How to Say Goodbye

    Knowing how and when to say goodbye is often difficult, even in informal situations. But learning to say goodbye appropriately is a skill that will help you keep your relationships and let people know you care.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Read on to learn how to recognize opportunities when you leave.

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    When you're at any kind of party or gathering, or even a one-on-one conversation, it can be difficult to get away. Learning to recognize good opportunities to leave will make a short-term goodbye much easier.

Watch body language.

    People don't like telling you that they'd like you to leave.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} If the host of a party starts cleaning up, or withdraws (退出) from the conversation, gather your friends or belongings and make your exit. If someone starts checking their watch, or seems otherwise restless, it's also time to leave.

    Make plans to see each other again.

    Even saying, “See you at school tomorrow,” or “Can't wait to see you again at Christmas” keeps the goodbye light and focused forward.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

Tell the truth.

    Many people expect to come up with a “good excuse” when they're ready to leave.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}If you want to leave, just say, “I'm going to go now, see you later.”

A. You don't need to.

B. Set up a coffee date.

C. Recognize when to leave.

D. So try and watch for signals.

E. It makes the goodbye easier.

F. It's also easier than it seems sometimes.

G. If you haven't already made plans, use it as an opportunity to make them.

    Every now and then, you may be struck with a difficult person at work or at home. What are some of the keys to empowering yourself in such situations? {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Keep in mind that these are general rules of thumb, and not all of them can apply to your particular situation.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} When you feel angry or upset with someone, before you say something you might later regret, take a deep breath. This will help you remember that you're in control of your emotions and feelings. Also, if you remain calm, the other person will likely notice and reflect on his or her behavior.

    Put yourself in their shoes. It's important to remember that we all have off days and times in our life when things are trickier. Instead of judging others' behaviors immediately, try to practice empathy. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} If you are sensitive to personality differences, you will be better able to handle diverse conflicts.

    Be frank with others. Some people are not very self−aware, so maybe you just need to tell them constructively what the problem is. For instance, if a colleague were making unkind comments, what would you do? {#blank#}4{#/blank#} They'll either be apologetic as they didn't realize it was a problem, or they'll make some excuse.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} If someone is behaving in a threatening way, either verbally or physically, then regardless of who they are, it's OK to walk away or say that you are going to put the phone down and that you will return when they have calmed down.

A. Keep your cool.

B. Handle aggression wisely and confidently.

C. Adjust your style when you communicate with them.

D. It won't hurt you to take them to one side, and ask them why.

E. You step back and reflect on how you would feel in his or her place.

F. Here are some tried and true methods of handling them quite effectively.

G. It's helpful to remember that most difficult people also have positive qualities.

    Recently researchers went through some survey information about the health and habits of men and women in Scotland, {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (hope) to determine how much exercise is needed to keep the Scots {#blank#}2{#/blank#} feeling depressed. The answer: a mere 20 minutes a week of any physical exercise, whether sports, walking, gardening {#blank#}3{#/blank#} even housecleaning. The researchers found that more exercise brought more mental-health benefits. But their overall conclusion was that being active for 20 minutes a week {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (be) enough, if your goal is mental health.

    How much exercise is enough? This is a question difficult to answer, {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (part) because the amount of exercise needed depends on the benefits you hope to gain. Twenty minutes a week of housecleaning or other {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (activity) may, according to the Scottish study, increase your satisfaction, but it certainly won't do much for your physical fitness and is unlikely {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (reduce) your risks for diseases. It also won't help much with weight loss.

    Interestingly, they did not find that exercise beyond a certain point would bring additional health benefits. According to the report, “It {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (estimate) that people who are physically active for about seven hours a week have a 40 percent {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (low) risk of dying early than those {#blank#}10{#/blank#} are active for less than 30 minutes a week.”

    It's reported that a male waiter recently poured boiling water over a female customer at a hot pot restaurant after the woman was caught complaining about the waiter's bad service online. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    The female victim, surnamed Lin, reportedly got into an argument with the waiter, surnamed Zhu, when Zhu refused her repeated request for additional soup for her pot. Lin was rushed to hospital and was diagnosed with severe bums on up to 40% of her body. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Many netizens criticized the waiter for being too impulsive and ignoring the possible consequences, but some also accused Lin of being too picky. Meanwhile, some came up with a question worthy of discussion: {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Many tragedies are caused by arguments and if the victim can control his or her anger and try to reach a compromise, the tragedies could possibly be avoided. Sometimes so­called "cowardliness" can be a form of self­protection, especially when you are faced with strangers and you know little about their personalities.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} When they calm down afterwards, they would regret their "ridiculous" behavior and have to pay the price for the consequences.

