1 . A TV series in England, Away from It All, has surprised everyone by becoming a huge success with young people.

Its success is surprising because its main character is a shepherd(牧羊人), and the series is about the relaxing lifestyles of people who live in the country. There is none of the action that we usually see on TV. There are also no stressful moments, busy offices, or crowded cities. Away from It All is set in the peaceful English countryside and tells simple stories of people’s kindness.

The director of the series says its success is a sign of teenagers suffering from stress. He says that watching Away from It All helps teenagers forget about the pressures of exams and homework and the troubles that fill the world. He also claims that it’s a good sign that today’s youth are switching to happier TV series, as it shows they would like a happier and healthier life.

Although the series’ success might have a good side, many teachers and parents are worried. They say that some of their students and children are becoming couch potatoes(电视迷)and are using Away from It All as an excuse for not completing homework. Some students have even refused to study for exams because they say that they can only achieve happiness by avoiding stressful situations completely.

One mother, Lucy Linney, said of her son Patrick, “Before he started watching Away from It All, he loved challenges and volunteered every afternoon. But now he has become a couch potato. His grades have dropped and he no longer volunteers. He says it doesn’t matter as he just wants to ‘get away from it all’. ”

And what do the experts say? Paula Ray, a doctor, says that TV can influence young people’s lifestyles. But she says that if a young person reacts as strongly as Patrick, it’s likely that there are other reasons for his change in the behaviour.

2 . Here are some books that are carefully picked for your kids.

Corduroy

It’s about a little bear, Corduroy, in a toy shop. He has lost one of his buttons. This makes him very sad because he wants to be taken home by a kid. So he decides to find a new button. Corduroy contains some hard words. So you’d better use a dictionary while reading it.

Price: $18; a 10% discount on Sunday

Curious George

Curious George, a monkey, is a little too interested in everything, which causes humans to bring him from the forest to a big city. However, there he calls the fire department, is sent to prison, escapes from prison and is carried into the sky by balloons. Though the book uses a lot of short and simple sentences, some of its words are not simple.

Price: $20; a 20% discount on Sunday

The Story of Ferdinand

Ferdinand, a bull, loves to smell the flowers in the grasslands. One day people come to pick a male cow for bullfights. Ferdinand doesn’t want to be chosen, but a bee stings (蜇) him. It causes him to jump around crazily, so he’s picked. In Ferdinand’s first fight, he lies down to smell the flowers instead of fighting. So he is sent back to the grassland. The book has many similar stories that bring laughter. And it has everything that makes a children’s book great for English learners—simple and hard words.

Price: $16; a 10% discount on Sunday

Green Eggs and Ham

In this book, a cat named Sam really likes green eggs and meat. So he offers them to a friend. Read the book to see if his friend likes the meal or not. This book is a poem. Despite the simple vocabulary, the words are used in a way that feels smart.

Price: $15; a 5% discount on Sunday

Japanese researchers have developed computerized chopsticks that enhance (增加)salty tastes,    1     could help those who need to reduce sodium (钠)in their diets.

The chopsticks     2    (develop) by Meiji University professor Homei Miyashita and drink manufacturer Kirin Holdings Company in May.

Wiring connects the chopsticks to a small computer device     3    (attach) to the eater’s hand. A weak electrical current transports sodium ions (离子)from food through the chopsticks     4     the mouth. “As     5     result, the salty taste enhances 1.5 times,” Miyashita said.

The     6    (tradition) diet in Japan is salty. The average Japanese adult eats about 10 grams of salt each day. That is twice the amount suggested by the World Health Organization.

High sodium intake is linked to increased cases of high blood     7    (press), strokes and other conditions.

“To prevent these     8    (disease), we need to reduce the amount of salt we take in,” said Kirin researcher Ai Sato. Sato     9    (add) that if Japanese people try to reduce salt intake in the usual ways, they will need to cut many of their favorite foods from their diet. Otherwise, they would have to eat bland or flavorless food.

Miyashita and Kirin are improving their chopsticks and hope to have them ready     10    (sell) as early as next year.

4 . Emily Bhatnagar is a shy girl who has always loved reading. She says, “The books sort of became my best friends when I didn’t have one.”

When Bhatnagar was 16, her father was diagnosed (诊断) with cancer. The news was________for the family. Books became an even bigger ________, and she started thinking about families in similar situations. When her father recovered, she ________a plan to help others. “The idea came from not just great thanks that the doctors were able to ________such a miracle (奇迹),”she said, “but also a little of ________ that there were kids who were ________ the same battle.”

