2 . The following are newly released devices all designed to help make your life more convenient, beautiful and vivid.

Tonal

$2,995 AT TONAL.COM

Tonal makes lifting and resistance training truly easy and accessible from your own home. It is great because I hate any sort of public weight training. Tonal has a remarkably easy user interface and gives data and feedback in a helpful manner. It also makes you feel great by keeping track of clear improvements.

Hisense 75” U800GR 8K ULED Roku TV

$1,800 AT BEST BUY

8k sounded like a luxury, but now that brands like Hisense, which focus on a more affordable end of the spectrum, have gotten some time with the tech, you can finally bring the deep color output and stunning detail into your living room. Calling it “affordable” may be a stretch, but compared to most 8k TV’s which all run over $5,000, it’s the most cost-efficient version of the tech we’ve got. It gets your money worth best.

VIVE Goggle

$499 AT VIVE.COM

Vive goggles will bring an extremely accessible and refreshing approach to the VR world. They are a pair of goggles not unlike something you’d wear to snowboard. They’re extremely lightweight with a lightning fast set — that’s connected with things like watching Netflix. It’s the calmest headset I’ve ever worn and uses cameras to let you control everything with just your hands. This one’s for the not-gamers.

Dyson Purifier Humidify+Cool Formaldehyde

$920 AT WALMART

For people who easily sneeze because of dog hair or something like that outside, Dyson has created a machine that saves them for time at home. This new purifier doubles as a humidifier, plus it has a cooling function, making it the end all be all for stuffy, hot, dry apartments.

Yours,

Li Hua

Litter is everywhere, doing great harm to the environment and life on our planet. Jeff Kirschner, who wants to build a litter-free world, started a     1     (globe) community named Litterati     2     (settle) this problem.

The story began with his 6-year-old daughter. One day they were going on a hike     3     the girl noticed a broken plastic tub (浴盆) in a river. She said, “Daddy, that doesn`t go there.” That took Kirschner     4     surprise. He, like many adults, had become so used to seeing the rubbish     5     (throw) around them that he hadn’t given it     6     second look. What his daughter said reminded him of the serious problem our planet faced.

Jeff started to take     7     (act). He created Litterati, an app that makes it fun to pick up litter. The idea is     8     (fair) simple: Spot a piece of trash, take a photo, post the photo online and then put the litter into dustbins.

    9     (see) that Jeff was keeping a record of the positive impact he was having on the planet, people worldwide started participating. Up to now, over 2,500,000 photos posted by 3,500 people from over 40 countries     10     (find) their way to Litterati`s digital landfill.

Hector stood in the front of his classroom as one of the last two competitors in the Class Five Geography Competition. His opponent having missed the last question, it was Hector’s turn. If he answered his question correctly, he would be the champion of Class Five.

“Where did I put that second sheet of questions?” Mr. Adler whispered while searching through a thick pile of papers on his messy desk. Mr. Adler, though a great teacher, had a reputation of being disorganized with a long history of misplacing things. “Oh well, I apologize for the delay.” said Mr. Adler after what seemed like a long time. “Hector, please tell us the capital city of Brazil.” Hearing the question, Hector smiled. Then, there was the answer.

Later that day in the courtyard, many classmates congratulated Hector. Wearing a proud smile, he greeted and thanked them all. Oh, the sweet taste of victory.

As it was getting late, the courtyard became deserted. But Hector still didn’t want to leave. Then he saw Mr. Adler crossing the courtyard and holding a half-open bag full of papers. As he hurried past, an envelope dropped out but Mr. Adler was unaware. He turned a corner and disappeared out of sight. Hector picked it up. On the envelope were the words “School Geography Competition Questions and Answers”. Hector stared wide-eyed at the envelope. Before he even had time to reflect on the consequences, he opened it and read the questions.

As soon as Hector had done it, he knew it was the wrong choice. He’d cheated and whatever he did now, he couldn’t change the fact. “What if Mr. Adler thought I stole this morning’s questions too?” Hector thought. “He’d take away my Class Five victory for sure.” Little did he know that one of the best days in his life would be turned into the worst so quickly. Torn by his conscience(良知), Hector was totally at a loss what to do.

Before he realized it, Hector found himself standing in Mr. Adler’s room.

The next day the entire school came to watch the School Geography Competition.

8 . Just like happiness and sadness, anxiety is part of everyone’s lived experience—but it’s not always tolerated as such. “People often spend too much time and effort trying to rid anxiety,” says Dr Joel Minden, a clinical psychologist. “I encourage them to remember that anxiety is a normal emotional response.”

If you try to banish anxiety, all you’re doing is putting it more at the forefront of your mind. But if you accept anxiety as part of life, you can learn to relate to it with self-pity or even with humour. This is a cornerstone of acceptance and commitment therapy(ACT), which has been gaining clinical validation, including by the American Psychological Association. ACT guides people to see their unpleasant emotions as just feelings and to accept that parts of life are hard. Sufferers are encouraged to begin a dialogue with anxious thoughts, examining their causes while also keeping in mind their personal goals and values.

This way of relating to anxiety has been a powerful strategy for John Bateman, the 52-year-old host of the podcast Our Anxiety Stories. When negative thoughts arise, he acknowledges them but doesn’t let them drive his decisions. Over the years, Bateman has noticed that if he submits to his thoughts, they don’t go away but dramatically increase. But if he recognizes them for what they are, just a passing thought and not a fact that needs to be acted on, they gradually go away.

Learning to live with anxiety is an individual process and one that requires trial and error to get just right. While acceptance is the first and most important step to take, some lifestyle changes have been proven to take the edge off, as well. Since tiredness, increased tension and stress leave us much easier to fall into anxiety, a well-balanced diet, sufficient rest and, especially, regular exercise can help us manage it better.

9 . Millions of young people grow up with a deep love of Disney. ______ by the studio’s fairytales, they dream of becoming a prince or princess.

Cori Borgstadt, however, has a slightly different ______. Instead of ______ to be a princess like Snow White, she wants to become Disney’s CEO and has been ______ the company’s shareholder(股东)meetings since she was three years old.

Borgstadt, now 18, has ______ Disney for as long as she can remember. As well as collecting dolls and toys ______ her favourite films, she owns ______ in the company.

She is studying economics and film and media studies at Texas Tech University, and has ______ Bob Iger, the Disney CEO about how to eventually ______ him, at most of the meetings she has attended, Iger, now 72, replied: “Well, one thing you can do is keep coming to our shareholders’ meeting.”

The love of Disney has always been in Borgstadt’s ______. Her grandmother bought her and her younger sister a single share when they were children. It was her mother, Jan, who suggested she attend the shareholder meeting ______.

Borgstadt ______ that her dream of one day becoming the boss will not be easy to achieve, and would require a ______ similar to the ones Disney has been creating for a century. But she is ______ to work her way up, from making her ______ felt in the meetings.