These everyday-1ife inventions will make your life more comfortable．Whether you are washing，cooking，cleaning or even sleeping，none of it will ever be the same once you start using these．Let’s start this list the way you start your day：in bed．

A body pillow just for comfortable sleeping

What’s better than waking up embracing that special someone?Now,waking up next to your significant other without pain or discomfort is no longer unheard of．This pillow will allow your allow to rest under your partner without the weight of that person leaving marks or cutting off circulation!

Nightstand table／breakfast in bed

Arriving at the second stage of our day：breakfast! But wouldn’t it be nice if we didn’t have to get right out of bed?With this invention you can eat right from the comfort of your bed!Whether you are preparing a Mother’s day surprise for that special Mrs．，or if it’s just for fun，you just need to prepare the food，put it on the sideboard，swing it over the covers，and enjoy!

An ironing board with a mirror on the back

Somewhere between getting up and going to work，you might need to iron your clothes．When you don’t want to waste time running from the ironing board to the mirror to try something on，you can simply rum over this double-purpose ironing board／mirror to ensure that it looks just right．

Bicycle backpack with safety—LEDs

For those of you opting for a real bike ride，this backpack can save your life．It has art inbuilt LED—screen signaling your next moves．Displaying either a turn signal or a brake light，traffic behind you will surely take notice and respond accordingly．

This ‘cleaning slime’is just perfect for grabbing dust from the electronics and mechanical devices

Cleaning your car from the outside is no problem．Cleaning it from the inside is not so easy,because of all the places difficult to clean—vents，dials and buttons．This cleaning slime can help with that．Just squeeze it in，and let it grab all the dust trapped in those difficult cracks and corners．It is also great for cleaning your keyboard or other spaces in the kitchen，living room and workshop．

21．What’s special about the pillow?(改后)

A．It can guarantee you a night’s sound sleep．

B．It can promote your blood circulation．

C．It can leave some marks on your arms．

D．It will cause no pain or discomfort in bed．

22．Which of the following statements is true of these inventions?

A．The ironing board can also be used as a mirror．

B．The nightstand table makes it easier to prepare food．

C．The LEDs can direct you to your destination without mistakes．

D．The‘cleaning slime’can be trapped in difficult cracks and corners．

23．Which section of a newspaper can you find the passage?

A．Science fiction．       B．Domestic life．

C．Health care．               D．Current affairs．

Anaya Ellick from Chesapeake，Virginia has won the Nicholas Maxim Special Award for Excellence in Manuscript Penmanship in 2016．Brave Anaya does not use prostheses，instead，he holds her pen between her forearms and stands up at her desk to write．Despite her being born without hands，she manages to catch up with her classmates and to be no different from them．

“We looked at her writing and were just shocked to see how well her handwriting was，considering she writes without hands，”competition director Kathleen Wright told ABC News．“Her writing sample was comparable to those of normal people．”

Her hard work and determination has inspired and amazed almost everyone around her，including her parents，teacher,and principal．

“There is truly very little that this girl cannot do，”the principal of Greenbrier Christian Academy in Chesapeake，Tracy Cox，told ABC News．“She is a hard worker．She is determined．She is independent．”

Her parents Bianca and Gary were worried about her daughter at first，but are now inspired by her determination．“She ties her shoes，she gets dressed by herself,she doesn’t really need any assistance to do anything．”her mom told WTKR．

    “I was shocked at the news at first，”Anaya’s father Gary told WTKR,but now they are confident that she can overcome her impairment．

“I don’t think Anaya thinks of it as an obstacle．”Greenbrier founder and superintendent Ron H．White told ABC News

Anaya has been presented with a trophy and a $1，000 prize，according to Zaner-Bloser’s website.

Will and determination seem to grant anyone to do anything．This touching and inspirational story about the little girl sheds light on our life when we get frustrated from difficulties．By not letting any excuse stands in the way,we will surely make our lives more fulfilled．

24．Why was Anaya given the Nicholas Maxim Special Award?

A．Because she wrote better than any other competitor．

B．Because she tried to catch up with her classmates in daily life．

C．Because she inspired everyone around her with her determination．

D．Because she presented her outstanding handwriting as a girl without hands．

25．Which of the following statements is true?

A．Anaya regarded her disability as an obstacle at first．

B．Anaya’parents are worried about her all the time．

C．Anaya’s success was beyond her parents’expectation．

D．Ron H．White thinks Anaya is independent．

26．The underlined word“impairment”in paragraph 6 means___________．

A．mental pressure        B．physical disability

C．temporary failure         D．inside sadness

27．What can we learn from Aaya’s story?

A．No obstacles to success．    B．No excuses in the way．

C．Success enriches life．          D．Dream inspires morale．

Shalin Shah died of cancer at the age of 22，but before his death he made sure to send a message to the world to cherish life for the gift that it is．Shah made headlines in the weeks leading up to his death in May 2015 for a powerful blog titled“Thank You，Cancer．”In it，he described moving through his fear of death to realize his purpose life—to inspire others to live their lives fully，even as his own was rapidly coming to an end．

The 22-year-old’s profound wisdom motivated his family to launch a hashtag on Twitter and Instagram，start a foundation in his name and publish a book of Shah’s quotes．

Now with the help of software company Finoit Technologies，the Shah family has developed an app that aims to make gratitude a daily part of people’s lives．The app，available for download on Apple and Android devices，invites users to set a daily gratitude reminder“to take a moment and appreciate the beauty of life，”according to a release．Think of it as a“gentle nudge，”the Shah family said，reminding users to slow down and give thanks．

