Do you want to take time to get in touch with yourself, your feelings, your dreams, and a good, healthy life? Here are some tips:

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Sometimes it seems as if our culture has begun to view the need for sleep as a sign of weakness. But your body was genetically(基因地) programmed to spend a third of its life on sleep, and this affects thinking, memory, growth, your immune(免疫的) system and even your weight.

    Begin the day in thankfulness. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Name each person and hold them in your thoughts. The sense of thankfulness you experience will set a peaceful tone for the entire day, and reduce a day's stress that can lead to sleeplessness that night.

    Strike a balance. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Think about tai chi, prayer, yoga(瑜伽)—any daily activity that allows you to develop a peaceful center and a sense of balance.

    Play with friends. The "tend and be friend studies", as they are called, conducted by UCLA researcher, Shelly Taylor, Ph.D. indicate that when women are stressed, they tend to their children and play with other women. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Use guided imagination. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} The tone of your voice, pacing, music, and pictures will persuade your nervous system that it's time to calm down.

How to improve your happiness

    Recent research has shown that people who value their time over the pursuit of wealth are happier. So how can you best make, save and use your time — and ensure you keep a smile on your face?

● Pay someone to do the housework you hate

Why waste precious hours on housework or gardening if you can get someone else to do it?

● Set time limits on tasks you can't avoid

    Give yourself 20 minutes for necessary cleaning or 10 to hang out the washing. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

● Enjoy standing in that queue

    With three people in front of you at the checkout, think about how busy you usually are and see the wait as a gift, not a bore(烦人的事情). {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

● Take on one new activity at a time

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}At work and at home, be careful about the duties you take on. If you already feel stressed at work, don't do more at home.

● Learn to say no

    Be firm by declining a new project, or telling someone you can't talk right now or that you can only talk for a couple of minutes.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

● Make lists your friend

    Start a wish list of the things you'd like to do and do more of the items that simply make you feel happy. Keep your daily to-do list manageable by putting it on an index card.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Be friendly but firm.

B. Make sure you start with an easy task.

C. This will get boring jobs out of the way faster.

D. Intending to do several things at once can be tiring.

E. Think about things that interest you, or wait patiently.

F. Trying to master too many new things at once can be unpleasing.

G. Recall things you're grateful for, talk to another customer or read a magazine.

    Although many Chinese students say that their knowledge of English grammar is good, most would admit that their spoken English is poor. Whenever I speak to a Chinese student, they always say, “My spoken English is poor.”{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    I would like to suggest that there may be some reasons for their problems with spoken English.

    First, they fail to find suitable words to express themselves due to a limited vocabulary.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}However, you can speak with a limited vocabulary, if you choose a positive attitude. Others will follow you as long as you use the words that you know.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Sometimes they make mistakes when they are speaking because they are shy and nervous. Yet students should remember that their goal should be FLUENCY NOT ACCURACY. Your aim in writing is to be accurate following the rules for grammar and using the right words and spelling them correctly. However, in speaking your aim is fluency. You want to get your message across, to talk to someone in English, as quickly and as well as you can, even though sometimes you may use a wrong word or tense , but it doesn't matter.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    The third reason is that not enough attention is paid to listening . You have one mouth but two ears !All that hearing is necessary for you to start speaking .

    Fourth, most Chinese students are reactive rather than proactive language learners. Instead of actively seeking out opportunities to improve their spoken English they passively wait for speaking opportunities to come to them and wonder why their English always remains poor.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. The person you are speaking to will understand you and make allowances for nay mistakes he hears.

B. They may try to avoid making similar mistakes next time.

C. Obviously the better answer is to expand their vocabulary.

D. If you have this proactive outlook, then you will see English opportunities wherever you go.

E. However, their spoken English does not have to remain “poor”!

F. Second , they are afraid of making mistakes.

G. The second reason lies in the reluctance of using what has just been learned.

    The running of the bulls is a nine-day traditional Spanish festival in honor of Saint Fermin in Pamplona. Every year, at midday on July 6th, the Mayor of Pamplona shoots a rocket. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} The participants are usually dressed in white and wear red neckchiefs and belts. They open champagne mostly used for sprinkling（撒）other people.

