Some people seem to have extraordinary (非凡的）memories. Zheng Aiqiang, a “memory athlete” on TV show Super Brain, can remember 2,660 numbers in just one hour!

    You would think people like this have special brains. But according to a recent study by researchers from the US and the Netherlands, the brain structures（结构）of ordinary people and 23 of the world's leading memory athletes show no difference.

    That's because good memories can be trained. New research in the journal Neuron (神经元期刊) suggests that you can become a super memorizer with just six weeks of hard training.

    Researchers found that technique (技巧）called loci, invented by ancient Greeks, can greatly help improve memory. By using loci, you are using your imagination to improve the brain's memory networks. You can link（关联）something you need to remember with a place that you know very well. For example, to remember a list of numbers, imagine yourself walking through your house. Each thing is linked to a number. For example, zero could be handle（把手）on the door and five could be the painting on the wall.

    In one study, some ordinary people were given 20 minutes to remember 72 words. First they could only remember 26 of them. But when they were taught loci, they could remember 62 words.

    “Not everyone can become a memory champion. But everyone using the technique can improve a lot from the level they're at,” said Boris Konrad, one of the researchers in the study.

    Online schools are becoming very popular with many people today. And now, even regular students are going in for online education. As it leaves them with enough time to do other things, such as a part-time job or a hobby, along with studying. However, as with everything, there are two sides about online schooling.

    Let's start with the good side. Online schools cost very little. You don't have to spend money on books, or bus fees. Also, since you can work along with studying at an online schools, you would not need to take an education loan. Another benefit of going to school online is the freedom it provides. You can study wherever you want—in your house, at a cafe or even in a park. Some people who want to study further, now no longer have to take a break in their jobs, thanks to online schools.

    However, those students who often need a push from their teachers to do well have a very high chance of not doing well at online schools. When studying in a class, different topics in a given subject are discussed and different students give their points of view. This is something that online schooling cannot provide.

    Also, there are many employers who prefer students with a regular and traditional degree to those who have an online degree. The employers feel that students who go to full-time colleges have more knowledge compared to those who have online degrees.

    In general, it can be said online schools are good for some, while others should give them up! A person should see the situation he is in and then decide whether or nor to choose an online school.

看图回答问题。

（C）

    This year 2,300 teenagers from all over the world will spend about ten months in US homes. They will attend US schools, meet US teenagers, and form impressions of America.  {#blank#}1{#/blank#} They will learn new languages and gain a new understanding of the rest of the world.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Fred, nineteen, spent last year in Germany with George's family. In turn, George's son Mike spent a year in Fred's home in America.

    Fred, a lively young man, knew little German when he arrived, but after two months' study, the language began to come to him. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Students rose respectfully when the teacher entered the room. They took fourteen subjects instead of the six that are usual in the United States. There were almost no outside activities.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}The father's word was law, and all activities were around the family rather than one of the members. Fred found the food too simple at first. Also, he missed having a car.

    “Back home, you pick up some friends in a car and go out and have a good time. In Germany, you walk, but you soon learn to like it.

    Meanwhile, in America, Mike, a German boy, was also forming his idea. “I suppose I should criticize (批 评) American schools,” he said. “It is far too easy by our level. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} In Germany we do nothing but study. Here we take part in many outside activities. I think that maybe your schools are better in training for citizens. There should be some middle ground between the two.”

    Claude Monet's paintings were quite different from the art styles that were popular in the 1870s France. Traditional artists always did their artwork in a studio and their paintings were realistic-they looked exactly like the real world. Claude Monet was part of a group of painters who were called Impressionists(印象派画家). Their paintings were light and a bit fuzzy-they gave an impression of what the real world looked like. Sometimes Impressionists worked outside, which was a very unusual thought in their time. Impressionism received its name from an early painting by Claude Monet titled impression, Sunrise.

    Knowing that trains were interesting subjects and represented modern progress, Claude Monet crated a series of Impressionist paintings of trains from January to March of 1877. He worked on his paintings right on the train platform at the Gare Saint-Lazare, the train station on Saint Lazare Street. Although there were many train stations in Paris, this was the first train station built in Paris so it had historical significance(意义).

    Monet's friend, Impressionist painter Pierre Auguste Renoir, told the following story to his sons about Claude Monet and painting the trains. Monet needed permission(允许)to spend time on the train platform and paint what he saw in his impressionistic style. One day Monet dressed himself in his very best suit along with a fine top hat, a good linen shirt and a silk tie. He appeared to be a wealthy gentleman while he really was a poor painter.

    When he went towards the clerk at the train office, he presented his calling card which introduced him as Claude Monet, Painter. He asked to see the station master. The clerk quickly allowed this fine gentleman to enter the station master's office. The station master was also impressed and gave Monet permission to paint on the train platform. The station master even kept trains from leaving on time so Monet could complete a scene even though passengers complained.

    Was it all worthwhile(值得)? Monet's train scenes turned his career into a success and for the station master, made his train station famous until even now.

Claude Monet