We're always looking for well­written reviews of books， music， movies， television shows， websites， video games and other products. When writing a review， concentrate on exactly what you liked or didn't like. Give examples of strengths and weaknesses，be descriptive and provide background information on an author，director，actor or musician，if possible. Find professional reviews in magazines or newspapers and see how reviewers deal with their topics，but be sure to express your own voice in your review.

    Grammar Hint for Reviews：When describing a book，movie， album or anything else，use the present tense.

Book Reviews

    Discuss an author's technique，strengths and weaknesses instead of focusing on the plot. Does the story flow？ Is there a strong sense of character and place？Did you stay up until dawn to finish it？Is it good reading for teenagers？What influence did it have on you and why？If you've read other books by the same author， discuss how this book compares.

Movie Reviews

    Think of the major Oscar categories and consider the performances， music， lighting and setting， etc. Do these work together？ Did some hold up while others didn't？ If the movie is based on a book， discuss whether one is better than the other and why. If the movie is a remake， compare the film to its original.

    Remember that a well­written movie review should discuss strengths and weaknesses. Some readers may not have seen a movie yet， so don't give away an exciting scene or the ending！

College Reviews

    Begin by providing an overview of the college，including location，size and a description of the campus and/or dorm life. Think about all aspects of your college visit. What academic，athletic and after­class programs are available？ What are the students like？ What makes the college different from others？ Every school has strengths and weaknesses. Be objective. Consider what the school has to offer and who might enjoy or benefit the most from attending there.

    Generations of Americans have been brought up to believe that a good breakfast is one of life's essentials. Eating breakfast at the start of the day, we have all been told again, is as necessary as putting gasoline in the family car before starting a trip.

    But for many people the thought of food as first thing in the morning is by no means a pleasure. So despite all the efforts, they still take no breakfast. Between 1977 and 1983, the latest year for which figures are available, the number of people who didn't have breakfast increased by 33 percent-from 8.8 million to 11.7 million-according to the Chicago-based Market Research Corporation of America.

    For those who feel pain or guilt about not earing breakfast, however, there is some good news. Several studies in the last few years indicate that, for adults especially, there may be nothing wrong with not taking breakfast. “Going without breakfast does not affect performance,” said Arnold E. Bender, former professor of nutrition（营养）at Queen Elizabeth College in London, “nor doegiving people breakfast improve performance.”

    Scientific evidence linking breakfast to better health or better performance is surprisingly inadequate, and most of the recent work involves children, not adults. “The literature,” says one researcher, Dr. Ernesto Pollitt at the University of Texas, “is poor.”

    Reading can be a social activity. Think of the people who belong to book groups. They choose books to read and then meet to discuss them. Now, the website BookCrossing.com turns the page on the traditional idea of a book group.

    Members go on the site and register the books they own and would like to share. BookCrossing provides an ID number to stick inside the book. Then the person leaves it in a public place, hoping that the book will have an adventure, traveling far and wide with each new reader who finds it.

    Bruce Pederson, the managing director of BookCrossing, says "The two things that change your life are the people you meet and books you read. BookCrossing combines both."

    Members leave books on park benches and buses, in train stations and coffee shops. Whoever finds their book will go to the site and record where they found it.

People who find a book can also leave a journal entry describing what they thought of it. E-mails are then sent to the BookCrossers to keep them updated about where their books have been found. Bruce Pederson says the idea is for people not to be selfish by keeping a book to gather dust on a shelf at home.

    BookCrossing is part of a trend among people who want to get back the "real" and not the virtual(虚拟). The site now has more than one million members in more than one hundred thirty-five countries.

    One of the most firmly established idea of manliness is that a real man doesn't cry. Although he might shed a tear at a funeral, he is expected to quickly regain control. Sobbing openly is for girls. One study found that women cry significantly more than men do—five times as often, on average, and almost twice as long per period.

    Historically, however, men routinely wept, and no one saw it as shameful. For example, in the Middle Ages, knights cried purely because they missed their girlfriends. In The Knight of the Cart, no less a hero than Lancelot weeps at a brief separation from Guinevere. There's no mention of the men in these stories trying to restrain or hide their tears. They cry in a crowded hall with their heads held high. Nor do their companions make fun of this public crying; it's universally regarded as an admirable expression of feeling.

    So where did all the male tears go? The most obvious possibility is that this shift is the result of changes as we moved from an agricultural society to one that was urban(城市的) and industrial. In the Middle Ages, most people spent their lives among those they had known since birth. If men cried, they did so with people who would sympathize. But from the 18th to 20th centuries, the population became increasingly urbanize, and people were living in the midst of thousands of strangers. Furthermore, changes in the economy required men to work together in factories and offices where emotional expressions and even private conversations were discouraged as time wasting.

    Yet human beings weren't designed to swallow their emotions, and there's reason to believe that holding back tears can be harmful to your well-being. Research from the 1980s has suggested a relationship between stress-related illnesses and inadequate crying. Weeping is also, somewhat related with happiness and wealth. Countries where people cry the most tend to be richer and more confident.

    After disappearing for over 19 years, measles (麻疹) is making a comeback in America. Since January 2019, the disease has infected more than 700 people, mostly small children, and the number seems to be increasing daily.

    Measles is an infectious disease that typically begins with a high fever, cough, runny nose, and red, watery eyes. Many people also lose their appetites and feel sleepy. About three to four days after the symptoms start, the person breaks out into a rash (皮疹) that begins on the face at the hairline and then spreads to the neck and the rest of the body.

    In healthy people, the recovery, which takes between two to three weeks, starts soon after the rash begins. However, for about 40 percent of patients ­ mainly kids under the age of five or older adults ­ the disease often leads to pneumonia (肺炎), which, if left untreated, could result in death.

    The recent outbreak is thought to have been caused by travelers picking up the virus in a country where the disease is still existing and exposing it to an unvaccinated (未接种的) community in the US. In New York, it was carried back by someone who had recently visited Israel, which is currently undergoing a significant measles, while in Washington, "patient zero" was infected by a type that is currently circulating in Europe.

    To limit the spread of the disease before it gets out of hand, US health officials are attempting to educate communities with high rates of unvaccinated children. They are also urging adults to consult with their physicians and get injected if considered necessary by the doctor.

    Hopefully, health officials worldwide will be able to convince parents that vaccinating their children will protect, not harm, them.

Recently, the box office darling in China, titled A Little Red Flower, {#blank#}1{#/blank#} （become） a hit.It is a love story about a young couple{#blank#}2{#/blank#} （suffer） from cancer and the stress it puts on their families. The movie star Jackson Yee, {#blank#}3{#/blank#} performance in Better Days（2019）was thought highly of, has impressed countless viewers.

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"I have watched many movies about the pursuit of dreams, but as I get older I feel the{#blank#}9{#/blank#} （difficult） thing in the world is to stay alive, " he says "Every day{#blank#}10{#/blank#} extreme version of staying alive. "