There have always been a lot of commonly believed but false (虚假的) ideas about being fat and doing exercise. Some people believe that they can’t help putting an weight as they get older, while others hold that if they stop exercising, their muscles (肌肉) will turn into fat. Here are some more myths (神话).

I’ll never lose weight--I come from a fat family

Wrong! While we canˈt change the body type we are born with, we can’t blame our genes (基因) for making us fat. There’s plenty of evidence that fatness runs in families, and the main reason is that they share the same habit of eating too much and exercise too little.

I am fat because I burn calories slowly

Wrong! Fatness is not caused by a slow metabolism (新陈代谢). In fact, although fat people consume (消耗) more energy than slim people, they also fail to realize how much they eat. Keeping a diary can help you work out your daily food intake more accurately (精确地).

Exercise is boring

Wrong! Anything will become boring if you do it again and again. The key is to develop a balanced and varied (各种的) program that’s fun as well as progressive (不断进步的). If you enjoy a Sunday walk, take a different mute. If you do yoga (瑜伽), try a tai chi class.

No pain, no gain

Wrong! Exercise is not meant to hurt. Indeed, pain is your body telling you something’s wrong, and continuing to exercise could lead to serious injury (伤害). You may experience mild discomfort as you begin to exercise regularly, but this is your body adapting to the positive changes in your lifestyle and the aches should disappear quickly. If they donˈt, rest and ask for medical advice.

In China, most families only have one child, so parents treated their children as a king. They buy everything that their children want to have, don’t   (1)   their children do any housework. As a result, children just open their   (2)   to be fed and stretch out(伸出) their arms to be dressed every day. More and more Chinese teenagers(青少年) find life more difficult   (3)   their parents. This is a big problem. 

Joy is 15 years old. One day her parents   (4)  because of business, so she had to stay at home alone. At first she thought she would be happy   (5)  her parents were not in. She could do    (6)  she liked. But when it was six o’clock in the afternoon, she felt   (7)  . “Oh, it’s time to have supper. Where can I get my food?” she said to herself. Later she found some food in the fridge, but she didn’t know how to   (8)   it. At that moment, she missed her parents very much. At last she could   (9)  go to the supermarket and  bought something to eat.

Many teenagers are  the same as Joy. So I think they should learn some basic life   (10)  , like cooking, tidying up their rooms or dressing themselves properly. They shouldn’t depend too much on their parents.

The White House is an important historical building in the USA. It lies  (1)  the country’s capital. Many people expect   (2)  see the palace with their own eyes.

We   (3)  six months getting tickets to visit the White Hous  (4)  I was  (5)  with excitement while we were waiting in the White House South Lawns. The first thing  (6)  interested me was the colorful flowers and green grass.

Everything inside and outside was  (7)  kept in the white House. We went  (8)  many security checks (安检)  (9)  entering the building. In the east hallway   (10)  the first floor, I saw the pictures of past presidents on the walls. The  (11)  had over 2700 books. The Vermeil Room and China Room showed different   (12)  .

We walked upstairs to the State Floor. The East Room, the  (13)  in the White House, was the most wonderful in its size and furniture. This is the room where the president usually   (14)  the reporters. The Green, Blue and Red Rooms on the same floor got their names because of the 14 of the furniture and walls. These rooms are    (15)  having parties for state guests.

Born in 1979 in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, Yang Guang lost his sight when he was still a baby. As the saying goes, when God closes a door, he opens a window. Although he lived in   (1)  , Yang Guang found something that made his life colorful. That is   (2)  . Yang Guang started his life with music at the age of 7. Then,   (3)   a local art group and he stayed in the group   (4)   8years. When he was 19, he decided to go to Beijing. Yang is   (5)   clear about what he wants and pursues(追求) his goal with a strong will, which helped him go   (6)   the difficult times in Beijing. “If you want to do something, you have to go straight for it and don’t   (7)   other things or the result,” he said. To attend the television show “Xing Guang Da Dao” was a turning point in this young man’s life. By his excellent singing, Yang   (8)   won the contest of the week, the month and the year of 2007. In the final round of year’s contest, he caught a cold, but he did not stop   (9)   from striving(努力奋斗) for his dream. This is only his first step of realizing his dreams. Yang Guang is still striving for his dreams and looking forward to   (10)  ​success.

Some people think that success is only for those with talent or those who grow up in the right family, and others believe that success mostly comes down to luck. I’m not going to say luck, talent, and conditions are not important because they really are. Some people are born into the right family while others are born with great abilities, and that’s just how life is.

However, to succeed in life, one first needs to set a goal and then gradually put it into practice. What’s more, in order to get really good at something, one needs to spend at least 10,000 hours studying and practising. To become great at certain things, it’ll require even more time, the time that most people won’t put in.

This is a big reason why many successful people advise you to do something you love. If you don’t enjoy what you do, it is going to feel like great pain and will probably make you give up well before you ever become good at it.

