The way we spend our time can be. divided into three groups，or jars(罐子).These would be the necessary tasks jar, the voluntary tasks jar and the happiness jar.

    Every day，we spend time filling the necessary tasks jar. We fill this jar with useful things，like making money，doing housework，buying food and paying bills. We then fill another jar with voluntary tasks like taking children to activities and cooking family meals. Those jars are very important，but we may not enjoy them. If we don't fill them each day，our family won't run properly.

    However, we often forget to fill the third jar—the happiness jar. This is the jar that we fill with activities that make us happy. Is your happiness jar sometimes empty at the end of the day? We all have days like that. Between doing all the necessary, and voluntary tasks，time flies by on some days，and before we know it，it is time for bed.

    That is why each day we try to fill our happiness jar. Most days，I fill mine by going to the ballroom dance(社交舞)class. Playing music is another way that I fill my happiness jar. This week，I was happy to take part in an orchestra(管弦乐队)practice at my church(教堂).At the end of the evening, my happiness jar was full.

    Consider how your time is spent. Try to find ways to achieve a balance. At the end of the day，hopefully we've done all we can to make sure that our happiness jar is filled.

    Scientists are trying to make the deserts into good land again. They want to bring water to the deserts, so people can live and grow food. They are learning a lot about the deserts. But more and more of the earth is becoming deserts all the time. Scientists may not be able to change the deserts. People are doing bad things to the earth.

    Some places on the earth don't get much rain. But they still don't become deserts. This is because some green plants are growing there. Small green plants and grass are very helpful to dry places. Plants don't let the hot sun make the earth even drier. Plants don't let the wind blow the earth away. When a little bit of rain falls, the plants hold the water. Without the plants, the land can become a desert much more easily.

A. SALE

A nice house with a small garden is on sale in New York

Call Mr. Smith at 158— 9036.

B. APARTMENT FOR RENTING

A 4—bedroom apartment(公寓) near Hyde Park in London

Rent(租金) below $ 600 each month

Call Jack at 834— 7464.

C. Green Tree Hotel

Beautiful flowers everywhere

A big swimming pool(泳池)

D. FOUND

A black schoolbag with some money inside was found on the street.

Call Mr. Lee at 326— 1976.

E. Blue Sky RESTAURANT

The restaurant is very good, but the food is a little expensive.

Call us at 856— 8899.

F. JOB

Can you sing and dance? Come to teach my son!

Call me at 281— 5238.

{#blank#}1{#/blank#}⑴Helen lost her schoolbag on her way to school.

{#blank#}2{#/blank#}⑵Mrs. Smith's birthday is coming. Her husband(丈夫) wants to take her to have dinner with him in a nice place.

{#blank#}3{#/blank#}⑶The Browns will come to London and need a place to live in(居住). .

{#blank#}4{#/blank#}⑷Cindy wants to find a hotel with a lot of plants(植物) and she likes swimming(游泳) in the morning.

{#blank#}5{#/blank#}⑸Ann is a good girl. She likes sports, singing and dancing. She wants to find a job(工作).

The story of the magazine

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    When you look at the different kinds of colorful magazines in the shops (and online) today, it's easy to think that they are a modern idea. However, magazines have been around since the 18th century and they have been an important part of people's daily lives for hundreds of years.

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    One of the earliest magazines was The Gentleman's Magazine which was started in London in 1731 by a man called Edward Cave. He was the first person to use the word "magazine" about a regular publication. The word comes from the Arabic makhzan or storehouse. His idea was that his magazine was a storehouse, or place that you could keep information about many different things.

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    Magazines became more popular in the 19th century. They gave people tips to help them with their daily lives, and they often had serialized(系列的) stories which gave the readers a new episode every week. Each part finished at a very exciting point in the story. Famous writers such as Charles Dickens and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created serialized novels for magazines.

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    One very important serialized novel was Hard Times by Dickens. It came out in 20 weekly parts between 1 April and 12 August 1854 in the magazine Household Words. This magazine was very good value and it was a cheap way for readers to buy a version of a novel.

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    Soap operas on TV today are often similar to the serialized novels. These old stories have often been made into modern films or TV series and they are still popular with modern audiences because they are so exciting.

    Many people believe that not only wetness, but also light and dirty things are the greatest enemies of stamps. People protect their stamps in several different ways.

    In fact, we should never touch the stamps with our hands. This avoids moving dirty things onto them. Stamp tweezers (镊子) should be used in all conditions.

    Stamps are printed things. The colour will slowly disappear if they are put in the light for a long time. So we should not put stamps in the light for long. Direct sunlight must be avoided as well.

    Wetness is an important problem for stamps. Some collectors will put stamps in separate plastic bags. However, it is possible that some stamps have taken in some water from the air before they are put into the plastic bags. Stamps become yellow easily and rapidly after they take in wet air. To protect the stamps, some people also put the stamps into a special room which has a machine to keep the air cool and dry. However, not many people can afford that.

    To keep stamps, stamp collectors usually put them under plastic covers. It is a common and simple way. This helps because the plastic cover keeps the stamps off the wet air. It also stops the fingers from touching the stamps.

    Some collectors prefer to store stamps inside a plastic box with desiccants (干燥剂). However, we should take care not to let the stamps touch the desiccants. On top of that, don't take your stamps out on a wet day.

    Do you often think of life in the future？Will we study at home？Will we have robots？Will we fly to the moon easily？Everyone may have his or her views about that. Life in the future will be very different from life today. Between then and now many changes will take place, but what will the changes be?

    There will be changes in our food. Maybe no one will eat meat. Instead, people will eat more fruit and vegetables. People will stay away from junk food. Maybe people will be healthier.

    Computers will be small and useful. Maybe we will even put the computer into our pockets(口袋). There will be at least two computers in every home. And computer studies will be one of the most important subjects at school.

    Work in the future will be different, too. Dangerous and hard work can be done by robots. People will work fewer hours than they do now. And they will have more free time for sports, watching TV and traveling.

Life in the future