{#blank#}2{#/blank#} It starts every day at eight in the morning and the runners run, sometimes wildly, sometimes less. As a sign that the run has begun they shoot the first rocket. Then they shoot the second one when the bulls are out in the streets. Six bulls which are trying to attack the participants from behind run down the 900-meter-long street to the bullring(斗牛场) with a lot of spectators. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} All of the six bulls are going to be killed at the bullfight in the stadium. The bullfight in the stadium begins at half past six in the afternoon. First, there comes the first bull. There is also a person called "picador". {#blank#}4{#/blank#} That makes the bull very wild and it starts to run all over the stadium. Later when the bull is tired, there comes another person—-a "matador" who kills it with an arrow. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} At the end of the celebration, another rocket is shot as a sign that the bullfight is finished.

A. It makes the bull very nervous.

B. It is one of the greatest events in the city.

C. This is a sign that the celebration has started.

D. The same thing happens with the other five bulls.

E. The main event is the running of the bulls.

F. The participants can get hurt or even killed.

G. He waves a red cloth in front of the bull.

Five steps to better handwriting

Some kids love handwriting, but others hate when it's time to put their pen to paper. Maybe they are worried about their handwriting. Are you one of them? {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Here are five steps that really work!

Get a great grasp

Try this — hold your pencil at the top and try to write your name. Pretty hard? But when you hold your pencil the correct way, writing is much easier. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Hold it in place with your thumb, and your index (食指) and middle fingers.

Let the lines be your guide

Lined paper is your friend! Those lines can help you create letters that are the right size and proportion (均衡). {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Also be sure to fill up the lined space completely. Those capital letters should be from the bottom line to the top one.

Slow down

If your writing is hard to read, try slowing down a little. If you rush, it's hard to control where you stop and start your letters.

Lower the pressure

{#blank#}4{#/blank#} That makes it harder to make the smooth lines. Try easing up and don't hold the pencil too tightly.

{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

Lots of games require you to write or draw pictures. So even though it's not schoolwork, you're still using the skills you need to control your pen better.

A. Play games

B. Ask for more advice

C. So "a" should be half the height of a capital "A".

D. You've been writing since you were a little kid.

E. Some kids press down really hard when they write.

F. The good news is that just about everyone can improve their handwriting.

G. The best way to hold a pen or pencil is to let it rest next to the base of your thumb.

The secrets of successful listening

"When people talk, listen completely." Those words of Ernest Hemingway might be a pretty good guiding principle for many managers, as might the saying by Zeno of Citium, a Greek philosopher, "We have two ears and one mouth, so we should listen more than we say." {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

Some firms use a technique known as a "listening circle". {#blank#}2{#/blank#} In such a circle, only one person can talk about the issues they face at a time and there is no interruption. A study cited in the Harvard Business Review found that employees who had taken part in a listening circle then suffered less social anxiety and had fewer worries about work-related matters than those who did not.

Listening has been critical to the career of Richard Mullender, who was a hostage (人质) negotiator, dealing with everything from suicide (自杀) prevention to international crimes. He defines listening as "the identification, selection and comprehension of the key words". {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Plenty of people think that good listening is about nodding your head or keeping eye contact. But that is not really listening, Mr Mullender argues.

A good listener is always looking for facts, emotions and indications of the speaker's values. Another important point to bear in mind is that, when you talk, you are not listening. The listener's focus should be on analysis.

{#blank#}4{#/blank#} One approach is to make an assessment of what the other person is telling you and then check it with them ("It seems to me that what you want is X"). {#blank#}5{#/blank#} The fundamental aim is to build up a relationship so the other person likes you and trusts you, Mr Mullender says.

A. It is vital to all effective communication.

B. However, a listener needs to speak occasionally.

C. For people like listening to others.

D. That gives the other party a sense that they are being understood.

E. Therefore, a listener shouldn't just listen.

F. In it participants are encouraged to talk openly and honestly.

G. For people like being listened to.