Spending money on a vacation may seem like a luxury（奢侈品）—but occasionally, you have to relax yourself. Here's where to go for a good time at an unbelievable value.

    Captiva Island, Florida

    Keep it simple by looking for seashells, or bicycling, jet skiing; you can even hit the tennis courts. The Summer Getaway package offers a fourth night free and rates from $209 a night, making the average for a four-night stay $157.Kids 12 and under eat breakfast free. You'll get a coupon（优惠券）book with more than $250 in savings on resort outlets（经销店）, from watersports, island cruises and more.

    Reyjavik, Iceland

    STA Travel Beats specializes in taking travelers to music festivals around the globe. It has an eight-day tour, Icelandic Beats, that takes you to the Icelandic Geothermal spas（水疗）, UNESCO world heritage sites, and black sand beaches. End your vacation at the Secret Solstice Festival on June 18. The tour is $1,218,not including airfare.

    Malpais, Costa Rica

    You get daily surfing instruction, sunset surf session, and yoga in the outdoor, oceanfront yoga studio in a week-long tour. As you get mind, body, and spirit together, keep it going with healthy meals at the beachfront restaurant. Prices are $2,895 for shared accommodations, $3,095 for private accommodations with shared bath, and $3,595 for private accommodations.

    Waterville Valley, New Hampshire

    Waterville Valley Resort is surrounded by 100 miles of trails in the White Mountain National Forest. If you get a Freedom Pass, you can save about $100 a day during a six-day tour; the pass enables you daily to have a two-hour mountain bike rental, unlimited tennis, a round of golf, and a kayak, canoe, or paddleboard rental. Rates start at $139 a night.

    My violin is like a soul mate that whispers words of wisdom to me. Together, we've gone through both tears and happiness.

    About 12 years ago, I made acquaintance with it following an order from my mom. Many hours of boredom were spent practicing it. And to make things worse, the disappointment in my teacher's eyes as I played the wrong notes was like an invisible（隐形的）hammer, striking on my heart. One day, I finally decided: I hate it!

    By chance, things changed when I was seven. I was at home lying on the sofa, wondering how those famous violinists dealt with this terrible dilemma. I searched online for the E-minor Concerto, a well-known violin work by German composer Felix Mendelssohn, and listened to it.

    A beautiful and mysterious sound came from the violin as the bow moved across it. It was like the music slid over the flowers, rose up, and started to fill the air. The violin's voice woke up the sun, made the trees green, and freshened the air. As the music changed, the sky turned back to gray. A gloomy shade covered the grass as all the sunshine disappeared. I could hear children crying and men shouting. It was like an invisible claw had grabbed my heart tightly, making it unable to beat.

    That glorious day set off my passion and interest in violin - I grabbed mine and never let it go. Before the memories faded, I stared at my instrument. Without hesitating, I picked it up, rosined（用松香擦）the bow, and began to play. Peace filled my heart.

    My violin has been by my side for 12 years. When I feel happy, an energetic tune makes it even better; when I'm deep in sorrow, a peaceful tune washes it away, when I'm walking on air, feeling especially pleased with my achievements, solemn（庄严的）tunes calm me down. Gradually, it has become a part of my life.

    My violin, shall I compare you to a summer's day?

    It's interesting when you think about how Japan is a nation that appreciates the virtues of silence and good manners, and yet when it comes to eating noodles, Japanese people can be the loudest in the world.

    According to lifestyle website grapee.jp, slurping when eating noodles is encouraged in Japanese culture. It's believed that taking air into your mouth can enhance the flavor of the noodles, and that it helps cool down the noodles. It's also considered to be a way to show appreciation for the dish. Sometimes, just making the noise alone seems to make the noodles more enjoyable.

    It wasn't until a new expression - “noodle harassment”,or “hu-hara” in Japanese - came out last year on social media that Japanese people started to realize that the slurping noise is making some foreign visitors uncomfortable.

