【推荐2】It appears that there is never enough time for many senior school students. Here are several steps you can take to organize your time better.

First, a to-do list is a must every day. It makes it easy to plan any of the activities or meetings you may have in addition to homework. Be sure to set priorities (优先的事物).     1    

Make use of spare time wisely. Do you have study hall(自修时间) ? Instead of wasting that time, read a book or do homework.     2     If a friend asks you to do something and you have homework to do, realize which is more important and see your friend later.

Decide on the time that is good for you to do certain things. If you are more of a morning person, try getting up an hour earlier and do schoolwork before school. Review your notes every day.     3    If you spend a few minutes at the end of every day going over what you learnt, it will mean less time studying when it is time for the exam.    4    Studies have shown that getting enough rest helps your memory. When you are tired, everything seems more difficult. It is best to stay on a regular sleeping cycle as much as possible.

Tell your friends and family about your work timetable. Explain that you will be working at certain times and ask them not to disturb you.     5    You can call your friends later.

【推荐2】Modern advancements in digital and online technology are changing the art market. Online events are becoming more popular than ever as they can be attended by anyone from anywhere. At the heart of this online art world are OVRs.

Before going into how OVRs are shaping the art world, it’s important to understand what they are. An OVR is an Online Viewing Room that allows art enthusiasts to take part in events through their computer screens. OVRs transmit galleries and events to art lovers through live feed which can be viewed from anywhere in the world!

OVRs enable art to travel across the world, without ever leaving the studio! This increases the number of possible collectors and buyers that will be able to view new pieces.

Online viewings also meant that the art market could continue to function and exhibit art, even with lockdown restrictions. Although many events were cancelled, a study showed 41% of wealthy people bought work at a fair in 2020, while 45% did it through an online viewing room.

Besides, OVR displays can be changed easily and updated at any time. This means that viewers can easily stay on track with the latest works and view updated displays as regularly as they would like.

While OVRs may be practical, many enthusiasts say that the online viewing platforms don’t provide the full gallery experience, and this is their main problem. Physical art shows allow enthusiasts to network with new people, discuss and see the art in real life before making a decision to buy.

So, will OVRs continue to rise? Probably yes: OVRs are likely to play a big role in future art sales. This is because online viewing platforms bring a number of benefits to art lovers. However, the interactive aspect of viewing art cannot be fully replaced by OVRs, so expect a combination of the physical and the digital art world.

【推荐1】A knight (骑士) was a mounted warrior of medieval Europe who served a king or other feudal superior, usually in return for land. Knighthood was taken quite seriously and had to be earned.

At about the age of eight, a boy would begin training in preparation for knighthood. This young trainee, known as a page (学习骑士),would train with mentors to learn about horses, armor, and weapons. Pages practiced fighting with a sword against a wooden stake and learned to skillfully use a bow and arrow. The lady of the castle taught a young page about manners and social graces, as well as how to sing, play instruments, and dance. A priest might give a page religious training and teach him to read and write. By the age of fourteen, the page would become a squire (骑士的随从). A squire was responsible for dressing a knight for battles and tournaments and taking care of the knight armor and weapons. He would even follow his master on the battlefield to protect him if the knight fell.

A squire had to gain skill in using a lance (长矛), spear, or sword, so he would practice against a wooden dummy called a quintain(矛靶). The quintain and a shield were hung on a wooden pole, and when hit, the whole structure would spin. The squire would learn to ride up and hit the shield’s center, but then quickly move out of the way without getting hit and knocked off his horse by the quintain.

At about age twenty, a squire was finally prepared to be called a knight, which involved an extended ceremony. On the evening before becoming a knight the squire confessed his sins to a priest, was given a symbolic bath, and then fasted in order to cleanse his soul. The squire would dress all in white and stay in a chapel all night praying and watching over his weapons and armor.

In the morning, the squire would dress in symbolically-colored clothing: red for his blood, white for purity, and brown for his return to the earth after death. At this ceremony, the knight wore a code of chivalry, which required him always to be brave, loyal, courteous, and to protect the defenseless. Knighthood was granted by the overlord (领主) and the new knight was tapped on the shoulders or neck with the flat side of the sword.

