Having bad feeling about world? “Cheer up.” says science writer Matt Ridley. “The world has never been a better place to live in, and it will keep on getting better both for humans and for nature.”{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

1 ) {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    It is reported that there are more than ten billion different products for sale in London alone. Even allowing for the many people who still live in poverty, our own generation has access to more nutritious food, more convenient transport, bigger houses, and better cars. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} This will continue as long as we use these things to make other things. The more we specialize and exchange, the better off we'll be.

2)Brilliant advances

    One reason we are richer, healthier, taller, cleverer, longer lived and freer than ever before is that the four most basic human needs—food, clothing, fuel and shelter—have grown a lot cheaper. Take one example. In 1800 a candle providing one hour's light cost six hours' work. In the 1880s the same light from an oil lamp took 15 minutes' work to pay for. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Today it's half second.

3 )Let's not kill ourselves for climate change

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} A child that dies from indoor smoke in a village, where the use of fossil-fuel (化石燃料) electricity is forbidden by well-meaning members of green political movements trying to save the world, is just as great a tragedy as a child that dies in a flood caused by climate change. If climate change proves to be mild, but cutting carbon causes real pain, we may well find that we have stopped a nose-bleed by putting a tourniquet (止血带) around our necks.

A. Ridley calls himself a rational optimist—rational, because he's carefully weighed the evidence.

B. Overreaction to climate change could prove just as damaging to human welfare as climate change itself.

C. Shopping fuels invention.

D. And, of course, we earn more pounds and dollars than any who lived before us.

E. In 1950 it was eight seconds.

F. It's high time that we took immediate action to fight climate change.

G. Here's how he explains his views.

    If you're planning to go on a diet o1 if you suffer from serious conditions like diabetes( 糖尿病), knowing exactly what and how much you're eating is essential. In this day and age, we have calorie and nutritional calculators even on our smartphones, but they act only as guides, whereas Panasonic's revolutionary new device, CaloRieco, actually analyzes the food on your plate and provides accurate in formation about in just a few seconds.

    You've probably used calorie calculators before,and you know that they only offer general information. For example, a calculator will tell you the average number of calories in a hamburger, but it can't tell you exactly how many calories are in the hamburger. The same goes for nutrients like protein or fats. And this is what makes the new CaloRieco so special.

    Displayed at a recent tech show, CaloRieco is a high-tech device that uses light reflection technology to determine the nutritional values of almost any food and also provide accurate calorie estimates.All you have to do is put your plate in the box-shaped device and wait between 10 and 20 seconds for it tc analyze all the food on there.

    Once it's done analyzing the various ingredients(原料)in your meal, CaloRieco displays the number of calories, as well as the nutritional content on an LED display, According to Panasonic, the device is able to recognize the vast majority of foods, except soups and very dark dishes.

    CaloRieco can also connect to your smartphone via an app, and send all the data about analyzed foods to your handheld, so you car access it whenever you need.

    Panasonic said that its outstanding invention is aimed at dieters and diabetes sufferers, both of which make up a large market.Unfortunately,you'llhave to wait a bit longer to your hands on your very own CaloRieco, as the device presented a the show is just a prototype(样品) which needs to be improved. It 's scheduled to hit the market sometime in the next few years, but the price remains unknown.

    No one is sure how the ancient Egyptians built the pyramids near Cairo. But a new study suggests they used a little rock 'n' roll. Long-ago builders could have attached wooden poles to the stones and rolled them across the sand, the scientists say.

    "Technically, I think what they're proposing is possible," physicist Daniel Bonn said.

    People have long puzzled over how the Egyptians moved such huge rocks. And there's no obvious answer. On average, each of the two million big stones weighed about as much as a large pickup truck. The Egyptians somehow moved the stone blocks to the pyramid site from about one kilometer away.

    The most popular view is that Egyptian workers slid the blocks along smooth paths. Many scientists suspect workers first would have put the blocks on sleds(滑板). Then they would have dragged them along paths. To make the work easier, workers may have lubricated the paths either with wet clay or with the fat from cattle. Bonn has now tested this idea by building small sleds and dragging heavy objects over sand.

    Evidence from the sand supports this idea. Researchers found small amounts of fat, as well as a large amount of stone and the remains of paths.

    However, physicist Joseph West thinks there might have been a simpler way, who led the new study. West said, "I was inspired while watching a television program showing how sleds might have helped with pyramid construction. I thought, 'Why don't they just try rolling the things?' "A square could be turned into a rough sort of wheel by attaching wooden poles to its sides, he realized. That, he notes, should make a block of stone "a lot easier to roll than a square".

