Millions of people along the US mid-Atlantic region should be preparing for severe snow, the National Weather Service has said. Forecasters say two feet of snow could fall over the weekend in some areas. A light dusting of snow on Wednesday night caused a traffic jam in Washington, but it is what lies ahead that is occupying the thoughts of millions of people living on the US east coast.

    Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser tweeted an apology to her constituents(选民), saying that the city government had “failed to use the necessary resources effectively in response to the snow-for that I am sorry.” Among those affected was President Barack Obama, whose motorcade spent an hour and 12 minutes trying to get him from an airport back to the White House-a trip that typically takes about a half hour.

    Routine commutes lasted up to three hours and some people abandoned their cars, after an inch fell-a small amount compared to what is expected on Friday and Saturday. Long queues have formed at supermarkets, as people expect shop closures over the weekend. “Heavy snow and blowing snow will cause dangerous conditions and will be threat to life and property,” the National Weather Service warned.

    Across the US east coast at a glance:

    Classes were cancelled at schools in Kentucky and Tennessee, the first states being affected by the storm.

    Washington has requested Humvees from the National Guard so that emergency responders can reach isolated(孤立的) people and places. Besides, its underground train system will close throughout the weekend.

    West Virginia Govemor Earl Ray Tomblin has activated the National Guard to assist.

    In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania officials are calling on people to keep large salt stockpiles and plough vehicles in good repair.

    Will it matter if you don't take your breakfast? Recently a test was given in the United States. Those tested included people of different ages, from 12 to 83. During the experiment, these people were given all kinds of breakfasts, and sometimes they got no breakfast at all. Special tests were set up to see how well their bodies worked when they had eaten a certain kind of breakfast. The results show that if a person eats a proper breakfast, he or she will work with better effect than if he or she has no breakfast. This fact appears to be especially true if a person works with his brains. If a student eats fruit, eggs, bread and milk before going to school, he will learn more quickly and listen with more attention to class.

    Opposite to what many people believe, if you don't eat breakfast, you will not lose weight. This is because people become so hungry at noon that they eat too much for lunch, and end up gaining weight instead of losing. You will probably lose more weight if you reduce your other meals.

    One of the traditions which is now a necessary part of Christmas is that of Father Christmas, or Santa Claus. According to the modern legend, he is a magical figure who visits all the children of the world during the night before Christmas Day, leaving presents, which they find the next morning. He flies through the night sky in a sledge pulled by reindeer, and enters houses by climbing down chimneys. This strange legend is based on the life of a man called Nicholas, but in fact we know very little about him. Historians think he was a Christian bishop（主教）in Turkey in about 285-350 A.D. One of the stories about him is that he helped three poor girls. No one would marry them because they were so poor.

    To provide them with money for their weddings, Nicholas secretly dropped some gold coins down the chimney of their house. After Nicholas died, he was made a saint（圣人）by the church. (The name Santa Claus thus comes from St Nicholas.) His feast day was celebrated in December, and parents started giving their children secret presents from St Nicholas. Over the years, this custom became part of our Christmas traditions.

    Recently, a psychologist has claimed that Father Christmas is “the perfect fantasy” for children. According to Professor Anthony Clare, children love the character of Father Christmas because he is like an ideal father: he loves children and gives them presents, but he never criticizes them, is never angry and children do not even need to thank him for presents. Other writers, however, point out that Father Christmas can be a frightening character to some children. Jane Bidder says that some children are terrified of this fat, bearded old man. It can certainly confuse many children. As presents, we warn our children to be careful of strangers and never to let them into the house, and yet we tell children that a strange man will come into their bedroom at night! Some children can become very worried about this idea and fear that he is a kind of burglar.

    Most children, however, understand from their parents and from the media that Father Christmas is basically a benign character, and look forward to his annual visit with joy and excitement.

    I began cycling in 2004 when I was a poor student. It was dangerous, sure, but cycling is the fastest, cheapest point-to-point form of transport in Melbourne. I own a car now, but that's just for transporting the baby or groceries.

    I hate driving. So it's been quite encouraging watching the growth in cyclist numbers over the past decade. It is estimated 10,000-plus cyclists enter the CBD (Central Business District) each day, taking pressure off public transport. But as more people take to cycling as a mode of transport, the number of cyclists seriously injured or killed keeps climbing. And that is a sign that our infrastructure (基础设施) is still not good enough.

