1 . Nothing seems more inevitable than aging and death-not even taxes. Every plant, animal and person you have ever seen will _______ die. But some recent research suggests that aging as we know it may not be inevitable. Indeed, as our _______ of it grows, aging can be seen not as an unchangeable reality from which there is no escape, but as the product of biological processes that we may be able to _______ someday.

We already know that some animals do not seem to age. Many cold-water ocean fish and some amphibians（两栖动物）never _______ a fixed size: they continue to grow bigger, to be able to reproduce and to live until something kills them. What these creatures seem to be telling us is that something in their _______ —and possibly in ours——controls the pace of aging, _______ that aging is not the fate of every living thing.

Throughout the history of life on earth, one of the most common difficulties that animals and their cells） have faced has been a lack of food. About 70 years ago, scientists discovered that when animals are forced to live on 30 to 40 percent fewer calories than they would _______ eat, something unusual happens; they become _______ to most age-related diseases --cancer, heart disease, diabetes —and live 30-50 percent longer. Restricting calories _______ aging. But what are the ________ genes that preserve vitality and starve off diseases?

About 15 years ago, armed with powerful new molecular-research technique, a few scientists began to ________ these genetic phenomena. They have discovered that a gene called Sir2—which is present in all animals, including humans —is ________ for the health benefits of calorie restriction perhaps by repairing our DNA. But if we had to restrict our calorie intake ________ 30 to 40 percent would it be of any practical use? Few of us would be capable of restricting our diets so severely that we were constantly ________. Whether or not it made life longer, it would surely make life ________ longer.

2 . A team is a group of people who have been chosen to work together to do a particular job. Team members have a (an) _________ goal and work on similar strategies.

To ensure a team work effectively, team communication is_________. Team communication simply means how the small group of people communicate with each other and how this_________ the effectiveness of team as a whole, by_________ the personal characteristics of the members.

Also team communication can make the team more productive and thus make the team operations flawless, _________ and healthy.

So what can be done to make team communication _________ among the group? Well team members should always be _________ and given equal importance. It doesn’t matter whether you are a team leader or a team member. Each one should have a say in team decisions.

Also make member of your team_________ about the strategies and _________ of the particular project the group is working on. Any confusion in the mind of any member may delay the __________ of the goal. To overcome this __________ and make sure that everybody has understood the goal__________, always welcome questions.

Communicate with the members of your team regularly, and keep on telling them about the latest changes and the most recent__________ about this situation. This could be done through emails, chat, video or telephonic conference and so on.

Meet your team members on a regular basis, and make the meeting interactive by giving every team member a __________ to speak. In addition, don’t forget to show your __________ of team members’ good performance, which can encourage them to produce better work.

3 . The Chinese government has a plan to link the cities of Hong Kong, Macau, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Zhongshan, Dongguan, Huizhou, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing into an economic and business powerhouse. It will be called The Greater Bay Area. Some in China's central bank are looking to the European Union and Britain to _______ how best to do this.

The Greater Bay Area already has a total economy almost _______ to Australia's. But the area is divided _______ Hong Kong and Macau have their own money and legal systems. This makes _______ difficult.

China's central bank's branch in Shenzhen created a 295-page report on financial and economic integration in the bay. It suggested building a_______ market similar to the 28-state European Union. The report was written with China Merchants Bank's chief economist and published last month. The report notes some of the _______ of European integration. But it also points to some of the problems China faces as it tries to control an area that _______ has international financial markets, industrial centers and technology sectors.

In the report, the head of the Shenzhen central bank, Xing Yujing, was clear about the importance of the free movement of people and money in the bay. The report also pointed to what could be _______ from Britain’s planned exit from Europe.

The European Union and the common market have strengthened “the welfare of the European people," the Shenzhen branch of the People's Bank of China said in a statement. It added that suggestions do not represent official policy _______. Britain has made professional decisions to reduce the effects of Brexit ________keeping "integration with European economy and finance," the report also said.

The European common market ________ the free movement of labor. So should the Greater Bay Area, said Gary Smith. He is a London-based director at Barings Investment Institute. “That's the way that the economic benefits maximized,” he said.

Europe has ________ border control between 26 of its 28 countries. In the Greater Bay Area, there are still borders between Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China. This is the ________ of the "One Country, Two Systems" agreement that permits the two cities to keep their way of life while under Chinese rule.

For a(n) ________ solution, Xing noted Britain's idea of a ‘soft’ border with Ireland after Brexit. The soft border would permit the free movement of people, money and products between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The report said an ________ border could be put in place in the bay and businesses could pay taxes online after crossing it.

4 . Did Tea and Beer Bring About Industrialization?

Professor Macfarlane has spent decades trying to understand the mystery of the Industrial Revolution. Why did it happen in Britain at the end of the 18th century?

Macfarlane compares the question as a puzzle. He ________ that there were about 20 different factors and all of them needed to be present before the revolution could happen. The chief ________ can be found in history textbooks. For industry to ________, there needed to be the technology and power to drive factories, large urban populations to provide cheap labor, a ________ economy, and a political system that allowed this to happen. All these factors must have been necessary but not sufficient to cause the revolution. Most historians, however, are ________ that one or two missing factors are needed to solve the puzzle. The missing factors, Macfarlane supposes, are tea and beer.

