Once a farmer's daughter began to think and plan while she was carrying her pai1 (桶) of milk from the field to the farmhouse.“I will sell this milk”, she said to herself,“and with the money I can surely buy three hundred eggs. I will put these eggs under hens. And surely two hundred and fifty of them will hatch(孵化). I will feed these chickens, and make them fat. And I will take them to the market when chickens are dear. I will sell them at the market, and with the money, I will buy a new dress. In this dress, I will go to the fair. I shall look so fine that all the young men will ask me to marry them . But I will toss my head, and say NO to them all..”As she said this, she really tossed her head.  Down fell the pail, and the milk spilled all over the ground. That was the end of all her fine plans.

The moral of this story is: Don't count your chickens before they are hatched.

Fill in the blanks according to the pasage. Only one word for each blank.

 A farmer's daughter was once carrying her pail of milk on the farm {#blank#}1{#/blank#}   she began to think and plan. She planned to sell the milk and buy a new dress. She thought that she must{#blank#}2{#/blank#} the men who fell in love with her when she{#blank#}3{#/blank#} the new dress to the fair. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}  of this, she tossed her head and the milk spilled all over the ground. Her fine plans were{#blank#}5{#/blank#} 

    You may think that inventions are far away from your everyday life. But in fact, almost everyone can invent. It's just that they do not realize that their idea could be the start of an invention. Once inventors see their ideas have some practical value, they don't let them run away.

    For example, the inventors of the dishwasher, American Josephine Cochrane, loved to give dinner parties. But she found it took too long to wash her dishes by hand. She decided that a machine could do the job faster. So, in 1886, she began to make one for herself.

    Here are the steps to create inventions. The first and most important step is to find the problem. Start by looking at what is wrong with things you see now and ask people around if they remember ever saying, “I wish someone would invent something for...” Then you might notice situations(情况) or things in need of improvement. The next step is to think about possible solutions. An invention is a new way of solving a problem. So think of many and unusual ways. You can often come up with a solution to a problem by looking at it from a different side.

    The hardest part of inventing is coming up with a problem and finding a solution. Once you have an idea, you can always get help building your invention. This problem-solving technique can also work in your everyday lives. So, why not try it in your studies, in your relationship with others, or even in the way you look at the world?

{#blank#}1{#/blank#}When a teacher assigns a lot of homework, Domenica Roman draws up a timetable, dividing the assignment into small parts." It's like eating a steak(牛排)," she says. "You chew it one bite at a time."

{#blank#}2{#/blank#}One student put a vocabulary list in the bathroom. He learned a new word every day while brushing his teeth. Another student used the time to remember biology terms while practicing running.

{#blank#}3{#/blank#}In high school, McCray ran track, played football and was in the band and orchestra. "I was so busy that I couldn't waste time looking for a pencil or missing paper. I kept everything right where I could put my hands on it," he says.

{#blank#}4{#/blank#}In an international class, Asian-Americans, on average, scored higher than other students. The teacher found that the Asian-Americans discussed homework problems together, tried different ways to work out the problems and explained their solutions to one another.

{#blank#}5{#/blank#}Christi is an excellent student at the University of California. If her math teacher assigns five problems, she does ten. If the history teacher assigns eight pages of reading, she reads twelve. "Part of learning is practicing," she says. "And the more you practice, the more you learn."

    Not enough American students want to be engineers, mathematicians, or scientists. The US government wants to change that. The government will spend three billion dollars on the education of young Americans in science, technology, engineering, and maths. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}.

    Many jobs in the STEM fields will open in the coming years. The purpose of the government's investment（投资）is to increase the number of Americans who can take those jobs. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} than boys. Only 25 percent of STEM students are girls.

    Camsic McAdams is at the US Education Department. She says girls simply do not feel welcomed in STEM subjects, Debbie Sterling is an engineer. She invented a toy for girls. The name of the toy is "Goldie Blox". To interest girls, Sterling create the character"（Goldie". {#blank#}3{#/blank#} . Goldie tells stories, solves difficult problems and builds new worlds.

    Mia is a seven-year-old girl who likes science. In her room, she has no fashion dolls. Instead, she received a set of（Goldie Blox from her grandmother. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Experts say parents should do more than just buy toys to interest their girls in STEM subjects. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}.

    At school, girls should take part in projects that require teamwork and creative thinking.

    [1] In today's world, the most successful companies are the ones who understand how important it is to make contacts（联系）around the world. However, doing business in different countries isn't simple. It is important to know the local customs and traditions of the people you are dealing with, which is the best way to impress(使…印象深刻)your hosts.

    [2] One example that comes to mind is of a German company that has recently tried to gain (获得)a new contract in South Korea. The German visitors arrived at the Korean company's office early in the morning and spent the whole day in long meetings. By the evening, the Germans were so tired that they politely turned down the Korean's invitation to go out for dinner and drinks, since they wanted to return to their hotel and get some rest. The Germans did not understand that in South Korea business talks often continue into the evening. The Germans only came to realize that they offended(冒犯)their hosts after they had lost the contract.

    [3] In Europe or the USA, business is seldom discussed into the evening. However, it is important to be on time for a meeting. If you are ①__________, your hosts may think you do not care. In fact, it is better to arrive at least ten minutes before the meeting starts. This way, you can show how keen(强烈的) you are to do business with them. You will also have time to talk with your hosts before you sit down to discuss business.

    [4] However, in many countries meetings may not start on time. There are many ②_____________for this, such as transport difficulties, unusual weather and the breakdown of cars.

    Sometimes the time of day is also important. In South America and many countries in southern Europe, people have a short sleep after lunch. Therefore, if you try to arrange(安排) a meeting for the early afternoon, you may find that not many people will③__________, or that your hosts will be unhappy.