How to Improve Speed Reading Skills

    Speed reading is one of many skills that can improve your reading comprehension and shorten your study time. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}.

    Look at groups of words, not single words.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. However, if you can get into the habit of reading groups or chunks of words at one time, then you can read much faster. Start by trying to look at a group of three or four words at once, then work up to looking at an entire line of words. Focus on words that give the sentence meaning, such as the nouns and verbs and pay less attention to the filler words, such as “A, the, and, etc.”

    Scan for keywords.

    Scanning is a highly effective way of extracting answers from a text without really reading it. If you know exactly what you are looking for—a name, a date, a statistic, or a specific word—you can find it quickly by skipping over large chunks of the text. To scan, first visualize the word, number, or phrase you would like to find. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. The information you are looking for should pop out at you.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}.

    You can train yourself to read faster by timing yourself as you go. Start by getting your base time. Set a timer for fifteen minutes, and speed read as you normally do. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. Do not count the words, just the pages or paragraphs. Record your figures: for instance, you might write “15min/6.5 pages.”

A. Then, run your eyes rapidly over the text

B. Race the clock

C. Check your comprehension

D. If you read a text one word at a time, then this will slow your reading speed way down

E. Here are some Speed Reading Techniques

F. One of the reasons you read slowly is that you have to pause sometimes to understand what a passage is saying

G. When the timer goes off, check to see how far you have got

Best Travel Guides by Continent

     We've broken down(分类)the best travel guides, by continent, to help you find student discounts and travel like a local on your next adventure.

Europe—Let's Go Europe 2017: The Student Travel Guide

     Let's Go was founded about 55 years ago when a Harvard student had an idea to provide accessible, budget travel lips for young people. Students lave its amusing pages. Let's Go Europe 2017 has everything you need for your trip—from the best beer in Brussels to how to avoid the lines at the Louvre.

Africa—The Rough Guide to Cape Toxin, the Winelands, and the Garden Route

     With its colorful photos and detailed tips on how to make the most of South Africa, The Rough Guide is the book to gel when visiting Africa. You may not have access to Google Maps when you1 re out exploring but that's OK. The Rough Guide also comes with easy use to maps.

     It can be purchased as an eBook, or as a paperback(平装本).

Asia—Lonely Planet: South-East Asia on a Shoestring

     This guide is perfect for those backpacking through the hidden treasures of South-Ea.sl Asia. With detailed recommendations from experts in the area, this guide helps first-timers as well as experienced backpackers. This book can lie purchased as a paperback travel guide. A download for an eBook or separate chapters can be purchased to serve as a guide to specific cities.

North America—Planet USA Travel Guide

     With detailed reviews of the best places to eat, sleep, and explore, Lonely Planet is linked with budget-friendly attractions and that's why it makes our best travel guides list. This travel guide is available in paperback.

    The Intelligent Transport team at Newcastle University have turned an electric car into a mobile laboratory named “DriveLAB” in order to understand the challenges faced by older drivers and to discover where the key stress points are.

    Research shows that giving up driving is one of the key reasons for a fall in health and well-being among older people, leading to them becoming more isolated(隔绝) and inactive.

    Led by Professor Phil Blythe, the Newcastle team are developing in-vehicle technologies for older drivers which they hope could help them to continue driving into later life.

    These include custom-made navigation(导航) tools, night vision systems and intelligent speed adaptations. Phil Blythe explains: “For many older people, particularly those living alone or in the country, driving is important for preserving their independence, giving them the freedom to get out and about without having to rely on others.”

    “But we all have to accept that as we get older our reactions slow down and this often results in people avoiding any potentially challenging driving conditions and losing confidence in their driving skills. The result is that people stop driving before they really need to.”

    Dr Amy Guo, the leading researcher on the older driver study, explains, “The DriveLAB is helping us to understand what the key points and difficulties are for older drivers and how we might use technology to address these problems.

    “For example, most of us would expect older drivers always go slower than everyone else but surprisingly, we found that in 30mph zones they struggled to keep at a constant speed and so were more likely to break the speed limit and be at risk of getting fined. We're looking at the benefits of systems which control their speed as a way of preventing that.

    “We hope that our work will help with technological solutions(解决方案) to ensure that older drivers stay safer behind the wheel.”

    Yesterday I went to the nursing home to visit my grandma. She just got out of the hospital recently where she had some serious operations. I wanted to surprise her after work so I stopped by for a quick visit.

