Crossword puzzles and exercise are just a few of the habits that improve memory best. But to {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(true) give your brain a push, you might want to take a simple tip to heart-and it's nothing you learned in school.

    So far, researchers from Waterloo University in Canada {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(discover) what may be the easiest way to improve your memory ever. Their research, recently {#blank#}3{#/blank#}( publish) in the journal Memory, suggests that reading out loud to yourself can increase your recall skills {#blank#}4{#/blank#}up to 15%.

    In the study, scientists asked 95 participants to test four {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(method): reading, silently, hearing someone else read, reading aloud and listening to a recording of oneself reading. Their result? The people{#blank#}6{#/blank#}read the information out loud showed the best retention(保持)rates—about 15%{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(high) in learning speed, in fact. You may want to add these brain-boosting foods that can improve memory to your diet, too.

    “Read{#blank#}8{#/blank#} needs to be remember out loud, and you'll remember it better. Yes, it's shat simple!” psychologist and study co-author Colin Macleod said.

    So next time when you're preparing for a big exam, spend some time{#blank#}9{#/blank#} (read) loud. Trust us. It might make you{#blank#}10{#/blank#}genius.

    In 1850, an American lawyer, Bethune, bought a slave to work in his home. The slave, a woman, had a small child{#blank#}1{#/blank#} (call) Tom, who was blind.

    One day, Bethune {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (walk) around his garden when he heard music coming from the house. He went inside and found young Tom playing on the family piano. Bethune {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(immediate) realized that the boy, who was only four, had special abilities.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} he asked a band of musicians to come to the house and play in front of him. Tom reproduced perfectly the music {#blank#}5{#/blank#} he had heard. Tom was indeed an unusual boy.

    In 1857, “Blind Tom” took part {#blank#}6{#/blank#} his first public performance. The reviews were so good {#blank#}7{#/blank#} Bethune took him on a tour of the US. Three years later, Blind Tom {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (invite) to the White House to perform for the president. Over the next forty years, Tom performed {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(enjoy) shows all over the US and other countries. His concerts were {#blank#}10{#/blank#} mixture of classical music and his own compositions.

    Stan Lee, who dreamed up Spider-Man, Iron Man, the Hulk and other Marvel Comics (漫威漫画) superheroes that became highly successful at the movie box office, died at the age of 95, his daughter said on Monday.

    "{#blank#}1{#/blank#} (know) as a writer and editor, he felt a duty to his fans to keep creating," his daughter J. C. Lee said in a {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (state). "He loved his life and he loved {#blank#}3{#/blank#} he did for a living. His family and his fans loved him. He was irreplaceable." Lee was {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (wide) credited with adding a new layer of humanity to superheroes. His characters were not made of stone. They had love and money worries and suffered terrible shortcomings or feelings of insecurity.

    "I felt {#blank#}5{#/blank#} would be fun to show that they are human as well as super," Lee said in 2010. Many of Marvel Comics movies Lee created were produced in the first decades of the 21^st century, {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (add) up to over $20 billion at theaters worldwide, according to box office analysts.

    In 2008, Lee {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (award) the National Medal of Arts, {#blank#}8{#/blank#} highest government award for creative {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (artist). His greatest contribution will be not only the co-creation of his characters but the way he helped to build the culture that comics have become, {#blank#}10{#/blank#} is a pretty significant one," said Robert Thompson, a pop culture expen at Syracuse University.

    Old Tom had four sons. He wanted them{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(learn) not to judge things too quickly. So he sent them to look at an apple tree in different seasons. The first son went in winter, the second in spring, the third in summer, and the youngest in autumn. When they all came back, he called them together to describe{#blank#}2{#/blank#}they had seen. The sons had different{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(opinion). Tom then told them that they shouldn't judge a tree, or a person, by only one season.

Landslide Injures at least 10 in Norwegian Town of Ask

A landslide (山体滑坡)has smashed into a residential area near the Norwegian capital at midnight on Dec. 30. injuring at least 10 people, leaving 21 unaccounted for and {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(destroy) several homes, authorities said.

About 700 people have been brought to safety for fear of further landslides.

The landslide cut across a road, leaving a deep gap that cars {#blank#}2{#/blank#}not pass. Video footage showed dramatic scenes including one house falling into the gap. Photographs showed at least eight destroyed homes.

Rescue workers continued to search the area for children and adults {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(believe) to have been caught in mud and debris (废墟), police said. "We're still looking for survivors? police spokesman Roger Pettersen told a news conference.

Pettersen said there were no reports of missing people, but officials could not rule out the possibility {#blank#}4{#/blank#} there might be survivors in collapsed buildings. He said 21 people registered as living in the area arc unaccounted for.

One of the injured was seriously hurt, while nine had {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(light) injuries. Weather at the time was reported to be challenging, with snowstorm sweeping the village of Ask, {#blank#}6{#/blank#}about 5,000 people inhabited.

Norway's King Harald said the landslide had made a deep impression on him. "My thoughts are with all those who are affected, injured or have lost their homes and chose who now live in fear and uncertainty of {#blank#}7{#/blank#}damage the disaster has caused," he said in a statement released by the royal palace.

The area in which Ask {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(locate) is known to have a lot of quick clay, which can change from solid to liquid from. Previous landslides have been reported in the region.

Helicopters continued to circle over the area as night fell {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (lower) rescuers towards the debris of collapsed houses.

"There could be people trapped ... but at the same time we can't be sure{#blank#}10{#/blank#}it is the new year's holiday, which means people could be elsewhere," Ema Solberg, the Norwegian Prime Minister, told reporters after visiting the site.