Humans have daydreamed for thousands of years, and yet, these days, spare moments are filled with using our smartphones and other devices—going through social media, listening to podcasts, responding to emails—leaving us little time to let our minds wander.

1. When you’re in a daydreaming state of mind, you can imagine or pretend your own version of events.

“My most creative moments come when my brain is allowed to rest” says Megan King, a designer. But she is addicted to her smart phone. 2. According to Nielsen, Americans spend 10.5 hours a day consuming media. And UK residents are close behind at almost 10 hours a day, according to eMarketer.

3. This may seem a small change, but its effect, on the way our minds work and on our collective creativity could be serious. 4.

Over years of studies, researchers have found that our brain has two separate attention systems — an external one and an internal one. The internal attention system, which is activated(激活)during daydreaming, is called the default network(默认网络).

The default network is particularly active when we are thinking about ourselves, thinking about the past, thinking about the future. 5.

If both systems can’t be active at the same time and we’re spending 10 hours a day in one attention system, it begs the question: what is that doing to our brains — and our ability to come up with creative ideas?

A. Daydreaming is the opposite of our dreams.

B. This extended screen time has made some of us uncomfortable sitting alone with our own thoughts.

C. Daydreaming is how we access our big-picture state of mind.

D. In fact, it could be preventing your ability to come up with fresh, creative ideas.

E. We can’t really have both attention systems active at the same time.

F. People spend too much time on screen suffer from headaches.

G. She's not alone.

With the Reading Day coming,I'd like to recommend a couple of books to you.

A License to Heal by Steven Bentley

It describes the real world of emergency medicine from the viewpoint of a practicing emergency physician, Bentley.In the world of emergency medicine,there's lots of pain,blood and sadness in our daily life,but there's also hope,excitement and a surprising amount of humor—for both the patients and the staff.The narrative(叙述)writing is effective,for Bentley appears as the doctor everyone needs in a medical emergency.

Battering Rocks over the Barn by Lawn Griffiths

An Iowa farm boy's Odyssey.The rhythm of rural life during the 1950s and 1960s comes alive through the eyes of a boy who grew up to become a newspaper journalist and farm editor.Follow his journey in this book.

Imperfect Family by Leyland A.king

This is a novel describing an ordinary family's union,strength,ambition and determination that contribute to the great possibility for one generation to climb the shabby ladder from the low class to the American middle class.

Walking the Stones of Time by Oswald Brown

This is a tale of two lovers separated by social status in primitive Scotland.It unfolds as a young man makes it his task to free a beautiful young girl from slavery.What follows is an adventurous story of disloyalty(不忠实)overcome by courage.

Honeyball by Pete Liebengood.

Rachel's father hands her a minor league baseball team.She hired an all female staff and created a highly successful marketing campaign called honeyball.The book Honeyball offers an entertaining perspective(视角)of the league baseball where a group of women pull together in a campaign to find success at the box office while their leader finally finds the love of Rachel's life.

1.What can we know about A License to Heal?

A. It tells readers stories about patients.

B. It's about a humor story of a physician.

C. It impresses readers with a heart-broken story.

D. It's convincing because of its narrative writing style.

2.Which book is about country life?

A. Honeyball.

B. Battering Rocks over the Barn.

C. Walking the Stones of Time.

D. Imperfect Family.

3.What can we learn from the passage?

A. The writer of A License to Heal is a humorous doctor.

B. Imperfect Family describes an amazing women baseball Learn.

C. There're love stories in Walking the Stones of Time and Honeyball.

D. Battering Rocks over the Barn describes the city life of a journalist.

In January, 2016, Harry Styles made a bold decision. He left the popular boy band One Direction and went solo (单飞). Now he is making his own voice heard. The 23-year-old British singer released his first solo single called Sign of the Times. His self-titled album (个人同名专辑) is coming out on May 12.

Going solo is a journey for him to find his identity (身份). Though at the time, he was uncertain about his future, he kept a word in his mind - “honesty”. “I didn’t want to write ‘stories’,” he told Rolling Stone. “I wanted to write my stories, things that happened to me. The number-one thing was I wanted to be honest. I hadn’t done that before.”

He is indeed full of stories since beginning his solo career. Last fall, he spent two months recording on a remote island in Jamaica (牙买加).Along with some musicians, he filled a two-floor house with instruments. They hung out at the bar that looked like a tree house. Many mornings began with a swim in the river down the hill. They watched many romantic comedies. Styles always held a black notebook and looked like a college student who was studying, Rolling Stone reported.

His coming album is about rock music. In fact, he grew up with it. His father Desmond was a rock music fan. When Styles was very young, he danced to The Dark Side of the Moon, a classic song by British rock band Pink Floyd. “I couldn’t really get it. But I just remember (thinking that) this is really cool.”

Harry said, “At the very beginning, all I wanted was to be the granddad with the best stories.” Surely, now he is on the right track (轨道).

1.Why did Styles go solo?

A. He wanted to travel with his friends.

B. He was certain that he would succeed.

C. He wanted to be independent from the hand.

D. He wanted to do the things that he hadn’t done before.

2.From the article, which of the followings is true?

