Keys to “Focus”
We often have trouble paying attention to one thing because our brain wants to drift off to think about something else. It troubles us a lot and is the factor to decrease our efficiency. Here are some ways to help us cultivate the ability of “focus”.
Make a List
When you’re supposed to be writing your history paper, for example, your brain may want to start worrying about a math test that’s coming up. You should get into the habit of making a daily task list. Then prioritize your list, in the order that you prefer.1.
Meditate
If you think about it, meditation might seem like the opposite of paying attention. One objective of meditation is to clear the mind, but another element of meditation is inward peace. 2.And remember, you don't have to become an expert or obsessive mediator. Just take some time every day to go through a brief meditation exercise.
3.
Scientists are just beginning to study the relationship between attention spans and screen times, but one thing is certain: many researchers and education specialists advise parents to limit screen time while they gain a fuller understanding of the effects of bright lights and electronic screens.
Just Be Active
4.Simply walking for twenty minutes before reading a book may boost your ability to pay attention longer. This may be a result of relaxing your brain in preparation for the task at hand.
Practice Paying Attention
With practice, you can teach your mind a little discipline.5..Pick a passage to read that you normally would not read (unless forced). Try to concentrate, but stop yourself as soon as you feel your mind beginning to wander. Write down what it was that distracted you.
A.This means that the act of meditating is actually the act of training the brain to avoid distractions.
B.One thing you should try to determine is what is really distracting you.
C.There are also studies that show any amount of physical activity can improve concentration.
D.John a team
E.Reduce Screen Time
F.By writing down all the things you need to do, you gain a sense of control of your day.
G.Participating in a sport trains your brain to concentrate on specific tasks.
For people living in some remote villages in Indonesia, heating houses and fuelling stoves can be a real challenge. The resources required, like gas and wood, have to get shipped in and distributed to individual households.
The good news is that this antiquated system is now on its way out, thanks to an unlikely source: tofu. In Indonesia, tofu isn't just a snack——it's a necessity, with hundreds of small, family-run shops producing tofu in massive quantities every day. Now, thanks to a government-run program, the waste water from all that tofu production is getting transformed into biogas（沼气 ）that can be pumped directly to houses.
But how does it work? First, let's talk about tofu. Tofu has been made the same way for generations. Basically, producers start by soaking and grinding（磨）soybeans to separate the soy milk from the soy pulp. After the separated parts go through a filtration system（过滤系统）, the protein and oil are separated from the soy milk. A chemical coagulant（凝结剂） is added to firm everything up. Once formed, you have tofu ready for cutting. Though simple in practice, an enormous amount of water is required to make tofu - roughly 33 liters for every kilogram.
Researchers found that this waste water could be turned into biogas if a certain type of bacteria is added to it. Every day, the waste water is collected from various shops and treated with bacteria. Once transformed, the gas is pumped directly to local homes.
Besides creating a green energy source for locals, using all that waste water has significantly helped the local environment. The hope for Kalisari is to become the first full-blown green village in Indonesia. There's no reason why similar programs couldn’t sweep across the region, dramatically changing the way people get the energy they need to live out their lives.
1.What does the underlined word mean in paragraph2?
A. old-fashioned B. modern
C. popular D. effective
2.What is the right order to produce biogas from Tofu?
1.adding a chemical coagulant
2.separating the protein and oil from the soy milk
3.soaking and grinding soybean
4.pouring an enormous amount of water
A. 1 3 2 4
B. 3 2 1 4
C. 3 1 4 2
D. 2 1 3 4
3.Which are not the benefits of this new technique?
A. The waste water drained from the raw tofu can be reused.
B. The waterways and the rice fields are free from the danger of contaminating.
C. It can reduce the amount of water which is required to make tofu.
D. The transformed gas can be pumped directly to local homes.
4.What can we infer from the passage?
A. There is still a long way for Kalisari to become the first bull-blown green village.
B. This new program has the potential to be promoted.
C. The similar program can’t be applied in the different regions
D. The new energy makes little difference to the local people.
People rarely feel their cleanest after a workout, but your own sweat might be the least of your issues. Your gym equipment could also be full of bacteria. Fitness equipment review site FitRated.com got bacteria samples from 27 pieces of equipment from three large gym chains. The results will make you want to take a long shower.
Free weights have an average of more than 1.1 million colony-forming units（菌落形成单位） per square inch, according to FitRated.com. In comparison, the National Sanitation Foundation says you’d find 172 CFU per square inch on a home toilet seat. But treadmills（跑步机） and stationary bikes were even worse offenders, with about 7,752 times more bacteria than a home toilet seat. That’s even more than these objects with more bacteria than a toilet.
Touching a surface with bacteria won’t necessarily make you sick. Some bacteria aren’t harmful, and others won’t do any harm in small amounts. But the fact that 70 percent of bacteria from the tested equipment FitRated.com tested were potentially harmful isn’t very comforting. If you tend to skip wiping down your workout machine, take that extra 30 seconds before and after you use the equipment. Even if you’re not a germaphobe（有洁癖的人）, you’ll be doing the rest of us a favor.
And since you can’t control what everyone else does, avoid getting sick by waiting to wipe your sweaty brow until you’ve washed your hands. “Your best defense is to be aware of washing your hands post workout and before eating or touching your face,” Kelly Reynolds, microbiologist and associate professor at the Zuckerman College of Public Health in Arizona, tells HuffPost. Oh, and don’t you dare rewear your sweaty clothes without doing laundry?
1.What does the underlined sentence imply?
