Have you ever seen the pictures of those suffering people who struggle every day for just a few drops of water? Water is not a never-ending resource（资源）,but a resource more valuable and limited than anything else on the earth. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}But drinking water is becoming less and less.It is important that people understand this.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    According to a senior official,China is facing a water crisis（危机）more serious than any other countries in the world.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}Measures must be taken to save water.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}?By following these simple suggestions,you will save money on your water bill.Vegetables and fruit should be washed in a bowl rather than under a running tap.Never put the water down the drain（下水道）when there may be another use for it such as watering a plant or cleaning.

    Avoid washing the toilet unnecessarily.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}Take shorter showers.Do not let water run while shaving,brushing your teeth or washing your hair or face.Recently,Singaporeans were urged to shower a minute less as part of a national water protection effort.

    By thinking carefully about your water use in the home and changing some water wasting habits,it is easy to save water.

A.Do not use your toilet as a wastebasket.

B.Saving water is the proper thing to do now.

C.Some other countries are facing water problems.

D.The crisis is caused by widespread drought（大面积的干旱）,pollution,rapid economic growth and waste.

E.Water is the most important thing for life.

F.People can overcome drought by saving water.

G.It is important to use water wisely.

    The quality of patience goes a long way toward your goal of creating a more peaceful and loving self. The more patient you are, the more accepting you will be of what life is, rather than insisting that life be exactly as you would like it to be. Without patience, life is extremely frustrating. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Patience adds some ease and acceptance to your life. It's important for inner peace.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} If you are stuck in a traffic jam, late for an appointment, being patient would mean keeping yourself from building a mental snowball before your thinking gets out of hand and gently reminding yourself to relax. It might also be a good time to breathe as well as an opportunity to remind yourself that, in the bigger scheme of things, being late is "small stuff".

    Patience is a quality of heart that can be greatly enhanced with deliberate practice. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} They are the periods of time that I set up in my mind to practice the art of patience. Life itself becomes a classroom, and the curriculum is patience. You can start with as little as five minutes and build up your capacity for patience over time. What you'll discover is truly amazing. Your intention to be patient, especially if you know it's only for a short while, immediately strengthens your capacity for patience. Patience is one of those qualities where success feeds on itself. Once you reach little milestone-five minutes of successful patience-you'll begin to see that you do indeed have the capacity to be patient, even for longer periods of time. Over time, you may even become a patient person.

    Being patient will help you to keep your perspective. You will see even a difficult situation, say your present challenge, isn't "life or death" but simply a minor obstacle that must be dealt with. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

A. An effective way that I have found to deepen my own patience is to create actual practice periods.

B. You are more easily annoyed and bothered.

C. It is generally believed that the quality of being patient is very difficult to develop.

D. Becoming more patient involves opening your heart to the present moment, even if you don't like it.

E. Without patience, you will see the same scene as an emergency complete with yelling, frustration, hurt feelings.

F. If you lack patience, you are destined to fail in what you are pursuing.

注意：每个空格只填1个单词。

The changes facing fast-food companies

    Fast food was once thought to be recession-proof. When consumers need to cut spending, cheap meals like Big Macs and Whoppers become even more attractive. As a result, fast-food chains have survived the recession better than their more expensive competitors. In 2009 sales at full-service restaurants in America fell by more than 6%, but total sales remained about the same at fast-food chains. In some markets, such as Japan, France and Britain, total spending on fast food increased.

    But in this ongoing recession(萧条), which is more severe, not all fast-food companies have been as fortunate. Many, such as Burger King, have seen sales fall. In the recession, while some people trade down to fast food, many others eat at home more frequently to save money. Smaller fast-food chains in America, such as Jack in the Box and Carl's Jr., have been hit particularly hard in this downturn because they cut back spending on advertising.

    In face of such challenges, some fast-food companies have sacrificed their own profits by trying to give customers better value. During the recession companies set prices low, hoping to tempt more customers through the door. But in many cases that strategy doesn't work. Some companies are rethinking their strategies. KFC has launched a chicken sandwich that costs around $5 to attract consumers away from $1 specials.

    Companies are also trying to get customers to buy new and more items, including drinks. McDonald's started selling better coffee as a challenge to Starbucks. Its “McCafe” line now accounts for an estimated 6% of sales in America. As fast-food companies shift from “super size” to “more buys”, they need to keep customer traffic high throughout the day. Many see breakfast as a big opportunity, and not just for fatty food. McDonald's has started selling porridge in America, because the profits can be high.

    But what about those growing waistlines? So far, fast-food firms have cleverly avoided government regulation. By providing options like salads and low-calorie sandwiches, they have at least given the impression of doing something about helping to fight obesity(肥胖). These offerings don't necessarily lead to profit loss, as they can broaden the appeal of stores to groups of diners that include some people who don't want to eat a burger.