    So he tried it.

    He and his students tied some poles to each of four sides of a 30-kilogram stone block. That action turned the block into somewhat a wheel. Then they placed the block on the ground.

    They wrapped one end of a rope around the block and pulled. The researchers found they could easily roll the block along different kinds of paths. They calculated that rolling the block required about as much force as moving it along a slippery(滑的)path.

    West hasn't tested his idea on larger blocks, but he thinks rolling has clear advantages over sliding. At least, workers wouldn't have needed to carry cattle fat or water to smooth the paths.

    Riverside presents

    Sharp Short Theatre

    This competition offers students a rare experience of working in a professional theatre.

    Now in its fourth year of providing an opportunity for new writers, directors and performers to exercise their creative ability, Sharp Short Theatre has fast become one of the most exciting parts of the Riverside year. All entries（参赛作品）perform in a heat and then the best pieces are invited to perform in the final, where students can be awarded prizes in four types including writing, performing, directing and overall.

    Entries must be written and directed by students (18 years old and under) and can be up to at most 10 minutes in time length. Entries must be handed in by a producer, for example a parent, teacher or responsible adult 18 years old or over.

    Sharp Short Theatre is a youth arts pioneer focusing on encouraging the works of students in theatre. Its aim is to unearth and develop the young to be Australian theatre professionals.

    So what are you waiting for? Get into the spirit and register（注册）now.

    Advisory Service:

    Students may hand in their plays for review by a professional playwright（剧作家）in the lead-up to this event.

    Price: ＄30 per play.

    Deadline（截止日期）: 21 March, at 5 pm, 2018.

    Registration:

    To register, click here to complete our online form （one form per entry）.

    Entries Close: 11 April, at 5 pm.

    Price:＄15 per entry.

    Dates & Times:

    Heats: 21-24 May, at 7:30 pm.

    Final: 8 June, at 7:30 pm.

    Price:

    Heats: Adult ＄18, kids under 18 ＄12.

    Final: All tickets ＄20.

    Happy, angry, amazed—these are some of the emotions we like to express these days when we're sending a message on our smart phones! That's why many of us now add little pictures to our texts to brighten up someone's mobile screen but we're also using them as a quick way of telling someone how we're feeling. Yes, emojis (表情符号) have become a popular tool for communication.

    The emoji was first invented in Japan in the late 1990s and the word "emoji" comes from the Japanese words for "picture" and "character". The number of different images has greatly increased since then and now we have a picture for nearly every mood or situation.

    Why are emojis widely used today? Professor Vyv Evans says, "Increasingly, what we're finding is that digital communication is replacing face-to-face talk in some ways. One of the reasons why emojis are so interesting is that they really do enable us to express our emotional selves much more effectively."

    Another advantage of emojis is that they are an international language—they don't use words but tell a message with pictures so they can be easily understood whatever your native language is.

    But as linguist (语言学家) Neil Cohn says, "To many, emojis are an exciting evolution (进化) of the way we communicate; but to others, they are linguistic Armageddon." It does show by using emojis, there is a lot more to our communication than words alone, but does this also mean that the traditional writing will die out one day?

    If you stayed up or had a bad night of sleep last night, you know it's difficult to stay awake in class today. Your teacher's voice might begin to sound like a lullaby（催眠曲）.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}To keep yourself awake, some tips are worth trying in class.

    Sit in the front of the room. Why?{#blank#}2{#/blank#}Besides, it'll be easier to pay attention and participate when you're in the front. You'll also be near the people who are more likely to participate, and the sound of their voices might keep you awake.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Ask and answer questions and pay attention to the lecture. This will help if you're tired or discouraged by the content of the lecture, because you can ask your teacher questions to get to the bottom of the problems. Talking will also keep you engaged and alert. It might be helpful to make a goal for yourself to answer or ask at least 3questions per class.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}For example, you might say "I didn't understand the last part of the proof. Could you explain it again in more detail?"

    Listen actively to the lesson. Active listening is a great way to force yourself to stay awake because it requires engagement of your mind as well as your body.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}To effectively listen to your teacher, you should try to maintain eye contact, face the speaker, pay close attention to what the speaker is saying and ask questions during a pause in the lecture.

A. Participate in class activities.

B. Develop interest in the subject.

C. If so, classrooms can be boring because you're tired.

D. Keep silent all the time and try to catch as much information as possible.

E. To avoid annoying your teacher you should try to keep your questions on topic.

F. You'll be more motivated to stay awake if you know that the teacher can see you easily.

G. Practicing active listening can help you keep your eyes open for the length of the lesson.