1 . Flood (洪水) Safety Guidelines (指南)

Flood (洪水) is one of the most dangerous natural disasters. It may come suddenly and sweep away (冲走) everything. It is important to learn some safety guidelines and get prepared for a flood, especially for those living near a river.     1    .

Things to do before a flood 

●     2    
Move to a safe place immediately if there is an order. Prepare enough food and clean water.
Remember to prepare a first aid kit (急救箱). 
    3    
Try to move to a place high enough to keep clear of floodwater. Hold to a tree or a woodblock if you are in water. Keep away from electricity.
Things not to do during a flood
     4    
Do not take too many personal things with you.

Although flood is dangerous,      5     .

A．never give up hope

B．Things to do during a flood

C．Here are some tips on flood safety

D．Do not drink floodwater because it is not clean

E．Listen to the weather warnings (警告) firstly

2 . Why is it so hard to be truly honest with yourself? Sometimes it’s because you don’t know what you want. Other times you do know what you want, but you’re too afraid to admit it.     1     Quite often, the truth can be very ugly and painful, particularly if you’ve spent much time lying to yourself about things big and small.

    2     If you can’t rely on yourself because you aren’t in tune with your truth, you’ll end up making yourself painful. Thus, you must be honest with yourself to figure out what you want out of life so you can actually put forth the effort to build it. Here are three ideas that help you become more honest with yourself.

Take time to reflect on your day, every day. What did you do right or wrong? Were there any points where you didn’t act in tune with your actual feelings and desires?     3     Considering how you acted throughout the day can help you sort through your feelings and actions of the day if you struggle to be honest with yourself.

Acknowledge your feelings. Your feelings are signposts on your journey to truth, peace of mind, and happiness.     4     So consider how your experiences and decisions make you feel, and understand why you feel the way you do. This will help you get in tune with yourself and make better decisions about a situation.

Accept that you can’t know everything. You can’t possibly know everything about everybody. Therefore, it’s absolutely normal for you to do something wrong. So don’t make excuses for yourself.     5    

A．How will you do better?

B．But why is honesty with yourself so important?

C．This isn’t a matter of being smart or wise enough.

D．Could you have spoken up and advocated for yourself better?

E．They’re trying to point you to ward a path that makes sense for you.

F．You just need to be honest with yourself when you make those mistakes.

G．Maybe you just don’t want to accept reality because the truth is unpleasant.

3 . Sleep is important for our physical and mental well-being. Getting enough sleep can improve our overall health and quality of life. However, many people struggle to get the recommended amount of sleep each night.     1    

Get good exercise. Regular exercise is known to reduce stress and anxiety, improving the quality of sleep. Additionally, getting in a good workout can help regulate your sleep-wake cycle, making it easier to fall asleep and wake up at the same time each day.     2     It can increase your heart rate and body temperature, making it a struggle to fall asleep.

    3     Creating a sleep-friendly environment is important for getting better sleep. Your bedroom should be cool, dark, and quiet. Keeping the room dark can help you fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer.

Treat sleep apnea (睡眠呼吸暂停). Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder that affects millions of people worldwide.     4     It can lead to health problems such as high blood pressure. Treatment choices include lifestyle changes, such as sleeping on your back or weight loss.

Avoid caffeine after 2 pm.     5     It can take several hours for the effects of caffeine to wear off, so make sure to avoid caffeine in the evening.

A．Try sleep-monitoring apps.

B．Increase the comfort of your bedroom.

C．It is characterized by pauses in breathing during sleep.

D．Fortunately, there are several ways to improve your sleep.

E．However, remember to avoid exercising too close to bedtime.

F．Consuming it makes you feel restless when you want to fall asleep.

G．To achieve this, complete your routine at least a few hours before bedtime.

4 . People-pleasers do whatever they can to make other people happy.     1     It will become a problem if you pursue the happiness of others at the expense of your own emotional wellbeing.

So, how can you stop being a people-pleaser?

    2    

It’s important to know your limits and then communicate those limits. Be clear and specific about what you’re willing to take on. If anyone asks for too much, let him know he crosses a limit and that you won’t be able to help.

Start small.

    3     Therefore, it is better to begin in small ways. Start by saying no to smaller requests, try expresing your opinion about something small, or ask for something that you need. For example, try saying no to a text request.     4     Practice in different settings or situations such as when talking to salespeople, ordering at a restaurant, or even dealing with colleagues.

Set goals and determine priorities.

Where do you want to spend your time? Who do you want to help? What goals are you trying to achieve? Knowing your priorities can help you determine whether or not you have the time and energy to devote to something. As you practice saying no to things you don’t want to do, you’ll find that you have more time to devote to the things that are really important to you.

    5    

A．Establish boundaries.

B．Help when you want to help.

C．It can be hard to make a sudden change.

D．It will help you make the most of your time.

E．It’s important to be direct when you say no.

F．Then make an attempt to tell people no in person.

G．However, pleasing others can leave you stressed and anxious.

6 . Anxious Animals

Our pets can get stressed by many things such as new places, changes in routine, new people, new additions like a baby or another pet to the home, and loud noises such as fireworks.     1     which can lead to behaviour or health issues in the pet. Experts at national pet charity Blue Cross have put together some top tips on spotting whether your pet is feeling anxious or stressed.

    2    :

• Yawning
• Panting—with a curled tongue
• Pacing back and forth
• Licking their lips
• Ears pinned back
• Dilated pupils or red around eyes
• Whites of eyes showing (whale eye)
• Loss of appetite
• Backing away from someone
• Tail tucked between their legs
• Cowering (shrinking or crouching)
• Diarrhoea or more toileting
• Shivering (not cold or excited)
• Growling, flashing teeth, snapping or biting.     3    .