    When I got there, she was so happy to see me. We hugged, kissed and exchanged greetings. Then I heard a woman crying. It was my grandma's roommate. The curtain was drawn so I could not see her. She started calling out a name that wasn't mine but she was certainly talking to me, begging me to go to her side of the room.

I ignored her at first and continued talking with my grandma. Then she started begging and saying, "Please, come to see me!" So I went to see her.

    When I drew the curtain back, she looked so old but flashed me the biggest smile! She opened her arms wide for me to hug her so I bent low and gave her a hug. I sat on her bed and talked with her for a few minutes. She kept calling me by the other name, but I did not correct her. She told me stories as if I had been there when they happened.

Finally I went back to talk with my grandma. Then the woman started crying again, saying, "Please, come back." She finally slept.

    I stopped by the nurse's station and the nurse told me that the lady suffers from Alzheimer's (老年痴呆症). I mentioned the name she had called me. The nurse told me it was the lady's daughter's name. Then I understood why she wanted me to go to visit her.

    We will all get old some day. Some of us will have broken minds like the lady and some of us will have broken bodies like my grandma. As I was leaving, I promised I would go back and visit the lady, even after my grandma moved back to her home.

In the past decade ocean oxygen levels have taken a dive — an alarming trend that is linked to climate change, says Andreas Oschlies, an oceanographer at the Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research in Germany, whose team tracks ocean oxygen levels worldwide. "We were surprised by the intensity of the changes we saw, how rapidly oxygen is going down in the ocean and how large the effects on marine ecosystems are," he says. It is no surprise to scientists that warming oceans are losing oxygen, but the scale of the drop calls for urgent attention. Oxygen levels in some tropical regions have dropped by an astonishing 40 percent in the last 50 years, some recent studies reveal. Levels have dropped less significantly elsewhere, with an average loss of 2 percent globally.

A warming ocean loses oxygen for two reasons; First, the warmer a liquid becomes, the less gas it can hold. That is why carbonated drinks(碳酸饮料) go flat faster when left in the sun. Second, as polar sea ice melts, it forms a layer of water above colder, more salty sea waters. This process creates a sort of lid that can keep currents from mixing surface water down to deeper depths. And because all oxygen enters the surface, less mixing means less of it at depth.

Ocean animals large and small, however, respond to even slight changes in oxygen by seeking refuge(避难所) in higher oxygen zones or by adjusting behavior, Oschlies and others in his field have found. These adjustments can expose animals to new predators or force them into food-scarce regions. Climate change already poses serious problems for marine life, such as ocean acidification, but deoxygenation is the most pressing issue facing sea animals today, Oschlies says. After all, he says, "they all have to breathe."

Aside from food web problems, animals face various other physiological challenges as their bodies adjust to lower oxygen levels. Chinese shrimp(虾) move their tails less vigorously to preserve energy in lower oxygen environments. Some creatures, such as jellyfishes, are more tolerant of low oxygen than others are. But all animals will feel the impact of deoxygenation because they all have evolved their oxygen capacity for a reason, says Oschlies. "Any drop in oxygen is going to damage survivability and performance," he says.

Smart Water Bottles

Hidrate Spark Smart Water Bottle

This bottle is our top overall pick, because it tracks your water intake, connects to your smartphone using Bluetooth, and records your data in a mobile app. If you forget to drink, this bottle will flash to signal to you. You can also use the app's Find My Bottle feature to track its location. It's available in a range of bright colors and sizes. The only drawback is that there's no self-cleaning feature.

ICEWATER Smart Water Bottle

If you're looking for a smart water bottle while saving some money, we recommend this one. There's a lock feature that stops water from flowing out when it's not in use. This bottle can play music through Bluetooth and comes in both plastic and steel versions. It's not dishwasher safe, however.

LARQ Bottle PureVis

It is perfect for walks, hikes, or sightseeing trips. To use the bottle's self-cleaning function, simply fill it up with water, press the switch, and wait. UV-C LED technology kills off harmful bacteria inside. Besides, the battery can last up to one month on a single charge. Just note that this bottle can't track your water intake.

CrazyCap UV Water Purifier & Bottle

It comes with a lifetime warranty (保修单), so you can be confident that it'll hold up even after the sudden fall. Unfortunately, it can't track your water intake, but the double-walled bottle can keep water cold for up to 24 hours or hot for up to 12 . There are a wide range of bright colors and patterns. The bottle has two self-cleaning modes. It will automatically clean every four hours.