Eating is best when it's a social activity. Think of the meal a family enjoys in the evening when everyone's together after work or school, or the big get-togethers over food at Spring Festival. But now, in the age of the Internet and social media, anyone with an Internet connection can enjoy a social eating event.

    Mukbang-a South Korean phrase meaning “eating broadcast”-is an unusual food fanaticism that's sweeping the country. This is a meal where only one person gets to eat, while many viewers watch live shows of hosts eating large quantities of food. They leave comments on the dishes the host is taking, and the host responds to them live.

    So why have people taken to this unusual new food trend(趋势)? Jeff Yang, an Asian-American cultural critic, thinks that it's down to “the loneliness of unmarried or uncoupled South Koreans”. He believes that eating on your own can be hard in a country like South Korea, where social eating is such a long tradition. However, Mukbang gives people the feeling that they are part of something larger, it seems.

    Millions of people have trouble with food. Either they eat too much of it, or too little. Some say that the popularity of Mukbang helps people with these disorders. Those who always eat too much and put on weight can watch Mukbang live shows to satisfy their appetite (胃口). And those who don't eat enough can build their appetite by watching delicious food being eaten.

    Even though Mukbang is a South Korean phenomenon, it's also taken off in the US. But unlike South Koreans who sit down to enjoy noodles and kimchi (泡菜), Americans enjoy their own native dishes. This means that viewers of US Mukbang live shows will see locals stuffing themselves with hamburgers, fries and ice cream.

    Ever since mobile phones became widely used around the world, there have been concerns about how safe they are. All mobile phones give off a small amount of radiation when in use, which many believe could be a cause of cancer. However, two recently published studies tried to finally answer the question of whether using mobile phones actually brings a dangerous risk to humans.

    Carried out by the US government, the studies exposed rats and mice to radiation over the course of two years. A small number of the rats were found to have developed heart tumors (肿瘤) as a direct result of the radiation exposure. However, John Bucher, one of the study's authors, said that the animals were exposed to far more radiation than even the heaviest mobile phone user would usually be, reported The New York Times. Bucher also added that the findings didn't make him want to change his or his family's mobile phone usage habits.

    Indeed, the US Food and Drug Administration said it believes that it has “not found enough evidence that there are negative health effects on humans” from mobile phone use. Although mobile phones do give off radiation, it's a different type of radiation than that given off by dangerous sources.

    High-energy radiation – such as that given off by nuclear waste – is known to be very dangerous to humans as it is able to damage our DNA, leading to cancer or even death. On the other hand, low-energy radiation – such as the one given off by mobile phones – is considered to be harmless.

    We're exposed to this all the time, as it's given off by everyday objects like WiFi routers (路由器), televisions, and even bananas. Some argue that when it comes to human health, however, you can't be more concerned, even if the risk is only small. For those people, an earphone is advised when they are making phone calls and the time spent using mobile phones can be limited.

    But don't worry: there's no need to take bananas off the menu.

    I've never been the kind of person to say, “it's the thought that counts” when it comes to gifts. That was until a couple of weeks ago, when my kids gave me a present that blew me away.

    For years now, I've been wanting to sell our home, the place where my husband and I raised our kids. But to me, this house is much more than just a building. In the front room, there's a wall that has hundreds of pencil lines, marking the progress of my children's growth. Every growth stage is marked in grey, with each child's name and the date they were measured. Most people I know have been featured on a wall like this, or at least had a wall like it in their home.

    Of all the objects and all the memories, it's this one thing in a home that's the hardest to leave behind. Friends I know have returned home after work only to discover their wall of heights has been freshly painted over. A new paint job wouldn't normally be greeted by tears, but erasing that evidence of motherhood hurts more than it should. Our kids grow in so many ways, but the wall is physical evidence of their progress, right there for everyone to see.

    Over the years, I've talked about how much I would hate leaving that wall behind when I moved, even though the last marks were made 10 years ago when my kids stopped growing. So one day, while I was at work, my children decided to do something about it.

    They hired Jacquie Manning, a professional photographer whose work is about capturing (捕捉) the beautiful things in life, from clear lakes and skies to diamonds and ballgowns. She came to our house while I was at work, and over several hours, took photos of the hundreds of drawings and lines, little grey fingerprints (手印), and old marks. Somehow, she managed to photograph all those years of memories perfectly. Afterwards, she put all the photos together into one image, transforming them into a beautiful history of my family.

    Three weeks later, my children's wonderful gift made its way to me – a life-size photo of the pencil lines and fingerprints that represents entire lifetimes of love and growth.

    Who would win in a competition to memorize numbers, a chimp or a teenager? The teenager? Think again. Scientists have proved that chimps perform better than human beings when it comes to this kind of problem.

          .

    Memory is our ability to learn something, save it and recall it when needed. Our memories are important to our sense of self, our personalities, and our ability to understand the world.