    As a response, Japanese instant noodle maker Nissin introduced a so-called noise-canceling fork earlier this year. The fork, which looks like an electric toothbrush, is connected wirelessly to a smartphone. When the person using the fork starts to slurp, the fork sends a signal to the person's phone, making it play a sound to mask the slurping noise.

    “The fork is a solution to the 'noodle harassment' issue, particularly as the number of tourists visiting Japan increases,” said the company, according to Euro News.

    But is it really necessary?

    Dining traditions do vary. What's considered to be proper table manners in one country is likely to be seen as rude in another. In India, for example, people eat with their hands because they think in this way they build a connection with the food. However, people who are used to eating with utensils（餐具）might find it uncomfortable to get their hands covered with oil and bits of food. But this eating method is part of India's culture, just like Japan's slurping is part of its own.

    “So, if you are eating noodles, whether that's ramen（拉面）, udon（乌冬面）, or soba（荞麦面）, please slurp,” wrote the reporter Brian Ashcraft on blog Kotaku. “If anyone gets annoyed while you are doing that, pay them no mind because they're missing the point entirely.”

    A new study shows that rising levels of planet-warming gases may reduce important nutrients in food crops.

    Researchers studied the effects of one such gas—carbon dioxide—on rice. The researchers grew rice plants in a controlled environment. They set carbon dioxide levels to what scientists are predicting for our planet by the end of the century. They found that the resulting rice crops had lower than normal levels of vitamins, minerals and protein. The researchers said the effects of planet-warming gases would be most severe for the poorest citizens in some of the least developed countries. These people generally eat the most rice and have the least complex diets, they noted.

    In the experiment, scientists grew 18 kinds of rice in fields in China and Japan. They pumped carbon dioxide gas over the plants in an effort to create the atmosphere of the future. Rice grown under high carbon dioxide conditions had, on average, 13 to 30 percent lower levels of four B vitamins and 10 percent less protein. The crops also had 8 percent less iron and 5 percent less zinc（锌）an rice grown under normal conditions. However, vitamin E levels increased by about 13 percent on average.

    The results are bad news, “especially for the nutrition of the poorer population in less-developed countries,” said the University of Tokyo's Kazuhiko Kobayashi, who helped to write the report. That includes about 600 million people in Indonesia, Cambodia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Laos and other nations, mainly in Southeast Asia, the report said.

    One of the scientists is Sam Myers of Harvard University in the American state of Massachusetts. He said that findings like this are an example of the surprises climate change create. “My concern is there are many more surprises to come,” he said.

    Myers noted that pollution, loss of some species, destruction of forests, and other human activities are likely to produce unexpected problems. He said that you cannot completely change all the natural systems that living organisms have grown to depend on over millions of years without having effects come back to affect our own health.

    The new study suggests a way to lower the nutritional harm of climate change. One way, Kobayashi said, is grow different forms of rice that have shown to be more resistant to higher carbon dioxide levels.

The Do's and Don'ts of Settling Family Problems

    Sometimes something more than consideration is necessary to resolve family issues. How should you cope with a family argument or conflict? Gad Krebs, a Positive Relationship expert, believes you should consider the following three options.

    Don't listen to random advice on how to have a successful relation

    Well intentioned people can offer relationship advice readily available.      . Firstly, it's the case where those offering ideal solutions are struggling with miserable relations themselves. Secondly, even though they do enjoy harmony at home, the advice that works for them won't necessarily work for you.       . This is a result of the unique personalities of the couple. What works for one couple may be disastrous for another.

    Ask for professional directions

    Businesses employ consultants and the sick visit doctors. These professional specialists can be reliable. Relationships should be no different. Living as a couple will lead to conflict; this is unavoidable. Although some disagreements can be settled by the couple alone, others cannot.       .

    Turning to a competent specialist during a crisis can allow the couple to gain a new perspective on the issue, as well as give them an opportunity to evolve themselves. However, proud people are always unlikely to expose their problems.       .

