The kitchen is not just where we prepare meals. In many places, the kitchen is the heart of the home. It is where we ________ our day with a cup of coffee or tea. It’s where we connect with our family and friends. We talk about our days while we make dinner or have something to eat. The kitchen is where we ________ ourselves, body and soul. So, it can be a very busy room in the house.   

Sometimes you need order in the kitchen for things to run ________. Sometimes you need one person to be in charge. ________ you are cooking dinner for your friends. As you are making the soup, your friend Sara ________ it and says, “This needs more salt.” So, she adds more salt.

Then Harlan comes in. He tastes your ________ and says, “You didn’t put enough pepper.” So he grinds (磨碎) some fresh black pepper into the pot.

Cecilia sees him. She tastes the soup and says, “You forgot vinegar. It’s my ________ ingredient.” Then she ________ in some vinegar.

You are happy to ________ time with your friends. But, quite frankly, all their opinions about your soup are becoming ________. Worst of all, you taste the soup and it’s ________!

And that is where we get the expression “too many cooks ________ the soup.”

This expression describes an age-old ________: If too many people help to complete a task, it may not go very well.

So there should be a cook in the kitchen. He is the ________. Other people can be assistants helping him. And the cook has the final ________.

Eating in space is different from eating on the Earth. The food that astronauts (宇航员) carry with them does not look like the food you eat.

Some food is carried in closed bags. It is cooked and frozen (冷冻) before the astronauts get it. All the water is removed from the food. In the space capsule (太空舱), the astronaut puts the water back. He “shoots” hot or cold water into the food with a special gun. He eats the food through a small hole in the bag.

Other foods come in bigger sizes. The astronaut puts a whole piece in his mouth at once. There can be no crumbs (碎屑). Crumbs would float (漂浮) around the capsule and get in the way. Meat, cake, and cereal often come in bite-sized pieces.

Astronauts cannot drink water from open cups. The water would float in drops in the air. The water is put in the special gun. The astronaut shoots the water into his mouth.

Eating in space is not easy. Astronauts must learn to eat in this way.

Want to go on holiday, but don’t have enough money for luxury hotels and expensive trips? Backpacking might be right up your street.

Backpacking is a very cheap kind of travel. European and American students and young adults who may not have all that much money often do it. It is called backpacking because, instead of using a suitcase, people put all their things in a large backpack. A backpack sits on your back, and you pack all your clothes inside.

The most popular places for backpacking are Southeast Asia and South America. These countries aren’t very expensive, and are also very hot for most of the year. India and Australia are also very popular. Last year, over 400, 000 backpackers hit Australia.

Sometimes, backpacking can be dangerous. A British backpacker was recently shot dead at a beach party in Thailand, and every year similar things happen.

Backpacking, in fact, is much more than a holiday — for young people in Europe, it is seen as a way of learning about the world. Backpackers often travel alone for many months, as this is seen as more of an adventure and challenge. Beyond finding new worlds, backpacking, people say, is all about “finding yourself”.