Do you play with your phone before bedtime? You may want to read a book instead. According to a US study, looking at screens at night can cause us to sleep badly.
In the evening, our bodies make melatonin (褪黑素). Melatonin helps us feel sleepy and relaxed. It’s an important part of our sleep cycle (周期). Our electronic screens stop that cycle from working normally (正常地).
Why? Phones, computers and TVs make blue light. Blue light stops our bodies from making melatonin. Even just a little bit of blue light can have an effect (影响). Eight minutes of blue light can keep your brain “awake” for an hour, according to the study. Even if you fall asleep, you may have lots of dreams. Your brain won’t have a good rest.
It’s even worse if you play an exciting game before bed. Games make our hearts beat faster, so we have a harder time falling asleep. Then, when we fall asleep, we don’t get enough “deep sleep”.
1. Does melatonin help us feel sleepy and relaxed?
2. What do phones, computers and TVs make to stop our bodies from making melatonin?
3. How long can eight minutes of blue light keep our brain “awake”?
4. Do you think you have enough sleep? Why or why not?
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New Energy (能源) in the Twenty-first Century
Energy from the wind
All over the world, people use wind power. It is a clean source of energy, and there is lots of it. However, if the wind does not blow, there is no wind energy.
Energy from the water
When water moves from a higher place to a lower place, it has the power to make electricity (电). In Brittany, waterpower produces enough energy to power a town of 40, 000 people. Waterpower gives energy without pollution. However, people have to build dams to use this energy, and building dams is very expensive.
Energy from the earth
There is heat in the rocks under the earth. Scientists use the heat to make geothermal energy. San Francisco gets half of the energy it needs from geothermal power. This kind of energy is cheap, but it is only possible in a few places in the world.
Energy from the sun
Solar panels (太阳能电板) on the roofs of houses and buildings can turn energy from the sun into electricity. These panels can create enough energy to heat the whole house during winter. Solar power is clean and plentiful, but when the weather is bad, it can’t produce power.
| New | Advantages (优点) and disadvantages |
| Wind power | There is a lot. If the wind doesn’t |
| Water power | Without |
| Geothermal power | This type of energy is cheap, but it is |
| Solar power | Solar power is clean and plentiful, but it needs good |
①
About 2,500 scientists met in Prague（布拉格，捷克首都）. At first, some of them said that there would be 12 planets in our solar system. In the end, the scientists said that only Mercury（水）, Venus（金）, Earth, Mars（火）, Jupiter（木）, Saturn（土）, Uranus（天王）and Neptune（海王）are the planets in the solar system. ②
Students at school will have new schoolbooks to learn the new solar system!
1. 根据①处完成下面的句子（每空一词）
Before people _______ Pluto in 1930, there were _______ planets in our solar system.
2. 根据②出完成下面的句子（每空一词）。
Every planet not only has its own _______ , but also is ______ enough.
3. 将③处译成汉语。
—————————————————————————————
The Asian elephant is the largest animal in Asia. The elephants are usually 5 to 6 meters tall and weigh 3 to 5 tons. Yunnan is the only home for wild Asian elephants in China. The province has built 11 nature reserves and its population has risen from 170 in the 1970s to 300 today.
However, last year, 15 wild Asian elephants left their home in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province. They kept going north, walking through fields and towns. The journey damaged 561,333 square meters of crops and led to economic losses of nearly 6.8 million yuan.
People wonder why the elephants are on the move and where they are heading to. Zhang Li, a life science professor at Beijing Normal University, suggested that the elephants need more space and food, or they are losing their homes. Another idea suggests that a change in Earth’s magnetic (磁场) field has made the elephants think they should move.
The government is trying to protect the safety of both humans and the elephants. They have fed the elephants tons of food in order to guide them away from city areas. They have also watched the group’s movement, warning nearby people not to get close to the elephants. A total of 76 police cars and trucks, five diggers and nine drones (无人机) have been used to protect the animals.
| The Wandering Asian Elephants | |
| General introduction | ★ As the largest animal in Asia, the Asian elephants are usually 5 to 6 meters in ★ It’s population has risen a lot. |
| ★ They are in ★ A change in Earth’s magnetic field. | |
| What the government has done | In order to make it safe for both humans and the elephants, the government: ★ ★ watched the elephants’ movement. ★used a lot of |
Trees in our daily lives
Rebecca is interviewing Dr Jones about trees.
