and animals.

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    Aristotle once wrote that “happiness is a state of activity”. In other words, whether you're seeking life-long satisfaction or a few moments of good cheer, you've got to move forward. We've interviewed the experts and found five steps to take toward a sunny mood（心情）：

    Over a 30-year period, University of Illinois researchers asked nearly 120, 000 people how income, education, political participation volunteer activities and close relationships affected their happiness. Reported Newsweek, s Sharon Begley on the findings, “The highest levels of happiness are found with the most stable and satisfying relationships. ”

    Singing aloud, talking to a stranger, raising your hand: all may increase a feeling of happiness, according to a study from Wake Forest University. Participants（参与者）followed the development of their moods for two weeks and reported feeling happier when they were more outgoing and less happy when reserved or withdrawn.

    The editors of forbes. Com gave $5 or $20 to 46 strangers by chance. Half the group was told to spend the money on themselves, while the other half was told to spend it on others. Those who'd shared the wealth felt much happier at the end of the day than those who'd spent it on themselves. There was no difference in happiness between those who spent $5 or $20, suggesting that it's not how much money you spend, but how you spend it, that inspires the spirit.

    Studies from the Positive Psychology Center showed that discouraged people who wrote down three good things that happened to them each day for six months reported an improved attitude.

    Drinking water really can help keep you cheerful. A small 2012 study from the University of Connecticut suggested that even slight dehydration（脱水） affected the moods of its female participants.

    Happiness is not the absence of problems{#blank#}1{#/blank#}Here are a few reminders to help motivate you when you need it most:

    ⒈Pain is part of growing.

    When times are tough, remind yourself that no pain comes without a purpose{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Every great success requires some type of worthy struggle to get there. Good things take time. Everything is going to come together; maybe not immediately, but eventually.

    ⒉{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Every time it rains, it stops raining. Every time you get hurt, you heal. After darkness there is always light. So if things are good right now, enjoy it. It won't last forever. If things are bad, don't worry because it won't last forever either.

    ⒊Worrying and complaining changes nothing.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} It's always better to attempt to do something great and fail than to attempt to do nothing and succeed. It's not over if you've lost; it's over when you do nothing but complain about it. If you believe in something, keep trying. Don't let the shadows of the past darken the doorstep of your future.

    ⒋Your scars are symbols of your strength.

    Never be ashamed of the scars life has left you with. A scar means the hurt is over and the wound is closed. It means you overcame the pain, learned a lesson, grew stronger, and moved forward{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Everything in life is temporary (暂时的).

B. But it is the ability to deal with them.

C. Rarely do people do things because of you.

D. A scar is the sign of a success to be proud of.

E. Those who complain the most, accomplish the least.

F. Move on from what hurt you, but never forget what it taught you.

G. Change because it makes you a better person and leads you to a brighter future.

    Artificial intelligence (AI) is rushing into business. Firms of all types are using AI to forecast demand, hire workers and deal with customers. The McKinsey Global Institute, a think-tank within a consultancy, forecasts that just applying AI to marketing, sales and supply chains could create economic value of $2.7trn over the next 20 years.

    Such grand forecasts fuel anxiety as well as hope. Less familiar, but just as important, is how AI will transform the workplace.

    Start with the benefits.AI ought to improve productivity. Humanyze, a people analytics software provider, combines data from its badges（工牌）with employees' calendars and e-mails to work out, say, whether office layouts favour teamwork .Slack, a workplace messaging app, helps managers assess how quickly employees accomplish tasks. Companies will see when workers are not just dozing off but also misbehaving.

    Employees will gain, too. Thanks to advance in computer vision, AI can check that workers are wearing safety equipment and that no one has been harmed on the factory floor. Some will appreciate more feedback on their work and welcome a sense of how to do better.

    Machines can help ensure that pay rises and promotions go to those who deserve them. That starts with hiring. People often have biases but algorithms（算法）, if designed correctly, can be more unprejudiced. Software can flag patterns that people might miss.

    Yet AI^'s benefits will come with many potential drawbacks. Algorithms may not be free of the biases of their programmers, which can have unintended consequences. The length of a travel may predict whether an employee will quit a job, but this focus may harm poorer applicants. Older staff might work more slowly than younger ones and could risk losing their positions if all AI looks for is productivity. And surveillance（监控）may feel Orwellian—a sensitive matter now that people have begun to question how much Facebook and other tech giants know about their private lives.

    As regulators and employers weigh the pros and cons of AI in the workplace, three principles ought to guide its spread. First, data should be anonymized where possible. Microsoft, for example, has a product that shows individuals how they manage their time in the office, but gives managers information only in aggregated（整合）form. Second, the use of AI ought to be transparent. Employees should be told what technologies are being used in their workplaces and which data are being gathered. As a matter of routine, algorithms used by firms to hire, fire and promote should be tested for bias and unintended consequences. Last, countries should let individuals request their own data, whether they are ex-workers wishing to contest a dismissal or jobseekers hoping to demonstrate their ability to prospective employers.

    The march of Al into the workplace calls for trade-offs between privacy and performance. A fairer, more productive workforce is a prize worth having, but not if it chains employees. Striking a balance will require thought, a willingness for both employers and employees to adapt and a strong dose of humanity.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} According to a new survey by the National Sleep Foundation, 51% of kids aged 10 to 18 go to bed at 10 pm or later on school nights, even though they have to get up early. Last year the Foundation reported that nearly 60% of 7- to 12-year-olds said they felt tired during the day, and 15% said they had fallen asleep at school.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Babies need a lot of rest: most of them sleep about 18 hours a day! Adults need about eight hours. For most school-age children, ten hours is ideal. But the new National Sleep Foundation survey found that 35% of 10- to 12-year-olds get only seven or eight hours. And guess what almost half of the surveyed kids said they do before bedtime? Watch TV.

    "More children are going to bed with TVs on, and there are more opportunities to stay awake, with more homework, the Internet and the phone," says Dr. Mary Carskadon, a sleep researcher at Brown University Medical School. She says these activities at bedtime can get kids all excited and make it hard for them to calm down and sleep. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Changing levels of body chemicals called hormones not only make teenagers' bodies develop adult characteristics, but also make it hard for teenagers to fall asleep before 11 pm.

    Because sleepiness is such a problem for teenagers, some school districts have decided to start high school classes later than they used to. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Students parents and teachers are pleased with the results.

A. How much sleep you need depends a lot on your age.

B. Other experts say part of the problem is chemical.

C. Getting less sleep has become a bad habit for most American kids.

D. what homework waiting for kids might always affects them sleep well every night.

E. Raising the minimum sleep is identified as a key way to help solve the problem.

F. Three years ago, schools in Edina, Minnesota, changed the start time from 7:25 am to 8:30 am.