Have you ever felt a sudden feeling of joy because you heard a favorite song playing? Then you know that music can have a strong effect on your emotions. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} It can help get you out of a bad mood (心情) or stay in a good one, says Alicia Ann Clair, professor at the University of Kansas. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    To cheer up, listen to Latin music or anything with a strong beat or a fast speed{#blank#}3{#/blank#}. When you want to relax after a busy day, music with a slower speed can calm you down.     

    Listen to calming music before you start any stressful activities, advises Dr. Clair. "Once you' re in a good state of mind, it' s easier to keep it." You can lower stress at work with music, too, by playing relaxing tunes (曲调). {#blank#}4{#/blank#} "If you listen to them all day long, you'll stop noticing them," Dr. Clair explains. Then the music won't have any effect.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}."To feel energetic, start with something relaxing, and then gradually increase the speed and beat," says Dr. Clair. For example, first play some nice slow love songs, and then listen to something more energetic. When you want to calm down after a busy week at work, just do the opposite.

Do you think you could learn a language in an hour?

    We know, we know! We would expect you to be skeptical. It's ridiculous to think you can learn a language in 60 minutes. You wouldn't even get through the As in a bilingual dictionary in that amount of time! Best-case situation: in an hour, most of us could probably stuff a few words and ready-made phrases into our short-term memory (with a high likelihood of forgetting it all by the following day). Accomplishing anything more than that in one hour? Impossible. Unless…

    We posed the one-hour language challenge to four polyglots(通晓数种语言的人) who are experts on how to study languages. To keep the challenge from becoming completely impossible, we gave them a bit of a break: to learn Romanian in one hour. Why Romanian? Because it's a Romance language and shares many similarities with the languages that the polyglots already know: French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese. And to make sure their hour of learning was as effective as possible, all of them were assigned a personal Romanian tutor to help coach them on their way to success.

    Although each polyglot has a different technique for picking up and remembering a new language, all four methods offer valuable insights to anyone, from casual learners to hard-core language enthusiasts.

Alex Rawlings — UK

    "I'm a bit nervous. This is probably the craziest language-learning thing I've ever done, but learning languages has always been about fun. I expect that, after this, I'll be prepared to have a simple chat over a coffee in Romanian. Is that reasonable?"

    Method: Learn the verbs first

    With only an hour until he had to start demonstrating his grasp of Romanian, Alex knew he had to start talking quickly. He chose to focus first on commonly used verbs and how to conjugate（动词变形） them. Once he had some verbs down, he could start collecting nouns from his tutor and plugging them in to make more interesting and relevant sentences.

Luca Lampariello — Italy

    "Every time I have a conversation with native speakers, it really motivates me. Human contact is really important when learning a language."

Method: Start speaking right away

    Speaking doesn't mean speaking perfectly. Speaking even a little bit is a huge confidence boost. When you can say something in a new language and people actually understand you, it's very motivating. Yes, you'll make mistakes, but you'll also learn faster than if you try to get it all perfect in your head first.

Michael Youlden — UK

    "We all speak a variety of Romance languages which I think will help us get into Romanian quickly."

Method: Write everything down

    Language learning is about recall; there's no use learning something if you don't remember it. Speaking new words aloud is very important, but so is writing them down — after all, words exist as sounds and in written form. Taking notes is a proven way to put new vocabulary and grammar into your memory. Writing supports memorizing which supports speaking... it's a cycle. Plus, you have an easy reference when you want to review what you've learned.

Matthew Youlden — UK

    "I'm going to look for the patterns and similarities with languages I already know. We won't be able to speak fluently after an hour of study, but we should be able to get by with some basic vocabulary and phrases."

Method: Look for cognates

    Cognates are words in different languages that look and sound similar and have the same meaning, due to a common origin. Almost every language combination contains cognates (even if two languages aren't seemingly related), but languages from the same language family have many more. Whichever language you are learning, identify the familiar words and then use them to anchor the new words that aren't so familiar. To use English as an example, because it's a sort of Germanic-Romance hybrid, English already has many words that cognate with German, Dutch and Swedish on one hand, and on the other hand it also has lots of words that cognate with French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and, of course, Romanian!

    Learn a language with courses designed by the experts. Start here, today!

    Pick a language to learn. German, Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese, and Swedish.

    Moving into a new home in a new neighborhood is an exciting experience. Of course, you want to make sure that you become an accepted and valuable part of your new neighborhood. The easiest way to accomplish this is to make sure you conduct yourself as a good neighbor should.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Perhaps one of the most important things you can do as a good neighbor is to keep your property(房产) neat, clean, and in good repair. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}By choosing to keep the outside of the home in great shape, you will help to improve the look and feel of the area.

