Summer Activities

Students should read the list with their parents/carers, and select two activities they would like to do. Forms will be available in school and online for them to indicate their choices and return to school. Before choices are finalised, parents/carers will be asked to sign to confirm their child’s choices.

Good Morning Britain’s Susanna Reid is used to grilling guests on the sofa every morning, but she is cooking up a storm in her latest role — showing families how to prepare delicious and nutritious meals on a tight budget.

In Save Money: Good Food, she visits a different home each week and with the help of chef Matt Tebbutt offers top tips on how to reduce food waste, while preparing recipes for under £5 per family a day. And the Good Morning Britain presenter says she’s been able to put a lot of what she’s leant into practice in her own home, preparing meals for sons, Sam,14, Finn,13, and Jack, 11.

"We love Mexican churros, so I buy them on my phone from my local Mexican takeaway restaurant," she explains. "I pay £5 for a portion(一份), but Matt makes them for 26p a portion, because they are flour, water, sugar and oil. Everybody can buy takeaway food, but sometimes we’re not aware how cheaply we can make this food ourselves. "

The eight-part series(系列节自), Save Money: Good Food, follows in the footsteps of ITV’s Save Money: Good Health, which gave viewers advice on how to get value from the vast range of health products on the market.

With food our biggest weekly household expense, Susanna and Matt spend time with a different family each week. In tonight’s Easter special they come to the aid of a family in need of some delicious inspiration on a budget. The team transforms the family’s long weekend of celebration with less expensive but still tasty recipes.

Preparing Cities for Robot Cars

    The possibility of self﹣driving robot cars has often seemed like a futurist's dream， years away from materializing in the real world． Well， the future is apparently now． The California Department of Motor Vehicles began giving permits in April for companies to test truly self﹣driving cars on public roads． The state also cleared the way for companies to sell or rent out self﹣driving cars， and for companies to operate driverless taxi services． California， it should be noted， isn't leading the way here． Companies have been testing their vehicles in cities across the country． It's hard to predict when  driverless cars will be everywhere on our roads． But however long it takes， the technology has the potential to change our transportation systems and our cities， for better or for worse， depending on how the transformation is regulated．

    While much of the debate so far has been focused on the safety of driverless cars（and rightfully so），policymakers also should be talking about how self﹣driving vehicles can help reduce traffic jams， cut emissions（排放） and offer more convenient， affordable  mobility options． The arrival of driverless vehicles is a chance to make sure that those vehicles are environmentally friendly and more shared．

    Do we want to copy﹣ or even worsen﹣ the traffic of today with driverless cars？ Imagine a future where most adults own individual self﹣driving vehicles． They tolerate long， slow journeys to and from work on packed highways because they can work， entertain themselves or sleep on the ride， which encourages urban spread． They take their driverless car to an appointment and set the empty vehicle to circle the building to avoid paying for parking． Instead of walking a few blocks to pick up a child or the dry cleaning， they send the self﹣driving minibus． The convenience even leads fewer people to take public transport﹣﹣an unwelcome side effect researchers have already found in ride﹣ hailing（叫车） services．

    A study from the University of California at Davis suggested that replacing petrol﹣powered private cars worldwide with electric， self﹣driving and shared systems could reduce carbon emissions from transportation 80% and cut the cost of transportation infrastructure  （基础设施） and operations 40% by 2050． Fewer emissions and cheaper travel sound pretty appealing． The first commercially available driverless cars will almost certainly be fielded by ride﹣hailing services， considering the cost of self﹣driving technology as well as liability and maintenance issues（责任与维护问题）．But driverless car ownership could increase as the prices drop and more people become comfortable with the technology．

    Policymakers should start thinking now about how to make sure the appearance of driverless vehicles doesn't extend the worst aspects of the car﹣controlled transportation system we have today． The coming technological advancement presents a chance for cities and states to develop transportation systems designed to move more people，and more affordably． The car of the future is coming． We just have to plan for it．

In the 1760s， Mathurin Roze opened a series of shops that boasted（享有）a special meat soup called consommé． Although the main attraction was the soup， Roze's chain shops also set a new standard for dining out， which helped to establish Roze as the inventor of the modern restaurant．

