For many people, a special sale is just too attractive to walk away from. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} But with sales items, how can you be sure you're really getting a good deal? If you understand some sales tricks, you will be able to make smart choices.

    Some tricks have been used by shopkeepers for ages. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} For example, if an item is US＄11.99 instead of US＄12.00, you'll feel like you're spending less money.

    Sellers sometimes reduce items by a certain amount. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} That means that even with the discount, you may still pay more than the original price.

    Shopkeepers clearly understand what makes you want to buy their products. But with a little preparation, you can avoid being cheated.

Tips for shoppers

*Always compare prices before buying anything.

*{#blank#}4{#/blank#} The more focused you are, the easier it is to make wise decisions.

*Don't shop when you are hungry. Studies show that you'll usually buy more than you originally planned.

*{#blank#}5{#/blank#} First ask yourself: Do I have the money to buy it? Will I use it? If not, walk away, but if so, go for it! That way you'll still feel good after you take your item home.

A．Know what you're looking for.

B．Watch for"Buy one, get one free"sales.

C．And that makes shop owners very happy!

D．One of the oldest is to make prices end in 99.

E．Don't buy something just because it's on sale.

F．Check for sales ads in the newspaper or online.

G．But before the sale begins, sellers might mark the prices higher.

    Climate change has had a number of effects on cities around the world, including rising see levels. And, this has become an especially big problem for coastal cities. City officials must now prepare for higher tides on their coasts. The American city of Miami is one example. Located in South Florida, Miami is home to nearly 3 million people and billions of dollars in land and buildings.

    Miami is one of the cities in America most at risk for rising sea levels. The waterfront is central to Miami's culture and economy. But as the seas rise with climate change .the water will not stay put. Large parts of South Florida are in danger of being under water in the coming years. Across Biscayne Bay, the City of Miami Beach is making improvements - raising streets, adding water pumps and more.

    It is costing the city a lot of money. Local communities will spend 500 million dollars for the improvements. Thankfully, the residents, the folks that are paying the bill for this work, realize that the cost of doing nothing is much greater. A possibility officials are discussing with residents is for city to buy homes in some places where flooding has been a problem. The city would then turn that land into parks of grassland that could hold the water.

    Over time, the city may need to take bigger risks. Miami's future depends largely on how much, and how fast, the oceans rise.

    Caroline Lewis leads the climate activism group, the CLEO Institute. She says cities cannot avoid the need to move inland. But, she says，a well-planned withdrawal (撤退) could include measures to keep people safely in place for as long as possible. And, she says, the world could learn from such a model. In these two Florida cities built on wetlands, there remains a lot of hopefulness.

    Frank Woolworth was born in Rodman, New York, in 1852. His family were very poor farmers, and there was never enough to eat. Frank decided he did not want to be a farmer. So he took a short business course, and went to work as a salesman in a large city.

    Woolworth realized he had a natural skill for showing goods to attract people's interest, but he soon learned something more important. One day his boss told him to sell some odds and ends (小商品) for as much as he could get. Frank put all these things on one table with a sign which said FIVE CENTS EACH. People fought and pushed to buy the things and the table was soon cleared.

    Soon afterwards, Woolworth opened his own store, selling goods at five and ten cents. But he had another lesson to learn before he became successful. That is, if you want to make money by selling low-price goods, you have to buy them in large quantities(大量) directly from the factories. Once, for example, Woolworth went to Germany and placed an order for knives. The order was so large that the factory had to keep running 24 hours a day for a whole year. In this way, the price of the knives was cut down by half.

    By 1919, Woolworth had over 1000 stores in the US and Canada, and opened his first store in London. He made a lot of money and his name became famous throughout the world. He always ran his business according to strict rules, of which the most important was: “ THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT.”

    What's the meaning of "dark horse"? It's someone who wins when no one expects it.Han Xiaopeng took China's first gold on snow. He became an Olympic "dark horse" by winning the gold medal in men's freestyle aerial skiing(自由式滑雪空中技巧) at Turin in Italy. He made two almost perfect jumps for the highest score. Han had never won a world gold medal before, let alone(更不用说) in the Olympics!

