This Way to Dreamland

Daydreaming means people think about something pleasant, especially when this makes them forget what they should be doing. Daydreamers have a bad reputation for being unaware of what's happening around them. They can seem forgetful and clumsy. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} ey annoy us because they seem to be ignoring us and missing the important things.

         But daydreamers are also responsible for some of the greatest ideas and achievements in human history.  {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Can you imagine what kind of world we would have without such ideas and inventions?

         So how can you come up with brilliant daydreams and avoid falling over tree roots or otherwise looking like a fool?

First, understand that some opportunities(机会) for daydreaming are better than others. Feeling safe and relaxed will help you to slip into daydreams.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} And if you want to improve your chances of having a creative idea while you're daydreaming, try to do it while you are involved in another task—preferably something simple, like taking a shower or walking, or even making meaningless drawings.

It's also important to know how to avoid daydreams for those times when you really need to concerntrate. “Mindfulness”, being focused, is a tool that some people use to avoid falling asleep. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

            Finally, you never know what wonderful idea might strike while your mind has moved slowly away.  {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

           Always remember that your best ideas might come when your head is actually in the clouds.

A. Having interesting things to think about also helps.

B. They stare off into space and wander by themselves.

C. Without wandering minds, we wouldn't have relatively, Coke or Post-it notes.

D. At one time, daydreaming was thought to be a cause of some mental illnesses.

E. It involves slow, steady breathing for self-control that helps people stay calm and attentive.

F. Daydreams are often very simple and direct, quite unlike sleep dreams, which may be hard to understand.

G. Therefore, it's a good idea to keep a notebook or voice recorder nearby when you're in the daydream zone.

    If you think your vocabulary is weak, a little effort every day over six to nine months can go a long way in improving it. Here are some tips for increasing your vocabulary.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. You may be comfortable reading a particular part of the newspaper but make an effort to read different articles on every page. The editorial (社论的) page is highly recommended not only for vocabulary but also for structuring and presenting thoughts.

    Make it a habit to read a new book every week. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. You can consider becoming a member of the local library. Make a list of new words and look up their meanings in the dictionary.

    Watch English movies and television shows. It's an interesting way to enrich your vocabulary. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}.

    Use vocabulary cards. Vocabulary cards are used by students who are trying to learn many words in a short time. You can make your own cards by writing the word on one side and the meaning on the other side of a piece of paper. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}.

    Use the Internet. The Internet is an unlimited resource for reading material.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. You will come across plenty of material to read. The Internet will also introduce you to new words. Be sure to look them up in a dictionary.

    Traveling abroad during the vacation is the top choice of many Chinese people. But do we have good manners abroad?

    On Feb 25, a report said that a Chinese mother let her child pee (小便) in front of a shop in Tokyo. A journalist came to the mother. Instead of saying sorry, the woman said that her child had peed inside a plastic bag and had not made the floor dirty.

    This case has caused a big discussion about Chinese people' s traveling manners again.

    In recent years, improper behavior has become a real embarrassment for China as overseas tourism increases. With the improvement of living standards, more and more Chinese are traveling abroad. But there are still a number of Chinese lacking in (缺乏) a sense of public manners. For this situation, the Chinese government has suggested proper manners. The National Tourism Administration has made a list of tourists' worst behaviors, including littering, line-jumping, taking off shoes and socks in public, speaking loudly and smoking in non-smoking areas.

    We are going to improve the inner being of every Chinese citizen. “Traveling manners are a turning point.” said an official. And changes have begun to appear. Most people minded their behaviors during this Spring Festival holiday, according to the National Tourism Administration. They kept their voice down, waited in line and respected local rules.

Celebrating Sleep

    World Sleep Day, observed on 21 March, was created to bring attention to the growing number of sleep problems worldwide. Sleep is a natural part of human life, but many people in the modern world ignore its importance. As a result, sleep problems are increasingly common.In 2002, scientists at the University of Athens in Greece conducted a survey of over 35,000 people in 10 countries around the world, including China, Belgium and South Africa. Of the people that responded to the survey, 24 percent said that they did not sleep well, and based on their responses, 31.6 percent were diagnosed with insomnia(失眠) and another 17.5 percent were diagnosed with borderline(边界线) insomnia. In addition, 30.7 percent of survey respondents reported visiting a doctor for help with sleep problems and 11.6 percent said that they felt very sleepy during the day.

    Overall, the survey found that many people suffer the effects of poor quality sleep, some examples of which are being unable to fall asleep and waking up in the middle of the night. The main factors causing these problems are pressure from school or work and a fast pace of life, but noise pollution and light pollution also interfere with sleep and contribute to poor quality sleep. The survey's findings are particularly troubling because large numbers of people were found to have difficulty sleeping at night. The short-term effects of this are tiredness and trouble concentrating. If this happens for a long time, the risk of gaining weight and having a heart attack may increase.