Rebecca: How do trees help us, Dr Jones?
Dr Jones: They help us in many ways. They keep the air cool and clean. They take in harmful gases from the air and produce oxygen (A) ________ us to breathe. They’re major fighters (B) ________ air pollution.
Rebecca: I know trees also make our lives more convenient. Many of the things in our daily lives come from trees. For example, paper and pencils.
Dr Jones: You’re right, Rebecca. In fact, we get a lot more from trees. (C) We get fruit and oil from trees. Tea also comes from the leaves of trees. (D) 环顾这个房间。A lot of the furniture is made of wood. Trees are really important in our daily lives.
Rebecca: I can’t imagine a world without trees.
1. 在文中(A)和(B)的空白处填入适当的单词:2. 将文中画线部分(C)改写为:
Trees
3. 将文中画线部分(D)译成英语：
4. 从文中找出两个描述空气的形容词：
5. 从文中找出能说明本文主旨大意的短语：
Harry Potter series (系列) are my favorite books. They’re books from J.K. Rowling. These books are about the story of a boy, Harry Potter. Harry has a long face, green eyes and short black hair. He wears round glasses.
He lives in his aunt and uncle’s home. And he has a cousin. Harry is not happy there, because they are not nice to Harry. Then Harry goes to a magic (魔法) school. He finds magic is important in that school. He is very happy to make a lot of friends there. Hermione and Ron are his two good friends. Hermione has long curly hair. She is a smart girl and she can remember all the books she reads. Ron is a nice boy. He has red hair. They are very friendly to Harry. When Harry has problems they are always there and help him.
These are my favorite books. What about yours?
1. What are Harry Potter series about?2. Why isn’t Harry happy in his aunt and uncle’s home?
3. Is magic important in Harry’s school?
4. Who will always be there with Harry?
5. What does Ron look like?
【推荐3】阅读下面短文，根据短文内容完成句子。
For the past month, almost all of my phone apps have big red advertisements (广告) saying “11/11”. Confused (困惑的), I asked a co-worker. She laughed. “It’s a shopping holiday, like Black Friday in your country,” she said.
No way, I thought. Nothing can be like Black Friday.
Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving in the United States. For me. Thanksgiving is our best holiday, the only one that does not need us to buy anything. Yes, we buy turkeys, but we invite friends and family to share. Often, the host prepares the turkey (火鸡) and each visitor cooks a different dish. It’s a day to be thankful, not for turkeys, but for the chance to be together with people we love.
Black Friday is “the other side of the coin”. It first started in the 1950s. With the whole family in town together, it made sense to go out and do some Christmas shopping. Families across the US had the same idea and soon, the day marked the “official (正式的)” start of the Christmas shopping season.
Nowadays, people line up outside of stores as early as 4:00 am. In fact, they don’t line up. When the doors open, they push each other and run inside. What are they running for? Discounts (折扣). Stores have a small number of each item on sale. As a result, it’s “common” for people to fight each other over cheap TVs and laptops (手提电脑) —even toilet (厕所) paper! The Internet is full of Black Friday videos that are both funny and sad. In less than 24 hours, many people forget Thanksgiving’s message about family, community and human kindness. They become mindless consumers (消费者), instead.
Hoping for a discount on a sweater, I opened Taobao. Two hours later, I had bought two sweaters, a pair of shoes, 10 pairs of socks and a kilo of pumpkin seeds (南瓜子). Maybe 11/11 and Black Friday are more similar than I thought.
1. ”11/11” is a2. Black Friday is the day
3. Families across the US had the same idea and soon, the “official”
4. When the doors are
5. On Black Friday, many people forget Thanksgiving’s message about family, community and