If this new knight ever broke his promise or acted dishonorably, he would be stripped of his knighthood in another ceremony, in which he was 14 buried. In the Middle Ages, a knight without honor was considered as good as dead.

【推荐2】Anyone who commutes(通勤)by car knows that traffic jams are an unavoidable part of life. But humans are not alone in facing potential backups.

Ants also commute—between their nest and sources of food. The survival of their habitats depends on doing this efficiently.

When humans commute, there’s a point at which cars become dense(稠密) enough to slow down the flow of traffic, causing jam. Researchers wanted to know if ants on the move could also get stuck. So they regulated traffic density by constructing bridges of various widths between a colony of Argentine ants and a source of food. Then they waited and watched, trying to find out at what point they are going to have a traffic jam.

But it appears that that never happened. They always managed to avoid traffic jam. The flow of ants did increase at the beginning as ants started to fill the bridge and then levelled off at high densities. But it never slowed down or stopped, even when the bridge was nearly filled with ants.

The researchers then took a closer look at how the behaviour of individual ants impacted traffic as a whole. And they found that when ants sense overcrowding, they adjust their speeds and avoid entering high-density areas, which prevents jams. These behaviors may be promoted by pheromones, chemicals that tell other ants where a trail is. The ants also manage to avoid colliding(碰撞) with each other at high densities, which could really slow them down.

Can ants help us solve our own traffic problems? Not likely. That’s because when it comes to getting from point A to point B as fast as possible, human drivers put their own goals first. Individual ants have to be more cooperative in order to feed the colony. But the research could be useful in improving traffic flow for self-driving cars, which can be designed to be less like selfish humans—and more like ants.

【推荐3】Hundreds of years ago，news was carried from place to place by people on foot or by horse. It took days，weeks and sometimes months for people to receive news. Now it is possible to send words and pictures around the world in seconds. Billions of people learn about news stories of their own country and all over the world every day，either by watching TV or reading newspapers.

Newspapers have been an important part of everyday life since the 18th century. Many countries have hundreds of different newspapers. How do newspaper editors decide which news stories to print? Why do they print some stories and not others? What makes a good newspaper story?

Firstly，it is important to report news stories.TV stations can report news much faster than newspapers. Yet，newspapers give more about the same story. They may also look at the story in another way，or they may print completely different stories to those on TV.

Secondly，a news story has to be interesting and unusual. People don’t want to read stories about everyday life. As a result， many stories are about some kind of danger and seem to be “bad” news. For example，newspapers never print stories about planes landing safely；instead they print stories about plane accidents.

Another factor is also very important in many news stories. Many people are interested in news in foreign countries， but more prefer to read stories about people，places and events in their own country. So the stories on the front page in Chinese newspapers are usually very different from the ones in British，French and American newspapers.

【推荐1】Ask any group of teenagers in the UK what they most like to eat, and foods like pizzas, curries, pasta, burgers and chips are bound to get mentioned and many young people would probably also list hanging out at the local fast food restaurant as one of their favorite pastimes (消遣).

But what teenagers like to eat is not necessarily what they should be eating.According to the National and Nutrition Survey, far too many young people in the UK between the ages of 14 and 18 consume too much fat sugar and salt in their diet and take in too many calories. Meanwhile their intake of starchy carbohydrates (含大淀粉的碳水水化合物),fibre, iron, vitamins and calcium is too low.

For a growing body, eating foods containing plenty of calcium, such as milk, yoghurt and cheese, is particularly important as calcium is essential for the development of healthy, strong bones.Similarly. foods that are rich in iron are good for young, rapidly developing bodies, so red meat. bread, green vegetables, dried fruit and tonified（使增强体质的）breakfast cereals are also recommended.

It is during our teenage years that habits of lifestyle can become entrenched (根深蒂固的），so it is crucial (至关重要的）that voung people are educated about what foods are good for them.In 2005, in an attempt 10 change eating habits and open teenagers’ minds to new flavours and new tastes. celebrity chef Jamie Oliver launched a "Feed Me Better”campaign. As part of a television series Jamle School drivers. he worked with teachers and cooks in a number of schools across the UK to provide more healthy. rutritious school meal opt ions. Although there was initial resistance from sonic teenagers and parents.                    the campaign was generally hailed（把......誉为）as a huge success and helped to influence governmental policy on nutritional standards for school meals.