A. People need to take a bath after a workout.
B. The gym equipment people use could not be so clean as imagined.
C. The sweat might be the leading cause of taking a shower.
D. It isn’t a good idea to use fitness equipment to exercise.
2.What method doesn’t the writer use to convince the readers?
A. Making comparision
B. Listing examples
C. Giving definitions
D. Referring to the research findings
3.What is the author’s purpose in writing the text?
A. To discuss the unknown causes of illness
B. To provide the ways of keeping fit
C. To inform the necessity of cleaning the fitness equipment
D. To show the importance of doing exercise
There is nothing worse than fumbling around in your pocket trying to find some small change to pay for a newspaper or a coffee. So it's good to know that new technology is making cash -bank notes and coins – a thing of the past, turning us into a cashless society.
Today, many of us already use credit and debit cards for financial transactions（交易） so there's no need to carry around hard currency. And now it's possible to make contactless payments using tap-and-go cards which are regular bankcards but with a built-in chip and antenna（天线）. The card reader sends out a radio frequency and, when you bring the card close to the reader, the antenna picks up the signal to make the payment.
Paying this way or spending on ' plastic' – an informal name for a credit card – can put you at risk of fraud. Criminals try to steal cards, or the information on them, to make purchases online or in shops. However, contactless payment is capped——in the UK the limit is £30. And, if someone does go on a spending spree with your card, your bank covers you against the loss – something that wouldn't happen if your banknotes were stolen. Also, the introduction of chip and pin technology has led to a drop in fraud and has even been helping businesses by cutting the time people spend at tills in shops.
But, if getting your bankcard out seems like too much trouble, there's now a solution using wearable tech——that's clothing and accessories that include computer and electronic technologies. Kenneth Cukier, economist and technology expert, says "this is intended for people who are incredibly lazy who don't want to take their card out of their wallet, or use their phone, or use their watch. People are going to be making more purchases more of the time – particularly for small-valued goods."
And, although our mobile phones are another way of making payments, BBC reporter Kate Russell says that when this is inconvenient you can use the fingo—pay system which "reads the unique maps of veins under the surface of your finger." The trick is remembering which finger you registered with. What do you prefer to use when you buy something?
1.Which of the following doesn’t belong to the cashless payment?
A. Credit cards B. Tap-and-go pay
C. spending spree D. Fingo-pay
2.Many measures have been taken to ensure the credit card holders’ profits EXCEPT_______?
A. Setting a maximum in transactions
B. Using wearable tech
C. Applying chip and pin technology
D. Making up for loss in a fraud
3.What can we learn from Kenneth Cukier’s statement?
A. Contactless payment will promote purchase to some degree.
B. More and more people are too lazy to use bankcard as a way of payment.
C. Wearable tech is safer and thus should replace the credit cards.
D. Only phones and watches can be used as wearable tech to buy things.
Surfing: It’s Not Just for Boys Anymore
If you asked high school girls to name their favorite sports, most would probably say basketball or volleyball. I happen to be one of the few girls who would _____: surfing. But isn’t that a boy thing? Some people _____. Most certainly not.
I started surfing about five years ago and _____ in love with the sport on the very first day. Riding that first _____ was the best feeling I had ever experienced.
When I try to _____ surfing with other things, I find it very difficult because, in my _____, there’s nothing like it. It involves body, _____, and soul. There’s sand between my toes and cool, salt water all _____ us. The feeling I get when I’m surfing across that _____, becoming one with the ______, is like I’m weightless.
The one thing I can ______ from surfing and not any other sport is endless challenge. You can never be the “best surfer” because the ocean ______ an uncountable variety of waves that nobody can ever master. The variations of surfing styles are wonderful. Some surfers are free and lowing; others are very aggressive (活跃有力的) and ______. All of these things attract me to surfing and make it ______ from any other sport.
I’ve ______ to tell every girl I know to do something that people don’t think girls can do. It’s part of being human to advance to new ______, so shouldn’t it be expected that girls should step up and start ______ the limits of things boys and men used to dominate (主宰)?
There’re women ______ side by side with the President of our country, so why not side by side with the boys ______ the football team or out in the water surfing? Give girls a chance to ______ , and they will.
1.A. tell B. answer C. give D. realize
2.A. wonder B. understand C. reply D. believe
3.A. stayed B. came C. dropped D. fell
4.A. wave B. storm C. sail D. boat
5.A. bring B. connect C. compare D. tie
6.A. work B. study C. holiday D. life
7.A. mind B. effort C. health D. time
8.A. along B. above C. around D. by
9.A. beach B. water C. board D. lake
10.A. sky B. world C. earth D. ocean
11.A. take B. get C. make D. keep
12.A. catches B. includes C. offers D. collects
13.A. sharp B. great C. hard D. calm
14.A. known B. right C. far D. different
15.A. chosen B. tried C. learned D. promised
16.A. levels B. points C. steps D. parts
17.A. reaching B. accepting C. pushing D. setting
18.A. sitting B. walking C. fighting D. working
19.A. of B. from C. on D. with
20.A. think B. succeed C. perform D. feel
Complete each of the following sentences with proper forms of words (the first letter is given)
1.Arriving late won't create a very favorable i ____________ .
2.R _________ me to take my medicine tomorrow.
3.One of her fellow passengers came to her a ________.
4.In the present s ___________, I wouldn't advise you to sell your house.
5.Mr. Young told Simon c ___________ he had done a good job and he should keep on doing like that.
6.S__________ milk won't make me get much fat so that I won't gain weight.
