How to read more and learn more

    Today, more and more Chinese people enjoy sending and receiving messages on the phone. It can help them to get some information and communicate with friends. But I think I should read more books besides the textbooks, the more, the better. It can broaden（扩大）my mind and improve my language skills. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Here are some tips for you.

    Clear your purpose for reading.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Most people read for two main reasons, pleasure or knowledge. Clearing about your reading purpose can not only help you choose the books you really need to read, but also remind you why reading the book is important to you.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    No matter what you are reading, it is important to enjoy what you read. Although your friends like reading some kinds of books, those books might not be the ones you enjoy.

    Give up books that you don't enjoy.

    You may have chosen books that you are interested in, and they are right purpose. But while you are reading them, there may still be some books that you don't enjoy reading. Whenever you realize that you aren't enjoying the book you are reading, give it up. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Set a reading goal.

    It is interesting that I read the books borrowed from libraries faster than than those I bought. The reason is the books I bought don't have a due date! I don't need to return those books. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Before you read each book, ask yourself what time you need to complete this book by.

A. Read only what you are interested in.

B. Read the books borrowed from others.

C. Remember reading shouldn't be a chore (烦恼事).

D. Of course, it also can help me to get good grades.

E. We need to get the latest news and communicate with friends.

F. Before you start reading, ask yourself why you are reading this book.

G. Having a reading goal helps you work out how much reading you need to do in a week or even a day.

Time for a Brainstorm

    A brainstorm is a session （会议）where a small group of people come together to solve a problem. People voice spontaneous ideas, sometimes just shouting, and a note-taker writes them all down.  {#blank#}1{#/blank#} By getting different ideas out there, ideas are said to bounce off each other and even can help solve the problem at hand. Brainstorming is often a group exercise but individuals can also conduct personal brainstorms.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}He defined it as using the brain to storm a creative problem and do so in commando (突击队）fashion，with each stormer attacking the same objective. According to him, it was easier to tone down a wild idea than think up a new one. He placed importance on the collection of as many ideas as possible and dismissed scientific thinking.

    Brainstorming has become one of the most popular ways to solve problems and hold discussion in schools and businesses. Many students brainstorm for a group assignment or even for a personal essay.  Sarah Grace, 24, is an Australian marketing analyst and uses brainstorming during all her creative duties.  She thinks brainstorming is the best way to work as a team. The sessions get everyone on the same page，everyone moving together and with a clear understanding about the foundations of an event or idea. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    However, a big problem with brainstorming is creating a mess that leads people further away from a solution. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} If you don't have a strong moderator or leader of the brainstorm, can go really off track，and people just start discussing something totally different.    
     Brainstorming can sometimes confuse the human brain.  {#blank#}5{#/blank#} If you brainstorm too much and your page is filled up with all the messy links, you can paint yourself into a bit of corner and get trapped with ideas.  You need to move past brainstorming as soon as you have something workable.

A. The ideas can be smart，strange or crazy.

B. It is caused by a lack of direction from a leader.

C. Brainstorming really helps her organize her thoughts.

D. Brainstorming really is the best way to build team spirit.

E. It can open too many doors and not suggest a clear direction.

F. They can be words, phrases, paragraphs and anything that can help answer the question.

G. Brainstorms were popularized in the 1940s by American advertising boss Alex Osborn.

    Perhaps you've heard the old saying “curiosity killed the cat.” It's a phrase that's often used to warn people—especially children—not to ask too many questions. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}In fact, research has shown that curiosity is just as important as intelligence in determining how well students do in school.

    Curiosity can also lead us to make unexpected discoveries, bring excitement into our lives, and open up new possibilities. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}For example, one day in 1831, Michael Faraday was playing around with a coil(线圈) and a magnet(磁铁) when he suddenly saw how he could produce an electrical current. At first, it wasn't clear what use this would have, but it actually made electricity available for use in technology, and so changed the world.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}On one level, this is because technology has become so advanced that many of us are unable to think too deeply about how exactly things work anymore. While it may be possible for a curious teenager to take a toaster apart and get some sense of how it works, how much do you understand about what happens when you type a website address into a browser? Where does your grasp of technology end and the magic begin for you?

    In addition to this, there's the fact that we all now connect so deeply with technology, particularly with our phones. The more we stare at our screens, the less we talk to other people directly. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}Then we feel we know enough about a person not to need to engage further with them.