    There are many things you can do to improve the quality of your sleep. First, you should have regular sleep habits. Try to go to bed and wake up around the same time each day. You also need to make your bedroom a cool, dark, quiet place to sleep so that heat, light and noise do not disturb you. At night, you should also avoid things that contain caffeine, such as chocolate, coffee, tea and many soft drinks, as caffeine may keep you from sleeping.

    Getting a good night's sleep is important for everyone. By following the advice above, you can rest better at night and work better during the day.

    Most of us lead unhealthy lives; we spend far too much sitting down. If in addition we are careless about our diets, our bodies soon become loose and fatty and our systems slow moving.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}I am thinking of such features of modern city life as pollution, noise, rushed meals and stress. But keeping fit is a way to reduce the effects of these evils. The usual suggestion to a person who is looking for a way to keep fit is to take up some sport or other. While it is true that every weekend you will find people playing football and hockey in the local park, they are outnumbered a hundred to one by the people who are simply watching them.

    For those who do not particularly enjoy competitive sports—{#blank#}2{#/blank#}—there are such separate activities as cycling, walking, jogging and swimming. What often happens though is that you do them in such a leisurely way, so slowly, that it is doubtful if you are doing yourself much good, except for the fact that you have at least managed to get up out of your armchair.

    Even after you have found a way for keeping in shape, through sport or gymnastics, {#blank#}3{#/blank#}, because, according to the experts, you must also master the art of complete mental and physical relaxation. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}Yoga, as practiced in the West, is the most widely known and popular of the systems for achieving the necessary state of relaxation. It seems ironical (讽刺性的), though, that as our lives have improved in a material sense we have found it increasingly necessary to go back to forms of activity—{#blank#}5{#/blank#}—which were the natural way of life of our forefathers.

A. be active and practise Yoga

B. There are some aspects of our unhealthy lives that we cannot avoid.

C. and it is especially difficult to do so if you are not good at them

D. physical effort on the one hand and relaxation on the other

E. they spent most of the time out of doors

F. you are still only half way to good health

G. It has to do with deep breathing, emptying your mind of all thoughts, meditation, and so on.

注意：每个空格只填1个单词。

    Ants: master cooperators

    Millions of ants live together in a colony, but they don't compete, get confused, or become disorganized. They behave in an amazing orderly manner at all times. Some scientists refer to ants as 'super-organisms' because they live in such highly organized societies that work together to survive. The way ants live and work together has made them one of the most important creatures on the planet.

    Ants, like bees, belong to a class of eusocial insects. Eusocial insects are broken into groups within their community, and each group has a special job to do depending on the needs of the community. There are three basic groups in an ant colony: queens, soldiers, and workers. Queens are the largest ants, and their only job is to reproduce—they lay all of the eggs that will eventually become soldiers and workers. Soldiers are responsible for protecting the colony and finding new places for nests. Worker ants have many jobs within the community, including caring for the eggs and young ants, hunting for food and maintaining the nest.

    Some scientists are studying how ants can lead to a better understanding of labor issues, social class, and the use of nature resources in human communities. Ants have had millions of years of practice in working together to survive and grow. For a colony to function successfully, ants have to cooperate, from which people can learn a lot. Researchers hope that gathering information about how ants live together in communities can help people learn to cooperate and compromise with each other.

    However, others argue that there are fundamental differences between ants and humans that mean human societies are unlikely ever to attain ant-like levels of collaboration. For example, ants in a colony don't compete with each other. When they are short of food in the colony, some worker ants automatically become 'feeder' ants and feed others with the food in their stomach, regardless of their usual job. When the food supply is replenished, they become worker ants again.

    In addition, ants are able to work together without a leader giving them directions. Despite their names, queen ants are not leaders. Instead, ants find out what they need to do from their sense of smell. Research on harvester ants pass each other, they pick up a chemical smell which tells them what the other ant is doing. The number of ants they pass doing a particular job determines what they need to do. It is a form of communication, but unlike human communication it has no content; it is just based on numbers.

    While ants undoubtedly have a great deal to teach us about organization and the structure of networks, those searching for a greater understanding of human behaviour and morals may need to look somewhere.

    Main {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    They live together in colony without competitions, {#blank#}2{#/blank#} or being disorganized

    The way they work together for {#blank#}3{#/blank#} living in highly organized societies makes them unique on the planet.

    Three groups, including queens, soldiers and workers in an ant colony have a special job, {#blank#}4{#/blank#} the needs of the community {#blank#}5{#/blank#} of studying ants.

    It helps people understand labor issues, social class, and the use of natural resources better

    Ants are {#blank#}6{#/blank#} in working together to survive and grow, helping people run the communities smoothly

    It helps people learn to cooperate and {#blank#}7{#/blank#} with each other

    Differences between ants and humans

    For {#blank#}8{#/blank#} of food some worker ants automatically become "feeder ants {#blank#}9{#/blank#} ants, humans have leaders giving people directions

    Suggestion

    Researchers should have different {#blank#}10{#/blank#} in understanding human behaviour and morals.