From Monday to Friday most people are busy working or studying, but in the evenings and at weekends they are free and   (1)  themselves. Some watch television or go to the movies, others take part in sports. This is decided by their own   (2)  .

There are many different ways to spend our   (3)  time.

Almost everyone has some kind of hobby : it may be something from collecting stamps to making model planes. Some hobbies are very   (4)  , but others don’t cost anything at all. Some collections are worth   (5)  of money; others are valuable only to their owners.

I know a man who has a coin collection worth several   (6)   dollars. A short time ago he bought a rare fifty-cent piece which   (7)   him＄250! He was very happy about this collection and thought the price was all right. On the other hand, my youngest brother collects match boxes. He has almost 600 of them, but I wonder if they are worth any money. However,   (8)   my brother they are quite valuable. Nothing makes him happier than to find a new match box for his collection.

That’s what a hobby means, I think. It is something we   (9)  to do in our free time just for the   (10)   of it. The value in dollars is not important, but the pleasure it gives us is.

Life in the year 3044 is very different__(1)__ life in the 21st century. We still do many of the things you did，but we do them __(2)__．For example，we now have e-friends to help us and keep us company. An e-friend is a machine that looks just __(3)__ a human being. It can walk and talk and can do almost __(4)__ we human beings do. My e-friend is a lot like me and we have __(5)__ fun together. She helps me __(6)__ my homework and we often go swimming. She is programmed to take care of me if anything __(7)__，so I always feel safe when we are together. She can also send me messages，just like old-fashioned e-mail，and I can download information from her memory. It's great __(8)__ an e-friend. I am never lonely and I always have someone to talk __(9)__．

I would like to tell you more about life in the year 3044，but I have to send my e-friend to clean up my room.Maybe__(10)__ I will be able to travel back in time and visit you.

When learning new vocabulary(词汇), don’t just memorize(记忆) a list of words（单词表）.  (1)  , try to make five sentences using each new word. Then use the new word as often as you can the first day you learn it. This way you will remember new words   (2)  longer.

Practicing sounds(语音), you know, is difficult---the“th”sound， for example. Choose words that   (3)  “th”and repeat (重复) them over and over until you are comfortable with them. Let’s try! This, that, those, them, think, thought, through, thin….

Read, read, read in English, of course! Reading is one of   (4)   ways to increase your vocabulary and   (5)  your grammar in a natural and fun way. Be sure to choose topics or books you are interested in.

When someone   (6)  in English, listen to the main point(要点). If you  (7)  a word you don’t understand, ignore (忽略)  (8)   and go on listening. If you stop and think about the word, you will miss   (9)   the person is saying.

Always remember practice   (10)   perfect.

Most people around the world are right-handed. This also seems to be true in history. In 1799, scientists studied works of art made at different times from 1,500 B.C. to the 1950s. Most of the people shown in these works are right-handed, so the scientists guessed that right-handedness has always been common through history. Today, only about 10% to 15% of the world’s population is left-handed.

 Why are there more right-handed people than left-handed ones? Scientists now know that a person’s two hands each have their own jobs. For most people, the left hand is used to find things or hold things. The right hand is used to work with things. This is because of the different work of the two sides of the brain. The right side of the brain, which makes a person’s hands and eyes work together, controls the left hand. The left-side of the brain, which controls the right hand, is the centre for thinking and doing problems. These findings show that more artists should be left-handed, and studies have found that left-handedness is twice as common among artists as among people in other jobs.

 No one really knows what makes a person become left-handed instead of right-handed. Scientists have found that almost 40% of the people become left-handed because their main brain is damaged when they are born. However, this doesn’t happen to everyone, so scientists guess there must be another reason why people become left-handed. One idea is that people usually get right-handed from their parents. If a person does not receive the gene (基因) for right-handedness, he/she may become either right-handed or left-handed according to the chance and the people they work or live with.

 Though right-handedness is more common than left-handedness, people no longer think left-handed people are strange or unusual. A long time ago, left-handed children were made to use their right hands like other children, but today they don’t have to.

A kind of little cars may take the place of (取代)today’s big ones many years later. If everyone drives such cars in the future, there will be less pollution in the air. There will also be more space for parking in cities, and the streets will be less crowded.

The little cars of the future will cost less. Driving will be safer, too, since these little cars can go only 65 kilometers an hour. The cars of the future will be fine for going around a city, but they will not be useful for a long way. Little cars will go 450 kilometers before they need to stop for more gasoline (汽油). If big cars are still used with the small ones, two kinds of roads will be needed in the future. Some roads will be needed for the big, faster cars and other roads will be needed for the small, slower ones.

