Do you have the experience of digging out your suitcase, deciding what to bring and being afraid that you’ve forgotten something? _  (1)  _. Hope they can transform the way you pack.

Keep a Basket Handy

Do you wait until the last minute to pack? Keep a basket in your bedroom, living room, or bath room that you can use to throw in items you’ll need to pack as you come across them. _  (2)  _. Besides, you can just put the contents of the basket into your suitcase if you are in a hurry to leave for the airport.

Buy Wrinkle-free Clothing

You won’t need to worry about carefully packing your items of clothing if they’re made from wrinkle-free materials.   (3)  . You’ll still look fresh and bright when you are in them at your destination.

Keep Old Packing Lists

Chances are that you end up taking trips that require you to pack similar items. Keep old packing lists from former vacations to the beach, ski resort, and city—that way, you’ll always have a list of at least the basics. _  (4)  . So you don’t need to waste your effort to remember where you left your hand-written packing lists.

Schedule a Packing Time

Time can slip away from you before a trip—you may be caught up at work, at home, or be occupied with other responsibilities of daily life. _  (5)  _. That way, you will not need to do your packing frantically (狂乱地)from the last minute to 1 o’clock on the day you leave.

Do You Know the Gaps (漏洞) in Your Knowledge?

You probably don’t know as much as you think you do. When put to the test, most people find they can’t explain the workings of everyday things they think they understand. Don’t believe me? Find an object you use daily (an ear phone, a toilet, a stereo speaker) and try to describe how it works.   (1)  We call this phenomenon the illusion of explanatory depth(解释性深度错觉). It means you think you fully understand something that you actually don’t.

We see this every day in buzzwords (流行语). Though we often use them, their meanings are usually unclear.   (2)   

Several years ago, I attended a meeting where the president spoke about global business practice in the coming year. During the talk, people around the room nodded in agreement. Afterwards, though, many of them discussed how to manage global business practice, none of the people who had nodded in agreement could exactly describe what it actually meant.

No matter what job you do, discovering your gaps in knowledge is necessary. An unknown gap means you might not fully understand a problem.   (3)     

To discover the things you can’t explain, take a lesson from teachers. When you guide someone else, you have to fill the gaps in your own knowledge. But you don’t need to teach someone else. Explain concepts to yourself as you learn them. Get in the habit of self-teaching.Involve others in learning together.   (4)   Ask them to explain difficult concepts, even if you think everyone understands them. Not only will this help you to work through new ideas, but it will occasionally uncover places where your friends don’t understand the explanations.

  (5)   They can help you have a better understanding of problems.

Should students get paid for good grades?

Parents have been paying students for grades for decades, but the trend is now catching on even with the schools. In fact, some schools are now offering cash incentives (奖励) to their students in order to get them to succeed. The question remains, however: Is it really good for students?   (1)   Read up on the advantages and disadvantages, and decide for yourself.

Many studies have shown that people will work harder when they're getting something out of it. Money is a great motivator when you have something you need or want to buy.   (2)  

There're many students leaving high school with no idea about finances. If they really want something, they ask for it and sometimes get it. Many of today's children believe that they can pretty much get whatever they want without having to work for it.   (3)  

However, for many students, paying them for grades proves to be only a temporary solution to a greater problem. A child who already has a desire to learn will continue to learn even if money isn't involved.   (4)   The work will end up outweighing the benefit in the end, and they will soon stop trying as hard.

  (5)   It's up to you to decide. Perhaps try it for one school year, and if it works, keep it up. If you notice your child starts to slack (松懈) even with the promise of money, take away the money incentive and offer something else instead.

Secret codes(密码) keep messages private. Banks, companies, and government agencies use secret codes in doing business, especially when information is sent by computer.

People have used secret codes for thousands of years.   (1)   Code breaking never lags(落后) far behind code making. The science of creating and reading code messages is called cryptography.

There are three main types of cryptography.   (2)   For example, the first letters of “My elephant eats too many eels” spell out the hidden message “Meet me.”

  (3)   You might represent each letter with a number, for example. Let’s number the letters of the alphabet, in order, from 1 to 26.  If we substitute a number for each letter, the message “Meet me” would read “13 5 20 13 5.”

A code uses symbols to replace words, phrases, or sentences. To read the message of a real code, you must have a code book.   (4)   For example, “bridge” might stand for “meet” and “out” might stand for “me.” The message “bridge out” would actually mean “Meet me.”   (5)   However, it is also hard to keep a code book secret for long. So codes must be changed frequently.

Cold blesses us all

Itˈs November, the time of year when people often get blessed more. This is not because God likes cold weather, nor because others are feeling generous with Thanksgiving just around the corner.   (1)   .Colds and the flu are the most common illnesses people get in autumn and winter as the weather gets colder. They are all caused by viruses, but colds are generally milder—youˈll feel annoyed but not as if you want to die.

Teenagers catch average six to ten colds a year, according to statistics from the Ministry of Health, while adults average two to four.  More  than  200  viruses  cause  cold  symptoms.   (2)   You can be contagious（传染的）one day before symptoms develop and for up to five days after becoming sick. The signature symptom of a cold is a runny nose. The flu will make you burn with fever, ache all over, feel extremely tired and cough intensely. The flu can sometimes lead to more serious diseases, such as pneumonia.  (3)   A doctor can test you to see whether you have the flu in the first few days of the illness. But some treatments for both are pretty much the same:

●   (4)   Many doctors consider water a weapon against the common cold. It helps your blood drive off viruses and flood them out.