When you see people showing some great skills or having achieved great success, you know that they have put in a huge part of their life to get there at a huge cost. It’s sometimes easy to think they got lucky or they were born with some unusual talent, but thinking that way does you no good，and there’s a huge chance that you’re wrong anyway.

Whatever you do, if you want to become great at it, you need to work day in and day out, with all your heart and over a long period of time. If you’re not willing to put in the time and work, don’t expect to receive any rewards(回报). Time and hard work won’t make sure that you will get the great success you may want, but it will make sure that you will become really good at whatever it is you put all that work into.

The Singapore Zoo is in the middle of a big city, but after 30 minutes you will forget the city. It is an “open zoo”;visitors will not see many cages(笼子) or fences (围栏). They can walk on paths around the animals’ natural homes. There are deep ditches(沟) between the animals and the people. The dangerous animals are behind glass walls.

   The Singapore Zoo calls itself the “best rainforest zoo in the world”. It has many beautiful and unusual animals; there are about 10 different parts to the main zoo and about 10 exhibits(展品) of special animals. In September, 2012, Kai Kai and Jia Jia, two pandas from China, joined the zoo’s family.

   The Singapore Zoo has some large section (区). One is the Night Safari. Visitors can take a bus or walk in the park at night; special lights help them see the animals. Another section is the Jurong Bird Park. It is full of colorful birds. They fly freely and call to each other. It is a beautiful place.

Modern life is impossible without travelling. The fastest way to travel is by air. With a modern plane you can travel in one day to places which took a month or more one hundred years ago.

Travelling by train is slower than by air, but it has its advantages. You can see the country you are travelling in. Modern trains have comfortable seats and dining cars. They make even the longest journey enjoyable.

Some people prefer to travel by sea when it is possible. There are large liners and river boats. You can visit many other countries and different places. Travelling by sea is a very pleasant way to spend a holiday.

Many people like to travel by car. You can make your own timetable. You can travel three or four hundred miles or only fifty miles a day, just as you like. You can stop wherever you wish: where there is something interesting to see, at a good restaurant where you can enjoy a good meal, or a hotel to spend the night. That is why travelling by car is popular for pleasant trips, while people usually take a train or a plane when they are travelling on business.

Are you a positive (积极的) person? If so you are always hopeful and think of good points of a situation instead of bad ones. The power of positive thinking has been widely researched. It’s funny that some of us accept this power quickly while others are doubtful. Do you know the reason? Our opinions about positive thinking might explain its point.

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When facing a problem we weigh success or failure against the problem itself. We might think that positive thinking always leads us to expect success. Actually it’s more important to realize that positive thinking results in acceptance of our situation. If we think positively we may predict success or ways to move on when we are in difficulties. There’s a difference between blind positivity and seeing things in a positive way.

Results from positive thinking

Does research see any real value in positive thinking? Many studies show that a positive attitude leads to less stress and sadness. Physically positive thinking also leads to a longer life and quicker recovery(恢复) from sickness. Positive people with a family history of heart problems are even less likely to experience heart attacks.

Positive VS Negative(消极)

It seems strange to think that a state of mind can have such effects. But there are several reasons why a positive attitude is better than a negative one. Negative feelings are good for making us focus on tasks such as running from danger for example. However positive feelings open us up to a world of kinds of possibilities and bring us helpful ways. The more results of positive thinking naturally last longer as well.

Strategies for positivity

A positive attitude comes easier for some people than others because it’s a born character. Still anyone can try a few things to bring out the positive.

a. Rebuilding: See positives through negatives such as being glad the subway is cheap even when crowded.

b. Distance: When making a big decision act like you’re giving a friend advice.

c. Smile: Real or not smiles are shown to decrease (降低) heart rate and blood pressure.

In the end a positive attitude requires not only positive thinking but also positive action.

An old carpenter (木匠) was ready to retire. His boss was   (1)   to see the good worker go. He asked the carpenter   (2)   he could build just one more house. The carpenter said yes,   (3)   his mind was not on his work any more.

He used poor materials and worked on the house   (4)  . When the carpenter finished his work, the boss handed the front-door key to him,“This is your house,”he said,“A   (5)   for you.”

What a surprise! What a shame! If he had known he was building his   (6)   house, he would have done it differently. Now he had to live in the house he had poorly built.

So it is with us (我们也是一样). Sometimes we build our lives carelessly. At important points we do not try our best. Then with a shame we look at the situation we have created. We find that we are now living in the house we have poorly built. But we don’t have a   (7)   to make it all over again.

Think of   (8)   as the carpenter. Think about your life. Build it   (9)  . It is the only life you will ever build because life is a do-it-yourself project.

Your life today is the   (10)   of your attitudes and choices you made in the past. Your life tomorrow will be that of your attitudes and choices you make today.