In many countries of the world, people do what is called housesitting．It means that if owners of the house are going away, they wantsomeone to come into their home and look after the house and maybe pets whilethey are away．

        In Australia, many people travel．After peopleretire, they might buy a van and travel all over the country．{#blank#}1{#/blank#}．

        So if someone wants to travel or go away for some reason, theymight want someone in their home to care for it and keep the gardens tidy．House sittersmight have to care for pets．Also, quite afew people have swimming pools in their back yard and they need cleaning．{#blank#}2{#/blank#}． I feel it isa great way of seeing the country, because you go and stay in a new city, getto meet new people, and have time to go sightseeing in a new area．

{#blank#}3{#/blank#}．There arewebsites where you find the advertisements by people who want to travel, and byreplying to the advertisement, you can make arrangements to go and look aftertheir home．

        There are some requirements to be a house sitter．You must be atrusted person, so that the home owner knows you will not steal anything．You must beable to go when the house owner wants you to go, so you need lots of free time．{#blank#}4{#/blank#}．You need to begood with pets, able to care for cats and dogs, or other pets they may have．

        Some house sitting jobs are just for a few days or a couple ofweeks while the house owners have a short holiday．Sometimes itis for much longer．We have hadone house sit for six months, while the home owner travelled to Europe．

{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Then you can travel to many differentcountries and stay there．One of theimportant things to get is references from the home owners where you havestayed． A reference is a written letter to say that you are trustworthyand have looked after their home well．You can showthese letters to possible house sitting jobs and they know you will do a goodjob．

A．I have donehouse sitting many times．

B．Thousands ofpeople do this all the time．

C．It is alsopossible to do house sitting in other countries．

D．Generally youhave many opportunities to get a house sitting job．

E．You must takea little care over what your description says about you．

F．This is aninternational house sitting service for all city and country areas．

G．Youmust have a good car, so you can travel to different parts of the country．

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}We achieve it actively by direct experience, by testing and proving an idea, or by reasoning. We achieve knowledge passively by being told by someone else. Most of the learning that takes place in the classroom and the kind that happens when we watch TV or read newspapers or magazines is passive. Conditioned as we are to passive learning, it's not surprising that we depend on it in our everyday communication with friends and co-workers.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} It makes us tend to accept what we are told even when it is little more than hearsay and rumor.

    Did you ever play the game Rumor? It begins when one person writes down a message but doesn't show it to anyone. Then the person whispers it, word for word, to another person. That person, in turn, whispers it to still another, and so on, through all the people playing the game. The last person writes down the message word for word as he or she hears it. Then the two written statements are compared.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}．

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} The simple fact that people repeat a story in their own words changes the story. Then, too, most people listen imperfectly. And many enjoy adding their own creative touch to a story, trying to improve on it, stamping it with their own personal style. Yet those who hear it think they know.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} A statement of opinion by one writer may be restated as a fact by another, who may in turn be quoted by yet another; and this process may continue, unless it occurs to someone to question the facts on which the original writer based his opinion or to challenge the interpretation he placed upon those facts.

A. Typically, the original message has changed.

B. Finally everybody gets the meaning.

C. Unfortunately, passive learning has a serious problem.

D. Knowledge is passed down from generation to generation.

E. That's what happens in daily life.

F. This process is also found among scholars and authors.

G. We can achieve knowledge either actively or passively.

Jealous Ken

    Dick and Ken lived in the same street. Both children had a good home and lots of nice things. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} In other words, Ken was a jealous(嫉妒的) boy.

    Dick and Ken grew up and got jobs. At first, they both cycled to work every morning. Then Dick bought a motorcycle. Every morning, Dick on his motorcycle rode past Ken on his bicycle, and Ken felt jealous. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} He was happy until Dick bought a car.

    Ken worked hard until he had enough money for a car. He bought a car, and it was as good as Dick's car. There were a lot of other cars on the road, so the journey to work was slower, but Ken was happy.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} So Ken worked very hard, and yesterday he bought an expensive new car. This morning Ken left home in his new car. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} But Ken was happy because his car was bigger, better and faster than Dick's car.

    Then he saw Dick behind him, but Dick was not in a car. Dick was riding a bicycle. It was a new bicycle. The cars moved very slowly, so Dick cycled past them easily. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} He watched from his big, expensive car and felt jealous.

