1 . In the spring and summer months, thunderstorms are common.     1     In thunderstorms, lightning can strike people and buildings and is very dangerous.

It was reported that a man was struck by lightning when he was making a phone call under a tree. He died at once. You may not know it, but nearly 1,800 thunderstorms are happening at any moment around the world.     2     So what should you do during a lightning storm? Scientists say that a person’s chances of   being struck by lightning are 1 in 600,000.     3    

If you are indoors during a thunderstorm:

*Stay away from anything that is metal because lightning can come into the house through it.

*Don’t stand near the windows.

*Don’t take a shower or bath. Lightning can travel through water.

* Never use the phone.       4    

If you are caught in a thunderstorm outdoors:

*     5     If there’s no building around, try to find a low place to stay in.

*Do not go under a tree because the lightning could hit the tree and travel through the tree to hit you.

* Never use a cell phone.

2 . One of the most inspiring quotes(名言) I ever heard was by Brian Tracy. He said: “The_________between successful people and unsuccessful people is that successful people_________many more times than unsuccessful people.”

I deeply understood the _________ of the quote soon after my first book was published.

I was living in Atlanta at the time and ___________ my first signing sale for my new book at the phoenix and Dragon, the largest bookstore in the city. Although a nice sign was placed outside the room ___________ images of both me and my book, The 9 Insights of the Wealthy Soul, not a single customer entered the room. _________ each minute passed, I became increasingly _________.

At 6:25 pm, just before the store’s _________, I began to get myself ready to leave. At that moment, just when I couldn’t fell any _________, a middle-aged couple walked into the room. I managed to ____________ my emotions and introduced myself and my book.

The couple turned the pages each other, and the husband ____________ to his wife. She then told me, “I think we’ll get the book.”

Despite the impulse (冲动) to jump ____________, and hold their hands to thank them for being my __________ readers, I realized the woman was trying to say something else.

“The __________ we’re buying it is that our son died two years ago,” she said. “Maybe your book will help us ____________ it .”

At that moment, I knew if I never sold a copy of the book, my four years of __________ had been meaningless.

Although I would have many more challenging years ____________ my book became a bestseller, this couple’s story was all the __________ I needed at that point to keep me __________.

Thanks to them, I would realize that the greatest of lives are made all in the same way : One challenge ... one challenge ... one difficulty ... one step ... and one small ____________ at a time.

3 . Chinese cuisine is widely known and enjoyed all around the world. Who doesn’t long for a favorite Chinese dish? But there is one interesting concept concerning Chinese food which is almost unheard of in the West, and which is becoming increasingly ignored by the youth of the East—the ancient custom of “tonic food”.

Tonic food is food which is consumed to improve one’s well-being or avoid sickness. For instance, it was once the custom for new mothers to eat a sesame oil(麻油) chicken soup every day for the first month after giving birth. It was believed that this dish would benefit the muscles, reduce pain, improve circulation, stimulate sweating, and warm the body. Some foods, such as goat meat and spinach, are seen as “hot”, while others, such as Chinese cabbage and radishes, are seen as “cold”. One should be careful not to eat too much of either “hot” or “cold” food. However, how much “hot” or “cold” food one should eat depends on the time of the year, how the food is prepared and what it is prepared with, and the individual’s health.

The custom of employing tonic food for a healthier life also influences the catering industry. Chinese herbal medicines, such as wolfberry(枸杞子), can be found on many a restaurant menu, either added to fruit tea or as a beneficial addition to a dish. These herbs attract customers, such as overworked office staff, in need of a modest pick-me-up.

So, whether you need to boost your strength with a large helping of chicken soup, or increase your mental powers with a serving of fish soup, you may find that this ancient Chinese custom could be just the tonic you were looking for.

4 . Technology use seems to be the new wave of addiction hitting people of all ages. Its extreme use can be compared to the use of drugs, which is called Plugin Heroin.

The next time you’re in a crowded public place, look at the people around you. It’s hard to find someone who isn’t glued to the tiny screen, fingers moving at lightning speeds, texting their friends, emailing co-workers or listening to music. It may seem ridiculous that someone is that addicted to such a small object. I’ve seen people who seem to be at their wits’ end (不知所措) if their phone or iPad has been taken away, lost or left at home.

Some people may ask, “What’s wrong with technology use? It’s a way for people to communicate.” While this is true, the overuse of technology isn’t always appropriate in certain settings. Schools are becoming stricter about the use of cell phones, iPads and other electronics in classrooms. Various workplaces have signs hanging on their walls warning employees that “Cell phone use is not permitted” or “Cell phones are forbidden.”

Electronics may be a way for people to communicate and stay in touch with each other, but the disadvantages may outweigh the benefits. People are losing the ability to hold face-to-face conversations with others. However, it’s hard to avoid electronics in this day and age because almost everything is turning into an electronic format. Books, originally meant for paper design, are now being transferred (转存) to electronic forms. Photo albums, and even yearbooks, can now be viewed via the internet. With this growing trend, future generations are bound to become even more addicted to technology.

