How to Care for Your Ears?

    Ears not only let us hear, but they also paly a role in maintaining our balance, which is vital to our ability to function in daily life. Yet, we ignore them. We can't even see our ears, except in a mirror. We take it for granted what they do for us day in and day out—until we notice something worng, such as when an earache strikes or when we start having to ask people to repeat what they say. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

◆Clean your ear with a washcloth—covered finger only.

    Never put anything inside your ear canal, including cotton swabs (药签). {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

◆Leave earwax(耳垢) alone.

    Wax is your ear's way of eliminating （消除）anything foreign that gets into the ear canal. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} If you find you have too much earwax, use a few drops of earwax remover（去除剂）in the canal. After a few minutes, wash the ear with warm water.

◆Avoid noisy places.

    Rock concerts and construction sites are just a few places that frequently have noise levels that can damage

hearing.Any place where you have to shout to be heard should be avoided.

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    Be careful not to play MP3 too loud, especially if using earphone.

◆Be careful with illness and medications.

    Respiratory illnesses should be treated to avoid their spread to the ears. Certain medications can damage hearing, so follow the directions carefully before taking them.

    See your doctor if you suffer from sudden hearing loss or hear noises in your head. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A．Most people don't need to clean wax out of their ears.

B．In such case, go to see a doctor as soon as possible.

C．These can be symptoms of a serious illness which needs to be treated.

D．This article will show you how to care for your ears.

E．Turn the volume down.

F．Avoid using earphones while listening to MP3.

G．Your ear canal is very narrow, and a swab can damage it.

    Lindsay Renwick, the mayor of Deniliquin, a country town in New South Wales, misses the constant whir（嗡嗡声）of the rice mill whose giant fans dried the rice. The Deniliquin mill, the largest rice mill in the Southern Hemisphere (南半球), once processed enough grain to meet the needs of 20 million people globally. But six years of drought have had a destructive effect, reducing Australia's rice crop by 98 percent and leading to the mothballing of the mill last December.

    Drought affects every agriculture industry based in Australia, not just rice – from sheep farming, the country's other backbone, to the cultivation of grapes for wine, the fastest-growing crop there, with that expansion often coming at the expense of rice. The drought's effect on rice has produced the greatest impact on the rest of the world, so far. It is one factor contributing to skyrocketing prices, and many scientists believe it is among the earliest signs that a warming planet is starting to affect food production.

    Researchers are looking for solutions to global rice shortages – for example, rice that blooms earlier in the day, when it is cooler, to fight against global warming. Rice plants that happen to bloom on hot days are less likely to produce grains of rice, a difficulty that is already starting to emerge in inland areas of China and other Asian countries as temperatures begin to climb. 'there will be problems very soon unless we have new varieties of rice in place,” said Reiner Wassmann, climate change director at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). The recent reports on climate change carried a warning that could make the news even worse: that existing models for the effects of climate change on agriculture did not yet include newer findings that global warming could reduce rainfall and make it more variable.

    Yet the effects of climate change are not uniformly bad for rice. Rising concentrations (浓度) of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, can actually help rice – although the effect reduces or disappears if the plants face unnecessary heat, inadequate water, severe pollution or other stresses. Still, the flexibility of farmers here has persuaded some climate experts that, particularly in developed countries, the effects of climate change may be relieved, if not completely avoided. “I'm not as negative as most people,” said Will Steffen, director of the Fenner School of Environment and Society at Australian National University. “Farmers are learning how to do things differently.”

    Meanwhile, changes like the use of water to grow wine grapes instead of rice carry their own costs, as the developing world is discovering. “Rice is an essential food,” said Graeme Haley, the general manager of the town of Deniliquin. “Wine is not.”

    Every year, thousands of students choose to study in another country for a semester, the summer, or a year. Studying overseas can be an exciting experience for many people.

Why do you study overseas?

    Living in another country can help you to learn a language, and about another culture. You will see the world in a new way, and learn more about yourself. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Many companies today want employees who speak a second language, or have experienced living or working in another country.

    Make the right choice.

    Once you decide to study overseas, you have to make some choices. To choose the right country or school, ask yourself: Where do I want to go and why? How much do I want to pay? How long do I want to study overseas? {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Get your passport and visa (签证) early! Before you go, learn some of the language, and read about some common customs in your host country. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Bring some of it, and a credit card with you.

    Once you are there.

    After the first few weeks overseas, many students will feel a little homesick. They may miss their family, and familiar ways of doing things. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} When you feel sad or homesick, try to talk to others, or write your feelings in a notebook.