    Never say “You never” or “You always”

    In the heat of an argument people can shift their focus from specific and technical complaints – “You are 10 minutes late” – to broad and summary statements – “You're always late!”       . It defines not only who they are, but who they always are.

A. Rely on professional specialists

B. Accept this advice and then ignore it

C. Most people as for help when they find themselves lost

D. Each relationship operates according to its very own courses

E. Criticism can turn poisonous when a specific issue becomes an identity

F. It is at this point that they need to be mature enough to seek outside professional help

G. Similarly, proud couples, like them, suffer unnecessarily due to their inability to ask for help

    For fans of Emma Watson, it's quite exciting that she perfectly plays the role of Belle in Disney's fantasy film Beauty and the Beast. In most fairy tales, it's the woman who 1her prince to rescue her from danger, but in this movie, Belle, independent and active, with 2and kindness, saves her love and 3him from a fearsome beast back into a charming prince.

    Watson, in real life, is 4 with her famous roles. She is 5 for fighting for equality for women all over the world and is always proud of her feminist（女权主义）thoughts. Actually, her early 6 affected her decision to be so strong in her.7. She claimed in one speech she 8 on gender（性别）equality: At age 8, she was called “bossy” by boys only because she, a girl, wanted to direct plays. She then started to focus on gender equality. Afterward, her enthusiastic and wise public speeches have 9 many miserable women, for which she 10 credit.

    On March 8, Watson 11 a live Question and Answer about gender equality for the UN's HeForShe campaign. During the12, Watson emphasized that gender equality doesn't just 13 women. “I've got four brothers. Gender equality is having an effect on them just as 14 as me. My brother once said he just couldn't 15 some of his male friends, 16the rude way they talk about girls.”

    When Watson was17as a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon joked that he hoped Watson used her magic stick to 18 violence against women. And the19 young woman is doing and will 20to do so.

    Qixi is an important festival that celebrates love and       (devote), which falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the Chinese calendar. The love story of Niulang and Zhinu, and the Qixi Festival have been handed down for generations.        actually these ancient traditions and customs       (die) out nowadays.

    Many a Chinese, particularly youngsters,       (seem) to know more about St Valentine's Day on February 14th,       people celebrate it with bouquets of roses, chocolates and romantic candlelight dinners.      (refer) to as the “Chinese Valentine's Day,” Qixi, as a traditional Chinese festival, is more similar        a western festival since fewer people than ever will gaze at the heavens to pick out the two stars shining bright on either side of the Milky Way. There are reminders dotted about, in       form of big ads saying “Sales on Chinese Valentine's Day!” in shops, hotels and restaurants. However,       (differ) from traditional practices, few young women will mark the festival with their boyfriends, or take part in traditional activities to celebrate       .

增加：在缺词处加一个漏词符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。

删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。

修改：在错的词下画一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。

注意：1．每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；

2．只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。

    Personally, I think honesty education is basic necessity. First of all, course on honesty should be offered to students, and activities like story-telling and lectures are also worth tried. With the concept of “being honest” deep rooted in their minds, honesty can be reflected in our daily life and study. However, related rules and regulations should be applied for evaluate students in aspects such as homework, tests, and relationships with teachers and parents. Last but not least, we'd like strict measures carrying out to punish those that cheat constantly. As a result, they must take responsibility for their bad behaviors, thus reducing chances of cheating the next time.

    Jack Post at 4-7-2018  20:08

    Hi, everyone. I'm a Senior 3 student and trying my best to prepare for the college entrance examination. Now I have huge study pressure. How do I reduce the pressure? What should I do?

写作要点：

1）结合自己的学校生活谈谈压力的弊端；

2）给Jack提出缓解压力的具体建议（至少两条）。

注意：1）词数100左右；2）可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

Dear Jack,

Your,

Li Hua