When a news came that I was not chosen as a member of the volleyball team, I was so disappointing that I almost decided to give up. Therefore, my best friend Miranda analyzed my problems, pointed out that my laziness and poor preparation led to my failure. From then on, I devote all my spare time to practising playing and consult my teachers about skills every day. When another chance came up, I had got fully prepared, as a result of that, I selected and became one of the most important players in our school team. From this story, I am definitely convinced that the well prepared we are, the more likely we are able to achieve our goal.

A big fire break out in a clothing factory in our city the last Wednesday. On 9：18 that morning, when the employees were working busy in the 4-storeyed building, heavy smoke was seeing coming out of the windows on the second floor. The fire lasted nearly a hour, and the majority of the 345 employees managed escape from the fire. Unfortunately ,seven were killed，and 23 were injured,lightly or serious. It’s reported that the only two exits of the building was not enough for such many people to escape in a hurry.

5 . Although problems are a part of our lives, it certainly doesn't mean that we let them rule our lives forever. One day or another, you'll have to stand up and say—problems, I don't want you in my life.

    1    Problems with friends, parents, girlfriends, husbands, and children—the list goes on. Apart from these, the inner conflicts within ourselves work, too. These keep adding to our problems. Problems come in different shaped and colors and feelings.

But good news is that all problems can be dealt with. Now read on to know how to solve your problems.

Talk, it really helps. What most of us think is that our problem can be understood only by us and that no talking is going to help.     2    Talking helps you move on and let go.

Write your problems.     3    When you write down your problems, you are setting free all the tension from your system. You can try throwing away the paper on which you wrote your problems. By doing this, imagine yourself throwing away the problems from your life.

Don't lose faith and hope. No matter what you lose in life, don't lose faith and hope. Even if you lose all your money, family…you should still have faith.     4    

Your problems aren't the worst. No matter what problem you get in life, there are another one million people whose problems are huger than yours.     5    Your problems might just seem big and worse, but in reality they can be removed.

Go about and solve your problems because every problem, however big or small, always has a way out.

In western countries, after a long day with the sun     1     (burn) your back, a bottle of cold water sounds like the perfect solution. However, consuming cold drinks may not be     2     same choice internationally. In the US, people often receive a glass cold water alongside their meals,     3     in China, people usually get a cup of hot tea instead. In fact, even when the weather is     4     (extreme) hot, many Chinese people prefer to have hot water. According to ancient Chinese medicine, drinking a glass of warm water     5     (be) beneficial to health.

Restaurants in the US are places where people     6     (serve) with cold water, which doesn’t hurt anyone if it is spilled accidentally. In China, you pour tea into cups yourself; if you spill the water, you are responsible     7     it.

In spite of the benefits of hot water and the     8     (harm) effects of drinking cold water, modern medicine tells us that they are both fine       9     (consume). Actually, the debate between cold water and hot water is all a matter of     10     (prefer) and body type. So, what would you like to drink?

7 . Those who are concerned that robots are taking over the world can rest easy—for now. Though the androids have proved useful at performing ordinary tasks, they are not ready for the greatest time. At least that appears to be the case at Japan’s Henn-na Hotel chain where over half of the robot staff are being replaced by humans.

The first location of the unique hotel opened in July 2015 was at Nagasaki’s Huis Ten Bosch Theme Park. The hotel’s owner, Hideo Sawada, promised the hotel to be managed primarily by robots. Guests were greeted and checked-in by a dinosaur robot, while a cute android called Churi, placed inside each room, provided information about attractions. Not surprisingly, the lodging, recognized in 2016 as the world’s first robot-staffed hotel by Guinness World Records, drew in curious visitors from all around the world.

But as the years have passed, the hotel’s main draw is becoming less novel and more unsatisfactory. Also as the robots are “aging”, they are costing more to repair. Among the 283 androids being replaced are the chain’s two dinosaur receptionists. In addition to scaring young guests, they are also unable to photocopy guests’ passports, forcing human employees to step in each time. Also out are the cute Churi robots, which annoyed guests by interrupting their conversations. For example, one guest told The Wall Street Journal that Churi mistook his snoring for a command and kept asking him to repeat his request all night.

Sawada told The Wall Street Journal, “When you actually use robots you realize there are places where they aren’t needed—or just annoy people.” While Sawada may be cutting back on his use of androids, the recently-opened Smart LYZ Hotel and the Fly Zoo Hotel in China, are run entirely by robots, with not a human in sight. Whether the employees have more competence than those “hired” by the Henn-na Hotel chain remains to be seen.

8 . As is often the case, when we wake up feeling sleepy and with dark circles under eyes, many of us often make a decision: “I’m going to bed earlier tomorrow!” we are so determined.     1     We are still absorbed in what we are doing without realizing it is already too late the next day. This behavior is called “bedtime procrastination” (睡眠拖延症), and results from lack of self-control and our body clock.

    2     According to a study carried out by a group of health psychologists, 53 percent of the 2,400 participants said they didn’t follow their sleep schedule, delaying it at least twice a week. They delayed bedtime because they couldn’t stop doing other trivial things (琐事), which were keeping them up in the first place.

People who generally have trouble resisting temptations (诱惑) and following their intentions firmly are also more likely to delay going to bed. They find it hard to control themselves.     3     Our body clock also plays an important role when it comes to bedtime. Those who get up late are more likely to postpone their bedtime than those who wake early every morning. Night owls would go to bed late at the very beginning of the weekday, even though they had to get up early for work and school.     4    

Therefore, if we want to cure our bedtime procrastination, the intention to go to bed earlier is not enough.     5     We should have a clear understanding that bedtime procrastination is a big problem. The choices we make could turn out to be pretty important for our health.

9 . I always loved jokes and cartoons. They can be serious as they point out the silliness in our lives, convey a wise message of wisdom and at the same time bring a smile. Sometimes there is little difference between a joke and life wisdom.     1    .

I started collecting jokes I received from different sources over a period of some 25 years. For the book I chose for an “Anglo-Saxon” collection. They are typical for the US, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand.

Where are they from? Who wrote them?     2    , Most are everywhere, floating anonymously (匿名地)   on the internet, and circulate among friends, e-mails, chat groups and mailing lists. Many come up over a beer.

The language of humor is not universal and translating into another language mostly does not work.     3    . Living in China for a long time, I gave up telling jokes as our Chinese friends find nothing funny in them and they can lead to misunderstandings.     4    . Trying to translate Chinese jokes also would mostly fail to convey anything “funny” for us Westerners; I can say I cannot recall any Chinese joke.

While at a first sight the book may not be interesting to Chinese readers, due to the cultural differences,     5    , as well as to learn a different vocabulary. Also, for those who deal with Westerners, here in China or when abroad, they might surprise their foreign friends by serving them some jokes they can appreciate.

Water is the driving force of all nature, Leonardo da Vinci claimed. Unfortunately for our planet, water supplies are now running dry at an alarming rate. The world’s population continues to increase but that rise in number has not been matched by adequate supplies of fresh water. Reports show that more than a billion individuals — one in seven people on the planet — now lack access to safe drinking water.

In Sao Paulo, a Brazilian city, drought got so bad that residents began drilling through basement floors and car parks to try to reach groundwater. Officials in this city warned that rationing（配给制）of water supplies was likely soon. Citizens in Sao Paulo might have access to water for only two days a week. In California, US, officials have shown that the state has entered its fourth year of drought. At the same time, its per capita（人均）water use has continued to rise.