    The final—and perhaps most worrying—way in which technology stops us from asking more has to do with algorithms, the processes followed by computers. As we increasingly get our news via social media, algorithms find out what we like and push more of the same back to us. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}Perhaps the real key to developing curiosity in the 21st century, then, is to rely less on the tech tools of our age.

A. It is still not known why learning gives us such pleasure.

B. We are always encouraged to challenge our pre-existing beliefs.

C. Yet it's widely agreed that curiosity actually makes learning more effective.

D. All too often we accept the images of people that social media provides us with.

E. However, curiosity is currently under the biggest threat, coming from technology.

F. In science, basic curiosity-driven research can have unexpected important benefits.

G. That means we end up inside our own little bubbles, no longer coming across new ideas.

    Vacations are important. We need to take time out from work to relax, and just be ourselves. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} We should all be allowed to leave our jobs behind us—at least for a few weeks each year—and just have fun. This might be something as simple as reading a good book in front of a warm fireplace and travelling to the most interesting places on our planet. Whatever we fancy doing is worth taking time out for.

    Workplace stress is on the rise. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} These include disease, depression and even death. We all seem to be running from one place to the next, never finding out where we want to go in the first place. I intend to break that trend in the coming days.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} I will sleep late, write, watch movies, drink the occasional glass of wine, and eat to my heart's content ignoring calorie counting. My plan is to just enjoy the fleeting moments of being alive.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Spend your next vacation the way you want. Do what will restore your mental health. You're very valuable to the people who are close to you, and to those who depend on you. Like it or not, we are all interdependent in this great life of ours.

    You are valuable. Just remember that the next time you look at the mirror and take a deep breath. Remind yourself that there will never be anyone like you ever on this earth again.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} All you have to do is just ask yourself what you want to do.

Every animal sleeps, but the reason for this has remained foggy. When lab rats are not allowed to sleep, they die within a month. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

One idea is that sleep helps us strengthen new memories. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} We know that, while awake, fresh memories are recorded by reinforcing (加强) connections between brain cells, but the memory processes that take place while we sleep have been unclear.

Support is growing for a theory that sleep evolved so that connections between neurons(神经元) in the brain can be weakened overnight, making room for fresh memories to form the next day. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

Now we have the most direct evidence yet that he is right. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}The synapses in the mice taken at the end of a period of sleep were 18 per cent smaller than those taken before sleep, showing that the connections between neurons weaken while sleeping.

If Tononi's theory is right, it would explain why, when we miss a night's, we find it harder the next day to concentrate and learn new information — our brains may have smaller room for new experiences.

Their research also suggests how we may build lasting memories over time even though the synapses become thinner. The team discovered that some synapses seem to be protected and stayed the same size. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}"You keep what matters," Tononi says.

A. We should also try to sleep well the night before.

B. It's as if the brain is preserving its most important memories.

C. Similarly, when people go for a few days without sleeping, they get sick.

D. The processes take place to stop our brains becoming loaded with memories.

E. That's why students do better in tests if they get a chance to sleep after learning.

F. "Sleep is the price we pay for learning," says Giulio Tononi, who developed the idea.

G. Tononi's team measured the size of these connections, or synapses, in the brains of 12 mice.

Bathed in two cultures from childhood, moving around the world and experiencing different cultures has always been my thing. When I was in high school, I heard about students in my class wanting to take the SAT test and study abroad in the USA. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. Actually, what I wanted to experience most was the European lifestyle and cultural mix.

 I used to travel a lot around Europe with my parents as a little kid, and also not forgetting that the French Language is one of my mother tongues, France seemed therefore like a top choice for me. French universities have a good reputation and the French capital is internationally well known for its cultural history. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. My university was one of those small cities and I also got the chance to obtain a scholarship which made it easier for me to start my studies.

 {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. Opportunities are offered to develop our network and explore the business world. The university participated as a partner in international networking courses leading to a European Master's degree, a double degree, or training abroad.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. So, if you are an international student who came to France for studies, you can take the chance to explore another country for a term and study in English. I remember wanting to take this opportunity in my first year of my college life and try the program which back then offered students the chance to go on an exchange with Linnaeus University in Sweden. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}.

A.I applied and was lucky to get accepted

B.But I was not that attracted to studying there

C.You can find a lot of student-friendly cities as well

D.Besides, all these universities have their own unique advantages

E.The university I chose was small but used to invite business chiefs and directors

F.Because there are many universities with good reputation which attracts students

G.Plus, all French universities work with several countries to offer an exchange program