A.     Dick was very proud of his new car.

B.     But after a year, Dick bought a bigger car.

C.     Both Ken and Dick walked to work every day.

D.    So Ken bought a motorcycle and he was happy.

E.     Ken watched as Dick cycled away in front of him.

F.     But Ken was unhappy because some of Dick's things were better than his.

G.    There were cars in front as far as he could see, and none of them could move.

    Are anger problems should also be recognized as an illness like depression and anxiety? Anger is largely viewed as a secondary emotion — one caused by other emotions. People are thought to be angry because they are sad, anxious or stressed. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Today, though, a growing number of mental health experts think that anger is a serious problem that needs its own treatment.

    To tell the difference between "normal" anger and "anger problem" is difficult. After all, everyone gets really mad from time to time. Experts point out a few ways.

    Disordered anger, as it is sometimes called, tends to be of greater intensity (强度). {#blank#}2{#/blank#} An example: While most people would get upset if a driver cut them off, someone with disordered anger might try to chase down the car and force it off the road.

    And in cases of disordered anger, the person gets angry more frequently and his/her anger lasts longer.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} But people with anger problems often stay angry for days, weeks or even years; their feelings of anger don't disappear over time.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Disordered anger often damages people's lives. "It interferes (干扰) with people's relationships and their jobs," says Raymond Chip Tafrate, a US psychologist. "Even their health is affected."

    Anger clearly increases the risk of certain health problems, as many studies have shown. When people are angry, their hearts beat faster and their blood pressure goes up. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    Experts suggest that people with an anger problem take anger-management programs. The programs teach people to control their responses to stressful situations through the use of relaxation techniques. The programs sometimes also include life-skills training to help bring down stress and remove angry feelings.

A. Anger takes away people's joy in life.

B. Consequences are also important to consider.

C. The anger buried inside him rises to the surface.

D. For most people, angry feelings disappear quickly.

E. Over time, these changes will have bad effects on the body.

F. In the past, many doctors didn't accept the idea that anger could be a problem all on its own.

G. It takes very little to set off a person with an anger problem, and their responses are very strong.

    Confidence is a skill that many folks want to master, but have a hard time acquiring. Have you ever wondered why? Possibly you were born confident. You were talked to negatively as a child or maybe you were rejected many times. Whatever the case is, {#blank#}1{#/blank#}.

    But how to boost your confidence?

    Act as if .Begin to act as if you are confident. Act as the person you would want to be like. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. Surround yourself with people who you think are confident and have high value. You will learn so much from observing other confident folks.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. One of the most areas that you need to pay attention to is your self-talk. Your thoughts about your capabilities and self-worth need to be positive and encouraging. Whenever you notice you think negatively, pause and take a moment, and shift your focus to something that can help you feel better about yourself.

    Go after your goals. If you are really serious about building self-confidence, you need to identify your goals and go after then. The more you add to your accomplishments, the more confident you will feel about your abilities and skills. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}.

    By using these steps to boost your confidence, {#blank#}5{#/blank#}.

A. Always stay positive

B. Improve your positive self-talk

C. Begin to think and behave like them

D. This requires you to know what a confident person looks like

E. you will be on the path to improving your self-esteem and self-worth

F. You'll begin to trust your inner self more and appreciate yourself more

G. you should know you can improve your self-esteem and build confidence

{#blank#}1{#/blank#} People use money to buy food, furniture, books, bicycles and hundreds of other things they need or want. When they work, they usually get paid in money.

Most of the money today is made of metal or paper.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} One of the first kinds of money was shells.

Shells were not the only things used as money. In China, cloth and knives were used. In the Philippine Islands, rice was used as money for a long time. Elephant tusks, monkey tails and salt were used as money in parts of Africa.

The first metal coins were made in China. They were round and had a square hole in the centre.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

Different countries have used different metals and designs for their money.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Sweden and Russia used copper to make their money. Later some countries began to make coins of gold and silver.

But even gold and silver were inconvenient if you had to buy something expensive. Again the Chinese thought of a way to improve money.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} The first paper money looked more like a note from one person to another than the paper money used today.

Money has had an interesting history from the days of shell money until today.

A. The first coins in England were made of tin (锡).

B. But people used to use all kinds of things as money.

C. No one knows for certain when people began to use money.

D. People strung (串连) them together and carried them from place to place.

E. Money, as we know, is all made of paper.

F. They began to use paper money.

G. Today anyone will accept money in exchange for goods and services.