Training for a marathon requires careful preparation and steady, gradual increases in the length of the runs.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}, buy the best-fitting, best-built running shoes you can find. No one can say which brand will work best for you or feel best on your feet, so you have to rely on your experience and on the feel of each pair as you shop. When you have found shoes that seem right, walk in them for a few days to double-check the fit.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}.As always, you should stretch(仲展) at least ten minutes before each run to prevent injuries.

    During the first week, do not think about distance, but run five minutes longer each day.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} it is wise to take a day off to rest. But during the next week, set a goal of at least a mile and a half per run.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}.After two weeks, start timing yourself. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}.Depending on the kind of race you plan to enter, you can set up a timetable for the remaining weeks before the race.

A. After six days

B. For a good marathon runner

C. Before you begin your training

D. With each day, increase the distance by a half mile

E. If they still feel good, you can begin running in them

F. Time spent for preparation raises the quality of training

G. Now you are ready to figure out a goal of improving distance and time

    Parents who help their children with homework may actually be bringing down their school grades. Other forms of parental involvement, including volunteering at school and observing a child's class, also fail to help, according to the most recent study on the topic.

    The findings challenge a key principle of modern parenting where schools expect them to act as partners in their children's education. Previous generations concentrated on getting children to school on time, fed, dressed and ready to learn.

    Keith Robinson, the author of the study, said, "I really don't know if the public is ready for this but there are some ways parents can be involved in their kids' education that leads to declines in their academic performance. One of the things that was consistently negative was their parents' help with homework." Robinson suggested that may be because parents themselves struggle to understand the tasks."They may either not remember the material their kids are studying now, or in some cases never learnt it themselves, but they're still offering advice."

    Robinson assessed parental involvement performance and found one of the most damaging things a parent could do was to punish their children for poor marks. In general, about 20% of parental involvement was positive,  about 45% negative and the rest statistically insignificant.

    Common sense suggests it was a good thing for parents to get involved because "children with good academic success do have involved parents", admitted Robinson. But he argued that this did not prove parental involvement was the root cause of that success. "A big surprise was that Asian-American parents whose kids are doing so well in school hardly involved. They took a more reasonable approach, conveying to their children how success at school could improve their lives."

    In June 2014, two leading media in America reported that three-year-old Victoria Wilcher, who suffered facial scarring, was kicked out of a KFC because she was a frightening customer. Later, KFC announced that no evidence had been found to support the story. This phenomenon is largely a product of the increasing pressure in newsrooms that care more about traffic figures.

    Brooke Binkowski, an editor, says that she has seen a shift towards less responsibility in newsrooms. “Clickbait is king, so newsrooms will uncritically print something unreal. Not all newsrooms are like this, but a lot of them are.”

    Asked what the driving factor was, a journalist said, “You've a strict editor and you've to meet your targets. And some young journalists are inexperienced and will not do those checks. So much news reported online happens online. There is no need to get out and knock on someone's door. You just sit at your desk and do it.”

    Another journalist says, “More clicks equal more money. At my former employer in particular, the pressure was due to the limited resources. That made the environment quite horrible to work in.”

    In a Feb. 2015 report for Digital Journalism, Craig Silverman wrote, “Today the bar for what is worth giving attention to seems to be much lower. Within minutes or hours, a badly sourced report can be changed into a story that is repeated by dozens of news websites, resulting in tens of thousands of shares. The rumor becomes true for readers simply by virtue of its ubiquity.”

    And, despite the direction that some newsrooms seem to be heading in, a critical eye is becoming more, not less important, according to the New York Times' public editor, Margaret Sullivan. “Reporters and editors have to be more careful than ever before. It's extremely important to question and to prove before publication.” Yet those working in newsrooms talk of doubtful stories being tolerated. In the words of some senior editors, “a click is a click, regardless of the advantage of a story”. And, “if the story does turn out to be false, it's simply a chance for another bite at the cherry.”

    What happened to that brilliant idea that you once had? Did you ignore it because you thought that it was just a little thought? Have you ever considered what that little thought would have become if you had acted on your instincts(本能) or if you had paid more attention to it?

