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Feeling overloaded by your to-do list can certainly make you unhappy, but new research suggests that more free time might not be the____elixir many of us dream it could be.

In a new study released last week, researchers analyzed data from two large surveys about how Americans spend their time. Together, the surveys included more than 35,000 replies. The researchers found that people with more free time generally had higher levels of subjective(主观的) well-being-but only up to a point. People who had around two hours of free time a day generally reported they felt better than those who had less time. But people who had five or more hours of free time a day generally said they felt worse. So finally the free-time "sweet spot" might be two to three hours per day, the findings suggest.

Part of finding this seemingly tricky "sweet spot" has to do with how people spend the extra time they have, the researchers behind the new study argue. They carried out several smaller online experiments. In one they asked participants to imagine having 3.5 to 7 free hours per day. They were asked to imagine spending that time doing "productive" things (like exercising) or to imagine doing "unproductive" activities (like watching TV). Study participants believed their well-being would suffer if they had a lot of free time during the day-but only if they used it unproductively. Though that experiment was hypothetical (假设的), which is one limitation of the new research, it's certainly in line with other research showing that being in a state of "flow" can be good for people's mental health.

Of course, what feels "productive" is up to you. Many traditionally productive or purposeful activities can be easy and fun. Engaging in a bit of low-key cardio(有氧运动), like walking and jogging, can help burn stress. Free-time activities like reading or cooking are also known to put people in a state of flow.

At Jenner Park Primary School in Wales, pupils between the ages of seven and nine are writing letters to people of a local care home. The initiative(倡议) sees children and their elderly pen pals exchange updates about their lives, helping to build relationships between generations while also giving the children an understanding of the value of writing letters by hand—an activity that's becoming less and less common.

Laura Johnson, the teacher who balance the scheme at Jenner Park, says," All of our writing is for a purpose. That's the key in getting children to value handwriting.""As soon as you put an audience there, knowing that someone out there is going to be reading it—whether that's parents or another group of children—there's always the real sense of pride to go along with it," says Johnson.

The school keeps a focus on handwriting throughout the years, from dedicated handwriting classes in the pre-school to a calligraphy club offered to the older groups. It has created something called the pen license. It allows younger children to move from using a pencil to pen once they've reached a certain standard. "There's a lot of excitement about reaching that pen licence stage," says Johnson.

Johnson adds that developing students' writing in this way matters for their life after school: "For us, it's important that we create citizens of the future who have a set of life skills that can make them successful." The development of technology is a challenge, she admits, but she also believes both tools have their place. "Obviously we're competing with technology continuously," she says. "And I know there are people there saying you don't need to bother about handwriting because tech is out there. But we don't see it as competing. We're trying to get pupils to realize that there's a place for handwriting, and to know when it's important to use each."

Jennifer Mauer has needed more willpower than college students to pursue her goal of earning a nursing degree. That willpower bore fruit when Jennifer graduated from University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and became the first in her large family to earn a bachelor's degree.

Jennifer, of Edgar, Wisconsin, grew up on a farm of 10 children. Her dad worked at a job away from the farm and her mother ran the farm with the kids. After high school, Jennifer attended a local technical college, working to pay her tuition( 学 费 ), because there was no extra money set aside for a college education. After graduation, she worked to help her sisters and brothers pay for their schooling.

Jennifer now is married and has three children of her own. She decided to go back to college to advance her career and to be able to better support her family while doing something she loves: nursing. She chose the UW- Eau Claire program at Ministry Saint Joseph's Hospital in Marshfield because she was able to pursue her four- year degree close to home. She could drive to class and be home in the evening to help with her kids. Jennifer received great support from her family as she worked to earn her degree: her husband worked two jobs to cover the bills, and her 68-year-old mother helped take care of the children at times.

Through it all, she remained in good academic standing and graduated with honors. Jennifer sacrificed to achieve her goal, giving up many nights with her kids and missing important events to study. "Some nights my heart was breaking to have to pick between my kids and studying for exams or papers," she says. However, her children have learned an important lesson witnessing their mother earn her degree. Jennifer is a first-generation graduate and an inspiration to her family-and that's pretty powerful.

