Do you dream?

    Have you ever visited some strange places in your dreams? In fact people have wondered about these strange places for long.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} However, they have been valued as necessary to a person's health and happiness.

    Historically, people thought dreams contained messages from God. It was only in the twentieth century that people started to study dreams scientifically, believing that they tell about a person's character.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} He believed that dreams allow a person to express fantasies or fears, which would be socially unacceptable in real life.

    The second theory to become popular was Carl Jung's compensation theory. Jung, a former student of Freud, said that the purpose of a dream is not to hide something, but rather to communicate it to the dreamer.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Thus, people who think too highly of themselves may dream about falling; those who think too little of themselves dream of being heroes.

    Using more recent research, William Domhoff from the University of California found that dreaming is a mental skill that needs time to develop in humans.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Until they reach the age of five, they can not express very well what their dreams are about. Once people become adults, there is little or no change in their dreams. The dreams of men and women differ. For instance, the characters that appear in the dreams of men are often other men, and often involve physical aggression.

    The meaning of dreams continues to be difficult to understand. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} If you dream that a loved one is going to die, do not panic. The dream may have meaning, but it does not mean that your loved one is going to die.

A. Dreams make up for what is lacking in waking life.

B. But anyway, people should not take their dreams as reality.

C. It gives scientists chances to better understand human mind.

D. They have been considered as meaningless nighttime journeys.

E. First, there was Sigmund Freud's theory.

F. They think their mind is trying to tell them something.

G. Children do not dream as much as adults.

    An interesting study posted on Facebook recently shows how men and women develop new interests as they mature(成熟).

    While women tend to take exercise seriously from the age of 34, men will wait until their 45th birthdays before working hard to get in shape. The average woman spends more time talking about sports, politics, career and money as she gets older.

Women's interest in books reaches its peak(顶峰) at the age of 22, while that of men does so when they are in their 50s.

    Men start to change their focus from the workplace to other things after age 30, while women do not do so until eight years later. Both, however, care most about fashion at age 16.

    The research used anonymous(匿名的) data donated by thousands of Facebook users, recording the statuses, 'likes' and 'interests' they had posted on their profiles.

It found the average woman talks about television most at 44, while men peak much younger, at age 31.

    Men are also most likely to see a film in a cinema at age 31, while women go out to see films most when they are only 19.

    Men are most interested in travel at 29, women at 27, while women talk most about food and drink at 35, and men at 38.

    And if you are middle aged, a safe topic for any audience is the weather, which is a key interest for many as they approach 60.

    Stephen Wolfram, the British scientist who carried out the research, says, “It's almost shocking how much this tells us about the changes of people's typical interests.

    “People talk less about video games as they get older, and more about politics.”

    In an effort to discourage people from using plastics, scientists have been hard at work inventing alternative packaging products. From water bottles made from seaweed to cutlery(餐具) made from rice and wheat, a number of inventions are set to change the way we eat while we are on the go, or having a relaxing picnic in the park.

    The idea of using seaweed to make eco-friendly water bottles has been around for a few years. Recently, Ari Jonsson took his invention—a water bottle made from red seaweed—to show off at a festival. The bottles will only hold their shape as long as they are filled. As soon as these bottles are empty they will begin to break down, though they would be perfectly safe to eat. Ari Jonsson's bottles are a step closer to a widely used alternative to the current plastic ones.

    The eatable water container is not the only product to add to our image of the future. Narayana Pessapaty has also created eatable spoons. After the success of his spoons, Mr. Pessapaty is ready to expand and introduce forks and chopsticks to his menu. His aim is to largely reduce the amount of plastic waste, which is a huge problem for waste sites all over the world. It is a product that may take up to 500 years to break down, and recycling companies worldwide are struggling to deal with it.

    Aside from the obvious benefits to the environment, this new packaging is also cheap to produce and therefore cheap to buy. Even better is the fact that similar eatable cutlery can be made at home, possibly a science project for children or just fun with friends. Why not experiment and create your own recipes?