    Today， scholars have generated large amounts of instructive research about restaurants． Take visual hints that influence what we eat： diners served themselves about 20 percent more pasta（意大利面食）when their plates matched their food．  When a dark﹣colored cake was served on a black plate rather than a white one， customers recognized it as sweeter and more tasty．

    Lighting matters， too． When Berlin restaurant customers ate in darkness， they couldn't tell how much they'd had： those given extra﹣large shares ate more than everyone else， but were none the wiser﹣they didn't feel fuller， and they were just as ready for dessert．

    Time is money， but that principle means different things for different types of restaurants． Unlike fast﹣food places． fine dining shops prefer customers to stay longer and spend． One way to encourage customers to stay and order that extra round： put on some Mozart（莫扎特）．When classical， rather than pop， music was playing， diners spent more． Fast music hurried diners out．

    Particular scents also have an effect： diners who got the scent of lavender（薰衣草）stayed longer and spent more than those who smelled lemon， or no scent．

    Meanwhile， things that you might expect to discourage spending﹣"bad" tables， crowding．high prices﹣don't necessarily． Diners at bad tables﹣next to the kitchen door， say﹣spent nearly as much as others but soon fled． It can be concluded that restaurant keepers need not "be overly concerned about ‘bad' tables，" given that they're profitable． As for crowds， a Hong Kong study found that they increased a restaurant's reputation， suggesting great food at fair prices． And doubling a buffet's price led customers to say that its pizza was 11 percent tastier．

A warm drink of milk before bed has long been the best choice for those wanting a good night’s sleep．But now a study has found it really does help people nod off﹣if it is milked from a cow at night．

Researchers have discovered that “night milk” contains more melatonin（褪黑激素），which has been proven to help people feel sleepy and reduce anxiety．

The study，by researchers from Seoul，South Korea，involved mice being fed with dried milk powder made from cows milked both during the day and at night．

Those given night milk，which contained 10 times the amount of melatonin，were less active and less anxious than those fed with the milk collected during daytime，according to the study published in The Journal of Medicinal Food．

Night milk quickened the start of sleep and caused the mice to sleep longer．

While the effect of cows milk harvested at different time has not been tested on humans up to now，taking melatonin drugs has been suggested to those who are struggling to fall asleep at night．

Previous studies have also indicated that milk can be excellent for helping sleep because of the calcium content，which helps people to relax．

Milk is also sugar﹣free and additive﹣free with nutritionists recommending skimmed milk as the best choice before bed as it is the least fattening．The more fat you take in before bedtime，the greater burden you will put on your body at night．

According to the text，the mice fed with daytime milk 　　．

Which of the following is true of melatonin according to the text？

What can be a suitable title for the text？

How does the author support the theme of the text？

Opera at Music Hall：1243 Elm Street．The season runs June through August，with additional performances in March and September．The Opera honors enjoy the Artsmembership discounts．Phone：241﹣2742． /://www ．cityopera ．com ．

Chamber Orchestra：The Orchestra plays at Memorial Hall at 1406 Elm Street，which offers several concerts from March through June．Call 723﹣1182 for more information．/：www．chamberoch．com．

Symphony Orchestra：At Music Hall and Riverbend．For ticket sales，call 381﹣3300．Regular season runs September through May at Music Hall and in summer at Riverbend．/://www．symphony．org/home．asp．

College Conservatory of Music （CCM）：Performances are on the main campus（校园）of the university，usually at Patricia Cobbett Theater．CCM organizes a variety of events，including performances by the well﹣known LaSalle Quartet，CCM’s Philharmonic Orchestra，and various groups of musicians presenting Baroque through modern music．Students with I．D cards can attend the events for free．A free schedule of events for each term is available by calling the box office at 556﹣4183．/://www．ccm．uc．edu/events/calendar．

Riverbend Music Theater：6295 Kellogg Ave．Large outdoor theater with the closest seats under cover （piece difference）．Big name shows all summer long! Phone：232﹣6220．/:///www．riverbendmusic．com．

