Time management is the greatest challenge for me in high school. I have to take good care of my subjects, activities, social life and rest. I was often angry, with my family members just because I

didn't plan my time well. For example, I might shout at them for troubling me when I was working. And sometimes I might say something bad to them when I missed deadlines, even if it was actually my fault for cramming everything in (把所有的事情堆积起来) at the last minute.

    As time goes by, I realize that time management is very important in our everyday life. The best advice to deal with time management is "break it into bits". It's really important for you to learn how to break a big project into small, manageable tasks. Then you can work progressively and have a sense of achievement whenever you've done with a small part.

    Another piece of advice is to plan a timetable for yourself. It doesn't have to be the one that you follow completely. It's just there to serve as a guide. You can compare your actual timetable with the planned one to see how well you actually use your time. The final suggestion is to always set deadlines for yourself .

Have you ever had trouble sleeping in a new place?

Lots of people do. And now researchers from Brown University in Rhode Island think they know why. They found that one-half of the brain "remains more awake" than the other half when people are trying to sleep in a new place.

The sleep findings were reported in Current Biology by Brown University. In their report, the researchers said many people report they have a harder time sleeping the first night at a hotel or other places outside their home. They call it "first-night influence". "In Japan they say, ˈIf you change your bed, you canˈt sleep,ˈ" said Yuka Sasaki, one of the reportˈs writers. "You donˈt sleep very well in a new place. We all know about it."

The researchers measured brain waves (测量脑波) for 35 volunteers over two nights in a laboratory. The two nights were a week apart (间隔). They found during the first night the left half of the brain was more active than the right half. This was during the first deep-sleep period, the researchers said.

Sasaki said a lot of questions remain.

Researchers did not keep measuring brain waves all night long. So, they donˈt know if the left half keeps "watch" all night, or whether it "works in shifts (轮换) with the right half later in the night". They also do not know why the brain activity, at least during the first period of deep sleep, is always on the left half.

For some, this research may be calming. It is good to know that our brain is "looking out for us" in a new place. But it may not help with sleep. That brain activity, at least according to this new research, makes it harder to get the sleep people need to wake up well rested in the morning.

  At the first day of my senior high school, I met a nice teacher. She looked at me and said, "I am happy to have an international student in my class." I was very excited.

      One day I was three minutes late for school. She told me to write my name and the word "late" on a piece of paper. In that way she could know I was late for the first time. At the beginning, I was angry. But later I understood why she did that. She did it because she wanted to teach me an important lesson(教训): time is valuable(宝贵的).

      I learnt another important lesson during my first exam. After finishing my exam paper, I did not review the answers because it was the end of the exam time. One week later, she returned my exam paper. I found that one of my answers was wrong. Although A, B and C were the only choices(选择) on the paper, I chose D, but not C. I tried to explain my mistake, "I chose D although I knew C was the right answer." However, she told me, "I do believe you, but I am not going to forgive your mistake. This will remind(提醒) you to be more careful before you hand in your papers." I knew she was right.

                                                            Linda.

The human brain weighs about 1.4 kilograms, but it can hold much more information

than most computers. However, there is another difference between human brains and computers. Computers don’t forget information they are given, but humans often do.

No one remembers everything and luckily we don’t usually have to. But everyone can improve their memory if they want to.Here are some suggestions.    

·        Try to use new information immediately. For example, if you meet someone who says “Hi! I’m Carlos.”, don’t just say “ Hello.”. Repeat the person’s name and say“______”.

·        Break a big number into small parts. For example, it’s hard to memorize 109244153.But if you break it into three parts—109/244/153, it will become easier.

·        Write down what you need to remember over and over again. This will help you keep it in mind longer, especially when memorizing formulas(公式)or facts.

·        Always review information. If you bring what you’ve learned back to your mind, it will become easier to remember. For example, before you go to sleep, it’s a good idea to review the new things you’ve learned that day.

·        Discuss with friends. It’s always easier to remember things through discussions. You can have a discussion about what’s right or wrong, it will lead to the right answer.

·        Never tell yourself that you have a bad memory.You can always do something to help improve your memory. And everyone’s memory will get better if they use it often.

 All of the suggestions are helpful. If you follow them, you are certain to improve your memory.

As we all know, the former(前任的) Chinese leaders were interested in playing sports, such as ping-pong, basketball and football. So is President Xi Jinping.

  Xi was a sports lover and he used to playing football very much. And now he is also one of the football fans in China. He thinks we should not only care about the national team, but also pay much more to the training of the young players. So he visited Europe this year, he especially watched China-Germany(德国) youth football match. Although the team lost the game in the end, he still encouraged the young players to train harder and give up. He told them that they would be the keys to China’s football.

  Our life is just China’s football. As Xi once said in Shanghai,“China’s football dream looks far away but we cannot stop. You might make your dreams one day only if you keep dreaming.” So there is no excuse for us to give up our dreams, and we must try our best to realize them.

