London has become a cycle-friendly zone after the launch of a new bike hire scheme.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

   {#blank#}2{#/blank#}First you have to sign up to the scheme to be sent a key. The key will unlock one of the bikes, which are kept at docking stations in and around central London. You have to pay an access fee for the key and then you pay as you go, for the length of time you use the bike.

    Transport for London, which runs the scheme, are hoping to have 6,000 bikes and 400 docking stations in place by the end of the year. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}London Mayor Boris Johnston launched the scheme and said London has been “filled with thousands of gleaming (发光的) machines that will transform the look and feel of our street and become as commonplace on our roads as black cabs and red buses”.

{#blank#}4{#/blank#} On the first day some people found they couldn't dock their bike properly and their usage of the bike had not registered. Transport for London did admit they had been expecting a few “teething problems” and have said they would not charge for the first day as a “gesture of goodwill”. Some other people have criticized the lack of docking stations and locks for the bikes as well as the price it costs to hire the bicycles.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}“My crusade for the capital to become the greatest big cycling city in the world has taken a great pedal-powered push forwards.”

A. So how does it work?

B. How do you like it?

C. However, there have been a few problems since the scheme was launched last Friday.

D. Despite the comments, the green-thinking London Mayor still says with certainty.

E. However, the London Mayor is confident of the scheme.

F. It has been designed to encourage more people to cycle in and around central London.

G. The new hire system is hoping to ease congestion(拥挤) in London and is expected to create up to 40,000 extra cycle trips a day into the city centre.

    Taking good notes is a time-saving skill that will help you to become a better student in several ways.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}Second,your notes are excellent materials to refer to when you are studying for a test.Third,note-taking offers variety to your study time and helps you to hold your interest.

    You will want to take notes during classroom discussions and while reading a textbook or doing research for a report.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}whenever or however you take notes,keep in mind that note-taking is a selective process.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    The following methods may work best for you.

    Read the text quickly to find the main facts and ideas in it.

    Carefully read the text and watch for words that can show main points and supporting facts.

    Write your notes in your own words.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Note any questions or ideas you may have about what was said or written.

    As you take notes,you may want to use your own shorthand(速记).When you do,be sure that you understand your symbols and that you use them all the time,{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A.Use words,not complete sentences.

B.There are three practical note-taking methods.

C.You must write your notes on separate paper.

D.Otherwise,you may not be able to read your notes later.

E.You will also want to develop your own method for taking notes.

F.That means you must first decide what is important enough to include in your notes.

G.First,the simple act of writing something down makes it easier for you to understand and remember it.

                      How to Love Your Parents

    Even if you think that your parents are mean-spirited at times, loving your parents is a normal and fulfilling（有意义的） part of life. You love them for the fact that they created you, raised you, and are in part, a source of who you are. Here are some ways to love your parents. 

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. A gentle “good morning” and “I love you” will warm a coldest heart. Remember that they brought you into this world. Without your parents, we might still wander at an unknown corner in an unknown world.

    Respect them more and cherish(珍惜) these moments. You can use these moments to learn from them, preparing yourself for when you're off on your own. It's OK to get angry but angry actions don't help you or your parents. Act calmly, cool off, write down your feelings, or talk to a friend. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Obey their requests. It will make your attitude better and earn you more respect from them. It may seem like you are going through hell when you don't get what you want or you have to clean. However, you had better remember they keep a roof over your head when it's cold, raining, snowing, or too hot. Understand that parents are human beings and make mistakes. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Since you can forgive your friends, why not forgive your parents?

    Keep company with them. Do things with your parents like watching TV, or go somewhere with them. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Listen to their old stories and learn from them. You will find they are your teachers in this way or another.

    Some people simply may not be able to love their parents. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Seek help if you are being abused（辱骂） in any way. Parents do not have a right to harm you.

A. Forgiveness is the key.

B. Parents will in turn express their love to you.

C. Tell them you love them every morning.

D. After this, share your feelings with your parents.

E. Please remember parents are as important as friends.

F. Anyway, spend as much time with them as you can.

G. There can be realistic reasons for this, family violence（暴力） for example.

    As is often the case, you are trying hard to keep your eyes open in class after a late night doing piles and piles of homework, "{#blank#}1{#/blank#}" You are probably thinking, " This weekend I'll make up for all the sleep I have lost."