Is there a cure for electronic addiction? Simply turning electronics off for an hour or two a day may help to an extent, but it will not completely rid electronic addiction. There only seems to be one cure left, and it may be the hardest: self-control.

6 . There are times when people are so tired that they fall asleep almost anywhere. We can see there is a lot of sleeping on the bus or train on the ______ home from work in the evenings. A man will be reading the newspaper, and seconds later it ______ as if he is trying to ______ it. Or he will fall asleep on the shoulder of the stranger ______ next to him. Another place where unplanned short sleep ______ is in the lecture hall where a student will start snoring(打鼾) so ______ that the professor has to ask another student to ______ the sleeper awake. A more embarrassing situation occurs when a student starts falling into sleep and the weight of the head pushes the arm off the ______, and the movement carries the ______ of the body along. The student wakes up on the floor with no memory of getting there. The worst time to fall asleep is when ______. Police reports are full of ______ that occur when people fall into sleep and go off the road. If the drivers are ______, they will not be seriously hurt.One woman’s car,______, went into the river. She woke up in four feet of ______ and thought it was raining. When people are really ______, nothing will stop them from falling asleep—no matter where they are.

7 . Lise Meitner was born in Vienna, Austria on November 7, 1878. She was the third child of eight children in the family. Her father Philipp, who was a lawyer, hired personal teachers to teach the children, and she learned mathematics very well. Music was important to the family, and all the children learned to play the piano. The Meitner children were taught to listen to their parents, but to think for themselves.

When Lise Meitner finished school at the age of 14, she could not go to college for higher education, as were all girls in Austria. But, inspired by the discovery of Henri Becquerel, she was determined to study radioactivity (放射性).

When she turned 21, women were finally allowed into Austrian universities. Meitner was admitted into the University of Vienna; there she was excellent at math and physics and earned her doctor’s degree in 1906. She wrote to Marie Curie, but there was no room for her in the Paris lab, so Meitner made her way to Berlin. There she worked with Otto Hahn, but as an Austrian Jewish woman, she was excluded from the main labs and allowed to work only in the basement.

In 1912, the pair moved to a new university and Meitner had better lab equipment. Though Meitner was forced to escape Nazi Germany in 1938, they continued to co­work. Meitner continued her work in Sweden and later they found the phenomenon “nuclear fission (核裂变)”. The discovery, which finally led to the atomic bomb, won Hahn the Nobel Prize in 1944. Meitner, ignored by the Nobel committee (委员会), refused to return to Germany after the war and continued her atomic research in Stockholm into her 80s.

9 . It’s 2035. You have a job, a family and you’re about 40 years old! Welcome to your future life.

Getting ready for work, you pause in front of the   mirror. “Turn red,” you say. Your shirt changes from   sky blue to deep red.Tiny preprogrammed electronics   (智能电子元件) are rearranged in your shirt to change its color. Looking into the mirror, you find it hard to believe you’re 40. You look much younger. With amazing advances in medicine, people in your generation may live   to be 150 years old. You’re not even middle­aged!

As you go into the kitchen and prepare to pour your breakfast cereal into a bowl, you hear, “To lose weight, you shouldn’t eat that!” from your shoes. They read the tiny electronic code(电子源码) on the cereal box to find out the nutrition details. You decide to listen to your shoes. “Kitchen, what can I have for breakfast?”A list of possible foods appears on the counter as the kitchen checks its food supplies.

“Ready for your trip to space?” you ask your son and daughter. In 2015 only specially trained astronauts went into space—and very few of them. Today anyone can go to space for day trips or longer vacations. Your best friend even works in space. Handing your children three strawberries each, you add, “The doctor says you need   these   for   space   travel.” Thanks to medical advances, vaccination shots (防疫针) are a thing of the past. Ordinary foods contain special vaccines. With the strawberries in their mouths, the kids head for the front door.

It’s time for you to go to work. Your car checks your fingerprints and unlocks the doors. “My office. Autopilot,”you command. Your car drives itself down the road and moves smoothly into traffic on the highway. You sit back and unroll your e­newspaper. The latest news downloads and fills the viewer. Looking through the pages, you watch the news as video film rather than read it.

10 . Taking good notes is a time-saving skill that will help you to become a better student in several ways.     1    . Second, your notes are excellent materials to refer to when you are studying for a test. Third, note-taking offers variety to your study time and helps you to hold your interest.

You will want to take notes during classroom discussions and while reading a textbook or doing research for a report.     2    . Whenever or however you take notes, keep in mind that note-taking is a selective process.     3    . The following methods may work best for you.

● Read the text quickly to find the main facts and ideas in it.

●Carefully read the text and watch for words that can show main points and supporting facts.

● Write your notes in your own words.

●    4    .

● Note any questions or ideas you may have about what was said or written.

As you take notes, you may want to use your own shorthand (速记). When you do, be sure that you understand your symbols and that you use them all the time.     5