           There is short-term memory and long-term memory. Your short-term memory saves information for a few seconds or a few minutes.        Long-term memory involves the information you try hard to keep, because it's meaningful to you-an example is data about family and friends. And then there is visual memory and sound memory. But these are not hard and fast. In fact, Scientists argue a lot about the nature of memory.

           Some memorize better with the help of pictures. Others are helped more by sounds. One thing's for sure though: If you can put the different kinds of memory together, there can be great results.        At the same time, you could listen to recordings of the same group of words. These things may help when it comes to memorizing the words.

    Imagination and association can be useful too. By imagination, scientists mean picturing a word in your mind, while association means relating the word to something you already know.

A. So why not try pictures with English words?

B. Then how do chimps have better memories than us?

C. Scientists say that there are different types of memory.

D. We may have to rethink what we believe about human memory.

E. Scientists have also found that people memorize things in different ways.

F. For example, the time it takes to compare the prices of a few items in a store.

G. Short-term and long-term memory differ in the amount of information they can store.

    I sat and waited for Kathleen to speak. “Annie,” she said, “A food bank that serves the elderly is asking for 1. I'd like you to organize the event.” “Well, errr…sure.” As I stuttered(结巴地说) through my 2 , all I could think was, “What? Why me?”

    I walked back to my office wondering where to 3. This was a time 4 the economy was fading. The rise in unemployment forced many of my coworkers to 5 to survive. How could I ask them for more?

    That evening I drove home, depressed. Then I remembered once my father was out of work. Mom wrote a note to Jim, the milkman, asking him not to 6 any more milk. Two days later Jim picked up the 7 and left four liters of milk. He left a message, 8, “Kids need milk.” The milk delivery 9 as usual and Jim never collected a cent 10 us.

    The memory of Jim's 11 fired my enthusiasm. Perhaps I'd be in for a pleasant surprise.

    The next morning I 12 signs about our food drive all over the cafeteria and on every notice board I could find. Each sign said, “Food drive to support the poor elderly! 13 of non-perishable(不易腐的) foods are greatly needed.”

    Within a few days I had to locate empty office space to 14 a large number of contributions we had 15. One of my coworkers, Maggie, made the rounds with me every day from one department to another to pick up the canned goods and other 16. Though over sixty, she 17 manage to push our food trolley(手 推车) around like a woman half her age.

    I asked her where she got all the enthusiasm. She said, “With the unemployment rate touching 10 percent, I can't think of a better way to be 18 for keeping our jobs 19 so many have lost theirs. Sure money is tight. But when isn't it? People need food.”

    As I listened to Maggie, the milkman's words 20 in my ears, “Kids need milk.”

    It is a great        (true) that life is difficult. Once we really understand and accept it, then life is no longer difficult.        , most of us do not fully see it. They just complain about their problems and difficulties as if life should be easy.

           makes life difficult is that the process of facing and solving problems is a really painful one. Problems,       (depend) on their nature, cause sadness or regret or anger or fear. These are       (comfort) feelings, often as painful as any kind of physical pain. It is in this whole process of solving problems        life has its meaning. Problems are the serious test that tells us success from failure. When we want to strengthen the growth of human spirit, we encourage the human ability        (solve) problems, just as in school we set problems for our children to deal with. Learning from the pain of meeting and working out problems is        great benefit. As Benjamin Franklin       (say), “Those things that hurt, instruct.” For this reason, wise people learn not to fear but to welcome        pain of problems.

1）描述羽绒服的质量问题；

2）提出解决问题的具体要求。

注意：

1）词数 80 左右；

2）可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

参考词汇:羽绒服 down jacket

    Nowadays the business of fast food is developing at a rapid speed. Have you ever thought twice before deciding to eat fast food? Even if it is easy to buy and cheap, the risks outweigh(胜过) the five minutes of satisfaction that fast food brings. There are many risks when it comes to eating food that's made in just a few of seconds.

    What you eat can affect your health. People who are addicted to fast food are more likely to suffer from various life-threatening diseases. Obesity(肥胖) can come when fast food is bought often. Fast food is made from a lot of fats and high calories. If it isn't removed, then you can grow to become obese. Even a small quantity of fast food contains many calories. People are fooled by its appearance and they tend to eat more. Thus, without knowing, they consume a lot of calories. What's worse, obesity isn't the only risk. Heart disease is also a danger. The more fats, sugar and salt you eat, the weaker your heart can grow.

    Another concern for most consumers is that they can't keep track of the sources of the food supplies in fast food restaurants. They never know about the living conditions of the animals killed for meat in those restaurants, like cows, pigs, and chicken. A recent study has suggested that bacteria have been found in about 38% fast food. Even some soft drinks are now infected by food-borne illnesses that usually come from meat.

    Although fast food is one of the easiest and cheapest ways of eating, the health risks aren't worth your life, and risking your life for something that isn't good for you could cost thousands of dollars in hospital bills. It is important to eat healthily and make good choices when deciding what to put in your body. Don't be lazy and pick up fast food on your way home from work.