HOW TO HELP:

Give your pet time away

Avoiding or removing your dog from a stressful situation will help. Create a space away from children or a bed for them where they won’t get disturbed.

Exercise your dog

    4     Not only are they good for their physical health but walks will help your dog’s mental well being too by having lots of things to sniff, look at and enjoy.

Stay nice and calm

Many dogs are very sensitive to their owner’s emotions and react to them. If your dog is stressed, keep calm and don’t panic or raise your voice as this might add to your pet’s stress levels.

    5    

This can help keep their mind focused and distracted from things they find stressful.

A．How to tell if your dog is stressed and what to do

B．Keep your dog entertained

C．Signs a dog might be feeling stressed or anxious include

D．The signs can be easily missed or misunderstood by the animal’s owner

E．These mean they urgently want something to stop

F．As dogs have a strong sense of smell, changes to the smell of their home can concern them as well.

G．Dogs love their walks!

7 . I am editor of an American magazine. Last week a boy named Andy wrote me an email. The following is the content:

    1     However, most boys prefer sports. Because of my hobbies, I have been teased (嘲笑) by other boys. This has made me feel like there is something wrong with myself.     2    

My reply is as follows:

It’s a shame that others are treating you this way, but you should be confident about your interests.     3     He never enjoys sports. Instead, he loved cooking and baking. Every day after school, he would rush to the kitchen and try his hand at cooking something delicious. It was when he was in the kitchen that he was at his happiest.     4     It was an opportunity that opened doors to meeting new people and gaining new skills.

Why don’t you try and reach out to people who have the same interests? Lots of people nowadays are getting more engaged in cooking or helping out around the house.     5     This can help you find a community of like-minded people, which will give you a sense of community.

My advice is to always stick to your interests. Don’t let people who don’t understand you get in the way.

A．What should I do?

B．My brother is just like you.

C．You can get along well with others.

D．Cooking skills can be improved with practice.

E．I am a boy who likes to cook and do housework.

F．This led him to work at a restaurant part-time while still at school.

G．Why don’t you try posting some recipes or some tips on housework on social media sites?

8 . No matter what your dream is, mastering a foreign language will surely give you more chances to your career (事业). The following are some tips on learning a new language that will help you shorten the road to success.

Choose the language. If you are considering what language you should learn, choose the language that you are interested in. If you choose a language you have no interest in, the speed of your learning will be slow.     1    

Relax yourself. Do not worry about what you cannot remember, or cannot yet understand, or cannot yet say. The language will gradually become clearer in your brain.     2     Just make sure you spend enough time on the language.

Encourage people to help you correct you mistakes. When you speak a foreign language, make it perfectly clear to the person you are speaking to and don’t be upset if they point out your mistakes.     3     So actively ask them to help you correct mistakes and thank them for what they do.

    4     Like anything, if you don’t want to quit it, you have to find a way to make it fun. Find people you enjoy talking to. Go to extra-curricular activities where you can practise the language you are learning while doing something fun. Don’t just sit in a classroom in front of a book, or you are likely to feel bored.

Follow your style.     5     If you are a visual learner, you can take notes and review them often or watch videos. If you are an aural (听觉的) learner, listen to some language programs or tapes and speak along with them.

A．Find a way to make it fun.

B．So relax and enjoy the process.

C．To be sure, you’ll make mistakes.

D．Worse still, you may give up finally.

E．Start with the most 100 most common words.

F．We all have our own unique ways of learning things.

G．If no one points them out, you won’t improve your skills.

10 . There are days when even the best writers need a little assistance getting into their creative flow. So, when one of those days strikes, you may need a toolkit of the best apps to rely on. Here are some choices.

ChatGPT

ChatGPT is a great tool for sparking inspiration and outlining ideas-just ask it a question, or command it to write something, and see what it generates. ChatGPT can assist in producing high-quality content that’s grammatically correct and coherent. It also processes and analyzes information quickly, generating text much faster than a human. This can be especially useful if you need to write a large amount of content in a short amount of time.

Scrivener

Scrivener is a must-have tool for long-form writers. Both an “outliner” planning tool and a word processor, Scrivener allows you to plan your novel or screenplay by breaking your writing into sections and outlining what each bit will include. You can also organize notes, concepts, research, and whole documents into its “Binder” for easy access and reference.

Daily Prompt

Daily Prompt encourages you to got creative every day with a new prompt every 24 hours. It provides you with a prompt every day, or you can browse existing prompts for different genres, such as horror and adventure. A creative prompt can encourage you to continue the story or “writing obstacles” with an instruction designed to challenge you to write more creatively.

Wordtune

Wordtune is an AI-powered writing assistant that helps you improve your writing by providing real-time feedback on grammar, punctuation, and style. It can be used for everything from academician writing to business emails and blog posts. It can also help on word choice by highlighting words used in the wrong context and replacing them with suitable words or phrases. Most importantly, it is totally free.

1. Which app is suitable for a novelist?

A．ChatGPT.

B．Scrivener.

C．Daily Prompt.

D．Wordtune.

2. What is an advantage of Wordtune?

A．It has a free trial period for students.

B．It can provide you face-to-face feedback.

C．It can highlight your beautiful expressions.

D．It can be used for different writing purposes.

3. What is the common feature of the apps?

A．They can spark creativity.

B．They can offer regular instructions.

C．They can ask and answer questions.

D．They can correct grammatical mistakes.