{#blank#}1{#/blank#}. Why read an article in the newspaper, when the TV news can bring you the information in a few minutes and with pictures? Why read the life story of a famous man, when a short television program can tell you all that you want to know?

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. Today, newspapers sell in very large numbers. And books of every kind are sold more than ever before. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Although some books with hard covers are expensive, many books are printed today as paper books (平装本), which are quite cheap. A paperback collection of short stories, for example, is always cheaper than an evening at the cinema or the theater, and you can keep a book for ever and read it many times. Additionally, {#blank#}4{#/blank#} No matter when you are on the subway or you are waiting at the airport, a book in hand is always a good choice.

     Books are a wonderful provider of knowledge and pleasure and some types of books should be in every home.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}. A good encyclopedia (百科全书), though expensive, is useful, too, because you can find information on any subject. Besides, you can have such books as history books, science textbook, cookbooks, and collections of stories and poems. Then from time to time you can take a book of poems off your shelves and read the thoughts and feelings of your favorite poets.

A. Television has not killed reading, however

B. A printed book is a good time killer

C. Every home should have a good dictionary

D. More and more people spend less time doing sports

E. Choosing a good book is just like choosing a friend

F. Books are still a cheap way to get information and enjoyment

G. With the popularity of televisions, some think fewer people will buy books and newspapers

Money Matters

    Parents should help their children understand money.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}So you may start talking about money when your child shows an interest in buying things, candy or toys, for example.

    ⒈ The basic function of money

    Begin explaining the basic function of money by showing how people trade money for goods or services. It is important to show your child how money is traded for the things he wants to have. If he wants to have a toy, give him the money and let him hand the money to the cashier(收银员).{#blank#}2{#/blank#} When your child grows a bit older and understands the basic function of money, you can start explaining more ways of using money.

    ⒉ Money lessons

    Approach money lessons with openness and honesty.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} If you must say no to a child's request to spend money, explain, “You have to make a choice between this and that toy.”

    ⒊{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Begin at the grocery store. Pick out two similar brands of a product –a name-brand butter and a generic(无商标产品), for example. You can show your child how to make choices between different brands of a product so that you can save money.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}  If he chooses the cheaper brand, allow him to make another purchase with the money saved. Later, you may explain how more expensive choice leaves less money for other purchases.

A. Wise decision

B. The value of money

C. Permit the child to choose between them.

D. Tell your child why he can –or cannot –have certain things.

E. The best time to teach a child anything about money is when he shows an interest.

F. Talk about how the money bought the thing after you leave the toy store.

G. Ask yourself what things that cost money are most important to you.

    Humans use electricity to light up the night sky. But did you know that nature itself can glow, too?

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. Some use their lights to communicate. Others shine to hunt, to mate or to protect themselves. The vampire squid, for example, gives out a cloud of light to scare enemies.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}.

    In 2013, the US company Gleaux said it had created the world's first light-producing plant, reported the Daily Mail.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}.

    “People have dreamed about this stuff for many years,” said Alexander Krichevsky, the company's founder.

    He and other researchers are working toward a future in which glowing plants replace lamps and glowing trees line highways.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}, making them glow to let farmers know when they need water or are ready to be picked.

    While GleauX is working on glowing plants, the French company Glowee is trying to use glowing bacteria to light up shop windows and street signs. It is the same type of bacteria that causes certain sea animals to light up.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}.The company is now working on a light that shines brighter, lasts longer and comes in different colors.

    “Our goal is to change the way we produce and use light,” said Glowee founder Sandra Rey. “We want to offer a global solution that will reduce the 19 percent of electricity consumption used to produce light.”

A. People are also creating glowing bacterial art that you can hang in your home

B. Scientists have found many glowing creatures, most of which live in the ocean

C. Krichevsky also hopes the technology could be used in crops

D. Researchers around the world are looking into nature's lights for new ideas

E. It is a genetically-modified plant that glows like fireflies do

F. In 2016, Glowee created a bacteria-powered light that glows for three days

G. This technology could help us save much energy

    Happiness is the only true measure of personal success. Making other people happy is the highest expression of success. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}With that in mind, here are some suggestions that will immediately increase the amount of happiness in your life:

{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    If there's any big truth about life, it's that it usually lives up to your expectations. Therefore, when you rise from bed, make your first thought: "Something wonderful is going to happen today." Guess what? You're probably right.

