There are a lot of people who are overweight all over the world. What causes obesity? If you get the gene(基因), well, probably you are going to be a few more pounds heavier compared to the rest of your classmates or friends. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Obesity can not only make a person look heavy, and not in the usual sense of being handsome, but can also lead to serious health conditions and life-threatening diseases.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Indeed, junk food has been blamed for the prevalence(流行）of obesity. It is called junk food, because hamburger, pizza and the like contain high calories. If you eat a Big Mac (a super hamburger), an order of large fries, and a large Coke, you will need to walk non-stop for six hours to burn off the calories you have gained. And don't be fooled by soft drinks, which are high in sugar and are a major cause of obesity.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Popular sugary drinks, of course, include Coca Cola, Pepsi(百事) Cola, and many new brands that appear on the market every couple of days.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Just one 20-ounce (about 567g) bottle of soda can have 250 calories, which are equal to more than 16 teaspoons of added sugars. Even a lemon-flavored iced tea can have 210 calories.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Next time, when you are ready to eat that huge Mac and to drink that two-liter bottle of Pepsi, probably it's a good idea to give it a second thought.

A. Obesity is more common in women than men.

B. Most people don't realize how easy it is to gain weight from drink sugar-sweetened beverages(饮料)

C. When we talk about obesity, the first thought that comes to mind is: junk food.

D. The unburnt calories will put weight on you.

E. Keeping healthy is our own responsibility.

F. Because of their high content of sugar, soft drinks are also called sugary drinks.

G. However, the most common cause of obesity is eating too much, especially too much junk food.

    Memory loss can occur to anyone. If you are unable to take good care of your memory, then chances are you will suffer from memory loss at a very young age.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Stress is a state of mental or emotional fatigue(疲劳).{#blank#}2{#/blank#}This is the reason why we fail to remember or learn new things when we are mentally stressed. To prevent stress-related loss of memory and learning ability, one has to find the factors that increase stress and anxiety and deal with them.

    If you exercise on a regular basis, your body will become stronger over time.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}As your brain does more exercise, it gets healthier and works better. This is why students are encouraged to do mind exercises or play mind-related games regularly.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}It allows good blood circulation(循环) in the body and enable the mind to process present as well as past information quickly. However, many people neglect the importance of doing so. Also, always include healthy foods in your daily diet that can improve your memory, such as blueberries, spinach and broccoli.

    These are just some of the causes of memory loss. At present, experts are unable to tell exactly what the main reason leading to memory loss is. This is because there could be many reasons leading to it, such as environmental factors. The brain is a complex organ.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}What matters is that you are able to follow the right set of guidelines to prevent yourself from suffering from memory loss.

A. It affects the memory and learning ability of an individual

B. Having a healthy and balanced diet is very important

C. Trying giving yourself a break will be a good way

D. It makes it almost impossible to find the true cause of memory loss

E. This rule applies to the brain as well

F. It is very helpful to have a regular place to put things in

G. The following are the top three reason for memory loss and how you can avoid them

    It's reported that a male waiter recently poured boiling water over a female customer at a hot pot restaurant after the woman was caught complaining about the waiter's bad service online{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    The female victim, surnamed Lin, reportedly got into an argument with the waiter, surnamed Zhu, when Zhu refused her repeated request for additional soup for her pot. Lin was rushed to hospital and was diagnosed with severe bums on up to 40% of her body.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Many netizens criticized the waiter for being too impulsive and ignoring the possible consequences, but some also accused Lin of being too picky. Meanwhile, some came up with a question worthy of discussion:{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Many tragedies are caused by arguments and if the victim can control his or her anger and try to reach a compromise, the tragedies could possibly be avoided. Sometimes so-called “cowardliness” can be a form of self-protection, especially when you are faced with strangers and you know little about their personalities.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} When they calm down afterwards, they would regret their “ridiculous” behavior and have to pay the price for the consequences.

    In May, a male driver in the southwestern city of Chengdu was captured on film intercepting a woman's car and dragging her out of her seat, throwing her on the ground, before cruelly kicking her several times on the head, simply because the woman suddenly changed lanes in front of his car.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Forgive others' mistakes and avoid fueling others' anger. Accordingly, you may be less likely to suffer from unexpected troubles.

