Car registration plates are just a series of numbers and letters, right? Well, yes, but not for everyone.

France was the first country 【小题1】 (introduce) plates in 1893. Early number plates differed 【小题2】shape and size, and were made of lots of different materials, including iron and cardboard. In fact, it was not until 1957 【小题3】 car producers and the governments agreed on standardized plates. 【小题4】 was first registered in the UK was A1. The letter “A” showed the number was from London, while the number “1” showed it was the first number issued. At the moment, number plates 【小题5】 (consist) of a sequence of letters and numbers are applied in the UK.

Different EU countries also use different arrangements of 【小题6】 (number) combined with letters, and 【小题7】 (they) systems have changed many times because these letter-number combinations keep running out. In the past decades, some number plates 【小题8】 (become) extremely valuable, particularly those that spell out words. 【小题9】 (basic), numbers on the plates can be used to represent words or parts of words. For example, “NVERLA8” means “Never Late”. And the most 【小题10】 (expense) number ever was “M1” which a buyer has acquired for ￡331,000.

Why is the news important?

Having access (机会) to up-to-date information has value in the modern world because the nature of the world is【小题1】(constant) changing. Without regular access to news, most people would be unaware of the various events【小题2】(take) place that have an     influence on their lives.

As everything that happens does not affect all people equally, news【小题3】 (organization) generally don’t make their news for a specific person. This is why many of the stories that【小题4】(show) on nightly news programs are far-reaching and varied. The same applies to even the local newspaper,【小题5】divides its pages into a variety of different sections, including local【小题6】(nation) and world news. Further, events happening in a distant location can affect economies (经济) and various products over the long term. This means that having access to this information can help investors (投资者) to better understand【小题7】is affecting their investments and allow them【小题8】(react) accordingly. The continuous dry weather in a foreign country can cause grain prices to rise in other areas as the hungry【小题9】(populate) begins calling for help. Finally, political environment changes too quickly, and without being informed, it’s difficult for people who are affected【小题10】it to be prepared for the results.

There are two types of attention. The first type is 【小题1】 (basic) active. Active attention is voluntary and it’s when you intentionally make yourself concentrate on something. 【小题2】 it requires effort, it’s hard to keep up for a long time. You're standing at the front of the room and 【小题3】 (lecture) on a variety of frogs. 【小题4】, this isn’t necessarily going to keep the students’ interest. Some of them will force themselves 【小题5】 (pay) active attention to your lecture. The other type of attention is passive attention and when it’s 【小题6】 (voluntary), passive attention requires no effort, because it 【小题7】 (happen) naturally. If something’s really interesting, students do it without even thinking about it. So back 【小题8】 our biology lecture. You start talking about frogs, and then you pull a 【小题9】 (live) frog out of your briefcase. That you described the frog holding it up is to show the students how long its legs are and 【小题10】 they’re used for jumping.