    Take time to plan and prioritize(优先处理)

    The most common source of stress is the thought that you've got too much work to do. Rather than worry about it, pick one thing that will move you closer to your highest goal and purpose in life. Then do that first.

    Eat high quality food slowly

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Even so, at least once a day try to eat something really delicious, like a small chunk of fine cheese or an imported chocolate. Taste it, focus on it and enjoy it.

Let go of your results.

    The big enemy of happiness is worry, which comes from focusing on events that are outside your control. Once you've taken action, there's usually nothing more you can do. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    End each day with gratitude

    Just before you go to bed, write down at least one wonderful thing that happened. It might be something as small as making a child laugh or something as huge as a million dollar deal.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Start each day with expectations.

B  Give a gift to everyone you meet.

C. Focus on the job at hand rather than some fantasy that might happen.

D. Whatever it is, be grateful for that day because it will never come again.

E. Sometimes we can't avoid eating something quickly and running.

F. Thinking about that thing makes your head hurt.

G. It's impossible to make others happy if you're not happy.

    A rocket problem that forces astronauts to evacuate (撤退) may appear to be a plot straight out of a Hollywood movie. However, that is exactly what happened to Russian astronaut Alexey Ovchinin and American astronaut Nick Hague. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    The event happened shortly after the Soyuz rocket and its Soyuz MS-to space capsule (联盟号太空舱) carrying the astronauts took off from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    The takeoff went off smoothly, but just 119 seconds later, officials from Russia's space agency informed NASA the booster (助推器) had failed to separate from the capsule. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Instead, they were ordered to evacuate by separating the capsule and returning to Earth in what is known as a ballistic descent mode (弹道下降模式). The sharp drop is similar to free-falling from the skies and subjects astronauts to high levels of g-force.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} They appeared to be in excellent condition when they crash-landed about 20 kilometers east of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, just 34 minutes after they stopped the task. Upon arrival, they were quickly found by the rescue team from Baikonur Cosmodrome and taken to the hospital for a quick check-up to ensure they had not suffered any injuries during their rough ride back to Earth.

    It will take a few weeks for experts to determine what caused the problem of the usually reliable Soyuz rocket. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Hague, who was on his way to the space station for the first time later joked, "I imagined that my first trip to outer space was going to be a memorable one. I didn't expect it to be quite this memorable."

A. To their sadness, this event became a nightmare for their future space journey.

B. The two scientists were on their way to carry out a six-month task at the International Space Station.

C. Surprisingly, the harrowing event has not stopped Hague's and Ovchinin's wish to go to space.

D. Thus, the astronauts didn't head to the International Space Station.

E. And luckily, they became the main characters of the movie about space exploration.

F. Fortunately, the "movie" had a happy ending with both scientists returning to Earth safely.

G. Fortunately, Hgue and Ovchinin had been well-trained for such emergencies.

    Once eating alone was just that: sitting down in a restaurant on one's own and eating a meal. Everyone did it sometimes, and when they did so, {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. To eat alone might suggest that you didn't have any friends. There was a kind of shame attached to it.

    Nowadays, however, there is more and more solitary (独自的) eating for pleasure. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. "Foodies"—people with a passionate interest in cuisines—do it because all they need is the chance to eat good food. They don't want company or conversation, but only the joy of eating some special dish. Other people eat alone because it's simply practical for them to do so. For instance, it's estimated that nearly a third of all the customers of fast-food restaurants eat alone. They are served with their food fast, eat it fast and then leave fast. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}.

    But the appeal of eating alone is quite different. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} . For the hour or so that it takes to have a meal, they can forget all the pressures of their lives. They don't have to deal with their family or job. They can relax and let their mind wander. Maybe they'll bring a book, a newspaper to enjoy a quiet time.

    David Annand, editor of Conde Nast Traveler magazine, who delights in dining alone, speaks of his pleasure in the "rhythm of a meal in a restaurant—its ebb and flow (人来人往), the periodic arrival and departure of the waiter". {#blank#}5{#/blank#} .

A. It's an experience of freedom

B. they might be a little embarrassed

C. People choose to eat alone for various reasons

D. none of them would feel bad about themselves

E. Sometimes staying alone is quite cosy when you don't work

F. This restaurant rhythm allows him to sit back, observe and think

G. It saves time if they have a meeting or a child to pick up from school