No one expects to end the teenage love affair with fast and junk food but. hopefully, if projects "Feed Me Better" and the government's own "Change for Life" campaign continue to give out the right messages, more young people will understand the importance of balancing occasional treats with healthier food options.

【推荐2】Would you carry around an electronic ID, not in your pocket, but in your body? Does this idea scare you or make you feel safe?

The first computer ID chip(芯片) that could be planted under a person’s skin might be marketed very soon.

Developed by Applied Digital, an American technology company based in Florida, the device(发明物) could meet the need for public security(安全) after the September 11 attacks.

For airports, nuclear power plants(核电站) and other high security facilities, the immediate effects are obvious.

The technology could help put an end to false ID cards, because it would be difficult to remove and copy a tiny computer chip. The chip is as small as a grain of rice.

The technology would also allow satellites to track a person’s every movement and store medical records.

These uses are already attracting interest for tasks like fighting against kidnappings(绑架), or helping with medical operations.

But some people are afraid of the loss of privacy(隐私).

“You always have to think about what the device could be used for tomorrow,” said Lee Tien, a senior privacy lawyer in the United States.

“At first a device is used for applications we all agree are good, but then it slowly starts being used for more than it was intended,” he said.

However, Applied Digital says it will soon apply for government permission for the device. It says that the first people to use the chip will be volunteers.

Getting the implant(需移植的芯片) would go something like this:

A person or company buys the chip from Applied Digital for about US $ 200. And the company encodes(编码) it with the desired information.

The customer then takes the chip to their doctor, who can plant it with a large needle.

The device has no power supply, rather it is activated(使活动,使运行) by a scanner(扫描仪) running across the skin above it. Without a scanner, the chip cannot be read.

Even with the privacy concern, some are already eager to use the product.

Jell Jacobs from Florida hopes to become the first buyer of the chip to store his medical records. Suffering from a serious illness, he wants to make sure doctors can help him quickly.

Eight Latin American companies have also shown interests in the device. It could help to find any tourists who are kidnapped.

【推荐3】In 2013 Mr. Baugher planted 7,000 Fuji apple trees in the orchard (果园).Three years later,just when the trees should have been bearing fruit, he noticed that a few of them had yellow leaves. Within weeks they were dead. The next year，the problem spread to more than a few trees. By last year,2,000 of Mr Baugher’s 7,000 new trees were dead.

Mr. Baugher has the worst case of"rapid apple decline" (RAD)in the county, but he is not alone. The mysterious disease has been troubling growers across America's northeast for at least six years. Kari Peter, a fruit-tree specialist first observed massive die-offs in her research orchard in 2013. She came up with the term"RAD". But her attempts to explain it have not produced much fruit. The usual reasons for the death of tree-mould infestation, a known virus, disease, an early frost-didn't fit symptoms. Her investigation only ruled things out.

The dead trees tend to be younger: two to eight-years-old. They are nearing he prime of production. Dwarf trees, which are commonly used by commercial growers, seem to be the most subject. Historically, orchards held 600-700 apple trees an acre, but most are now high producing dwarf trees, which are more compact. Growers plant 1, 200-1, 500 trees per acre. Working with the Department of Agriculture Kan found a new hidden apple virus in the infected trees. But they cannot be sure if this new virus has any connection with the decline.

Researchers at Cormell University found that severe cold followed by drought (旱灾)could have weakened the trees leaving them subject to viruses.Other scientists think that herbicides may be to blame. Dan Donahue, a fruit-tree specialist says it could be any or all of those theories. In a recent sampling, he found that 64% of young trees had hidden viruses. These do not show symptoms, but they could affect vitality. Older, larger apple trees were better at shrugging off the viruses.

RAD is a big worry for the apple growers. Customer taste is changing. Traditional varieties like Red Delicious are no longer a customer favourite, so growers are having to invest in new varieties. Few of the orchard growers are able to absorb the economic losses.

Mr. Baugher found some relief in the Tree Assistance Programme, through which the federal government provides financial assistance to orchard-owners whose trees are damaged by natural disasters. The sudden death of apple trees may not seem as dramatic as a hurricane, but it is perhaps even more dangerous. Americans have given considerably more before in the defense of apple pie.