1 . Do you need to throw your smartphone away to live your best life? Not necessarily, according to researchers from Ruhr-Universität Bochum who suggest that we could all benefit from cutting down on screen time – just only a little bit time.

On average, we spend more than three hours a day looking at our smartphone screens. Between social media, news feeds, endless video games, and an app for pretty much everything else, there’s always something to draw our attention. In recent years, researchers have found connections between smartphones and many modern problems ranging from increasing anxiety cases to neck pain. So here comes the question: Are people all really better off changing back to landlines (座机)?

“The smartphone is both a benefit and a danger,” says study leader Dr. Julia Brailovskaia, whose team set out to answer that question by gathering together 619 volunteers, hoping to know how much the smartphone is good for us. For a week, two hundred people put their smartphones completely aside; 226 reduced the amount of time they used the device (装置) by one hour a day; 193 people didn’t change anything in their behavior.

Researchers interviewed each person about both their lifestyle habits and well-being (健康) four months later after the experimental week ended. “We found that both completely giving up the smartphone and reducing its daily use by one hour had positive effects on the well-being of the participants (参与者),” as Brailovskaia studies and reports the upshots. Especially, changing their smartphone habits for just one week appeared to produce lasting outcomes among volunteers. Even four months afterward, participants who were told to avoid using their smartphones totally were using their phones for an average of 38 minutes less per day.

Meanwhile, the “one hour less” group were using their phones as much as 45 minutes less per day after four months. This group also showed improved life satisfaction, more exercise, and less depression (抑郁). “It’s not necessary to completely give up the smartphone to feel better,” Brailovskaia concludes.

2 . Renee William and her friend were happy on the way to a football game. But in all of the _______, they accidentally headed out without their tickets! They had to go back. By the time they arrived at the stadium, it was almost time for kick-off (开球). Then they got more _______ news.

As it turned out, the stadium had restrictions (限制) on the _______ of bags allowed to enter. And Renee’s handbag was too large. She was about to _______ when a couple suggested Renee have a nearby homeless man _______ it.

That sounded unbelievable, but no _______ than throwing away a good handbag. She decided to put her _______ in the stranger. So, she gave the homeless man five dollars and asked if he would _______ keep an eye on her handbag until she finished watching the game.

Renee admitted (承认) her expectation of ever _______ the homeless man again was ________. When she came out, ________, there he was. The man had spent three hours staying in place with her handbag, just as he ________.

Renee had not ________ the homeless man to keep his word. Through this experience, Renee learnt a valuable lesson: you can’t really ________ what’s inside a book just by looking at the ________!

3 . It’s easy to talk yourself out of exercising. Even when you have the best intentions to work out, excuses are so easy to find – “I’m too tired”, “I’m busy” or “The weather is bad”. Don’t worry!     1    

※ Take baby steps.

You’ll never try to run 10 miles just in a single day, right? When you do too much too soon, you’ll end up injured and disappointed. Take it easy as you get started. Maybe you only run a quarter of a mile during your first week.     2    

※    3    

Your workout should be just as much a habit as brushing your teeth or eating breakfast. When it’s part of your routine (日常), you won’t even have to think about it. In a few months, fitness can be regular in your day.

※ Keep it real.

You’re not going to shake off 30 pounds in a week.     4     For example, If you work too late to get to a gym, keep a set of weights at home. If you can’t do 30 minutes at once, break it up into 10 or 15 minutes’ sections. Gradually, you should increase your workout schedule from 2 to 3 days a week, or exercise for 15 more minutes each time.

※Celebrate.

    5     So even a pound of weight loss or a pound of muscle gain is the reason to reward (奖励) yourself. Go out with friends or buy a pair of jeans.

5 . We’ve explored London many times and come away with quite a few lessons. Here are our tips.

Visiting Buckingham Palace

Being London’s most famous landmark, this 775-room building is where Queen Elizabeth hosted feasts (盛宴) and met heads of state. But if you’re dreaming of taking a visit to it, you’ll need to plan your trip carefully. The palace is typically only open during the summer months from July 23rd to October 3rd. Visiting hours are from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. If you’re visiting when the palace isn’t available to tour, you can still see the Changing of the Guard.

