As we know, there are differences between Western culture and Chinese culture. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. Let's look at some words about animals and plants. Most expressions in Chinese about the dog, for example, "a homeless dog", "a mad dog", "a running dog" and "a dog catching a mouse", have bad meanings. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. In English, people use the dog to describe good actions. For example, "you are a lucky dog" means you are a lucky person. And "every dog has its day" means each person has good luck sometimes. To describe a person's serious illness, they say "sick as a dog". The word "dog­tired" means very tired.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}. But in Western culture, "cat" is often used to describe a woman who is unkind. There are many other examples of how "cat" is used differently as well.

   {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. People think the rose stands for love, peace, courage and friendship. And the rose is the national flower of England, America and many other countries.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. We can learn about many differences in cultures by comparing how some words are used.

A. However, Chinese love cats very much

B. The words about plants and animals are used in good or bad ways in different cultures

C. We can see differences when we pay attention to the way words are used

D. However, westerners love cats very much

E. We can see similarities when we pay attention to the way words are used

F. The rose is regarded as a symbol of love in both China and some Western countries

G. But in Western countries, dogs are considered to be honest and good friends of humans

    Giraffes are beautiful, smart and friendly. They have long legs and necks (脖子). They are so tall that they can grow up over 5 meters (米). So how do they sleep or drink?

    You may think it's difficult for them to sleep, but they have no such problems because giraffes don't often stop for a sleep. Giraffes just need to sleep about thirty minutes a day. When they sleep, they don't always lie down (躺下). They usually sleep for minutes at a time, because it's difficult for them to get up again. And it's a great danger to sleep in the wild (荒野). But the giraffes in the zoo sleep for about 4-6 hours every day. They usually lie down when they sleep.

    Drinking water is a big problem for giraffes because their long necks are too "short". To drink water, they must spread (伸展) their front legs in a difficult way. And in this way, other animals like Africa's big cats can easily hunt (猎食) them. So they usually get most of their water from the trees and flowers. Giraffes don't need to drink water very often. They can even drink no water for months!

    Electricity is an important part in our life. We can't see or touch it, but it is all around us. Our life will be terrible without electricity. But some people don't know that everyone should save electricity. When it is not completely dark, many street lamps (路灯) light up early in some streets. Some people don't turn off the lights when they leave the room. Some people are sleeping with the lights on. They are all wrong. Here I make some suggestions about stopping these things:

    *Turn on the street lamps on time. We light them from 7：00 p. m.～5：30 a. m. in summer, and from 5：30 p. m.~6：00 a. m. in winter.

    *If some small areas are very dark, just turn on a few lights.

    *The distance (距离) between street lights can be 50～60 meters. It can save electricity and money.

    *If there are some activities, such as fairs, we can make the lights bright；if there is no activity, lights needn't be too bright.

    Ask people to save electricity through TV shows, newspapers, and so on.

    Electricity is a valuable resource (资源). It helps us live well and conveniently. We should take action to save it at once!

Today, many students are always stressed out. They are often too busy to think{#blank#}1{#/blank#} their diets and exercise. Healthy eating, along with regular(定期的) exercise {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (keep) you healthy. Do you think it is the only way to keep us in {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(healthy)?

As we know, it is important to give your body the energy it needs. Teenage girls {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (need) about 2,200 calories(卡路里) a day and boys need a bit more. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (fiftieth) percent of your calories should come from rice, bread, {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(vegetable) and fruit. You also need to d{#blank#}7{#/blank#} a lot of water, six to eight glasses a day. Enough water will improve your skin and give you healthy hair.

Exercise can help to make you look good, feel good {#blank#}8{#/blank#} be healthy. Scientists suggest that teenagers should spend at{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(little) 30 minutes exercising every day.

Exercise can make you feel {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (relax)and energetic. It can even help you sleep better at night.

Let's eat healthily and take more exercise.

Chongyang Festival {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (celebrate) on the ninth day of the ninth month on the traditional Chinese calendar, and it is also known as Double Ninth Festival.

In Chinese culture, the number nine is thought to be yang. The ninth day of the ninth month is a double yang day and "double"{#blank#}2{#/blank#} (mean) Chong in Chinese, so it got the name Chongyang Festival. The ninth month also heralds（预示）the coming of winter, so it is a time when the living need warm clothes, and some people make the festival a time for {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (provide) special clothes for their ancestors（祖先）.

During the festival, people usually {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (climb) mountains, wear the zhuyu plant, drink chrysanthemum (菊花) wine, and eat Chongyang cake. Cake in Chinese is pronounced "gao" meaning high, so people consider climbing a high mountain to be the same as eating cake. Also, people think they {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (do) better than before after eating the cake.

Double Ninth Festival is also Seniors' Day— a day to care for the elder people and to let them {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (enjoy) themselves. On the day, many communities organize retired people to go out {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (climb) mountains.

Do you have trouble trying to create the next big idea?

Sometimes the answer isn't to just force an idea out of your mind.

Instead, you might want to try sitting back, relaxing and letting your mind wander（走神）. Yes, you heard that correctly. If you are in need of a new idea, try daydreaming.

Daydreams allow your mind to run freely and even increase productivity in some cases. Daydreaming develops creativity which is why you have an ah-ha moment and sudden insight（领悟） about a situation. Daydreaming allows you to uncover thoughts and ideas you did not realize you even had and get the thoughts hidden under the surface.

Researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara, found a connection between daydreaming and creative problem-solving. Their study includes making participants first do an "unusual-use task". They had to try to come up with as many different ways to use an object as they could.

Then, the participants choose to do one of the following four things before doing the "unusual-use task" again; complete a difficult task, complete an easy task, take a 12-minute break, or skip a 12-minute break and move right on to the task exercise again.

Surprisingly, the group that performed best was the one that completed the easy task. Many participants reported that they were daydreaming while performing the easy task. So the researchers believed that this daydreaming might have helped unlock their creativity.

But how could daydreaming help the brain come up with creative ways? The answer is something known as "unconscious thought". Even when you are not actively working to solve a problem, it is still in the back of your mind. Your brain is still thinking about the problem, but in a way that you are unaware of.

When you daydream, your mind is allowed to think in ways it normally would not. Because it is free of control, it can create completely new and out-of-the-box ideas.

Great ideas never come easily, but that does not mean you always have to work hard to get them. Feel free to do what you want and let your mind wander.