    "I never thought this would happen," said the 23-year-old. "I feel like I'm in a dream." It's China's second gold medal at the Turin Olympics. But more important, Han's gold was the country's first ever in a snow sport. In 2002, China's Yang Yang won the gold for speed skating at the winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, US.

    That Han's win was unexpected doesn't mean that he didn't work hard.

    Han grew up in Jiangsu Province. Before he started his training on snow, he used to be an acrobat(杂技演员) at a circus. In 1995, a coach found his talent(才能). The coach, Yang Er'qi, said Han had the agility(灵活性) and courage to be a ski jumper. When Yang first took the 12-year-old to northern China, the boy couldn't swim, skate or ski. But he wasn't afraid of the high platform(跳台) and kept on training.

    Han almost left the sport after hurting his knee months before the Salt Lake Games. In that Olympics he only got 24th. "I was hopeless at that time, but my family and the coach stood firmly(坚强地) behind me, helping me through," he recalled.

    Han Xiaopeng worked so hard that he won the gold medal in the Olympics at last. Because of his success, more and more people in China are becoming interested in skiing. We are proud of him and we hope he will have another big success in the next winter Olympics.

    Many Americans think of driverless cars as a futuristic technology that will revolutionize travel in cities and along state highways. But recent experiments are proving that autonomous vehicles also have the potential to improve the quality of life for millions of Americans underserved by traditional ways of transportation, such as the elderly and disabled, so long as lawmakers make smart policies that pave the way for innovation.

    A retirement community in San Jose, Calif, which has been transformed by a small fleet (车队) of driverless taxis, shows the potential of self-driving cars to transform people's lives. Built by a tech start-up called Voyage, the modified (被改进的) Ford Fusions are currently limited to a two-mile road, but residents are already having the benefits of these autonomous vehicles, which allow them to participate in social activities they would otherwise be unable to enjoy simply because they could not get to them.

    When the trial run finally expands to 15 miles of road, these residents—whose average age is 76—will also have a convenient and reliable new way to appointments. As these cars continue to serve residents there, it is easy to understand why California is moving to simplify regulations for the industry.

    In Michigan, forward-thinking policies have the potential to unlock other hidden benefits of autonomous vehicles, especially for those with physical disability. The Michigan Disability Rights Coalition has strongly advocated for the development of this technology, saying that it could give people with disabilities greater opportunities in the workforce and enable them to lead more fulfilling (满意的), independent lives.

    Many recognize that autonomous vehicles will be the future of transportation, but it is too often overlooked that this future cannot arrive fast enough for millions of Americans who are forced to depend on others for day-to-day travel. The policymakers should follow the lead of places like California and Michigan, and pass rules and regulations to unlock these hidden benefits of driverless cars.

    Do you ever pull your phone out of your pocket, thinking it is vibrating(振动), only to find that it isn't? This phenomenon, which scientists call "phantom(幻觉的)phone vibration", is very common. Around 80% of people surveyed say they have imagined their phones vibrating when they were actually still.

    So, what leads to this universal behavior? According to the BBC, the explanation lies in your brainˈs ability to discover signals from the outside world. When your phone is in your pocket, there are two possible states: it is either vibrating or not. Meanwhile, you also have two possible states of mind: the judgment that the phone is vibrating, or that it isn't. Ideally, you match the four states correctly.

However, sometimes your brain decides that the results of missing a call are more serious than a "false alarm". Therefore, you become more sensitive(敏感的) to vibrations so that you don't miss anything. This is just like the fire alarm in your home—it can be annoying when it goes off in response to just a tiny bit of smoke. But that's a small price to pay compared to a fire really breaking out because the alarm fails to alert you. Now, you might still ask: why can't our brains just make every judgment correctly without being too sensitive to false signals? The answer is that your brain bears a heavy burden every day. "You get a large amount of sensory(感觉的) information that's coming from your eyes, ears and skin, and you can't deal with all that information all the time, "Michael Rothberg, a researcher at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, US, told Live Science.

    For example, the rustling(沙沙声)of clothing or the growling(咕咕声)of your stomach may both lead your brain to believe that they come from the vibration of your phone-it is like trying to hear your name being called in a noisy room.

    So, perhaps you should just check your phone whenever you think it's vibrating. It's not too much trouble to do that, is it?