A. Will the situation be out of control because of your anger?

B. Intolerance has contributed to lots of violent incidents.

C. How to keep ourselves safe when we argue with others?

D. The waiter has been arrested for further investigation and trial.

E. This incident caused an outcry among netizens and opinion leaders.

F. But it is difficult to control our anger when we have conflict with others.

G. So next time you deal with conflict, it is mere advisable to control your temper and say “sorry” with a smile.

    New rules for middle school students came out in March. Middle schools are going to use a new way to decide who the top students are. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}The following are some of the new rules.

    Tell the truth. Have you ever cheated in an exam? {#blank#}2{#/blank#}That's not something honest students should do.

    Do more at school. Good students love animals and care for other people. April is Bird-loving Month in China. Is your school doing anything to celebrate it? You should join! {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Be open to new ideas. Have you ever thought people could live on the moon? Maybe you'll find another earth in space in the future. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Protect yourself. Has a thief ever taken money from one of your classmates? Don't let it happen to you. If you have to go back home late, you should let your parents know.

    Use the Internet carefully. The Internet can be very useful for your study.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}But some things on the Internet aren't for children, so try to look at the good web pages.

A. Don't do it again!

B. Everyone's new ideas are important

C. Students must only work and play alone.

D. Students should not disagree with the teachers.

E. The best students won't only have high marks.

F. You can use the web pages for fun or homework.

G. In that way, you can learn more about animals and how to protect them.

    Right now you are reading English. That means that you are using your brain in a very active way. Reading is a very active process. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} When you read a text, you have to do some or all of these:

    Imagine a scene in your head

    Understand clearly what the writer is trying to say

    Agree or disagree with the writer

    There are also many advantages associated with reading, including:

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    You will usually meet with new words when you read. If there are too many new words for you, then the level is too high and you should read something simpler. But if there are, say, a maximum of five new words per page, you will learn this vocabulary easily. You may not even need to use a pocket dictionary because you can guess the meaning from the rest of the text. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    A model for writing

    When you read, it gives you a good example for writing. Texts that you read show you structures and expressions that you can use when you write.

    Seeing “correctly structured” English

    When people write, they usually use “correct” English with a proper grammatical structure. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} So, by reading you see and learn grammatical English naturally.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    You can read as fast or as slowly as you like. You can read ten pages in 30 minutes, or take one hour to explore just one page. It doesn't matter. The choice is yours. You can not easily do this when speaking or listening. This is one of the big advantages of reading because different people work at different speeds.

A. Working at your own speed

B. Learning vocabulary in context (语境)

C. This is not always true when people speak

D. Focusing on exactly what you want to learn

E. you should write down unknown vocabulary in whole sentences

F. Not only do you learn new words, but you see them being used naturally

G. It is true that the writer does a lot of work, but the reader also has to work hard

Five steps to better handwriting

    Some kids love handwriting, but others hate when it's time to put their pen to paper. Maybe they are worried about their handwriting. Are you one of them? {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Here are five steps that really work!

    Get a great grasp

    Try this — hold your pencil at the top and try to write your name. Pretty hard? But when you hold your pencil the correct way, writing is much easier. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Hold it in place with your thumb, and your index (食指) and middle fingers.

    Let the lines be your guide

    Lined paper is your friend! Those lines can help you create letters that are the right size and proportion (均衡). {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Also be sure to fill up the lined space completely. Those capital letters should be from the bottom line to the top one.

    Slow down

    If your writing is hard to read, try slowing down a little. If you rush, it's hard to control where you stop and start your letters.

    Lower the pressure (压力)

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}That makes it harder to make the smooth lines. Try easing up and don't hold the pencil too tightly.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    Lots of games require you to write or draw pictures. So even though it's not schoolwork, you're still using the skills you need to control your pen better.

A. Play games

B. Ask for more advice

C. So "a" should be half the height of a capital "A".

D. You've been writing since you were a little kid.

E. Some kids press down really hard when they write.

F. The good news is that just about everyone can improve their handwriting.

G. The best way to hold a pen or pencil is to let it rest next to the base of your thumb.