A. Get ready to go.

B. Learn about the country.

C. Get quick access (进入) to foreign universities.

D. Overseas study may also look good on your future resume (简历).

E. Do I want to live with a host family, with roommates, or alone?

F. Remember that it takes time to get used to a new place, school, and culture.

G. As a study-abroad student, you will pay tuition fees (学费) to the overseas institution.

    Keeping the memory in shape is important at any age, but it requires a bit more work as we grow. There are some simple activities that can improve your memory.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Awaken your senses.

    Use your senses to help your memory store(储存) needed information.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}You can ask yourself like this: Is the sky a light blue or deep purple? The more involved(参与的) you can be in the information, the easier it is for your brain to store it.

    Use imagination and relation.

    Trying to remember names? Let's say you meet a man named Frank Parker.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}Tie the two together by picturing Frank dressed up in a hot dog costume(服装) parking his car in the parking lot. Now each time you see Frank, you should easily recall his name.

    Breathe deeply and relax.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}Relax, breathe deeply and slowly and let your mind ease up for a minute. Being relaxed makes it easier for information to be both stored and remembered.

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    When you come upon something you need to remember, say to yourself, "Hey, pay attention and remember this! "You are giving yourself a wake-up call as well as giving your mind a marker that it can use to help in storing the new information.

A. Give yourself an order.

B. Get a good night's sleep.

C. Here are four of them to get you started.

D. Picture a hot dog for Frank and a car for Parker.

E. For example, note the colors of a picture you want to remember.

F. When we try hard to remember something we often become nervous.

G. The way you live influences not only your physical health but also your memory.

    A new urban sport, parkour, is hitting the streets. It has evolved from obstacle course training into a fitness option for young people. In parkour, the outside world is the gym! {#blank#}1{#/blank#} The goal of parkour is a direct route from one place to another. You meet an obstacle, you overcome it.

    Mark Toorock, who teaches the techniques of parkour at his fitness gym, says that parkour is a method to train the body and mind using obstacles as the medium. He says that this new sport is demanding and takes years to master. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    But Toorock, who used to be a martial arts expert, says that everyone can benefit from learning the basic skills involved in parkour like running, jumping and crawling (爬行). These are the things that humans used to have to do all the time. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} The original idea of parkour was to return to running and jumping as basic elements in moving from one place to another.

    Georges Hebert, a French navy officer, was so impressed by the effortless athleticism of African tribes that he devised a training method based on running, climbing, jumping, balancing and throwing. The word parkour comes from parcours de combatant, the French term for a military obstacle course. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Dr Kenneth Kao explains that the sport of parkour is not extreme – it is the environment which is extreme and dangerous. Being outside, jumping off railings and flipping over park benches can be quite frightening, so parkour courses in gyms concentrate on practicing all the individual moves to make everything easier. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} However, that is not real parkour because it's indoors with a fixed obstacle. The goal for everyone is to go outdoors.

A. Gyms provide thick floor matting (垫子) for rolling and rubberized boxes for jumping over.

B. The bridges, buildings and railings (栏杆) of each and every city are the equipment.

C. Every action in parkour is natural, so everyone must have the ability to move in this way.

D. Parkour was introduced into china in recent years and has gained popularity.

E. But today, due to modern transport, these basic skills are no longer used on a regular basis.

F. The French word for people who participate in the sport is traceurs or traceuses.

G. Beginners should realize that they won't be jumping over buildings any time soon!

    I've always wanted to start my own business. I've always wanted to start working for myself. Yet I didn't make that decision. I finally got started instead of thinking about it or putting it off. And I made it. Maybe you've not started on something important to yourself. Maybe you can relate to what I'm saying, and you feel you've been slacking (松懈的) off for too long. You had better get started now.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    ⒈It's better than thinking about it.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} But thinking can also be dangerous when you do too much of it. You can think as much as you like, but thinking isn't going to change the situation. In fact, thinking isn't going to change anything.③ {#blank#}3{#/blank#} You won't go anywhere, as if you're a human statue. So you had better get started now.

    ⒉It's better than never taking action.

    Do you want to be the man or the woman who never does anything? Do you want to be the man or the woman who never gets started? {#blank#}4{#/blank#} You won't regret it.

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    How long are you going to dream about getting started? How long are you going to dream about how wonderful it'll be when you do take action? And how long are you going to dream about how much of a difference it'll make to your life? There's only so much dreaming you can do before you have to turn that dream into action. A dream without action is a fantasy, destined(注定) to never come true.

A. It's better than dreaming about doing it.

B. Here's why getting started is the best way to get started.

C. Thinking will just keep you in the same position you're already in.

D. Take action and get out of your own head.

E. You can adjust your actions along the way.

F. Thinking about something before you do it is a great quality to have.

G. It's better to make a mistake than do nothing at all