You know that eating a sensible diet and getting plenty of exercise help make your body healthy and strong.But do you know that there are ways to make your brain healthier and smarter? Here are some steps toward a smarter brain.

Limit your TV viewing

    ① Never spend too much time on TV viewing, for it needs very little brain activities.Your brain will become weak just as your muscles do.If you do watch TV, choose something educational and meaningful.

Travel

    Travelling to another country forces you to see and do things in a fresh way, bringing stimulation to the brain.

    Learn a new language

    Learning a new language involves different learning methods.Learning a language sharpens your brain and helps prevent memory problems that you may meet in later years.

Read often

    As you read, take the time to look up people or places that aren't familiar.Reading makes your vocabulary much larger if you always search for words and definitions that you don't know.Each week, choose an animal, a bird or fish, and read everything you can about it.Stretch your brain as you become an expert on the subject.

Calculate （计算）when you shop

    As you put things in your grocery cart, total everything in your head.See how close you get to the actual total.

    Use your non-dominant（不占优势的）hand

    If you are right-handed, use your left hand for everyday activities, or use your right hand if you are left-handed.Doing familiar things in a different way will make your brain create new neural （神经）networks.

Wechat（微信）

    ② Read messages from various people.They have different interests.And some say that learning to express yourself in just 100 words is a great brain challenge.

    Have a try and do these every day.Little by little you can get into the habit of challenging your brain, and make your brain smarter!

    When Jan and Brian Dutcher moved to San Diego for Brian's new job at San Diego State University, the neighbors smiled and introduced themselves. But there were no “ bring a plate” invitations, no car pooling for her daughters Liza, 12 and Erin, 15.

    “The family really didn't know each other, and we missed that,” says Jan.“We are far from relatives. Neighbors are our family.”

    So Jan, an artist, decided to repeat a project she had done for Liza's fifth-grade class: ask each person to paint his or her face on a big canvas(帆布).The finished piece would become the new family photo.

    First , Jan painted a grid(网格) on the canvas and put it up in the garage with a table of paints nearby. Then whenever she was home, the “art room” door was up , with an open invitation for neighbors to paint. The first to stop in were kids riding by. “They thought it was cool,” says Jan, but the adults weren't so keen. “ Most said they hadn't picked up a paint brush since kindergarten,” she says. “They were afraid they'd mess it up.” But as word slowly spread, they came, some using their driver's license photos as models.

Then something started to happen. They returned —to see who had painted, or if they could recognize who was who. In Jan's garage, they began to chat about schools, jobs, and families. Almost daily. Wendy, who lived across the street and was seriously ill, came in her wheelchair to watch the fun. Neighbors began to offer their support.

    When the worst things happened and Wendy died, they stood by her husband, Bill and invited him over for dinners.

    This year has been different in the neighborhood. Families take turns hosting happy hours. “We're watching over each other now just like in the painting.” says Jan.

    Do you make a resolution on New Year's Day? How to make a good resolution?{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Plan for the resolution

    It is not enough to have a goal(目标). You need to think out some right steps(步骤) for the resolution. So make your plan. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} And it'll also tell you how to make the goal come true at last. Make a plan is very important.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    If you make your plan later, you may forget your resolution gradually(逐渐地). It's important that you start making your plan right now.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    You should write your resolution and plan in some places, such as a notebook or your diary.

    Think "year around", not just New Year's

    You can't finish anything in one day. You make a resolution in one day. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} It may need a hundred small steps. New Year's resolution should be a starting point. You must keep a habit for making your resolution come true gradually.

A. Make your plan right now.
B. Maybe the following can help you.
C. You should exercise and eat less junk food. 
D. A good plan will tell you what to do next. 
E. Write down your resolutiona nd plan. 
F. It doesn't mean you must finish it in one day. 

    Tom is a TV reporter. An amazing thing happened to Tom yesterday evening. He was walking alone on his way home when he saw bright lights in the sky. Then a spacecraft(航天器) showed up. At first he thought it was orange and white, and it was coming closer and closer. Then it stopped a few metres above the ground. He saw two people inside. They had big ears and small eyes, but no hair. Tom thought they were aliens. He had a camera with him then, but he was too scared to take a photo. Then he began to feel weak and fell to the ground. An hour later, he woke up. He found himself lying on the grass in front of his house. He couldn't explain how he got there. Of course he told his friends about this strange experience. All of them said he was kidding.

    Language is always changing and developing. This isn't a bad thing. If English hadn't changed for a long time, we won't have words to describe telephones, washing machines, computers or some other new things.

    Language changes for several reasons. First, it changes because the needs of its speaker change. New technologies, new products, and new experiences need new words to express them clearly. Another reason for change is that different people have different language experiences. People use different sets of words and expressions, because they have different ages, jobs, education levels(水平) and so on.

    How does language develop then? On the one hand, many of the languages changes begin with young people. When young people communicate with others of their own age, their language grows in grammar, words and expressions that are different from the older people's. Some have a short lifetime but others can influence the language for long. On the other hand, we get new words in many different ways. We borrow them from other languages, we create them by making words shorter or combining words and we make them out of proper names.

    Languages that don't change over time are considered dead languages. The fact that English changes so much shows that it is alive and well.

    Volunteering is fun and rewarding(有益的), but if you want to be a good volunteer, you need to learn more.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Be well-trained. Know what you're doing as a volunteer. If you need to learn about your job. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}If you're good at your job, it will be easier to help others.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Work as part of a team and make sure everyone works together and shares the work. If someone asked for help, just give a hand. If you need some help, ask politely for it.

    Be understanding.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Be friendly. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}To be a volunteer, you might meet new people who want to make friends with. You might just meet someone who becomes a friend for the rest of your life.