In our modern world, when something wears out, we throw it away and buy a new one. The ___ is that countries around the world have growing mountains of ___ because people are throwing out more rubbish than ever before.

How did we ___ a throwaway society? First of all, it is now easier to ___ an object than to spend time and money to repair it. ___ modern manufacturing(制造业)and technology, companies are able to produce products quickly and inexpensively. Products are plentiful and ___.

Another cause is our ___of disposable(一次性的)products. As ___ people, we are always looking for ___ to save time and make our lives easier. Companies ____ thousands of different kinds of disposable products:paper plates, plastic cups, and cameras, to name a few.

Our appetite for new products also ____ to the problem. We are ____ buying new things. Advertisements persuade us that ____ is better and that we will be happier with the latest products. The result is that we ____ useful possessions to make room for new ones.

All around the world, we can see the ____ of this throwaway lifestyle. Mountains of rubbish just keep getting bigger. To ____ the amount of rubbish and to protect the ____, more governments are requiring people to recycle materials. ____, this is not enough to solve(解决)our problem.

Maybe there is another way out. We need to repair our possessions ____ throwing them away. We also need to rethink our attitudes about ____. Repairing our possessions and changing our spending habits may be the best way to reduce the amount of rubbish and take care of our environment.

Many of us in developed societies【小题1】 (trap） in a spending circle. We work hard so that we can earn more money. Sometimes we try to deposit a little or change our money into different countries’ currencies in the hope of【小题2】 (make）even more money. But【小题3】 (strange） enough, the more money we earn, the less often we see it. Because we are taxpayers, the more we earn the more tax we should pay to those【小题4】govern us. In this spending circle, on the one hand, we accumulate【小题5】 (possess） but never feel like we have enough. On the other hand, we work hard for【小题6】 ( big） and better houses and cars but have no time to enjoy【小题7】 (they）. They seem like a big burden. There is a growing resistance to the consumer society which is especially affecting the youth of today. The government should make some laws.【小题8】laws came into being, a huge adjustment would be required and there would be diverse reactions. As【小题9】society, it's high time that we【小题10】 (take） these issues more seriously.

   After a year of studies, an elementary school in New York decided that math worksheets and essay assignments（作业）were actually a waste of time. In February, head teacher Jane Hsu sent a letter to parents _____ that the prekindergarten through fifth-grade students would not be given any traditional homework to _____ kids to spend more free time reading, playing outside or doing activities they enjoy.

Some parents,_____ , disagree with the policy change, thinking that a lack of homework will cause children’s academic（学术的）performance to _____ Homework has been a part of _____ from the beginning, and has increased in _____ in recent years.

Hsu’s advice that children should read and spend time with their families has _____ some parents who even consider _____ their children out of the school. This group feels that homework assignments give their children a(n) _____ to work toward.

Others feel so ______ about the importance of homework that they have begun ______ their own homework assignments to their children.

An Australian Childhood Foundation’s ______ found that 71% of Australian parents feel they do not spend ______ time with their children mainly because of running the household or helping with homework. Education experts in Australia are saying that parents should ______ helping. Doing so will give kids more ______, will give parents more free time and will help ______ the number of arguments in the family caused by homework.

Some research suggests that homework has ______ academic benefit for elementary students, while other research shows homework can help kids ______ independence and confidence. When parents try to help their children with homework, the ______ can take away that feeling and can also make the busy working parents more ______.

In recent years,American teens 【小题1】（earn） less than stellar（优秀的）scores on the national exam. A new analysis from the Center for American Progress argues for one simple step 【小题2】（help）raise these scores:Start school later in the day.

【小题3】（delay）start time by an hour across the country could improve students math scores up to eight 【小题4】（point）, the analysis says. That's almost one grade level of learning. The idea is that giving sleep-lacking teens more time to sleep 【小题5】 they hit the books will help them learn better.

In the previous study conducted in 2012 , middle school students 【小题6】 switched schedules to start school an hour later saw their test scores increase. And among them the low-performing students saw the 【小题7】（big）increase.

The Center for American Progress considered what would happen if those results 【小题8】（repeat） around the country.

“What we found is the impact 【小题9】 student achievement would be quite large,” Ulrich Boster, a senior fellow at the center, told The Huffington Post. “Starting school later could 【小题10】（significant）improve students' outcomes. ”

   If you want to convince the boss you deserve a pay rise or promotion, the solution could be simple --- eat the same food as they do. Psychologists have discovered managers are much more likely to instantly trust us if we choose the same dishes as them.

During experiments, discussions over wages and work conditions were much more successful if both sides chose to snack on the same treats. And shoppers were much more likely to buy a product advertised on TV by someone eating a similar food to them at the time.

The reason is thought to be the so–called similarity attraction theory --- where people tend to like others who have similar tastes or habits to themselves. But this is believed to be one of the first studies highlighting the role of food in this relationship. Researchers at Chicago University in the US conducted a series of experiments to examine food’s role in earning trust.

In a test, participants were told to watch TV --- where someone pretending to be a member of the public praised a certain product. The volunteers were given Kit Kat bars to nibble, while the TV people ate either a Kit Kat or grapes as they talked.

The results showed viewers were much more likely to express an interest in buying the product if the TV showed the other person eating a Kit Kat too. The researchers added, “Although similarity in food consumption is not a sign of whether two people will get along, we find consumers treat this as such. They feel more trusting of those who consume as they do. It means people can immediately begin to feel friendship and develop a bond, leading to smoother transactions from the start.”

Harley Street psychologist Dr. Lucy Atcheson said it was already known that wearing similar clothes could instantly create trust. But this was the first report that food had the same effect. She said, “This is really interesting. It makes sense as people feel they have common ground and can trust the other person. That means negotiations are more likely to be successful.”