Flat Holm, a small island in Britain's Bristol Channel, has no permanent residents and minimal infrastructure（设施）. The pretty land mass is now, however, becoming increasingly popular with tourists wishing to explore the rural landscape and view the island's seabird colonies.

    Though this is welcome news, meeting the island's growing energy needs without ruining its environment poses a challenge. Flat Holm team leader Natalie Taylor says, “As we promote the island more and we get more visitors here, there's going to be a lot more demand for electricity so it's really important that we've got a really high functioning system that can provide for those people. From an environmental point of view, we want to reduce the use of diesel（柴油）generators so that we can have as small ecological footprints as possible.”

    While the Cardiff Council, which oversees the island, considered traditional solar and hydroelectricity, it was reluctant to carry out either, due to their high cost and permanent nature. According to energy and sustainability manager Gareth Harcombe, the officials were seeking a portable option that could be moved if the site was needed for another purpose.

    Fortunately, the UK-based company Renovagen had the perfect solution. A small panel can provide 11kW of power within two minutes. A more extensive version, unrolled from a shipping container, can yield 300kW of electricity in less than an hour.

    The solar panel “carpets”, laid on the island in early October, are being used to provide electricity to its sole pub and lighthouse. The Cardiff Council also plans to use them to charge two Nissan e-NV200 electric vehicles in the future.

    In addition to providing power to remote islands like Flat Holm, Hingley hopes the Rapid Roll technology will be useful in areas affected by natural disasters. A good example is Puerto Rico, where most residents have been without electricity since Hurricane Maria destroyed the power lines in late September.

    “Fast fashion” means clothes that are inexpensive but look like the latest designs. One reason for the success of fast fashion is social networking. A report by the investment research firm Bernstein found that millennials — people born in the 1980s and 90s — wanted to wear a variety of clothes in the photos they posted on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. As a result, many businesses that offer trend, low - cost clothes are growing.

    But the situation is changing now. Maxine Bedat, a woman who is in her early 30s，looks in her closet full of clothes, but she has nothing to wear. She says she hates always shopping for what is in style . Instead，she says, she wants to buy fewer clothes that she can wear over and over. Other people want the same thing, she says.

    So Ms. Bedat and a business partner, Soraya Darabi, started a “slow fashion” clothing company calltd Zady. “Slow fashion” means clothes that last a long time. They are often classic colors and shapes, and are made from natural materials that are biodegradable (可生物降解的) over time.

    The terms “fast fashion” and “slow fashion” are related to “fast food” and “slow food: fast food is still popular in the US, but many restaurants increasingly offer higher - quality, more expensive and relaxed meals.

    Like slow food，slow fashion also aims to use sources that are good for the environment and 、 workers. Maxine Bedat says people in her generation want to know where their clothes come from and who is making them. To answer millennials'demand for information about the products they buy, Ms. Bedat's company, Zady, includes details about the history of the brands. It also describes the process in which the clothes are made. Ms Bedat says Zady aims to tell shoppers where their clothes come from, where they go, and how they impact the world.

    A new study shows students who write notes by hand during lectures perform better on exams than those who use laptops.

    Students are increasingly using laptops for note­taking because of speed and legibility(清晰度)．But the research has found laptop users are less able to remember and apply the concepts they have been taught.

    Researchers performed experiments that aimed to find out whether using a laptop increased the tendency to make notes“mindlessly”by taking down word for word what the professors said.

    In the first experiment，students were given either a laptop or pen and paper.They listened to the same lectures and were told to use their usual note­taking skills.Thirty minutes after the talk，they were examined on their ability to remember facts and on how well they understood concepts.

    The researchers found that laptop users took twice as many notes as those who wrote by hand.However，the typists performed worse at remembering and applying the concepts.Both groups scored similarly when it came to memorizing facts.

    The researchers' report said，“While more notes are beneficial，if the notes are taken mindlessly，as is more likely the case on a laptop，the benefit disappears. ”

    In another experiment aimed at testing long­term memory，students took notes as before but were tested a week after the lecture.This time，the students who wrote notes by hand performed significantly better on the exam.

    These two experiments suggest that handwritten notes are not only better for immediate learning and understanding，but that they also lead to superior revision in the future.

What If We Don't Get Along?

    Teachers want to get along with you and enjoy seeing you learn. But teachers and students sometimes have personality clashes（人格冲突）. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} If you show your teacher that you want to make the situation better, he or she will probably do everything possible to make that happen. Take these steps if the problem seems difficult to solve:

    ⒈Talk to an adult you trust, such as a parent, guidance counselor, or both.

    ⒉{#blank#}2{#/blank#} You may not feel immediately comfortable with your teachers, but that may change as you get to know one another.

    ⒊If you've given it time, talk with your parents about what to do next. Lots of times, a meeting can be set up to discuss the problem. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Everyone's goal should be to create trust and kindness.

    Your relationship with your teachers is often your first chance to develop a “business relationship”. They are different from your family relationships and friendships, which are built on affection and love. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} But they don't necessarily need to be good friends or like each other a lot. They simply need to respect one another, be polite, and stay focused on the jobs at hand.

    When you act this way, and remember that you're not the only kid in the class, you are helping your teacher. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Teachers also like it when students follow directions and when they learn and obey the rules of the classroom. For instance, there may be rules about listening when another student is talking, about taking turns, or about raising your hand when you want to say something or ask a question.

A. Give it time.

B. This can happen between any two people.

C. This may clear the air and make things better.

D. Your teacher is likely to notice this and appreciate it.

E. Therefore, those teachers rarely show respect towards their students.

F. A teacher cannot necessarily answer all the questions his students ask.

G. In a business relationship, both parties get something out of the relationship.

New Reasons to Exercise

    It's a cruel reality that exercising is not a reliable way to lose weight and keep it off. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Here are the benefits of regular exercise.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    A new study had found that just a short period of exercise can help improve the ability to remember things in the hours that follow. The report says, “Exercising four hours after learning a task can help people remember that task in the long term”

    It may keep off depression.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Researchers found that women who exercised regularly reported about 50% fewer depressive signs than women who didn't exercise as much. And the more the women reported exercising, the less likely they were to have signs of depression.

    It can control appetite.(食欲)

    Exercise may be the key to controlling your appetite . A study found that people who exercised for 15 minutes after doing mental work ate 100 fewer calories than people who did mental work and then remained seated. Exercise has the ability to increase available fuel sources in the body that may signal to the brain. “{#blank#}4{#/blank#}I don't need to fill myself with food,” says study author William H. Neumeirer.

    It increases energy.

    In a recent report, men who cycled for 20 minutes experienced a 166% increase in self-reported energy levels, compared with a 15% increase when they sat and did nothing for the same amount of time.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A.It improves memory.

B.It has mind-body benefits.

C.Here is the energy source I need.

D.We do the work at the office each day.

E.Working out regularly might prevent depression.

F.But that doesn't mean you should give up the effort.

G.If you need a reason to work out, energy increase is a worthwhile one.

    The best way of learning a language is using it. The best way of learning English is talking in English as much as possible. Sometimes you'll get your words mixed up (混合) and people will not understand you. Sometimes people will say things too quickly and you can't understand them. But if you keep your sense of humor, you can always have a good laugh at the mistakes you make. Don't be unhappy if people seem to be laughing at your mistakes. It's better for people to laugh at your mistakes than to be angry with you, because they don't understand what you are saying. The most important thing for learning English is: "Don't be afraid of making mistakes because everyone makes mistakes."