Which number should you call if you want to see an opera？

When can you go to a concert by Chamber Orchestra？

Where can student go for free performances with their I．D．cards？

How is Riverbend Music Theater different from the other places？

  On one of her trips to New York several years ago，Eudora Welty decided to take a couple of New York friends out to dinner．They settled in at a comfortable East Side cafe and within minutes，another customer was approaching their table．

“Hey，aren’t you from Mississippi？”the elegant，white﹣haired writer remembered being asked by the stranger．“I’m from Mississippi too．”

 Without a second thought，the woman joined the Welty party．When her dinner partner showed up，she also pulled up a chair．

“They began telling me all the news of Mississippi，”Welty said．“I didn’t know what my New York friends were thinking．”

    Taxis on a rainy New York night are rarer than sunshine．By the time the group got up to leave，it was pouring outside．Welty’s new friends immediately sent a waiter to find a cab．Heading back downtown toward her hotel，her big﹣city friends were amazed at the turn of events that had changed their Big Apple dinner into a Mississippi.

“My friend said：‘Now we believe your stories，’”Welty added．And I said：‘Now you know．These are the people that make me write them．’”

Sitting on a sofa in her room，Welty，a slim figure in a simple gray dress，looked pleased with this explanation．

“I don’t make them up，”she said of the characters in her fiction these last 50 or so years．“I don’t have to．”

    Beauticians，bartenders，piano players and people with purple hats，Welty’s people come from afternoons spent visiting with old friends，from walks through the streets of her native Jackson，Miss，from conversations overheard on a bus．It annoys Welty that，at 78，her left ear has now given out．Sometimes，sitting on a bus or a train，she hears only a fragment（片段） of a particularly interesting story．

What happened when Welty was with her friends at the cafe？

What can we learn about the characters in Welty’s fiction？

If you are a fruit grower﹣or would like to become one﹣take advantage of Apple Day to see what’s around．It’s called Apple Day but in practice it’s more like Apple Month．The day itself is on October 21，but since it has caught on，events now spread out over most of October around Britain．

Visiting an apple event is a good chance to see，and often taste，a wide variety of apples．To people who are used to the limited choice of apples such as Golden Delicious and Royal Gala in supermarkets，it can be quite an eye opener to see the range of classical apples still in existence，such as Decio which was grown by the Romans．Although it doesn’t taste of anything special，it’s still worth a try，as is the knobbly（多疙瘩的） Cat’s Head which is more of a curiosity than anything else．

There are also varieties developed to suit specific local conditions．One of the very best varieties for eating quality is Orleans Reinette，but you’ll need a warm，sheltered place with perfect soil to grow it，so it’s a pipe dream for most apple lovers who fall for it．

At the events，you can meet expert growers and discuss which ones will best suit your conditions，and because these are family affairs，children are well catered for with apple﹣themed fun and games．

Apple Days are being held at all sorts of places with an interest in fruit，including stately gardens and commercial orchards（果园）．If you want to have a real orchard experience，try visiting the National Fruit Collection at Brogdale，near Faversham in Kent．

What can people do at the apple events？

What can we learn about Decio？

What does the underlined phrase “a pipe dream” in Paragraph 3 mean？

What is the author’s purpose in writing the text？

The weather effects both good and bad，are felt in many places．Rich countries gain more from powerful Nino，on balance，than they lose．A study found that a strong Nino in 1997helped American’s economy grow by 15billion，partly because of better agricultural harvest，farmers in the Midwest gained from extra rain．The total rise in agricultural in rich countries in growth than the fall in poor ones．

I had one trip last year where I was caught by a hurricane in America．I picked up the stem cells in Providence，Rhode Island，and was meant to fly to Washington then back to London．But when I arrived at the check﹣in desk at Providence，the lady on the desk said：”Well，I’m really sorry，I’ve got some bad news for you﹣there are no fights from Washington．”So I took my box and put it on the desk and I said：”In this box are some stem cells that are urgently needed for a patient﹣please，please，you’ve got to get me back to the United Kingdom．”She just dropped everything．She arranged for a flight on a small plane to be held for me．re﹣routed（改道）me through Newark and got me back to the UK even earlier than originally scheduled．

For this courier job，you’re consciously aware than that box you’re got something that is potentially going to save somebody’s life．