    Second, take the overall appearance of the neighborhood seriously. When going for a walk. Take along a small garbage bag. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}This small act will let your neighbors know that you care about the area.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} If a neighbor is going to be out of town, offer to collect mail and newspapers. If a neighbor suffers an illness, offer to do the grocery shopping. Let them know you are there to help in any way this acceptable, while still respecting the privacy of your neighbor.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}By following the basic rules of respecting others, taking care of what belongs to you, and taking pride in the appearance of the neighborhood in general, you will quickly become a good neighbor that everyone appreciates.

    The new school year is right around the corner, and the adjustment to returning to school may take a few weeks.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Kids today are faced with far more than learning new material. Interacting with teachers and other students, bullying (欺凌), peer pressure and school violence are just a few of the challenges children face. The Kern County Sheriff s Office would like to provide the following tips for parents on how to protect your children, and how to teach them to protect themselves.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Map out a safe way for your children to walk to school or to the bus stop. Teach your children to always be aware of their surroundings. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Choose a different route or walk on the opposite side of the street.

    Bus Safety

    Make sure your children arrive at least five minutes early for the bus. Be aware that bullying often happens on the bus. Ask your children about their bus rides, who they sit with, and what goes on in the bus.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    After School

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} It could be your parents or any of your neighbors who can take care of your children for you. Make sure they inform you of it the moment your children arrive home.

    At School

    Teach your children to resolve problems without fighting. Many parents mislead their children to solve problems by force in fear that their children may be bullied at school, which will only lead to more trouble. Anyway, encourage your children to report bullying behavior, either as a victim or a witness.

A. Getting to School

B. Preparing for School

C. Encourage them to report any bullying behavior on the bus.

D. Some kids just can't wait to return to school after a long holiday.

E. Have your children check in with an adult as soon as they get home.

F. Be aware of slow moving vehicles or parked vehicles that appear to be occupied.

G. Returning to school can be fun and exciting, but it can also be difficult for some children.

    Keeping the memory in shape is important at any age, but it requires a bit more work as we grow. There are some simple activities that can improve your memory.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Awaken your senses.

    Use your senses to help your memory store(储存) needed information. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}You can ask yourself like this: Is the sky a light blue or deep purple? The more involved(参与的) you can be in the information, the easier it is for your brain to store it.

    Use imagination and relation.

    Trying to remember names? Let's say you meet a man named Frank Parker. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Tie the two together by picturing Frank dressed up in a hot dog costume(服装) parking his car in the parking lot. Now each time you see Frank, you should easily recall his name.

    Breathe deeply and relax.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}Relax, breathe deeply and slowly and let your mind ease up for a minute. Being relaxed makes it easier for information to be both stored and remembered.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    When you come upon something you need to remember, say to yourself, “Hey, pay attention and remember this!” You are giving yourself a wake-up call as well as giving your mind a marker that it can use to help in storing the new information.

A. Give yourself an order.

B. Get a good night's sleep.

C. Here are four of them to get you started.

D. Picture a hot dog for Frank and a car for Parker.

E. For example, note the colors of a picture you want to remember.

F. When we try hard to remember something we often become nervous.

G. The way you live influences not only your physical health but also your memory.

    Can just one person make a difference? You bet! In a community every person counts, and getting involved is not difficult. Take stock of your own talents and interests. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Don't wait for someone else to act first. Take the initiative! Once you see what you can accomplish, you'll want to keep going.

    Here are just a few ways to make a difference in your community. How many more ways can you come up with?

    Clean up the community. People often throw litter in places where there is already litter. And the problem only becomes worse until someone gets fed up and does something. Could your neighborhood use a cleanup? Neighborhood cleanups are often sponsored by local businesses or schools. But if your community doesn't have a cleanup program, get together with friends to organize one. You could pick up garbage in a larger area twice a year, or you could clean a smaller area every few months. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Include the isolated. Do you know anyone who is housebound? Almost all neighborhoods have a few people who have to stay at their homes. These people are often elderly and unable to leave their homes to perform simple tasks. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} By letting them "borrow" your legs and eyes, you can make them feel included. You can run errands for them like shopping or paying bills. They might like you to read to them if their eyesight is failing. Governments provide some of the services these people need, but programs cannot give them friendship; that's what communities are for!

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Reading clubs are popular all over Europe and North America. Members might read at home to prepare for discussion, or they might read aloud to each other and talk about what they just read. Either way, a book or article can spark lively discussion and this often challenges people to take action.

A. Cleaning your community will have a positive effect on others in society.

B. They find a need or an issue you really care about.

C. But they belong to the community, too.

D. Living in a clean neighborhood will be its own reward.

E. Don't hesitate to take part in the community's activity.

F. Round up some readers.