1 . John Myatt is an artist. He may not be the greatest artist in the world, but he is possibly the world’s greatest forger (伪造者). He is able to paint pictures in the style of famous artists like Monet and Matisse.

    1     This unusual skill got Myatt into a lot of trouble in the 1990s. For many years he taught art at a secondary school, but then he got divorced (离婚) and he gave up his job to spend more time with his children. In order to make some money he started painting pictures in the style of famous artists and selling them.

    2     He was honest about his work—he wrote his name on the back, and he sold them for ￡150 each. However, one of his customers, John Drewe, started to resell Myatt’s paintings as genuine, original works. Drewe had sold one of Myatt’s paintings for￡25,000. He contacted Myatt and suggested that they go into business together. Myatt agreed. He continued to paint and Drewe sold his paintings to art collectors around the world.     3    

The amazing thing is that Myatt painted his pictures with decorator’s paint.     4     But it soon came to an end. Drewe was divorced too, and his ex-wife found out about the forgeries. She went to the police and they arrested Dewe and Myatt. At their trial Drewe was sent to prison for six years and Myatt for less than one year.

    5     When he came out he started to produce pictures in the style of famous artists again. But he put his name on the back, as he’d done before he met Drewe. Myatt is now famous and instead of charging￡150 for a painting, he can charge￡40-50,000.

3 . The teenage years are probably the most unsettled and stressful years in a person’s life. Teens experience significant physical, emotional, social and cognitive changes. And teens of today face more challenges as they go through more uncertain times of the 21st century.     1    

As teens experience massive physical, social and emotional changes, the challenges are managing social expectations of ideal body images, developing their identity and finding their place in the world. In the past, a teen who was criticized for his or her larger figure or pimpled (有粉刺的) face, might feel embarrassed and dejected in school.     2     Constant comparison and endless posts of picture — perfect images and lives give teens greater pressure to follow current fashion trends. The Wall Street Journal reported that Instagram made body images worse for one in three teenage girls.

    3     Statistics show that most cases of cyber bullying take place on popular social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchats and Twitter, where cyber bullies make emotionally scarring comments. These can be made publicly on a teen’s social media account.     4     As a result, cyber bullying can be more threatening than traditional bullying because it can be shared and viewed repeatedly on social media. In this age of social media, it is also important for teens to learn to cultivate positive, and healthy relationships with people.

There have been many discussions about new technologies and ways of working, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, which will impact future jobs.     5    . Unlike in the past, the situation is different today as AI and automation are causing some jobs to disappear. Teens will have to meet this challenge by adopting an attitude of lifelong learning, and keeping paces with technology.

4 . Teaching is a difficult job. The ultimate reward is knowing that you have the opportunity to have an impact on a young person’s life. However, not every student is created equal. The truth is that there are students who own certain characteristics that make them good pupils.

They ask questions

Most teachers want students to ask questions when they do not understand. It is truly the only way a teacher knows whether you really understand something.     1     Good students aren’t afraid to ask questions because they know that if they do not get a particular concept, it could hurt them later on. And asking questions is often beneficial to the class as a whole.     2    

They are involved

Being involved in extra-curricular activities can help a student gain confidence, which can improve academic success. Most good students get involved in some activity whether it is athletics, or student council.     3     They often teach people to work together as a team to accomplish a common goal.

They seize opportunities.

    4     However, that doesn’t mean that every student seizes that opportunity and maximizes their learning potential. The opportunity to learn is valuable. The best students take advantage of the opportunities than are afforded and value the education they receive.

    5    

Teachers will tell you that classes full of students who follow the rules have more chances of maximizing their learning potential. Students who are well behaved are likely to learn more than their counterparts who are trouble makers. Teachers will try to move mountains for students who are polite, respectful and follow the rules.

6 . Do you like cilantro(香菜)? Cilantro is a common food that people tend to either adore or abuse.     1     But the reasons behind what you like and don’t like are not always so straightforward.

    2     Your sense of smell allows you to distinguish between something like strawberry and cherry. Scientists looked at olfactory (receptors and discovered that individuals with a certain gene. OR6A2, are more sensitive to smelling cilantro. That, in turn, affects how people sense its flavor.     3     When you’re open to these foods, you learn to like what you eat. Even people who hate cilantro may be able to learn to at least tolerate it, if not like it.

Culture plays a big role in what you like, too. Food preferences vary across cultures. When it comes down to food preferences in different parts of the world, it has a lot to do with what’s available and considered a food staple (主食).    4    But there will always be exceptions-a Greek person who can’t stand olives or a Dutch person who hates cheese.

While preferences can be formed after a few attempts, negative experiences with foods, especially when you’re young, can have a lasting effect.     5     Jasmine Robinson, 29, from Athens, shared her story about olives. When she was young, another child, who wouldn’t let her have a turn on a swing, made fun of her while eating olives from a jar and being mean. She later tried olives as an adult but failed.

7 . It’s common that everyone wants to be happy. Everything we think, say, and do is connected with our innermost(内心深处的) desires to achieve happiness.    1    

So how is it that some people seem to be happy all the time?

They smile.

Happy people smile, even when they don’t have much to smile about.The important part about smiling is that the change in physiology actually causes a change in psychology.

They create value.

Happy people often focus on the long term.    2    They always try to provide more value in their work than what others have paid for it.

They eat healthy.

    3    Rather than fill their stomachs with processed and fast foods, they choose things made from natural and organic materials.

    4    

It’s hard to be happy when you spend most of your day worrying about the past or living in fear of the future.Happy people are present in the here and now.

They set goals.

Happy people also tend to set goals for the future.The goals give them an intended direction of travel. They’re buried in their hopes and aspirations of whatever they’re trying to achieve in life.

They think positive.

When thinking positive, and looking past problems and negativity, not only do we feel better mentally, but our minds are better able to process the here­to­now.    5    

Stick to the advice above for two or three months, and maybe you’ll find some amazing changes on yourself.

8 . In recent years, cotton bags have risen to popularity as an eco-friendly alternative to single-use bags. Many supermarkets have made the change.     1    

As a study by the Ministry of Environment and Food of Denmark shows, a cotton bag needs to be used 20,000 times to offset (抵消) its overall impact of production on the environment.     2     According to this measure, for Venetia Berry, an artist in London who found she had at least 25 cotton bags, she would have to live for more than 1,000 years to offset her current bags.

According to the Circular Laboratory, it requires between 10,000 and 20,000 liters of water to produce one kilogram of cotton. And only 15 percent of the 30 million tons of cotton produced every year actually makes its way to textile (纺织品) warehouses. Even when a cotton bag does make it to a treatment plant, most logos printed on them are not recyclable.     3     .

That’s not to say cotton is worse than plastic. They both have disadvantages.     4     And plastic bags use fossil fuels that produce greenhouse gases, never biodegrade (生物降解) and block the oceans.

Buffy Reid, of the British knitwear label & Daughter, stopped production of her cotton bags in April 2021.     5     For example, British designer Ally Capellino replaced cotton with hemp (麻纤维). In fact, the simplest solution may be the most obvious: Not every product needs a bag.