Historians had noticed one interesting factor around the mid-18th century that required the ________. Between 1650 and 1740, the population in Britain didn’t increase, but then it grew rapidly. The population burst seemed to happen at the right time to provide labor for the Industrial Revolution. But why? When it started, it was ________ efficient to have people living close together. People got diseases, particularly from human waste. Some historical records ________ that there was a change in the incidence (发病率）of waterborne disease at that time. Macfarlane thought whatever the British were drinking must have been important in ________ disease. The English drank beer for a long time, and they were protected by the strong antibacterial agent in hops (啤酒花), which were added to make beer. But in the late 17th century a tax was ________ on malt, a basic ingredient of beer. The poor turned to water and gin, and in the 1720s the death rate began to rise again. Then it suddenly dropped. What caused this?

Macfarlane looked to Japan, which was also developing large cities at the same time. Waterborne diseases were far fewer in Japan than in Britain. Could it be the ________ of tea in their culture? Macfarlane then noticed the history of tea in Britain provided an extraordinary ________ of dates. Tea was relatively expensive until Britain started direct trade with China in the early 18th century. By the 1740s, about the time the infant death rate was falling, and the drink was common. Macfarlane ________ the fact that water had to be boiled, together with the stomach-purifying properties of tea so clearly ________ in books, meant the breast milk provided by mothers was healthier than it had ever been. No other European nation drank tea so often as the British, which, by Macfarlane’s ________, pushed other nations out of the race for the Industrial Revolution.

5 . The virtual world is full of opportunities to share with people around the world. It’s also a place where nothing is _________ and there are no “take-backs.” A lot of what you do and say online can still be found again even if you have _________ it, and it’s often something that is easy for others to access.

Research shows that a high percentage of teens receive _________ messages and requests when they’re online. These can be scary, strange, and even embarrassing. If you feel _______ by a stranger or a friend online, immediately tell an adult you can trust. It is never a good idea to _________. Any response you make is not only likely to make things worse, and might result in you saying something you wish you hadn’t.

If you are eager to let out angry comment on a message board or blog, it’s a good idea to wait a few minutes, _________ , and remember that your comments may stay up long after your temper has cooled and you have perhaps changed your mind. You might mistakenly find yourself regulated on social networks and this could _________ mean, insulting, or abusive comments toward someone else. But later you may _________ all that you have done. We’ve all heard of cyber bullying （网络欺凌）, but most people think online bullying is something people do _________. But sharing stuff or dropping random comments when we’re not face to face with someone can __________ just as much, if not more. And it can damage how others see you if they find out. __________ , a good rule to remember is that if you wouldn’t say it, show it, or do it in person, you probably shouldn’t do it online either.

Chances are that you’ve already checked your “digital __________ ” -- nearly half of all online users do. Try typing your screen name or email address into a search engine and see what comes up. That’s one way to get a sense of what others see as your online identity. In general, if you have questions about the trail you’re leaving online, don’t be afraid to ask a trusted adult. __________ , you might know more about the online world than a lot of adults do, but they have more life experience, which is something that can often be of more help. Your online identity is __________ in much the same way as your real-life identity, except that when you’re online you don’t always get a chance to explain your tone or what you mean. Thinking before you post and following the same rules for __________ behavior online as you do offline can help you avoid leaving an online identity trail you may over time come to regret.

6 . Gone are the days when big businesses were looked upon by environmentalists as enemies in the fight against global warming.

Just two weeks after U. S. President Donald Trump pulled his country out of the Paris Climate Agreement, more than 900 American firms put their _______to a “We Are Still In” open letter to the United Nations. Together, they promise to help reduce America’s carbon emissions by 26 percent by 2025, _______the Paris Climate Agreement.

_______, big businesses have been taking climate change seriously for years now. Alongside energy-efficiency measures, the strongest evidence of their _______has been the number of new wind and solar projects that they have been helping to build around the world. IT firms such as Amazon and Google have been using clean energy to power their servers (服务器). Some environmentalists now believe that big businesses could become strong _______behind the worldwide spread of renewable energy. “There used to be little action,” says Marty Spitzer of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), “Now, I see fundamental _______being made.”

More recently, this enthusiasm for environmental protection has _______from corporate headquarters to branches and suppliers, and from developed countries to emerging markets. Take Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, for example. In March 2016, it said that it would require its own operations and those along its _______chain to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions by one billion tons by 2030. This is _______to taking 211 million passenger cars off America’s roads for a year. The announcement was ________by the WWF and other conservation organizations, which are helping Walmart’s suppliers work towards this goal. Apple, maker of the iPhone, has said that seven of its biggest global manufacturers have promised to power their Apple-related ________with renewable energy by the end of this year.

According to the WWF, in the United States alone, nearly two dozen of the biggest firms have committed themselves to becoming 100 percent renewable in the near future. Hervé Touati of the Rocky Mountain Institute, a clean-energy research firm, explains the ________behind this trend. Going green improves the companies’ public image and helps attract customers, staff and investors.

Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s biggest brewer (啤酒公司), has lots of young people among its many ________. Many of them take environmental issues seriously. Electricity, used ________in the brewing process, amounts to a tenth of its total costs. Last year, the company set out to increase the role of renewables in generating ________to 100 percent by 2025. “My generation often takes energy and clean air for granted,” said Tony Milikin, the firm’s chief sustainability officer. “The generation coming up now looks at it totally differently.”