“The app was developed to spread Shalin’s legacy，”his mother，Bharati Shah，told HuffPost．“Shalin’s wish was that if he could put a smile on someone’s face even for a minute，it served his purpose in life．”

A California native and recent college graduate，Shah had just begun Peace Con trainng in Pen when he became ill and was later diagnosead with stage IV synovial sarcoma．In the months that followed，Shah defeated his fear of death and developed a profound philosophy of life．In his blog，“Thank You，Cancer，”Shah wrote：I want to share my experience of realizing how beautiful the gift of life truly is in the hopes that it can inspire others who are going through tough times to appreciate the positive in life a little more．It is also the reason why I am，after all that I’ve been through in the past few months，thankful for terminal cancer．

    The young man’s legacy lives through the app，which features quotes from Shah’s writings and photographs of his travels abroad．

28．What did Shah do before his death?

A．He bought a gift for his family．    B．He developed all app．

C．He sent a message to his friends．         D．He rose to fame because of a blog．

29．What is the purpose of the app?

A．To launch a hashtag．                   B．To raise money for a foundation．

C．To make people grateful．             D．To gather material for a book．

30．Who helped with the app?

A．Finoit Technologies    B．Instagram    C．Twitter   D．HuffPost

31．What did Shah convey in his blog“Thank You，Cancer”?

A．His determination to fight cancer．    B．His appreciation for life．

C．His experience of traveling．                   D．His advice to value health．

Not everyone’s taste

Have you ever imagined that one day everything your body needs will come in powder form and all you have to do is add water?

Soylent，a drink developed by a group of us engineers，claims it can do just that．It can provide your body with all the nutrients it needs and for as long as you want．You don’t have to eat any other food．This April，Soylent shipped its first products to consumers in the US．

Robert Rhinehart is the 25-year-old co-founder and chief executive of the firm selling the drink．He found himself spending too much time and money searching for nutritious meals while he was working in San Francisco．

An electrical engineering graduate，Rhinehart began to consider food as an engineering problem．“You need amino acids and lipids．not milk itself,”he was quoted as saying by The New Yorker：“You need carbohydrates，not bread．”He began to think that food was an inefficient way of getting what he needed to survive．

Rhinehart hopes his product can be a game changer in the food business．But Soylent may potentially be good for the environment，too．According to a Guardian article，food production is responsible for 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions．But to completely replace our daily meal with a bland-tasting drink?Not many people are enthusiastic about the idea． 

After all，most of us see food as not merely fuel，but also a pleasure。New York Times writer Farhad Manjoo lived largely on Soylent for a week and a half. He declares that“everything about Soylent screams function，not fun，”thinking it“the most joyless new technology to hit the world since we first laid eyes on．MS．DOS．”

Lizzie Widdicombe，who wrote The New Yorker’s article on Rhinehart，also tried out Soylent．With Soylent,you“cruise”through the day．If you are working at your computer and feel hungry，you don’t have to stop for lunch．You can always be productive．

    And here lies Soylent’s downside，Widdicombe says：“Meals provide punctuation to our lives：we’re constantly recovering from them，expecting them，riding the emotional ups and downs of a good or a bad sandwich．With a bottle of Soylent on your desk，time stretches before you，featureless and a little sad．”

32．What’s the purpose of the first paragraph?

A．To introduce the topic．                 B．To advertise for a new drink．

C．To test the readers’imagination．  D．To attract readers’participation．

33．What do Rhinehart’s words in Paragraph 4 imply?

A．Food is not enough to feed us．

B．Milk and bread are beneficial to us．

C．It is what contains in the food that matters．

D．Milk and milk are different sources of food．

34．What is Farhad Manjoo’s attitude to Soylent?

A．Positive    B．Doubtful    C．Negative   D．Neutral

35．What’s the disadvantage of Soylent according to Widdicombe?

A．It makes people go hungry easily．

B．It removes some functions of meals．

C．It isn’t environmentally friendly，

D．It causes emotional ups and downs．

   Coming face-to-face with your inadequacies can be painful，to say the least  36  It even makes you question yourself．Your knee-jerk reaction may be to get defensive or even dismiss the critique entirely．But handling negative feedback with grace will not only make you look gracious，but it could ultimately help you grow as a person．Here’s how to do it．

    1．Be objective about the criticism    

    Before you jump to conclusions and begin to challenge the other person’s opinion，take a step back and look at it objectively．

    Next time you get a bad review，don’t immediately allow your emotions to get the better of you，but rather，take a moment to consider whether the criticism is at all accurate． 37

    2．Avoid unnecessary conflict

    If you decide that the point is valid，it may be hard to take．In your discomfort，you may feel the urge to criticize the other person angrily and defend yourself． 38

    3．Be open to the idea of change

    39  And it may be because of a concept called“cognitive dissonance”that Can prevent us from changing even when that’s what we need most．

4．Ask questions 

    If you’re open to using the criticism as a springboard to improvement,you will likely need more information．40  Your emotions will be tiding high，and you may not be particularly receptive to extra information．However，when you feel ready，it could be worth revisiting the subject with the person who criticized you．Even if you don’t agree with their advice，thank them and promise to consider it．

A．Most of us are pretty stubborn．

B．There is no doubt that change is necessary．

C．But it’s best to avoid getting into an argument．

D．Being sensitive to criticism leads you nowhere．

E．It challenges the way you believe people see you

F．Give yourself a chance to really take in the information and evaluate it．

G．The initial moment you hear it may not be the best time to ask for more details．