根据短文内容，选择正确答案。

Many people think that the hump* of the camel is full of water. They think this is the reason that camels do not have to drink very often in the desert*, but they are not right. A camel’s hump is not full of water. It is fat*. The camel’s body can use the fat later when it is hungry, but it does not help the camel go for a long time without* drinking. A camel can do this because it does not sweat* very much.

When people and most other animals get hot, they sweat. Sweat is mostly water from the body. So when people sweat, they lose water and soon have to drink. If they don’t drink water, they die. When a camel gets hot, it does not sweat very much, so it does not lose much of the water in its body. It does not need to drink very often.

LONDON—Scientists have found an unusual way to prevent our planet from overheating: move it to a cooler spot. All you have to do is to send a few comets (彗星) in the direction of Earth, and its orbit (轨道)wil l be changed. Our world will then be sent moving into a safer older part of the solar system.

This idea for improving our climate comes from a group of US NASA (美国航空航天局) engineers and American astronomers. They say their plan could add another six billion years to the useful lifetime of our planet—hopefully doubling its working life.

The plan put forward by Dr. Laughlin, and his colleagues Don Korycansky and Fred Adams, needs carefully directing a comet or asteroid (小行星) so that it passes close by our planet and sends some of its gravitational energy (重力势能) to Earth.

“Earth’s orbital speed would increase as a result and we would move to a higher orbit away from the sun,” Laughlin said.

Engineers would then direct their comet so that it passed close to Jupi ter(木星) or Saturn (土星). The comet would pick up energy from one of these giant planets. Later its orbit would bring it back to Earth, and the process would be repeated.

In the short term, the plan provides an ideal way to worldwide warming, although the team was actually worried about a much greater danger. The sun is certain to heat up in about a billion years and so “seriouslycompromise” our biosphere (生物圈)—by cooking us.

That’s why the group decided to try to save Earth.

The plan has one or two worrying sides, however. For a start, space engineers would have to be very careful about how they directed their asteroid or comet towards Earth. The smallest miscalculation (误算)in orbit could fire it straight at Earth—with deadly results.

There is also the question of the moon. As the present issue of Scientific American magazine points out, if Earth was pushed out of its present location, it is “most likely the moon would be stripped(剥离)away from Earth,” it states. This would greatly change our planet’s climate.

When you go to the seaside, maybe you will notice(注意) that the wind very often comes from the sea to the land in the  (1)  part of the day, but in the evening, the wind blows in the opposite direction(方向).Why does this happen?

In the morning, when the sun   (2)   ,it begins to warm the land   (3)   the se a. The land  (4)   warm faster than the sea. So while the air above the sea is cool ,the air over the land   (5)  warmer. The air   (6)  the land rises and the cool air from the sea moves   (7)   the land.

When evening comes,   (8)  the sea and the land become cool, but the land cools more   (9)   than the sea. The wind now changes   (10)   direction.

Now more and more people get to know the importance of doing sports. It can bring fun  (1)  us and it can also make us   (2)  .    (3)  what should we do?

First, we should choose（选择） our favorite ones from  (4)  kinds of sports. The sports must be right for us.

Second, we must warm up（热身） before   (5)  .

Third,   (6)   a beginner, you had better have an exercise plan. For example,   (7)   are you going to exercise each time? How many   (8)   a week? If you're a   (9)   of sports, it's important to know this.

Last but not least, you had better not exercise if you feel   (10)  , or it will be very dangerous.

A peaceful mind（平静心态的） is very important for our effectiveness（效率）. It keeps us calm, no matter what the situation is, and it allows us to stay happy during the day. So, here, I would like to share some ways to have a “mind like water”, a state of mind that is as peaceful as calm water. Pick the ones that work for you.

◆Listen to your heart

Your heart tells you what is the right thing to do. It is where your deepest values（价值观） live. Following what your heart says helps you be true to yourself, and that helps you get a peaceful mind. So learn to listen more to your heart, and do what it tells you to do.

◆ Don’t take in too much information

Getting more information often means introducing more noise into your mind. That’s why not taking in too much information is important for a calm and peaceful mind. You should take in no more information than necessary.

◆ Slow down（放慢速度）

Whatever you do, you do not need to be in a hurry. Doing so will only take you faster in the wrong direction . First of all, you need to know the right direction to go. Slow down so that you can hear the voice of your heart.

Don’t think too much about yourself and do something for other people

We usually think about our own needs and problems most of the time. But self-centered（自我为中心的） thoughts can’t bring peace into our mind. Instead, it may make us feel stressed,. So don’t think too much about yourself, forget yourself for a while. Think about other people more often and think what you can do for others, then do it. Giving will make you happy and give you peace of mind.