How can you stop smoking?

We all know smoking can cause lots of problems, both to smokers and the people passively     1     (expose) to it, especially children, such as lung disease, heart attack, and eye problems, but that doesn’t help make it     2    (easy) to quit smoking. So today, we will talk about how to stop. First, get yourself prepared. List all the benefits you will get and the reasons for quitting,     3     (include) the health benefits, improved appearance, money you’re saving. Make the final big     4     (decide), and remove all tobacco and nicotine products. Second, be determined. Whenever you want to smoke     5     cigarette, remind yourself     6     the harmful effects and the fact that you are a non-smoker any more. Third, distract yourself. Take a walk, hold a pen or do something like this     7    (keep) your mind as well as your hands busy and get your mind off smoking. Four, get help if necessary. Chat with your friends to get their support and encouragement so that you can get through the rough time. Relax and breathe     8    (deep) if feeling desperate. Last, keep trying. Do not be disappointed and never feel ashamed if you have to try several times     9     you succeed eventually.

Remember:     10    (stop) smoking is difficult, but not impossible.

4 . As a reading specialist at an elementary school(小学), I work with many children who experience difficulty in reading. While there are obvious _______ during the year when students make great progress, there are also many _______ periods as well, when we, as teachers, want to find out why our students aren’t _______. Recently, I had an experience which allowed me a _______ chance to understand what goes on in the mind of a struggling reader.

Earlier this summer I _______ a bad concussion(脑震荡)while riding my bike. One _______result of my concussion was that I lost all short-term and some long-term _______ for a period of days. The days before and after the _______ seemed a blur(模糊)as the world went on around me.

People seemed to be _______ extremely quickly, and I struggled to __________conversations. Jokes were not __________ at all. Once I began trying to read the newspaper, but much to my disappointment, I realized that I couldn’t __________ any of what I read. I could know the words, but couldn’t understand the meaning. As I read, the words didn’t __________ pictures in my mind. I was reading each sentence slowly, then carefully setting it aside. The words had no __________, produce no images, and were simply words. By the time I finished the __________, I had built nothing in my mind. They were simply words __________ past my eyes, and I suddenly realized that this is how my student read!

I am just so __________ that this is a temporary condition. I have a much clearer __________of what struggling readers are __________. I remember that there are so many students out there, for whom reading is __________ so puzzling. We must reach them before they give up.

5 . We all have memories, but do you know that memory can be divided into short-term memory and long-term memory? As its name suggests, long- term memory helps us remember things for a long time or even for a life time. However, it can be difficult to add things to your long-term memory, so some facts and other information get lost over time. Luckily, there are lots of ways you can prevent this!     1    

    2     You’ll be more likely to remember something in the future if you give it all of your attention while you’re trying to learn it.     3     Get rid of distractions by turning off the TV, switching off music, and putting your phone somewhere you can’t see it. Limiting the number of things that need your attention helps new information move from your short-term to your long-term memory.

    4     Then you can increase the chance that new memories will be formed. Try coming up with a familiar picture, song, joke, or something happening before that you can associate with the new material.

Take a break after learning something new.     5     Avoid distractions or trying to get other things done during this time, as it will interrupt the process of building the new memories you’ve just formed. Research has shown that when mice go to sleep after learning a new task, new neural connections（神经连接）are formed in their brains.

Besides the ways mentioned above, memory devices are also helpful ways to improve long-term recall and simply getting enough sleep can give you great benefits when you are trying to improve your long-term memory. Go and try it!

6 . Burning coal for energy adds planet-warming carbon dioxide(CO2) to Earth's atmosphere. As the planet heats up, experts warn that simply cutting greenhouse gas emissions（排放） will not be enough to avoid global warming. CO2 must also be remcved from the atmosphere.

Existing experimental machines that pull CO2 directly from the air are too expensive to be widely used. But a new effective technology to remove CO₂ already exists. It is not expensive and easy. It is forests. Planting trees and watching forests are effective ways to clean the air.

Forests used to cover large areas of the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern United States. In the state of West Virginia, coal mining left the land there bare, without trees. Over the years, coal mining and cutting forests took over 90 percent of the red spruce（云杉） forests.

Chris Barton works for the University of Kentucky. He started a group called Green Forests Work, aiming to put trees back on the roughly 400 , 000 hectares of land.

However, Barton explains the land has problems. "If you planted trees on these places, they just didn't grow. The ground was too hard. Water didn't infiltrate（渗透）. The trees can't root. Oxygen can't circulate in those environments. "Using heavy equipment, workers tear the ground. In this way, the trees put down roots.

Barton says not everyone believes the solution is a good idea. "We've had a lot of doubtful look at us twice from people. But after we do it, there's no question that it was the right thing to do. "And it has worked. Forests are coming back to the grounds.

Scientists say that, in West Virginia alone, restoring red spruce forests to the area could send what is equal to 56 million barrels（桶）of oil into the ground. But it will take time—a long time. Around the world, experts say, nature offers powerful tools to fight climate change. But patience is needed. Nature works, but slowly, in its own time.

8 . The hospital I worked in during my stay in Swaziland（斯威士兰） sits on top of the Lebombo Mountains. People often have to walk 40 kilometers or more in order to see a doctor.

There are many people who are simply too sick or too poor to get to a hospital. So the home-based care team which is made up of several nurses travels out every morning to meet the health needs of the truly poor.

Before I went out with the team I used to buy potatoes, carrots and apples to give to the people we met. I would also buy a bag of sweets to give to the children. I know we might look different and speak different languages, but most of us—especially the young ones—love sweets!

One day we stopped at one of the 15, 000 orphan-led houses. Inside the hut we found a beautiful little girl. Her name was Tanzile. I gave her a sweet and she said something back to me in Si-swati, the native language. A nurse next to me translated "she wants another one sweet to give to her little sister. "

I said "of course" and gave her another. Later we learned that Tanzile is 7 now. Two years ago when she was five, her mum and dad both died of HIV/AIDS like so many have in this country. She was separated from her baby sister who was three at the time. But ever since that time, whenever Tanzile receives anything from anyone, she refuses to accept it, unless they give her two. One for her and one for her baby sister.

People sometimes think African children or kids are somehow different from our kids—that they don't feel pain or sadness or love. But that is not true. Their pain is deep. And so is their love. Tanzile's hope and her love was all that she had. It mattered more than anything else.