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Most people think the same way-if you stay in bed longer on Saturdays or Sundays, you will recover your missed sleep during the week.

    However, this is not correct.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Actually, researchers have just discovered that sleeping during the weekend will not do you any good, but rather make you feel more tired on Monday morning.

    Our body keeps a clock inside. It tells us when to wake up in the morning and when to feel sleepy at night. But the time on our body clock can be changed once we start taking on different sleeping habits.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} This may mean on Monday morning we sometimes struggle to get out of bed.

    If we decide to get up only 20 minutes or half an hour later, it won't matter. This is because our body clock can accommodate(顺应) a delay of up to an hour, which means that a short lie-in at weekends is unlikely to have any big effect, we needn't worry about it at all.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    So, what should we do to balance and make up for all the sleep we've missed? Scientists say that simply eight hours of sleep would do the trick, not any longer.

A. You are not alone.

B. I need more sleep!

C. Sleep is important for everyone.

D. Sleeping is nothing like paying back money.

E. However, if we sleep longer our sleep becomes less efficient.

F. But delays of up to two hours or more can throw our body out of order.

G. This is why staying in bed for longer than usual might confuse our body clock.

Making the Most of Life Experiences.

    If you ask anyone what the purpose of life is, you'll likely receive wildly different responses. The answer to this question is deeply personal because different things are important to us throughout the course of our lives.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Finding ways to make the most of our experiences is a challenge we face every day. Here are some ways to make your experiences meaningful.

    Follow your dreams.

    The number one way to live a life free of regret is to follow your dreams. Passion will die without actions supporting them.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}Every day take an action, no matter how small, to achieve your goals. Each day is a step forward and none of it is wasted.

    Make lots of mistakes.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Many of my strongest memories come from the times I've failed，and those lessons have stayed with me. Failure is beneficial to us. And time allows me to see the value of even the most painful situation.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Difficult and painful experiences shape our character but can also weigh us down. These prevent us from moving forward. So much of our progress in life relies on willpower and a healthy emotional stale. If you're under stress, your body and mind both require time to recover.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    For me, life is about experiences. We all have to dream, work hard, and fail before we can achieve success. Maybe we'll discover along the way that the journey is more important than the destination.

A. Take care of yourself.

B. Improve your personality.

C. Making mistakes is the surest path to grow as a person.

D. It's best to rest, recover, and slowly build back up your strength.

E. Yet one thing stays with us no matter where we go: our experiences.

F. Though we try our best to make fewer mistakes, it is impossible to avoid them.

G. Though we can't choose the outcome of our actions, we can choose to keep pursuing(追求).

    Much of the work in today's world is accomplished (完成) in teams. Most people believe the best way to build a great team is to gather a group of the most talented individuals. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Companies spend millions hiring top business people. Is their money well spent?

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} They focused on football, basketball and baseball. The results are mixed. For football and basketball, adding talented players to a team proves a good method, but only up to the point where 70% of the players are top talent; above that level, the team's performance begins to decline. Interestingly, this trend isn't evident in baseball, where additional individual talent keeps improving the team's performance.

    To explain this phenomenon, the researchers explored the degree to which a good performance by a team requires its members to coordinate (协调) their actions. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} In baseball, the performance of individual players is less dependent on teammates. They conclude that when task interdependence is high, team performance will suffer when there is too much talent, while individual talent will have positive effects on team performance when task interdependence is lower. If a basketball star is, for example, trying to gain a high personal point total, he may take a shot himself when it would be better to pass the ball to a teammate, affecting the team's performance. Young children learning to play team sports are often told, "There is no I in TEAM." {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Another possibility is that when there is a lot of talent on a team, some players may make less effort. Just as in a game of tug-of-war (拔河比赛), whenever a person is added, everyone else pulls the rope with less force.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. An A-team may require a balance-not just a players, but a few generous B players as well.