A. Styles,next album is about his father.

B. Styles wanted to be a man with “stories”.

C. He left the band because of its dishonesty.

D. Styles couldn’t find his identity after going solo.

3.What Styles did on the island in Jamaica didn’t include .

A. making a record B. hanging out at the bar

C. swimming in the river D. studying like a college student.

4.What is the article mainly about?

A. Styles’ “stories” about his solo career. B. Styles’ favoriate sports

C. The band One Direction D. Styles’ achievements in music.

Sneaker is a kind of shoe worn by many people all over the world. Some say that the word “sneaker” is another word for tennis shoe, ______no one really knows where the word came from. ______ say it came from the old English verb “sneak”, which ______ to move silently and quickly. The only thing we are ______ is that when you put on a pair of sneakers, you ______ light-hearted, light-footed and ready to play.

Sneakers of some kind are used by ______ who play tennis, basketball, and other sports. New design has been made ______ for people who run slowly. But perhaps sneakers are______used by children in the United States. In fact American children of ______ ages would much rather  play in sneakers than anything else, except perhaps ______ at all.

New York City once held a poetry contest (诗歌比赛) for children. The subject was only “sneaker”. Thousands of children sent in their ______ and praised the sneakers they love. One prize winner called ______ poem “The Sneaker and the World Peace”. “When everyone is wearing sneakers,” she said, “it will be impossible to ______.”

American school children can be seen every day ______ sneakers of all colours. They put them on in the morning and take them off ______. Sneakers are ______ washed. In fact the older and dirtier they are, the ______ loveable they are. When their sneakers wear out (穿破), children hate to throw them off. How do you explain the closeness between ______? Perhaps another young ______ in the New York Poetry Contest said it best. “A shoe is just a shoe,” he said. “But a sneaker is a ______.”

1.A. however B. but C. or D. and

2.A. All B. Some C. People D. The others

3.A. appears B. remains C. means D. wants

4.A. excited about B. sure of C. surprised at D. pleased with

5.A. think B. feel C. consider D. suggest

6.A. men B. women C. those D. these

7.A. lovely B. specially C. lively D. cheaply

8.A. only B. greatly C. hardly D. finally

9.A. all B. some C. little D. old

10.A. some shoes B. no shoes C. no children D. some sneakers

11.A. photos B. compositions C. poems D. drawings

12.A. her B. his C. its D. their

13.A. explain B. guide C. hate D. love

14.A. dressing B. wearing C. putting on D. having

15.A. the next day B. at noon C. at bedtime D. in the evening

16.A. forever B. always C. seldom D. sometimes

17.A. much B. many C. most D. more

18.A. sneakers and other shoes B. boys and girls C. children and sneakers D. winners and sneakers

19.A. girl B. man C. woman D. winner

20.A. sneaker B. friend C. poem D. shoe

It’s always been a rule in my family, spoken or unspoken, that you don’t waste food. With six children herself and having grown up in an even larger family through the Great Depression, my mother would never tolerate throwing out the amounts of food we see routinely these days in the dumpster. We were told simply to clean our plates, no matter whether we liked the taste or if we were not hungry or not. So this subject is deep in my genes and upbringing.

Estimates are that nearly one third of all food produced is wasted. USDA estimates 31% of food available at retail (零售)level is wasted. 12% of landfill material is food. 28% of agricultural land produces food which is wasted, says the FAO. 18% of vegetables, and 12% of the apple crop are lost at the farm level in the United States., say experts.

Luckily, there’s an “ugly food” movement picking up steam. “Ugly” foods are those that sellers and buyers often reject because of their appearance, like misshapen vegetables and bruised(擦伤的) fruits. Farmers dump them. Supermarkets and restaurants reject them. Now supermarkets and restaurants reject them. Consumers historically have avoided them. Now supermarkets feature the ugly. It’s fashionable. More artful terms are favored. A French supermarket chain is selling “inglorious” foods. The British chain ASDA uses “wonky(歪斜的)” (which to American ears might sound as bad as “ugly.”) Canada’s Loblaws uses “naturally imperfect.” Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, who has cast himself as a promoter of the “good food movement,” has signed on with some British chains to support their efforts.

With the effort of Kretschmann Farm CSA’s we’ve taken the line that rather than throw away things which would be classified by others as ugly, inglorious, or imperfect, we would just give them to you and you could decide. Either we throw them away, or you can. Oftentimes this adds to the volume of the box, or makes it a little more urgent to consume (because sometimes those rejected foods are just very ripe!).

1.When the author was a kid, he .

A. often suffered from hunger

B. was not allowed to waste food

C. had to wash plates after a meal

D. didn’t like the taste of his food

2.What does the underlined part “picking up steam” in Paragraph 3 mean?

A. Coming to an end.

B. Facing a challenge.

C. Making a selection.

D. Becoming more popular.

3.The Kretschmann Farm CSA .

A. provides perfect food for customers

B. sells food mot of which is very ripe

C. tries to bring ugly food to customers

D. encourage the consumption of food

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