Hitting the London Eye

The London Eye is a playful addition (添加) to the city skyline. Standing near centuries-old buildings, this huge Ferris wheel spins (旋转) slowly over the left bank of the Thames, serving up views over the London Bridge and the Shard to the west, plus a wide perspective (视野) of the Palace of Westminster. Buy your tickets beforehand online, choose a clear day and go in the morning to avoid the crowds peak.

Drinking afternoon tea

Afternoon tea is reason enough to come to London. The British have taken a simple tea break and turned it into a luxurious (奢侈的) ceremony, complete with patterned china, fine plates of finger sandwiches, cakes and scones in cream and jam. When making a booking, remember that afternoon tea isn’t a snack but a full meal with sweet and salty elements (元素), and you’ll be full. The smart move is to leave out lunch and maybe even dinner.

7 . How would you feel if moving to a new town meant losing touch of your friends? What if the only way of getting news from faraway friends was writing letters that took a long time to arrive? This was how things worked not very long ago. Thanks to advances in technology, how we make friends and communicate with them has changed greatly.

Nowadays, we can move around the world and still stay in touch with the people that we want to remain friends with. Social media tools let us see what our friends are up to and maintain friendships. All you need is a Wi-Fi connection.

The digital age also enables us to find people who share our interests, such as collecting model cars. Whatever our hobbies, the Internet can connect us with others who also enjoy doing them, even if they live on the other side of the world.

But when you “friend” people online, does this mean that they really are your friends?

It depends.

If people always exchange true personal information online, then yes, these friendships can be real and meaningful. ① But we need to keep in mind that what we see on social media is often not the whole truth about a person. ② On social media sites, people tend to post only positive updates that make them appear happy and friendly.③ Remember the saying: On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog. ④ A young person could be old; a woman could be a man; we could even be sharing our information with criminals.

But this doesn’t mean that we should throw the baby out with the bathwater. Although technology has changed the way we make friends, the meaning of friendship and our longing for friends remain the same. As Aristotle said, no one would choose to live without friends, even if he or she had all other goods.

Lucy Black recently became the youngest person     1     (travel) to every country in the world. By the age of 22, she     2     (visit) all the countries in an effort to challenge     3     (she). She wanted to see what could     4     (achieve) by a female traveler.

At first, Lucy used planes, boats and trains to get around. It was not all easy sailing and there were many difficulties she met, including     5     (arrange) visas to enter some countries. But the challenges were outweighed by the memorable experiences on her way. “There’re so many incredible experiences     6     can come out of traveling alone because you are more open to the connections with the     7     (local) than you would be in a big group,” she said.

Lucy enjoyed meeting a variety of people and exploring varied cultures. But the most     8     (value) experience of all was discovering     9     sense of independence, she said.

For Lucy, nothing compared to the joy of traveling. She described it     10     her favorite part of living.

9 . The 1975 film Jaw s tells the story of a great white shark that attacks and kills swimmers. Jaws was a great success. It strengthened people’s long-held idea of the great white shark as a dangerous animal.

People have always been scared of sharks, but Jaws made things worse. It made people frightened of sharks. Many people started to believe that sharks were bad animals that ate humans. Some people stopped swimming in the sea. Other people started fishing for sharks, killing as many as they could. At that time, nobody cared if sharks were killed, or how many were killed. People just wanted them killed.

After 1975, the number of large sharks around America fell quickly, and soon fell around the world. This was not only due to fear of sharks, but also finning. Finning is a type of fishing where sharks are caught and their fins are cut off. The sharks are thrown back into the sea where they die slowly and painfully. Finning kills millions of sharks a year.

Finning would have an unexpected effect upon Peter Benchley, the man who wrote the book that the film Jaws was based on. In 1980, Benchley was diving when he came across an awful sight. It was an area where fishermen were finning, and the sea floor was covered with dead sharks. Benchley saw sharks being killed and this caused a deep change in him. He came to see people as a danger to sharks, rather than the other way round. From that day on, he fought to protect sharks. He admitted that his book was wrong about sharks’ behaviour. “Sharks don’t target humans,” he said. Experts have proved that sharks do not see people as food, and they attack us by mistake.

Fortunately, not everyone who watched the film Jaws became afraid of sharks—some became interested in understanding them. Today, as we learn more about sharks, more people than ever want to protect them from extinction.