Bhatnagar started a ________ in her hometown. The goal was to collect books and give them to kids being ________ for cancer in local hospitals. Since the start of the book drive, which she called For Love & Buttercup, Bhatnagar has ________ more than 10,000 books.

Bhatnagar had no idea how much ________ her work would get. She started by posting on social media, asking people in her area to donate. “I was expecting maybe two or three ________ from neighbors,” she said. But it ended up blowing up, ________ when news stations began reporting it. “The public response has been super great,” her father said.

Bhatnagar continues to run the book drive, with a little help from her parents. She hopes to expand the project to ________ more kids one day. The memory of the first time she visited those children who’d ________ her books sticks with her. “It was the best ________ of my life,” she said. “I realized I wanted to do this type of work forever.”

6 . A little girl created a perfect gift for her mother’s birthday. It was a drawing of a _________ on white paper with the words “For mom: love, love, love” decorated with hearts. She folded (折叠) her letter, but then she _________ it.

For most people, that would be the _________ of this story, but this story had a different result. James Carrell _________ the letter. He had just called his mother, wishing her a happy birthday. After he hung up, Carrell saw the _________ on the ground outside of a hardware (五金器具) store in Manvel. “I realized it was a gift,” said Carrell. “I _________ it up and saw the flower and hearts. It really _________ me.” Carrell thought the letter would brighten someone’s day and that maybe he could find the _________, so he posted it on the Internet. The message moved a lot of people, _________ one man.

“I was sitting at my friend’s house and saw a man’s reply,” said Carrell.

The comments included one from Robert Alvarado. He wrote, “I can’t __________ you found my baby’s letter.” Carrell reached Alvarado to __________ the letter. It took a few days, but the men finally __________ on Thursday night, one day after Alvarado’s wife’s birthday.

“__________ the letter made it home,” said Alvarado “We are thankful for what James Carrell did.”

We often forget the power of __________ things, but for this family from Alvin, Carrell’s small act left a(n) __________ impression.

7 . What Is a Boy?

Between the innocence of babyhood and the seriousness of manhood we find a delightful creature called an “boy”.     1    . They all believe that the pleasure of life is to enjoy every second of every minute of every hour of every day and to fill the air with noise until the adult males pack them off to bed at night.

    2     When you want him to make a good impression, his brain turns to jelly, or else he becomes a wild creature bent on destroying the world and himself with it.

    3     He has the stomach of a horse, the digestion of stones and sand, the energy of an atomic bomb, the curiosity of a cat, the imagination of a superman, the shyness of a sweet girl, the brave nature of a bull, the violence of a firecracker, but when you ask him to make something, he has five thumbs (拇指) on each hand.

He likes ice cream, knives, saws, Christmas, comic books, woods, water (in its natural habitat).     4     He is not much for Sunday schools, company, schools, books without pictures, music lessons, neckties, barbers, girls, overcoats, adults, or bedtime.

    5     Nobody else gets so much fun out of trees, dogs and breezes. Nobody else can put into one pocket a rusty knife, a half eaten apple, a three-feet rope, six cents and some unknown things. A boy is a magical creature — he is your headache but when you come home at night with only shattered pieces of your hopes and dreams, he can mend them like new with two magic words, “Hi, Dad!”

8 . China’s famous museums include ancient buildings and world class modern museums with big collections. They are excellent places for sightseeing and learning about China.

Sanxingdui Museum

The museum is on the path less beaten by tourists, but it makes one of the top museums for the 3,400-year-old artworks. If you’re an ancient history fan, this place will attract you. If you love art, its style will surprise you a lot.

The Palace Museum

The museum is one of the largest old buildings kept in the country with a history of 600 years old. Built at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty between 1406 and 1420, it was the home of 24 rulers and their courts. It is one of the finest buildings in China and a good place to study Chinese history.

The Shanghai Museum

The big modern museum is popular with foreign tourists. It is probably the most modern museum with the focus on creative art displays about the history of the whole area. Located in People’s Square, the museum is most famous for its huge collection of china.

The Shaanxi History Museum

Since 14 historical dynasties founded their capitals and developed in Shaanxi Province, the museum may have the oldest treasure of all the museums in China. The artworks show the greatness of the museum, and the displays are modern and well laid out.