根据短文内容，选择正确答案。

 Our Mother-Daughter Kindness Circle in North Carolina gets together most months to create things. We give these things to other in the spirit of kindness. Some things are for strangers and others for others for our friends or family members.

   Last weekend we made flower pens. We took simple pens and attached (系上) a large silk flower to each pen. We made little note cards for each pen. We also wrote words about joy and kindness on them, such as “Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.”, “In such a soft and warm season, please accept my sincere greeting and deep love for you.” and other words on each pen.

   Many of the girls were making their pens for their school teachers. Each mother made one for her daughter, and each daughter made one for her mom.

   We had a wonderful time together sharing stories of kindness, and making something to special joy and kindness to people in our community.

   The aim（目的）of students who come to school is to study. But to study requires (需要) a right way, or you waste either the time or the money. The followings are the ways of studying.

   The best time for reading is morning, because in the morning, the air is fresh and the mind is clear. For that reason, we can get good result

   In studying we must have patience. If we have not known a text well, we must read it again. We should not read the next one till we have understand the first one.

   When we are studying, we must put our hearts into the book, or we can get nothing from the book while we are reading.

   We must always ask "whys". If it is not well understood, write it down and ask our teachers , parents or friends. In any possible way, we must know it completely and what we’ve learned can be used well and made better.

   Though there are many ways for studying, the above mentioned（提到的）will be quite enough if we can keep them in heart and do so.

The passage has taught us _________ways of studying.

According to the passage, weˈd better read in the morning because        .

If we can’t put our hearts into the book when we read, it is           .

In studying we must always ask "whys" in order to           .

The passage tells us           .

A 12-year-old girl from Virginia, US, never thought that a simple message she put online could bring her big problems. She posted the words.“Killing. Meet me in the library Tuesday”, with three emojis (表情符号) of a gun, a knife and a bomb (炸弹) on Instagram, a social media (社交媒体). She was told that she broke the law because of threatening (威胁) her school.

This problem is not far away from us. Not long ago, Ni Hanxiang,a Chinese student at a university in the US, was sent back to China after expressing on social media that he would kill his teachers if he failed to pass his exams. In China, posting threatening words online is also against the law. In 2013, Wu Hongfei, a singer, got into trouble for saying on weibo that she wanted to blow up a building.“Ni Hanxiang,a Chinese student at a university in the US, was sent back to China after expressing on social media that he would kill his teachers if he failed to pass his exams.,” said Mr. Cao, a lawyer from Chongqing. “Although the law of China protects people is right of free speech, it does not include words that threaten others’ lives and national safety.”“Some people may not mean to threaten. They may just be trying to say ''I am strong'',” said Fred Pratt, A lawyer from the US. The girl ‘s mother said her daughter was a good kid who had never been in trouble before. Ni Hanxiang also said he did not realize that what he put online was so serious .“But not knowing the law does not mean the law will treat you any differently if you break it,” says David Allen Green, a lawyer from the UK. So, do you think we had better spend a minute or two thinking about the words or emojis we use on social media before we press “send”.

February 14^th is Read to Your Child Day .It’s a great chance for you to enjoy reading with your child . Here are some ideas .

 Share a childhood favorite .What was your favorite book as a child ? Share the book with your children and let them know you more . If you don’t have the book ,go to a local library or a bookstore to get one .

 Attend a reading activity .Your local library or bookstore may have some reading activities . If there isn’t any on that day ,you can hold your own .

 Get interactive (互动).Reading a book with your child can be an interactive activity. You can create voices for the characters and act out the story . As for young children ,you can find a book they know well.

 Write a story together .What about writing a story with your child ? it can be enjoyable and your child may never forget that day .

When you are learning English, listening, speaking and writing are important, but reading can also be very helpful. When you read, you can not only learn some new words, but also you can learn how to use these English words. When you read, it gives you a good example for writing.

Good reading tips :

Try to read at the right level(水平). Read something that you can (more or less) understand. If you need to stop every three words to use a dictionary, it is not interesting.

Try to increase the number of your new words. If there are four or five new words on a page, write them in your notebook. But you don’t have to write them while you read. Instead, try to guess their meaning as you read: mark them with a pen. Then come back when you have finished reading to look them up in a dictionary and write them in your own vocabulary book. Then try to remember them.

Try to read regularly. For example, read for a short time once a day. Fifteen minutes every day is better than two hours every Sunday. Fix(固定)a time to read and keep to it. You could read for fifteen minutes when you go to bed, or when you get up or at lunchtime.

Read what interests you. Choose a book or a magazine about a subject that you like, because you are going to spend time and money reading it. So, choose an interesting book. You can also read newspapers. There are many English newspapers in China. For example, 21st Century Teens . It is easy enough for you to understand it . There is something interesting in it.