Today we eat on the go, at our desks and even in front of computers. We eat takeout, delivered and packaged meals, {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    “Over the past three decades, people have started eating out more than ever before and purchasing more prepared foods at the grocery store, which tend to contain more fat, salt and sugar than their home-made foods,” noted US healthy living website SparkPeople.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} It encourages us to value the time we spend preparing, sharing and consuming food, as a recent USA Today article put it. It all started in 1986 with the efforts of Slow Food's founding father, Italian activist Carlo Petrini, who wanted to bring back food varieties and flavors that had gone dark in the face of industrialization. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Now, his idea is almost the mainstream.

    Starting at the table, the movement promotes an unhurried way of life founded on the idea that everyone has a right to cooking pleasure, and that everyone must also take responsibility to “protect the heritage (遗产) of food, tradition and culture that make this celebration of the senses possible”, wrote The Phnom Penh Post.

    “{#blank#}4{#/blank#} It means turning down the speed at which we eat and increasing the amount of time we spend dining together with other people,” Althea Zanecosky, spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, told The Huffington Post.“ {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Dinner table conversations keep families together,” noted the Belgian non-profit organization Greenfudge.

How to Become a Top Student

    Successful students use different techniques(技巧)to study, which brings them more success. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}Here are the four techniques almost all topper forming students use.

    They are regular. Almost all successful students study regularly, because they know "what you give is what you get". If you put in regular hours of studying, then you will learn more and get better grades. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}This will help you to study regularly.

    They have clear goals. All topper forming students have definite, specific goals. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}They motivate(激发)you and drive you to study more. But make sure that you do not get carried away. Set realistic goals which can challenge(挑战)you, but do not seem impossible or too difficult to achieve.

    They study without pressure(压力). Successful students study a lot. But they study without putting strain on themselves. Most students make the mistake of studying too hard or studying continuously for a long time. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}Studying should be done in a balanced manner. Take a break for a few minutes, after studying for 30 or 45 minutes. Relax, walk around your room or house, or drink some water and return to studying. Such short breaks will refresh your brain and you will learn more.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}Studying is not something you do just because your parents ask you to do it. It's actually very important for you. Studying gives you knowledge and skills that will remain with you for the rest of your life. It gives you the ability to get a job and earn money. And successful students recognize the value of studying well.

A. This creates tension and actually slows down learning and memory.

B. But to score grade A in English, you should make well planned efforts.

C. Set aside some hours, each day or each week, for studying.

D. Having such goals gives you a purpose to study better.

E. Learn their techniques, and you will also join their rank.

F. They finish their homework on time.

G. They give importance to study.

    Perhaps you've heard the old saying “curiosity killed the cat.” It's a phrase that's often used to warn people—especially children—not to ask too many questions. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}In fact, research has shown that curiosity is just as important as intelligence in determining how well students do in school.

    Curiosity can also lead us to make unexpected discoveries, bring excitement into our lives, and open up new possibilities. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}For example, one day in 1831, Michael Faraday was playing around with a coil(线圈) and a magnet(磁铁) when he suddenly saw how he could produce an electrical current. At first, it wasn't clear what use this would have, but it actually made electricity available for use in technology, and so changed the world.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}On one level, this is because technology has become so advanced that many of us are unable to think too deeply about how exactly things work anymore. While it may be possible for a curious teenager to take a toaster apart and get some sense of how it works, how much do you understand about what happens when you type a website address into a browser? Where does your grasp of technology end and the magic begin for you?

    In addition to this, there's the fact that we all now connect so deeply with technology, particularly with our phones. The more we stare at our screens, the less we talk to other people directly. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}Then we feel we know enough about a person not to need to engage further with them.

    The final—and perhaps most worrying—way in which technology stops us from asking more has to do with algorithms, the processes followed by computers. As we increasingly get our news via social media, algorithms find out what we like and push more of the same back to us. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}Perhaps the real key to developing curiosity in the 21st century, then, is to rely less on the tech tools of our age.

A. It is still not known why learning gives us such pleasure.

B. We are always encouraged to challenge our pre-existing beliefs.

C. Yet it's widely agreed that curiosity actually makes learning more effective.

D. All too often we accept the images of people that social media provides us with.

E. However, curiosity is currently under the biggest threat, coming from technology.

F. In science, basic curiosity-driven research can have unexpected important benefits.

G. That means we end up inside our own little bubbles, no longer coming across new ideas.

    Penguins are flightless birds that spend half their time on land and half in the water.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} They have dark and white feathers, and their wings have evolved into flippers(脚蹼).Most penguins feed on fish, squid and other forms of sea life caught while swimming.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} They are mostly found in groups that include thousands of penguins. Penguins each have their own unique mating call, and they use that to locate their mate and chicks in such a large group.

