DEAR READER,
When I was a little girl, growing up in Anamosa, Iowa, my favorite thing to do was read-the same as today. So when I thought about what I wanted to be when I grew up, I figured I'd be a librarian. Our town librarian, Mrs. Tonne, was really important to me becoming me. The library had a two-book limit, but she knew I'd blow through those in just a few days, so she always let me check out a big stack. And when I was in fourth grade, our school librarian, Mrs. Ketelsen, sent some poems I'd written about dinosaurs to Highlights magazine. My first published writing!
At the University of Iowa, majoring in journalism, I quickly learned that I did not want to be a newspaper reporter. I'm shy about interviewing people, which amuses almost everyone who knows me and thinks I'm outgoing. (I am, but only with people I know!) So I was thrilled when I was selected for a summer internship at Reader's Digest.
Ten years after that, I came back to RD to work as an editor. I've worked at other magazines too, but I've spent most of my career here, reading magazines, newspapers, websites, and books for stories; writing articles; even choosing jokes.
This issue seems like the perfect one to introduce myself to you all. "The Tractor War" (page 92 ) takes me home to the Midwest. "Something to Sneeze (打喷噎) At" (page 47) reminds me of all the sneezing I did when I moved to New York City and was suddenly allergic (过敏) to grasses and trees. "Pet Besties" (page 58) makes me think about my cats, brothers Reggie and Smokey, who are sitting together at the window as I write. I relate to lots of our stories this month, and I hope you do too. Enjoy!
Jody L. Rohlena,
Deputy Editor
As 17 -year-old Torri'ell Norwood drove through St. Petersburg, Florida, last February, the laughter and chatter from the teenage girls inside her car quickly gave way to screams. As they came near to a crossing, another car T-boned them, sending their black car sailing into the yard of a nearby home, coming to a stop only when it crashed into a tree.
As smoke rose from the other car, a bystander shouted, "It's about to blow up! Get out!" The impact had caved in Norwood's driver's side door, jamming it shut. Shaken, but otherwise OK, she crawled out through the window. Along with two of her friends, who'd also managed to free themselves, she ran for her life.
But halfway down the street, she realized that her best friend, A'zarria Simmons, wasn't with them. Norwood ran back to the badly-damaged car and found Simmons fall down in the back seat. "She wasn't moving, " Norwood told Inside Edition. She threw open the back door and pulled her friend out, avoiding the broken glass as best she could. She dragged Simmons a few feet to safety and laid her on the ground. "I checked her pulse. "Nothing. "I put my head against her chest." No sign of life. "That's when I started CPR."
Had the accident happened a few weeks earlier, she might not have known what to do. But Norwood, who wants to pursue a career in medicine, had earned her CPR certificate just the day before. Kneeling on the lawn and looking down at her dying friend, Norwood knew she had precious little time to practice what she'd learned.
She started pumping Simmons's chest with her interlocked fingers and breathing into her friend's mouth in hopes of filling her lungs with the kiss of life. No response. And then, after the 30th compression (加压), Simmons began coughing and gasping for air. The CPR had worked!
Soon, the ambulance arrived and rushed Simmons to the hospital, where she received stitches (缝合) in her forehead. And then she heard how her best friend had saved her life. "I wasn't shocked, " Simmons told CNN. "She will always help any way she can. "
Feeling overwhelmed by your to-do list can certainly make you unhappy, but a new study released last week suggests that more free time will not actually make people as happy as they commonly believe it will.
The researchers collected data from two large-scale surveys, which included more than 35, 000 replies. They found that people with up to two hours of free time a day generally had higher levels of well-being than those with less time. But people who had five or more hours of free time a day generally said they felt worse.
So the free-time "sweet spot" might be two to three hours per day, the findings suggest. "While being too busy can cause stress, having more time is not always better, " said Marissa Sharif, an assistant professor at The Wharton School, in a press release.
Experts note, for example, that some adults struggle with the "retirement blues, " which can be due to a lack of stimulation (刺激) and structure, among other things. The "sweet spot" seems to have something to do with how people spend the extra time they have, the researchers behind the new study argue.
They conducted several smaller online experiments. In
one they asked participants to imagine having 
to seven free hours per day, and to imagine spending that time doing "productive" things (like exercising) or to imagine doing "unproductive" activities (like watching TV). The 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, which is one limitation of the new research, it's certainly in line with other researches showing that being in a state of "flow" can be good for people's mental health. In other words, how people use their free time matters.
