1 . Very few of us become fluent in another language by learning it in high school.

I went to university and then moved across the country to seek a________ job, married and raised children. I made an effort to keep the little bit of French I learned in school, but eventually I realized that this was really________. I was quite aware that new languages are best learned when young, and that our abilities in that regard decline with ________.

However, just before my 50th birthday, I ________French classes. After I was tested to see which group I belonged to, I was placed at almost the introductory level When I looked around at my first class, I was ________that many of the students were learning French as a third, fourth or even fifth language.

Contrary to my ________ that learning a new language was impossibly difficult, there were people who learned new languages as a matter of course.While I had always thought of myself as a ________ learner, that was no longer the case. I ________ new vocabulary rather slowly.What I learned one week seemed to ________ as soon as I learned the next skill. I had to look up the same words and language structures over and over. Now, after several years of learning, I can listen to the news in French and ________90% of it on the first try, read a novel if the language isn't too ________ and hold up my end of a conversation if it doesn't go loo fast. I've learned so much beyond grammar and vocabulary. I've met people from around the world and all walks of life who have the ________to make fools of themselves in order to learn something new. I've been taught by patient and inspirational teachers from many comers of the world. Listening to the news as it is ________ to the people of France, I have a renewed understanding of how something can look ________different from another viewpoint. I've learned that a language is not just a set of words, but a way of thinking. But most of all, I've learned that it is never too________to learn something new.

3 . Earl Forlales, a graduate in Materials Science and Engineering, took inspiration from the bamboo hut his grandparents lived in outside Manila and created a house made of bamboo that can be put together in four hours to solve the chronic(长期的) shortage of affordable accommodation in the Philippines. His design won a £50.000 top prize from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) in its Cities for our Future competition.

His house, known as Cubo, could be produced in a week, constructed in four hours and costs £60 per square meter. Its use of bamboo—which releases 35％ more oxygen into the environment than trees—was praised by the judges. The ability of the houses to be constructed in any bamboo-producing area was one of the key attractions.

“The world’s cities are growing all the time and there is a real need to make sure they are safe, clean and comfortable places to live in,”John Hughes, the competition’s head judge and then president at RICS, said. “As we look at our competitors, who are our next generation of leaders， I believe that real progress will be made in tackling the world’s biggest issues.

Forlales has already identified a suitable area of land to start building his Cubo houses. He plans to begin the work next year with experts from the RICS in an attempt to help relieve the huge pressure on housing in Manila, where a third of the 12 million population live in poor districts. He said, “I would like to thank RICS for the opportunity, and look forward to working with them to put this money to good use in Manila and then hopefully elsewhere around the world.”

4 . Scientists say they've developed a system using machine learning to predict when and where lighting will strike. The research was led by engineers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland.

European researchers have estimated that between 6,000 and 24,000 people are killed by lightning worldwide each year. The strikes can also cause power outages, destroy property, damage electrical equipment and start forest fires. For these reasons, climate scientists have long sought to develop methods to predict and control lightning. In the United States and other places, ground-based sensing devices are used to identify strikes as they happen. But, no system has been created to effectively predict lightning.

The system tested in the experiments used a combination of data from weather stations and machine learning methods. The researchers developed a prediction model that was trained to recognize weather conditions that were likely to cause lightning.

The model was created with data collected over a 12-year period from 12 Swiss weather stations in cities and mountain areas. The data related to four main surface conditions: air pressure, air temperature, relative humidity and wind speed.

The atmospheric data was placed into a machine learning algorithm（算法）, which compared it to records of lightning strikes. Researchers say the algorithm was then able to learn the conditions under which lightning happens.

Amirhossein Mostajabi is a PhD student at the institute who led the development of the method. He said, “current systems for gathering such data are slow and complex and require costly collection equipment like radar or satellites.”

“Our method uses data that can be obtained from any weather station,” Mostajabi said. “This will improve data collection in very remote areas not covered by radar and satellite or in places where communication systems have been cut,” be added.

The researchers plan to keep developing the technology in partnership with a European effort that aims to create a lightning protection system. The effort is called the European Laser Lightning Rod project.

In the latest beauty craze (狂热)     1     (sweep) social media in China, women and even some men are boasting (自夸) that they are paper thin, by posting photographs of their waists behind a piece of A4 paper. To qualify, the waist must     2     (hide) by the paper entirely. A piece of A4 paper is 8.3 by 11.7 inches, roughly     3     size of a sheet of American letter paper.

With the A4 waist, the trend is attracting hundreds of photographs and thousands of comments on Weibo and other social media networks like WeChat. Being     4     (normally) thin is a widespread standard of beauty for women,     5     has been criticized as an unhealthy ideal of female attractiveness.

Several commentators have found the A4 trend     6     (disturb). In a telephone interview, an expert said, “I find     7     completely stupid. Using a single size     8     (define) all human beings then thinking you have created new standards     9     (be) foolish.” The A4 waist challenge     10     (annoy) him, saying that it allows certain people to gain bragging (吹嘘的) rights, while leaving others in depression.

How to Improve Your Study HabitsPerhaps your are an average student with average intelligence. You do well enough in school, but you probably think you will never be a top student.    1    Yes, even students of average intelligence can be top students without additional work. Here are some tips for you:1. Plan your time carefully. Make a list of your weekly tasks. Then make a schedule or chart of your time. Fill in committed time such as eating, sleeping, meetings, classes, etc. Then decide on good, regular times for studying.    2    It’s important to set aside time for relaxation, hobbies, and entertainment as well. Furthermore, it will enable you to plan your activities so that you have adequate time for both work and play.2. Find a good place to study. Choose one place for your study area. It may be a desk or a chair at home or in the school library, but it should be comfortable, and it should not have distractions. When you begin to work, you should be able to concentrate on the subject.    3    Listening to what the teacher says in class means less work later. Sit where you can see and hear well. Take notes to help you remember what the teacher says.4. Study regularly.    4    Review important points mentioned in class as well as points you remain confused about. If you review your notes and textbook regularly, the material will become more meaningful and you will remember it longer. Regular review leads to improved performances on test.5. Develop a good attitude about tests. The purpose of a test is to show what you have learned about a subject. The world won’t end if you don’t pass a test, so don’t worry excessively about a single test. Tests provide more than grades.    5