    Melbourne was once a dream for cyclists-flat, long, wide roads, with plenty of paths along rivers. Now, cycling can be deadly, with roads dominated by cars. I have a friend who broke her back and was lucky to escape paralysis, and others with broken bones. In my time riding, I've been forced off the road by a truck, cut off by four-wheel drives, and told to get off the road.

    These things don't exactly happen to trams and buses, those other slowcoaches on Melbourne's roads. No—drivers reserve a particular savagery (残暴行为) for cyclists. And that's a sign of exactly one thing: inadequate infrastructure.

    We shouldn't need to be taught how to coexist in the same narrow space. Drivers and cyclists should be kept apart. The present debate over how to minimize “dooring” is a distraction.

    Dooring is not a legal problem. You cannot legislate (制定法律) it away. Designing bike paths so riders are channelled between moving cars and parked cars is deadly. All it takes is one daydreaming driver to fling open the door and you are gone. That's what happened to the young university student James Cross.

    This year, there are to be new anti-dooring lanes (车道) built on Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn, where Cross died in 2010. But these lanes are not safe. Cyclists must still pass between two rows of cars.

    We all love bank holidays. In the UK, we only get eight bank holidays in one year, and at least five of those occur around Christmas time and Easter time! A bank holiday is a British English term. This is an official day that is decided by the government, when banks, shops and offices close for the day even though it's a weekday—usually a Monday, and a lot of people have a day off work.

    Bank holidays are different in Colombia -firstly, they are called "festivos". There are twenty festivos for the whole country in one year! In Britain, people get more holiday allowances(津贴)than Colombians but fewer bank holidays. There can be even more festivos in Colombia, depending on which region of Colombia you live in. This is because different regions have their own holidays. For example, some regions have a patron saint(守护神), so they have an extra festivo to celebrate that saint.

    However, there are some days that are national holidays for historical reasons. There is an Independence Day celebration on July 20 every year. This is just like Bastille Day in France on July 14, or Independence Day in the United States on July4. Other important festivos in Colombia are: Labour Day, on May 1, and Columbus Day on October 12. Columbus Day is a historical bank holiday that almost every county on the continent of America celebrates. This includes Colombia, Chile, Peru, Argentina, Mexico and the United States. It is memorialization of the day when the Italian sailor, Christopher Columbus, first reached land on the continent in the year 1492. Many people criticize this day and say it is not something to celebrate because of the way Columbus and his team treated the people that were already living there.

The quality of your sleep is just as important as the quantity. Getting the right number of hours every night is unlikely to benefit you if you are frequently waking up, if you sleep at wildly different times, or if you sleep shallowly. Here are some tips that help you get quality sleep.

{#blank#}1{#/blank#} You will sleep the most soundly if you go to bed and wake up around the same time every day. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Work, children, and other demands on your time may determine your rhythm. Many sleepers, especially night owls, may be tempted to sleep in longer on weekends. Try to keep the same wake-up time, even on weekends.

Determine your natural sleep schedule. If you have the freedom to determine your own sleep schedule, do so around the rhythms of your body. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Notice when you feel sleepy, and when you feel the most awake. To establish a natural sleep rhythm, spend a week or two waking up without an alarm clock. Keep a log with all the times you wake up.

Stay asleep.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}This can be difficult if you are an evening person, if you have children, or if you are a light sleeper. Making arrangements in your bedroom and winding down properly can make a huge difference, but so can prioritizing staying asleep. Tell yourself and tell everyone you live with that you need to stay asleep all night.

Sleep enough. Most adults need to sleep between seven and nine hours a night. Teenagers need eight to10 hours of sleep, and school-aged children need at least 10 hours. Sleeping too little can expose you to higher risks of illness, anxiety, and disease. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Make lifestyle changes to promote better sleep.

B. Establish a regular bedtime and wake up time.

C. This rhythm helps your body prepare for sleep.

D. Your body has natural waking and sleeping moments.

E. Do everything in your power to avoid waking up at night.

F. Sleeping too much, however, may reduce the quality of your sleep.

G. If you haven't fallen asleep after 15 minutes, get up and do a brief, relaxing activity.