"In cases when people do find themselves with excessive amounts of spare time, such as retirement or having left a job, " Sharif said, "our results suggest these individuals would benefit from spending their newfound time with purpose. "
In language learning, it is found that when you're a beginner, you usually feel proud and pleased about how much you can understand and say. However, when you get better, you realize that you still have so much to learn. Here are three tips if you too are finding it a little harder than usual to motivate yourself.
Think back to why you started learning the language. There must have been at least a few reasons why you devoted yourself to learning a whole new language. Physically writing a list of these reasons will give you a chance to think and remember why.
You will probably see a great change in your ability. Remember how little you knew when you were just a beginner. Hopefully seeing your progress will make you realize how far you've come, and how much better you will get, if you keep learning more!
Try something new. Sometimes doing the same old thing can be really boring. Try to find a new activity which can make things interesting again. Why not make a mind map with pictures and colors to learn your vocabulary this time?
And there are so many reasons to be motivated. Congratulate yourself on how far you have come and be excited by how much more you can achieve!
A. Language learning does require lots of motivation.
B. Have a look back at your old work
C. You might even come up with some new reasons too!
D. Set a small goal each day and keep on learning just a few new words a day.
E. Sometimes for one reason or another, you can find that it is gone.
F. This can feel a bit overwhelming and, hence, lead to depression.
G. Memorizing a long vocabulary list, for instance, will make you lose your motivation.
和 
四个选项中选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。
TIME Magazine on Sept. 15th released its complete 1 of the 100 most influential people of 2021. The 18th annual list was 2 from six groups of workers, namely, icons (时代偶像), pioneers, titans (业界泰斗), artists, leaders, and innovators (创新者).
Viya, one of China's top e-commerce livestreamers (电商直播) based in Hangzhou, is on the list as 
an ) 3 along with Elon Musk and another dozen innovators.
Daily Mail thinks highly of Viya as "China's star saleswoman" who 4 a 
billion world of live online shopping. 5 Bloomberg's Allen Wan regards her as unimportant, saying she is just "a cross between Martha Stewart and Kim Kardashian", TIME has 6 Viya as one of the 2021 Most Influential 100 persons for being 7 in both business and charities.
The Australian model Miranda Kerr, the founder of KORA Organics, writes a(an) 8 about Viya for TIME. She 9 Viya as "the widely beloved businesswoman and influencer who is helping to 10 the future of e-commerce in China". Her live broadcasts of products, ranging from noodles to electric cars, 11 more money to actual companies. Kerr's admiration for Viya goes 12 business. Viya is a mother and charity supporter, 13 balancing all of these various roles in her life. She takes 14 of her abilities and influence to help more people by donating over $300,000 to flooded areas this summer. 15, she makes contributions to the construction of 18 primary schools in China's rural areas, the first of 16 opened last year. Viya once said "the greatest commercial value is to create value for 17. " "I am deeply inspired by both Viya's 18 and her down-to-the-earth spirit. " Kerr said.
As the publicity ambassador (宣传大使) of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, Viya makes greater efforts to make the city and the Games 19 known to the world. On Sept 12th, a celebration was held in her livestream room to mark the one-year countdown to the Games and share the latest 20 on the city's preparations for the Games.
I live in a very urban area. I enjoy sitting in my yard and listening to children(laugh) as they play flashlight tag when night falls. The shouts of my neighbor reminding the noisy kids(stay) off her grass are common occurrences.
In recent years, however, this type of activity(fade) away. The sounds of children have given way to the ping of incoming text and of a new Facebook notification.(sad), I might not hear the typical sounds of summer communication the same wayexperienced when I was young and making friends.
The rise of modern technology has meant the decline of true friendship. Parents should show what means to be a true friend to a neighbor. If parents value(important) to friendship, so will children. This social skill of developing friendships may become a(lose) art if parents don't intervene (干预) right now. As Dr. Rosen put it, " A hug feels six times ( supportive) than an emoji. "
1）表示安慰
2）给予建议
注意： 1）词数 80 左右
2）可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear Susan,
I am a girl who has just started senior high school. Recently, I am having some trouble with my classmates. I'm getting along well with a boy in my class. We often do schoolwork together and enjoy helping each other. We have become really good friends.
But our friendship are misunderstood. Other students have started gossiping (说长道短), saying that this boy and I have fallen in love. This has made me angry. I don't want to end the friendship, but I hate others gossiping. What should I do?
Troubled Girl