    In May, a male driver in the southwestern city of Chengdu was captured on film intercepting a woman's car and dragging her out of her seat, throwing her on the ground, before cruelly kicking her several times on the head, simply because the woman suddenly changed lanes in front of his car.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Forgive others' mistakes and avoid fueling others' anger. Accordingly, you may be less likely to suffer from unexpected troubles.

A. Will the situation be out of control because of your anger?

B. Intolerance has contributed to lots of violent incidents.

C. How to keep ourselves safe when we argue with others?

D. The waiter has been arrested for further investigation and trial.

E. This incident caused an outcry among netizens and opinion leaders.

F. But it is difficult to control our anger when we have conflict with others.

G. So next time you deal with conflict, it is mere advisable to control your temper and say "sorry" with a smile.

    Several days ago, a 28-year-old Californian wife and mother of three children died from drinking too much water. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}The contest was held by a local radio show and its organizers promised a free Wii video game machine to the contestant who drank the most water.

    It was estimated that the woman who died drank approximately two gallons of water during the contest. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}This information is particularly important for parents to pass on to their children. Foolish water-drinking contests are not uncommon among high school and university students, especially while playing cards.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}The answer to this question depends on your unique circumstances, including your diet, exercise habits, and environment. If you eat plenty of foods that are naturally rich in water, such as vegetables and fruits, you may not need to drink very much water at all. If you do not use much salt, your need for drinking water goes down even further.

    Regardless of what your diet looks like, if you sweat on a regular basis because of exercise or a warm climate, you will need to supply your body with more water (through foods and/or liquids) than someone who does not sweat regularly. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}However, some people don't believe that it is a reliable indicator of how much water you need, as many people suffer with symptoms related to dehydration (脱水) and don't seem to feel a need to drink water on a regular basis.

    The main idea that I wish to share through this article is that it is not wise to drink several glasses of water per day without considering your diet, exercise habits, climate, and sense of thirst. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}Remember, don't drink too much water in a short period of time.

A. Then why do we need water in our daily life?

B. It shows us that drinking too much water can be very dangerous.

C. Then how much water should you think to best support your health?

D. Ultimately, the best guidance I can provide on this issue is to follow your sense of thirst.

E. Her body was found in her home shortly after she took part in a water-drinking contest.

F. And when you find yourself in need of water, you can get it from liquids and/or foods.

G. If you ask people if they would like a glass of water, they will almost always realize they are indeed thirsty.

    Americans use many expressions with the word "dog". People in the United States love their dogs and treat them well. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}However, dogs without owners to care for them lead a different kind of life. The expression, to lead a dog's life, describes a person who has an unhappy existence.

    Some people say we live in a dog-eat-dog world. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}They say that to be successful, a person has to work like a dog. This means they have to work very, very hard. Such hard work can make people dog-tired. And, the situation would be even worse if they became sick as a dog.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}This means that every person enjoys a successful period during his or her life. To be successful, people often have to learn new skills. Yet, some people say that you can never teach an old dog new tricks. They believe that older people do not like to learn new things and will not change the way they do things.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}People who are unkind or uncaring can be described as meaner than a junkyard dog. Junkyard dogs live in places where people throw away things they do not want. Mean dogs are often used to guard this property. They bark or attack people who try to enter the property. However, sometimes a person who appears to be mean and threatening is really not so bad. We say his bark is worse than his bite.

Dog expressions are also used to describe the weather. The dog days of summer are the hottest days of the year. A rainstorm may cool the weather. But we do not want it to rain too hard. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Some people are compared to dogs in bad ways.

B. Dogs are people's loyal friends all the time.

C. Still, people say every dog has its day.

D. They take their dogs for walks, let them play outside and give them nice meals.

E. That means many people are competing for the same things, like good jobs.

F. Sometimes, morning rain can light up the day.

G. We do not want it to rain cats and dogs.