    Imagine a scene, where you are sitting at home watching television or reading a book, suddenly a light bulb is turned on in the dark tunnel of your mind as a thought or an idea crosses your mind. The thought catches your attention but seems so meaningless and you are tempted to abandon it, but wait a minute!

    That thought could be the potential beginning of the success you have so much wished for. As the thought crosses your mind, your senses become alert and you suddenly see a possibility, a solution, or find the answer to a problem whose solution has long escaped you.

    It is almost as if a wise man has whispered the perfect solution into your ear or awakened your senses to a reality, thereby bringing light to your life. It is like finding the last piece of jigsaw puzzle(拼图游戏). This becomes an amazing moment and everything freezes around you as you excitedly try to grasp the practicality of that little but powerful thought.

    Your self-confidence and enthusiasm increase as you become conscious of the great possibilities that can arise if that little thought is acted upon. This becomes the moment to build upon that thought and to put down any ideas that are streaming from that little thought for later review.

    Seemingly meaningless little thoughts or ideas when acted upon have a potential to explode into great projects.

    Many successful projects have been born from the little positive thoughts that were carefully protected and recognized as tickets to great things.

You may have heard people say many times that it just came to me in a flash moment, a small idea or seemingly meaningless thought may cross your mind about something you have been planning to accomplish.

    Don't waste an opportunity to act on a potentially brilliant idea. You don't have to wait for a major idea, or approval from your peers in order for you to act on that little thought. That little thought or idea is the beginning of great things if you decide to follow it through.

    It is a popular Internet thing to focus on the upside of being in your 30s, and it is nice to know how to do basic modern-human-being things like paying your taxes and cooking a simple meal. But it can be a less-encouraging story at work: People in their late 20s to early 40s tend to report lower levels of job satisfaction and higher levels of emotional exhaustion than other age groups, according to new research.

    There's an obvious reason: These tend to be the ages when people have young children at home, and the researchers did find that this group reported feeling increasingly crunched for time. But adding to that pressure, coworker support also tends to decline at this age. Some researchers interpret the findings:

    Support from co-workers probably decreases in midlife as peers compete for limited resources（promotion bottlenecks are often encountered during this career stage. Also, whereas younger co-workers are often hungry to make up new social networks, and older workers seek identity-affirming work experiences in their remaining tenure（任期）, mid lifers find it demanding enough just to maintain existing social networks. Meanwhile, time pressure likely increases as colleagues are all trying to enrich their own knowledge and experience.

    But the good news is that after about a decade of struggle, things start to pick back up again. Occupational psychologists say that happiness at work recovers when people reach their 40s, and that people in their 50s are more satisfied with their jobs than any other age group. Hang in there, 30-somethings-soon you will be older, but at least work will meet less frustration（挫折）!

    What is it?

    KindSpring has created a series of 21-Day Challenges designed to help individuals and groups grow in values that help create positive change. Regardless of profession, age, culture or geography, when we try to cultivate(培养) certain values we create a ripple effect(连锁反应) that has the power to transform our lives and the world for the better. When we practice these values together over and over again, our efforts encourage and strengthen each other in remarkable ways. Each of our 21-Day Challenges focuses on a specific value — from kindness to mindfulness. Click here for more information.

    How does it work?

    A small daily commitment + a daily prompt(提示)+ a process for communication. Each 21-Day Challenge invites participants to carry out one small daily action related to the main theme. Every day for three weeks a unique idea is emailed out that serves as a prompt. Participants are encouraged to carry out the act and share stories of their experiences in both online and offline spaces. You can sign up to participate as an individual or you can “host” a challenge for a group you belong to. The challenges were developed for workplace, school/college and family environments, but are broadly usable. Any group is more than welcome to take them on. At the end of 21 days, you may continue the practice with your group, take on a new challenge, or even design your own. There is no charge for any of our services. All the challenges are offered as a gift. Five steps to host a challenge.

    Why should we do it?

    The 21-Day Challenges are all designed to fit the pace of modern day life. They are not very time-consuming（耗时的）, and in most cases demand less than five minutes a day. Twenty-one days certainly can't change everything, but it can begin a new way of being. You are invited to bring these practices to your company, school, community center, or family. Get started with joining a challenge or hosting one here. Let us know if you have questions—we're delighted to help any way we can!