Yesterday I was in a bad mood because of losing my job. I tried to find something else to do to make myself feel better. I went shopping for a pair of trainers to replace the old pair I have been wearing for too long. I would have replaced them months ago but I am one of those women who hate shopping. I hate the crowds and the heat in the shops, but mostly I hate the waiting line.

I was happy as I found my trainers very quickly, but my happiness soon disappeared when I found myself in a very long line for the payment.

This line was long and snaking around a corner. I do hate waiting but I find the best way to pass the time is to talk to the person behind me.

So I turned around and told the woman behind me that the line was looking very long and joked that I hoped we could all hang on.

She laughed and agreed. I caught an English accent(口音) as she spoke, so being a person from Liverpool in England myself, I immediately asked her where she was from.

She rewarded me with a sharp look and said. "England."

Immediately I realized that I had accidentally offended(冒犯) her—she was black and thought I was referring to her colour. I told her I was from Liverpool and had noticed her English accent.

注意：1.续写词数应为 150个左右；2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

She laughed then and continued chatting.

……

The line seemed to disappear slowly as we exchanged some information about our life.

For the last two weeks, 32 women's football teams have been playing in stadiums(体育场)across Australia and New Zealand as part of the FIFA Women's World Cup. Along the way, there have been some (excite) matches, along with several surprises. Now there are only eight teams (leave).

This is the (nine) Women's World Cup. The competition (begin) in 1991and is held every four years. For the first time ever, the competition is being hosted more than one country. The first match took place in New Zealand. The final match will (hold) at Stadium Australia in Melbourne on August 20.

In another change, this year, for the first time ever, 32 teams were invited to compete. In the past, there were only 24 teams. For the eight (country), this was the first time they'd ever made it into the World Cup.

Some people criticized(批评) the move, saying the new teams were too weak. But several teams  were included for the first time performed(表现) very well even beating teams that were expected  (do) much better. Morocco beat both South Korea Colombia. Morocco is the only one of the new teams to make it into the final 16 teams in the competition.

When Liam fell into the sea during a sailing lesson, he had no idea what he was in for. "I was shaking with 1 ,"said Liam in an interview. 2 , he was wearing a life jacket, but the water was 3 .

The experience left him wondering if he could 4 something that could help people stay warm in water related accidents. The following spring, Liam 5 his friend Fraser for a class science project. Together they got the 6 of "LifeHeat " a self heating life jacket that could one day help someone in a 7 situation.

After repeated tests, Liam and Fraser 8 calcium chloride a chemical(化学品) often used to melt(融化) snow and ice from sidewalks and driveways, which 9 the life jacket to remain warm underwater. Then they decided to self test their 10 by jumping into the sea. Their first 11 did not go as planned. "We put in more calcium chloride than we usually do," said Liam. "We were starting to overheat!" While it wasn't the result they expected, the test made Liam and Fraser feel 12 .

This year they 13 B. C. Science Fairs and won first prize. It was a special moment for Liam and Fraser as they could receive feedback(反馈) from experts to 14 their work. They hoped to turn their invention into business. "We believe that this 15 will be widely used to save more lives," said Fraser.

Living a healthy life is all about choosing to make health y choices each day. We've put together some good tips for starting a healthy life.

Create specific health goals

When you have specific goals you want to achieve, you'll be more encouraged to make changes in your life.  . And then you can set smart goals that are specific and measurable to better 

achieve your success.

It's no secret that eating healthy food is one of the keys to achieving a healthy life. When you follow a healthy diet, you reduce the risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, and other diseases. More than that, healthy eating can relax you and make you happy.

Drink plenty of water

Just like tasty food, water is necessary to keep your body healthy. Water helps you digest(消化) food, keeps you hydrated(补水), and protects your body. . This amount can change depending on your age, weight, and physical activity level.

Exercise regularly

Find a type of physical activity that's enjoyable for you. . Being active helps you lose weight, improves your cognitive function(认知能力), and lifts your spirits. Experts suggest that adults get at least 150 minutes of exercise each week.