    If you've ever visited London, it's likely that you've heard the loud chimes（鸣响）of Big Ben, the 157-year-old clock bell of the UK's Houses of Parliament（议会）.

    But on Aug 21, the world's most famous bell fell silent. This is because the Palace of Westminster's Elizabeth Tower, which houses Big Ben, needs to be repaired. The workers who'll carry out the repairs don't want their ears to be damaged by the sounds of the huge bell, reported BBC News. Big Ben won't ring again regularly until 2021.

    There's been quite an emotional response to the move. Several members of parliament gathered in front of the Houses of Parliament to hear the bell's last regular chime for four years. A few even shed tears, as if they were attending a friend's funeral.

    But a number of politicians are angry about the lengthy silencing of Big Ben, calling it a symbol of Britain, according to ABC News. And some members of public agree with it. "It's our heritage," David Dummigan, from Cumbria in the north of England, told The New York Times. "People come from all over the world to look at it and listen to it. It's part of British history." This kind of emotional reaction could be linked to "fears about Britain losing its voice and place in the world, which is part of the threat that comes from Brexit", according to CNN. "The reality of losing a place at the top table is being made obvious," it wrote.

    Worries aside, fans of Big Ben will still be able to hear its unique chimes during special occasions such as New Year's Eve. But if we do miss hearing Big Ben on a regular basis, we could always set its sound as our message tone.

    Elizabeth Blackwell was born in England in 1821, and moved to New York City when she was ten years old. One day she decided that she wanted to become a doctor. That was nearly impossible for a woman in the middle of the nineteenth century. After writing many letters asking for admission(录取) to medical schools, she was finally accepted by a doctor in Philadelphia. She was so determined that she taught school and gave music lessons to get money for the cost of schooling.

    In 1849, after graduation from medical school, she decided to further her education in Paris. She wanted to be a surgeon(外科医师), but a serious eye problem forced her to give up the idea.

    Upon returning to the United States, she found it difficult to start her own practice because she was a woman. By 1857 Elizabeth and her sister, also a doctor, along with another woman doctor, managed to open a new hospital, the first for women and children Besides being the first woman physician and founding her own hospital, she also set up the first medical school for women.

    Each year, hundreds of thousands of wild animals around the world are killed in trophy hunting—the organized shooting of animals for pleasure. The hunters then bring parts of the animal home with them as their "trophy" to remember the hunting.

    Trophy hunters pay big money to kill animals. Some of the money goes to helping wildlife protection. Trophy hunting also attracts business, which encourages people to preserve land and breed(饲养) animals that would otherwise be endangered. Cathy Dean, head of the Save the Rhino Charity, says that at the start of the 1900s there were only 50–100 southern white rhinos. Now, there are around 18,000. This is partly because some of them were raised specially for trophy hunting.

    But things don't usually go on one way. According to WWF, elephant populations have fallen from 1.3 million to just over 400,000 since the 1980s. Over the same period, hunters from around the world have taken home more than 100,000 African elephant trophies. Trophy hunting is not illegal(非法的) but unfair on the animals. In 2015, Cecil the lion was shot by a US trophy hunter. Cecil was a beloved lion in Zimbabwe, Africa. Cecil was lured with bait(诱饵), shot with an arrow and struggled in blood for more than ten hours before his hunters tracked and finished killing him. His son, Xanda, met a similar fate two years later.

    Cecil's death caused worldwide outrage and protests(反抗) against trophy hunting. Countries including Australia, France and the Netherlands banned(禁止) the import of lion trophies—they stop hunters from being allowed to bring home parts of the animal they kill. They believe that people will stop trophy hunting because the activity might lose its attraction if hunters can't bring their trophies home.

    The UK Government said that it would consider a ban on trophy-hunting imports by 2017, but no action had been taken. In April 2019, a letter by protesters against trophy hunting was sent to the UK government asking to ban trophy-hunting imports. On 7 May, the official in charge of the environment, Michael Gove, said that the UK would not ban the imports for the time being. This left the world in a state of a shock. Hopefully the UK will place a ban on trophy-hunting imports, which would be an important message and inspire others to treat animals better. We're waiting for the day to come.