    But calls for tougher government regulation never wear down. This year Congress passed America's health-reform bill, which requires restaurant chains with 20 or more stores to put the calorie-content of items they serve to the menu. And the recent proposal by a county in California to ban McDonald's from including toys in its high-calorie “Happy Meals”, because law makers believe it attracts children to unhealthy food, suggests that fast-food companies will have to continue trying something new.

    The changes facing fast-food companies

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Meal kits(餐具)cut food waste but packaging is a problem

    Home delivery meal kits can slash(大幅消减)food waste by more than two-thirds, but suppliers need to switch to reusable packaging to make them environmentally friendly.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} That means leftovers are minimized. But while the delivery services score well on reducing food waste, buying the same ingredients from the supermarket almost always saves energy overall simply because meal kits use so much single-use packaging. The good news is that if you have meals that are tailored for consumption, people won't over-buy and you have less food waste. You fine-tune the portions to what people will actually eat.

    Beyond the cost of the waste itself, thrown-away food generates methane(甲烷)that contributes to climate change. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} A 2018 report from the Boston Consulting Group found that the waste was set to soar by a third by 2030 when global food waste was estimated to reach 2.1 bn tonnes.

    Meal kits can reduce transport emissions if they mean people take fewer trips to the supermarket. If people only went to buy goods that are unlikely to decay such as soap and toilet paper, they might only have to visit the supermarket once every couple of months. That delivery truck can carry meals for you and dozens of neighbors. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    The study found that even if delivered meal kits reduced food waste to zero, they would still use up more energy overall than buying the same food from the supermarket unless the energy used for the meal kit packaging was cut by a fifth. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} All the environmental benefits are lost. But if the packaging can be reused, you can get some benefits.

A. However, meal kits are likely heading for the mainstream.

B. If it's single-use and thrown away, the packaging is a killer.

C. In that case, you might replace dozens of car trips with one truck trip.

D. Meal knits arrive on your doorstep by truck filled with every ingredient you need.

E. Tailor-made meal kits save waste by providing precise quantities of fresh ingredients.

F. If food waste was a country, it would rank third in emissions behind the US and China.

Why the youth sense anger in faces

    We tend to believe that older people are more positive and younger people are more sensitive to social cues (暗示).

    Recently scientists investigated this idea by testing 10,000 men and women. They wanted to see if age affected a person's ability to identify facial emotions, such as fear and anger.

    The researchers from McLean Hospital in the US used a Web-based platform to collect happiness data. It showed the participants two headshots (头部特写)of random people. They were then asked to identify which subject was angrier, happier, or more fearful.

    The research found that younger people were able to better identify angry and fearful facial cues than older people.

    "From studies and anecdotal evidence, we know that the everyday experiences of an adolescent are different from an older person, but we wanted to understand how these experiences might be linked with differences in basic emotion understanding,wrote Laura Germine, the study's senior author.

    But what is it that makes young people more sensitive?

    "This is the exact age when young people are most sensitive to forms of negative social cues, such as bullying," Lauren Rutter, the study's lead author, told Science Daily. "The normal development of anger sensitivity can contribute to some of the challenges that arise during this phase of development.

    On the contrary  across the whole 10,000-person survey, researchers found no decline in the perception (感知)of happiness among older participants.

    "What's remarkable is that we see declines in many visual perceptual abilities as we get older, but here we did not see such declines in the perception of happiness, Germine told Neuro Science News.

    She added that these findings fit well with other researches, showing that older adults tend to have more positive emotions and a positive outlook.

    Following the paper's release, Rutter told Neuro Science News that gathering their primary research online allowed the team to research into a "much larger and more diverse sample set" than previous studies.

    Over the past twenty years, American country music has become more and more popular. Song writers are no longer writing about the modern values of the USA—money, success or expensive things to buy. Instead, they are writing once more about things that are common for everyone: feeling alone in the modern world, the value of having good friends and so on.

    In the 1950s, American music was about other things, for example, love—getting or losing a boyfriend or girlfriend. Money was also thought to be important.

    Then in the 1960s, song writers turned to other subjects. During these years many young students were angry with society, so songs were often full of anger. Political leaders were not well thought of.

    Today country music has returned. It has become big business and brings in between 200 and 400 million dollars a year. Once, the home of American country music was Nashville, Tennessee. Now, however, the music has reached all parts of the States, from Los Angeles in the west to New York in the east. Singers do not just come from the States but from all over the world. There are many famous singers from Britain, Canada and Australia. A lot of them appear on television too.

    The first country singers sang while playing the guitar. It was easy for them to carry a guitar on their travels. Now, however, a lot of electrical equipment is needed for large theatres.

    Country music today still remains very popular.