    Although almost all penguin species are native to the Southern Hemisphere, they are not found only in cold Antarctica.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Several species are even found in the temperate zone, and one species, the Galátpagos penguin, lives near the equator(赤道).

    Unfortunately, many penguin species worldwide are facing threats. The biggest is climate change and global warming. As the earth warms up, the sheets of ice have melted, and the algae(藻类)that grow under the ice decrease. The algae are eaten by tiny creatures called zooplankton. When there is a drop in zooplankton, it affects the fish that depend on it.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Another major threat is from oil spills. If coated with oil, penguins cannot float or swim in water. Also, if oil is swallowed, penguins will die from poison.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. These birds are very social.

B. In fact, only a few of them live so far south.

C. Penguins are highly adapted for life in the water.

D. The biggest threat for penguins comes from humans.

E. They have a tendency to live in a community together.

F. As a result, penguins have less fish to eat and thus starve.

G. Others include overfishing, illegal egg harvesting, and natural enemies.

    Chinese culture values family bonds very much. Family members don't just gather during the holidays. In fact they often live under one roof all year round. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Families in the East and West are very different from each other.

    In most East Asian cultures, extended families are common. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} According to the Atlantic, 90 percent of children in Shanghai and 70 percent of children in Beijing were cared for by their grandparents. Chinese people believe that "a grandparent is a treasure to their family".

    In many Western countries, most families are nuclear families (小家庭). These are solely made up of children and their parents.

    Additionally, the duties parents have toward their children can also differ.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    It's normal for parents to pay for their children's college, help them find a job, or buy them an apartment. Chinese adults also follow their parents' opinions when making major life decisions, more often than not.

    In most Western countries, however, kids usually move out of the house after they turn 18.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Also, if they choose to keep living with their parents after becoming an adult, it can be seen by some as a failure on their part.

    While the East cares more about close family bonds, the West values privacy and independence. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Families will always be a source of love, warmth, and care for people around the world.

A. These families have three or even four generations living together

B. Nuclear families are the most common type in China.

C. In China, many parents look after their children all the way into adulthood.

D. Different cultures have different family values.

E. But in the end, home is best 一 east or west.

F. Many young people going to college often need to take out loans and work part-time jobs in order to pay for tuition and rent.

G. Both Easterners and Westerners value quality family time.

    Over the centuries, people have created many rituals (仪式) to accompany the consumption of their favourite drinks, tea and coffee. Just think of the Japanese tea ceremony, British afternoon tea or the morning coffee ritual in countless societies. Why are these drinks so popular? {#blank#}1{#/blank#} In the modern world, the new caffeine delivery systems are canned energy drinks. And the more modern our world gets, the more we seem to need caffeine.

    Most people don't think twice about their caffeine intake. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} So the widespread use of caffeine is now a cause for concern among scientists and public health authorities. One result of this concern is that you are not allowed to sell energy drinks in France or Denmark. And in other European countries, manufacturers have to label cans with warnings. The United States has no such rule, but many canned energy drinks sold in the USA carry warnings anyway. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Studies have shown it helps relieve pain, reduces asthma (哮喘)symptoms and increases reaction speed. Despite this, a study in Ireland recommended that children and pregnant women, among other groups, shouldn't drink energy drinks.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} "For most of human existence, the pattern of sleeping and waking has followed sunrise and sunset." explains Charles Czeisler, a neuroscientist(神经学家)at Harvard Medical School. "Then, the way we work changed from a schedule built around the sun to an indoor job timed by a clock, and consequently humans had to adapt. Electric light, and caffeinated food and drink allowed people to follow a work schedule set by the clock, not by daylight or the natural sleep cycle. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Without enough sleep the human body will not function at its best, physically, mentally, or emotionally."

A. The answer is their secret ingredient — caffeine.

B. But we need coffee to get us out of bed and back to work.

C. The main reason that people want caffeine is to stay awake.

D. But research suggests that caffeine may have benefits for human health.

E. Nevertheless, there is a heavy price to pay for all this extra wakefulness.

F. However, it raises blood pressure and thus increases the risk of heart disease.

G. Most babies in the developed world are born with traces of caffeine in their bodies.