The Martian is a 2015 American science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Matt Damon. The film is based on Andy Weir’s novel The Martian,

Astronaut Mark Watney becomes one of the first people to walk on Mars. But a sudden sandstorm nearly kills him and forces the other astronauts to leave while they think that Mark is dead. When he wakes up, Mark finds himself alone on the Mars. What is worse, he even can’t send a message to Earth, and he doesn’t have enough food and water to wait for the help. The broken machines, bad environment, and the shortage of food and water are likely to kill him first. But Mark isnˈt ready to give up yet. With his cleverness, his engineering skills, and his strong desire to survive, he solves all the problems. At last, he is brought back to Earth successfully.

The Martian was put on at the 2015 Toronto Film Festival on September 11, 2015. And it opened in theaters in the US on October 2, 2015. The film received active reviews worldwide and several awards, including the Golden Globe Awards, and seven Academy Award nominations. For his performance, Damon received several nominations, including the Academy Award for Best Actor, and he won the Golden Globe for Best Actor.

The following is a QUIZ(自测) from a magazine.

Shanghai Disney Resort opened its gates in a trial run on May 7 in preparation for its official opening on June 16, but some guests complained about high prices at various facilities(设施), the Beijing Youth Daily reported on Thursday, May 12.

According to estimates（估算）, a one-day visit to the resort for a family of three will cost at least 2,600 yuan ($400), which covers admission fees（门票费）, three meals and shopping, while a two-day trip will require no less than 6,000 yuan in total, the paper said.

Some of the visitors said dining and drinks were too expensive. A child-sized hot dog or braised chicken fillet with rice cost 60 yuan, a beef burger with cheese cost 80 yuan, and a Pepsi cost 15 yuan.

As for accommodation（住宿）, the resort hasn’t announced the price of a stay in its hotel rooms. But the budget hotels nearby have a price tag between 300 yuan and 800 yuan per room per night.

According to Shanghai Disneyˈs website, a standard day ticket is priced at 370 yuan, and that increases to 499 yuan on peak days. Children, elderly and disabled visitors can have a discount of 25 percent, while admission is free for babies. Those who buy tickets for a two-day visit receive a five-percent discount.

On December 24, kids around the world waited for Father Christmas. They thought that the fat, white-beard (白胡子的) man would bring them gifts. But do you know that some people would rather keep Father Christmas out of the door?

Last month, 10 doctoral (博士学位的)students from Tsinghua, Peking and Renmin Universities said Father Christmas wasn’t welcome in China.

   “Foreign holidays like Christmas are now very popular in China, while fewer and fewer people celebrate traditional Chinese festivals like the Dragon Boat Festival,” said the students in a public letter. They asked people to stop sending Christmas cards and buying gifts for their children. Instead, they said, Chinese should spend more time on traditional festivals.

   They have lots of support. In Hunan, several people went out on the street on Christmas Day. They made poems and wrote Chinese calligraphy (书法). “Rather than spending money on Christmas, people should care more about our own culture,” said one of them.

But others have different ideas. “Celebrations of foreign holidays help us know more about foreign cultures. It is good for us to make friends,” said Liu Yang, a 14-year-old boy from Shanghai.

Sun Long, 13, from Beijing, sees the celebration as a way to make people happier and closer. “My school held a big party on Christmas Day. We played games and shared gifts with each other. I think we have got closer,” he said.

Since the 1970s, scientists have been searching for ways to lind the brain with computers. Braincomputer interface(BCI) technology could help people with disabilities send commands to machines.

Recently, two researchers, Jose Millan and Michele Tavella from the Federal Polyrechnis School in Lausanne, Switzerland,demonstrated(展示) a small robotic wheelchair directed by a person’s thoughts.

In the laboratory, Tavella operated the wheelchair just by thinking about moving his left or right hand. He could even talk as he watched the vehicle and guided it with his thoughts.

“Our brain has billions of nerve cells. These send signals thuough the spinal cord(脊髓)”to the muscles to bive us the ability to move. But spinal cord injures.” Tavella says. “Our system allows disabled people to communicate with esternal world and also to control devices.”