Get enough sleep

A good night's sleep can help you avoid getting sick, keep a healthy weight, and start a good day. Most adults need at least 7 hours of quality sleep each night. .

A. Keep a healthy diet

B. Get into shape before school starts

C. Be positive about yourself and your body

D. The good point s of physical activity are endless

E. You should know what parts of your life you want to improve

F. Children need from 8 to 13 hours depending on how old they are

G. You should drink about 3.1 L of water a day to stay properly hydrated

Learn a new language with the world's most-downloaded education app! Duolingo is a fun, free app for learning 40+ languages through quick, bite-sized lessons.

Designed by language experts and loved by hundreds of millions of learners worldwide, Duolingo helps you prepare for real conversations in Spanish, French, Chinese, Italian, German, English, and more.

The program is based on crown levels which give you more difficult exercises at higher levels. When the skill is leveled up, the next row of skills is unlocked. The point of the leveling-up design is to allow you to see more challenging content without forcing you to go through it.

With Duolingo, you can enlarge your vocabulary, learn basic grammar structures, and have fun along the way. The app also offers a wide variety of exercises, and you can learn how to pronounce words as well as improve your writing and listening skills. You can learn different languages at the same time, which is really cool. There's a wide range of languages to choose from.

Duolingo becomes so popular because it's both fun and effective. And free, of course. But the app also has a paid version called Duolingo Plus, which removes ads, allows for lessons' downloads to mobile devices, provides chances for members to practise their former(以前的) mistakes and more.

There are a ton of education apps on the market these days, and it's not easy to stand out. But Duolingo manages to find the winning combination(结合): affordability, simplicity, and originality. But you shouldn't have unrealistic goals. As long as you don't expect to become fluent with Duolingo, you'll find the program very useful.

Corcoran, a farming town of California, is slowly sinking(下沉) when drought has forced farmers to pump(用泵抽) amounts of water from the ground. Corcoran is struggling to make sense of the strangest thing: His already suffering town is sinking, ever so gradually, into the ground.

To water its large fields and help feed America, farm operators began in the last century to pump water from underground sources, so much so that the ground has begun to sink. Strangely, signs of this subsidence are nearly out of sight. There are no cracks(裂缝) in the walls of the typical American shops in the town's center, nor in the streets or fields.

This year's drought has changed this food-basket of America into a large field of brown dust, forcing the government to limit(限制) the use of water by farmers. So Corcoran now finds itself in the middle of a bad circle: With their water supplies limited, farm operators are forced to pump more underground water, which in turn speeds the sinking of the town.

Few locals have spoken out against the problem—not surprising, since most of them work for the same big agribusinesses pumping up groundwater. "They are afraid that if they speak against them, they might not work there any more," said Atilano, who has spent years working for one of the country's biggest cotton producers, J. G. Boswell.

On this summer afternoon, under a heat wave, some people stop to chat under a large wall painting. It describes a clear blue lake surrounded by snow-covered mountain peaks—for now, a far dream.

My husband, Dave, who teaches Botany(植物学), always plants things. He has planted trees anywhere we have lived and is proud to see they are flourishing and providing shade and beauty for whoever lives there.

I also love planting, especially the harvest. But I hate weeding(除草). I remember one of our first gardens in Kansas when I was attacked by the hugest grasshoppers(蚱蜢) I had ever seen while weeding our little garden.

Now, our growing efforts at our new home are vegetables. We are enjoying the garden we have created. It's large but manageable with daily care. We use methods to minimize weeds. We have the time to keep up with the watering and weeding. I find I don't hate that anymore.

There is something satisfying about pulling grass, and violets that are growing where we don't want them, and unnamed weeds that are affecting the growth of what we want. I find that my relationship with gardening is turning into a true romance that has a rosy future.

It's all about time, environment and attitude. Being in my eighties, I have the time to be patient for results, to enjoy the hope for future harvest, and I have the knowledge that comes from experience. I find a lot to love about growing things and about growing older.