Do you know World Letter Writing Day? It falls on September 1st every year. It was set up by Richard Simpkin in 2014. He encouraged people to take a break     1     today’s social media (媒体) and write a letter to someone by hand.

Who should you write to? Think about a friend or     2     that lives far away. A parent or best friend     3     also love to receive your letter.

How do you write a letter? Generally speaking, a letter     4     these parts. The date and a greeting such as “Dear... ,” should be at the top of the letter. A closing such as “Love” or “Yours truly” needs to     5     the body. End it by signing it.

Why should you pick up a pen and write a letter? It is a surprise     6     may make someone’s day. It’s a good way to show people that you are     7     of them. Some people save     8     and look at them over the years.

A recent study shows that letter writing brings the writer     9    , too. “Handwriting is your DNA. It’s your fingerprint that     10     you can share with others.” said Richard Simpkin. So get some paper and pick up a pen. Start writing a letter today!

Children everywhere play rock, paper, scissors. The game is very old. It is said that people began to play it 2,000     1     ago in China.

Today, people play it all over the world. In Indonesia, its known as “semut, orang, gajah”. This     2     “ant, person, elephant”. People in Singapore play “bird, stone, water”. Different cultures use     3     hand symbols. But the idea of the game is the same worldwide. Each player “throws” one of the three hand symbols. You win,     4    , or tie (打成平局).

Many people think “rock, paper, scissors” is all     5    . Your chances of winning or losing look the same.     6     the game is not completely random (随机的). All good players know this. A study in China     7     two key patterns in the way people play. Winners tend to repeat     8     winning hand symbols. But losers tend to go from rock to paper to scissors.

So what’s the best way to     9     a game of rock, paper, scissors? Expert players (专业玩家) think about their next move. They also     10     about what their opponents’ (对手的) next move might be.

To be good at the game, you need a lot of practice.

A library is a place to find almost any book. There are all     1     of books, and there are also pictures, papers, magazines, maps and records in it. A library is a source of information. Students go to libraries to study and write     2    . There are many different library services. In children’s libraries there are many interesting picture books. You can also listen to your favorite CDs in music libraries     3     you love music. Long ago,     4    , a library had only books. And there were so few books in it that no one was     5     to take them out of the library. After the printing machine was invented, books could be made faster and libraries got     6     books. To borrow a book and take it home today, a person just     7     a library card. The person goes to the main desk to have a librarian check the book out and he must return the book     8     the library on time. If the book is returned late, the person must usually pay for     9     behaviours. Books in a library are put in a certain order to help people to find     10     they want. In some libraries, all books about animals might be placed together.

A person comes towards you and says “hi”, but you have no idea     1     he or she is. If you often experience this, you may have face blindness (脸盲).

A new study showed that face blindness might be     2     common than we thought. One in 33 people (3.08 percent) may have it. Some have serious problems. They can not even recognize (认出) friends or families. But some just have smaller     3    . They spend a long time     4     faces. People could be born with face blindness, or develop it     5     they hurt their brain (大脑 ). Face blindness sounds     6     just a small problem. But according to Joseph DeGutis, the writer of the study, people with it may have a bad social (社交的) life.

“Recognizing someone is a social signal (信号). It     7     you are important to me”, DeGutis told Harvard Medicine News. Not recognizing others may lead to misunderstanding, and then     8     friends. Worry about recognizing faces may also make people stay away from social life. In the past, people     9     little attention to this. The studies on face blindness only began in the 1990s. Today, more scientists and organizations are working to     10     more people about face blindness and its effects (影响) on our social life.

Scientists who studied the influences of gardening found that taking part in the activity twice a week can improve mental (精神的) health. A     1     from the University of Florida studied 32 women who did not have any health problems. None of the women have gardened before.

The researchers     2     the women into two groups. The women either took part in gardening     3     took art classes. Both groups     4     took part in their own activities twice a week for four weeks.

During the gardening activities, the women did     5     such as planting and digging. After finishing the tasks, the women answered questions about     6     worries, sadness and so on. Also their blood pressure (压力) and heart rate (率) were     7     by the scientists.

While both groups experienced improved mental health, the group who gardened had a little more advantages, reporting     8     stress and sadness. The research team hopes to     9     more about how gardening and mental health are connected. “At the end of the study, many of them were saying not just     10     much they enjoyed the activities but also how they planned to keep gardening,” said Charles Guy, one of the study’s scientists.

Anne and Joseph are talking about an interesting question: Why do some people change their names? There can be many reasons. Hanna changed her name to Anne     1     she thought it would be easier for people to remember. On the     2     hand, Joseph is thinking about changing his name to an unusual name because he wants to be different.

People have a lot of     3     for changing their names. Film stars, singers, sportsmen and some other     4     people often change their names because they want names that are not ordinary, or that have a special     5    . They chose the “new name” for     6     instead of the names their parents gave them.

Some people have another reason for changing their names. They have     7     to a new country and want to use a name that is usual there. For example, Li Kaiming changed his name to Ken Lee when he moved to the United States. He uses the name Ken at school and at his     8    . But with his family and Chinese friends, he uses Li Kaiming. For some people, using different names makes life easier in their new country.

In many countries, a woman changes her family name to her husband’s     9     she gets married. But today, many women are     10     their own family name.