The researchers designed a special cap for the user. This head cover picks up the signals from the scalp(头发) and sends them to a computer. The computer interprest the signals and commands the motorized whellchair. The wheelchair also has two cameras that identify objects in its path. They help the computer react to commands from the brain.

Prof. Millan, the leader, says scientists keep improving the computer software that interprtes brain signals and turns them into simple commands. “the practical possibilities that BCI technology offers to disabled people can be grouped in two categories; communication, and controlling devices. One example is this wheelchair.”

He says his team has set two goals. One is tecting with real patients, so as to prove that this is a technology they can benefit from. And the other is to guarantee that they can use the technology over long periods of time.

My friend Mike was shaking his head sadly."That young assistant who just served us dinner,"he said, pointing to an assistant of the fast food restaurant where we were eating,"had to call someone over to help him count my change.The cash register(收银机)showed him I needed 99 cents,but he couldn't work out how to count out the coins."I understood Mike's WOrry.The young nowadays have no idea how to reason,how to do simple math,

how to do research,or,finally,how to be creative.The reason for this is our overuse of information techology:video games,television,digital(数码的)watches,caculators(计算器), and COmputers.Information technology feeds us with information without requiring us to think about it and let us only act without understanding.

    It is time we took a hard look at our education that only teaches our children how to push buttons(按钮).Our kids can't tell time if the clock has hands.They can use caculatots,but can not do simple math.Video games have been instead of active,imaginative play.Although most of them are technically educated,they choose not to read.They are so used to television and movies that they can not use their imagination to stay interested in a book.

    So we must do something to help our children.If we don't,they will never learn how to solve problems.They will never learn even basic reasoning skill and will certainly not develop creativity.Instead of filling classrooms with electronics,let's pay more attention to good old—fashioned ability——reading books.Students must see how things work and what leads to results,and they must also develop imagination.

根据材料内容选择正确答案。

    We can’t remember clearly since when we started to take our mobiles to a dinner table. This happens a lot, especially when we eat out. Once a dish comes, instead of lifting our chopsticks, we take out our mobiles and click (使发出咔嗒声).Later, we post the photos onto Weibo or Wechat, waiting to be “liked.” Then we check our mobiles from time to time during the meal, to see whether we get “liked” or not. We just cannot leave our mobiles for simply a meal.

 Does that sound familiar (熟悉的) to you? Do you do that often? If not, how do you feel when others do that when having dinner with you?

 A recent study suggests that what we are used to doing is not that good. Spending time taking photos of food makes the food less pleasant. To test this, some researchers did an experiment. Some people were asked to take photos before they could enjoy food. It turned out that the more photos they took,      . So, why not stop taking photos and just enjoy the food in front of you？

 Besides the scientific result, there are also some other bad influences of taking photos of food before meals. After posting the photos onto the Internet, one will be unable to control himself and check his mobile many times. “Does everyone accept my photo? I hope a lot of people like it!” It seems like your mobile secretly calls your name all the time, even when you are with real people.

So, next time you go out to have dinner with your family or friends, how about not taking photos of food? Let the food be delicious as it is and share your life with people around you. Believe in me, and it will be a wonderful time.

TV binge－watching (追剧) will lead to loneliness and sadness， a study has shown. Those who spend hours on their favorite TV series really are likely to be sad， according to the findings.

US scientists at the University of Texas， Austin， asked 316 young people aged 18 to 29 how often they binged in TV and if they felt lonely or sad. They found that the more lonely or unhappy the people were， the more likely they were to binge－watch in order to avoid this kind of bad feeling. The results， presented at the International Communication Association's meeting， also showed that people without the ability to control themselves will become binge－watchers.

Study leader Yoon Hi Sung said， "Even though some people think that binge－watching is harmless， findings from our study suggest that binge－watching should no longer be viewed this way." Physical problems such as fat problem and other health problems have business with binge－watching and people need to pay close attention. When binge－watching becomes serious， binge－watchers may start to neglect their work and their relationships with others. Even though people know they should not， they have difficulty refusing the wish to watch TV.

Young people need to stop and have enough time to breathe， work and make friends in real life. Our best friends should be the ones we see every so often for years.