● Keep warm. You might be cold one minute and hot the next, and wearing several layers is very important.

● Wash your hands frequently. You donˈt want to make it worse by spreading the flu to everyone else. Also, avoid sharing cups and eating utensils(餐具) with other people.

  (5)   But if your flu symptoms get worse, go to a hospital or clinic right away.

People who are confident really seem to be naturally outstanding and just seem to do everything with more styles than others.   (1)  It is a habit that everyone can develop in life. Try these simple tips to drill and build up your confidence:

(1)Admit your shortcomings calmly.

Do not try to escape from them or cover them. Face them bravely.   (2)  Fight against them every day until the day when you could break away and conquer them.

(2)Dress for self-confidence.

  (3)  And therefore pay attention to your dress, display your unique physical advantages and exhibit your best image. In addition, in formal occasions such as a business party or a wedding ceremony, elegant dressing contributes to building your confidence.

(3)  (4)  

You should get rid of your habit that deals with the work passively(被动地). Concentrate your efforts immediately on overcoming it, because it will make your restless mind at ease and build your self-confidence.

(4)Be positive.

Feel pity neither on yourself nor on others. If you are used to hating and blaming yourself, others would tend to do that and believe it. Instead, you should speak positively about yourself, your progress, and your bright future.   (5)  

Did you know that if you need an alarm clock to wake up in the morning, you’re probably sleep-deprived （缺失）？  (1)  . On average, American teens get two hours less than the average 9.2 hours of sleep they need each night to function at their best.

There are many reasons why teens don’t get enough sleep.   (2)  . When your parents were young, they might have read a book or watched television before trying to go to sleep. But today’s teens are likely to be surfing the Internet, texting, emailing, or playing video games right before bed.   (3)  . And using them right before bed can result in difficulty getting to sleep. According to a survey by the National Sleep Foundation, teens with four or more electronic equipment in their rooms are much more likely than their peers to get an insufficient amount of sleep at night, and are almost twice as likely to fall asleep in school and while doing homework.

  (4)  . In the National Sleep Foundation survey, three-quarters of the teens took at least one drink with caffeine every day, and nearly one-third consumed two or more every day. With all the trendy “high-energy” drinks and coffees out there right now, it’s easy to get a caffeine overload and that’s not good for sleep.

       So what can you do if you’re in lack of sleep? “The good news is that you only have to make up about a third of what you have lost, to function and feel better,” says Dr. Mahowald at a sleep disorders center.   (5)   . But sleeping until noon on the weekend can cause problems --- you’ll likely be wide-eyed until late those nights. Instead, try keeping a reasonable, regular sleeping and waking schedule.

根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项，选项中有两项为多余选项。

Although most games have winners and losers, the goal of sports is not to win every game. The real goals include getting exercise, having fun, and learning important social skills, like sportsmanship.

Good sportsmanship is all about respect. Good sports (具有运动家品格的人) respect the other players on their team. They respect the players on opposing teams. They respect coaches, and they also respect the referees or other officials involved in their games.  (1)   They yell at their teammates and they talk back to coaches or referees.

Kids usually learn sportsmanship ─ good and bad ─ from the adults in their lives.   (2)  If parents and coaches show disrespect to other fans, referees, or each other, kids will likely act the same way on the field.

  (3)  Some of them are very basic and easy to do, like shaking hands with other players before a game. Other examples may take a little more courage, such as acknowledging a great play made by the opposing team.

Learning good sportsmanship is important because it helps you develop an attitude of graciousness (礼貌) and respect that will carry over into all the other areas of your life!   (4)  Being a good sport in the classroom will eventually lead to being a good sport in the workplace.

So be a good sport in whatever you do!  (5)  When others see you acting in a way that makes it clear that winning isnˈt the most important thing, you can move on to focusing on the important things, like having fun, getting exercise, and improving your skills.

 What does travel consist of? Answers can be as varied as worrying about your budget, trying new dishes at meals, climbing mountains and riding on crowded local buses, etc. But to Mishana Khot, a US travel fanatic (狂热者), travel is " more than just a stamp in your passport—it's a stamp in your soul". On the travel website Vagabondish.com, Khot listed some ways that you will change after taking a trip. Now, please take a look.

   ◆Travel shows the big picture.

   Khot believes we may lose ourselves in our own lives from time to time. "Sometimes we can't separate our daily existence from the broader perspective (视角)," she argues. "  (1)  _" It forces you to see your life from the outside. "

   ◆_  (2)  _

   When you are on the way, chances are that you will deaf with flight delays, slow buses, bad food, horrible accommodation and much more. As Khot pointed out, if there is one constant in a traveler's life, it is that travel will threw up situations that challenge you. You may have made the most detailed plan, but the next minute something just goes wrong. __  (3)  _

   ◆Travel makes you more grateful.

   Whether you travel from a big city to a quiet countryside, or vice versa (反之亦然), there will come a moment when you are grateful for all you have. "When you meet someone with one leg who is hiking up a hill, you will close your eyes for a second and say ' thank you'," she said.

   ◆___  (4)  __

   During travel, you'll be forced to communicate with many more people than you're used to. _  (5)  So, just throw away your shyness. That won't guide you to your destination. Go and communicate with people. They're an important part of the experience.