How to Be Confident

    We are all human and have weaknesses. Even if your physical appearance or social skills aren't what you wish they were, that doesn't have to stop you from being confident. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    *Make a list of special talents you have, or things you do that are good—morally（道德上） or otherwise. It doesn't have to be a specific skill；it can be an approach or an attitude that you hold through life. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Are you very patient with people? Do you always see the humorous side of things? Are you always there for your friends?

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} When you feel strongly about something, speak loudly and clearly and make eye contact with people. People will judge you all the time, and usually they'll misjudge you anyway, so why bother trying to live up to their opinions at all?

    *Take care of yourself. Eat a healthy diet and get enough exercise. Don't abuse your body, don't overload it, and don't deny it any of the things it needs. At the same time, don't obsess(沉迷). {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Those things are only band-aids(权宜之计） and make-up. Confidence comes from within. In order to be confident, you must value yourself and understand that your well-being is important.

    *Improve your posture. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Don't drop your shoulders. Make sure that your back is straight, your shoulders are square, and your chest sticks out slightly (but stay loose, otherwise you'll appear stubborn （固执的）and nervous). Good posture also helps with deep breathing, which helps with feeling calm and relaxed.

Here are four pieces of news from China Daily:

    SHANGHAI—The Huachen Group, which has put 83 million yuan in the development of the commerce market since its official registration late last year, recently held a meeting in Shanghai to show the use of its newly opened tourism business payment network. The network aims to serve tourists from all over the world, but especially from Europe and the United States where credit cards are popularly used. After opening the www.ehinaeonet.com website, netizens can get information about hotels and tourism services on tourism page. Hotels and services can be reserved and payment made through credit cards. The network opened in February in Beijing.

        SYDNEY—The Sydney Olympic flame will travel underwater on Australia's Great Barrier Reef during the torch relay following a successful test.

        Scuba diver Wendy Craig, a marine biologist, will carry the torch on three-to-four-minute underwater journey at Agincourt Reef on June 27, creating Olympic history, organizers said yesterday.

        Burning at 2,000 degrees, the torch is expected to remain alight three meters underwater because of a special kind of technology which creates a “fierce flame”— too powerful to be drowned out by water. Charles Tegner, managing director of torch creator, said the flame would burn like a flame from oxygen-producing chemicals.

        BEIJING—The election of a new leader in Taiwan cannot change the fact that Taiwan is part of China. “Taiwan Independence” in whatever form will never be allowed, according to a statesman of China's central government.

        “We should listen to what the new leader in Taiwan says and watch what he does. We will observe where he will lead Cross-Straits relations. We are willing to exchange views on Cross-Straits relations and peaceful reunification(统一) with all parties, organizations and people in Taiwan who favor the one-China principle,” says the statesman, from Taiwan Affairs Office of the CPC Central Committee.

        HAIKOU—Customs officers in Haikou, capital of South China's Hainan Province, recently stopped a boat loaded with 781 cases of foreign-brand cigarettes being smuggling into China. The cigarettes are estimated to be worth more than 1.8 million yuan, said a customs officer. They discovered the smuggling boat as they were going around the northern sea area of Yangpu Port.

        The smuggled cigarettes cases, packed into two containers, were disguised to avoid being examined. The boat was registered in the coastal city Xiamen in East China's Fujian Province. All eight suspects aboard the boat were kept by the police in Haikou.

    Everyone, from homeless people to billionaires, is likely to be influenced by stress; there's simply no way to avoid it {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Here are five powerful tips for ways to kill stress in almost any situation.

Eat Healthier

    Though a lot of stress is psychological, there are also plenty of physical factors that lead to this natural human response to noticed danger, In order to relieve stress, make sure you're treating your body right. A big part of this is eating healthier {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Anyway, adopting an alkaline(碱性的）diet instead of an acidic (酸性的）one is recommended.

Wake Up Earlier

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} However, waking up 15 or 20 minutes earlier each morning may have more benefits than sleeping in. By giving yourself some extra time, you won't feel quite rushed in the morning, which leads to better preparation and more confidence.

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    Since you are never going to remove 100 percent of the stress in your life, one of the best things you can do is let it be one of your motivations. This is what stress is designed to do, after all. The psychological and physical reactions brought on by stress are supposed to heighten our senses and empower us to fight off a threat.

Watch a Funny Video

    Here is a simple and practical tip: watch a funny video on You Tube, Research shows that seeing something amusing activates the part of the brain that produces calm physiological(生理的）responses. This can lead to less anxiety and more happiness.

Take Walk Outside

    Whenever possible, make sure you take your walk outdoors {#blank#}5{#/blank#} It can improve energy levels and memory by as much as 20 percent.

A.A number of studies are two important keys to good health.

B.Diet and relaxation are two important keys to good health.

C.There are no magic”anti-stress”foods.

D.However, there are ways to reduce the amount of stress you suffer from.

E.Keep Positive Relationships

F.Let Stress Motivate You

G.It is certainly true that the more sleep you get, the less stressed you'll be.

    Sports can help you keep fit and get in touch with nature. However, whether you are on the mountains, in the waves, or on the grassland, you should know that your choice of sport might have great influence on the environment.

    Some sports are resource-hungry（消耗资源）. Golf, as you may know, eats up not only large areas of countryside, but also tons of water. Besides, all sorts of chemicals and huge amounts of energy are used to keep its courses（球场）in good condition. This causes major environmental effects. For example, in the dry regions of Portugal and Spain, golf is often held responsible for serious water shortage in some local areas.

    There are many environmentally-friendly sports. Power walking is one of them that you could take up today. You don't need any special equipment except a good pair of shoes; and you don't have to worry about resources and your wallet. Simple and free, power walking can also keep you fit. If you walk regularly, it will be good for your heart and bones. Experts say that 20 minutes of power walking daily can make you feel less anxious, sleep well and have better weight control.

    Whatever sport you take up, you can make it greener by using environmentally-friendly equipment and buying products made from recycled materials. But the final goal should be “green gyms(健身房；体育馆)”. They are better replacements（代替物）for traditional health clubs and modern sports centers. Members of green gyms play sports outdoors, in the countryside or some other open spaces. There is no special requirement for you to start your membership. And best of all, it's free.

    New study shows that when teachers participate in a training program focused on prosocial (亲社会的) classroom behavior, their students are better able to control their emotions, and that children who can regulate emotions are more likely to be academically successful.

    For the study, which appears in Prevention Science, researchers looked at more than 100 teachers and 1,817 students from kindergarten to third grade to see if teachers could support students' emotional and behavioral growth through the Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management (IYTCM) program.

    The program uses videos and training sessions, along with role-playing and coaching, to help teachers learn management skills such as using behavior-specific praise, building positive relationships with students, and considering how to reduce poor behavior. Teachers in the training group increased interactions with students by 64 percent compared with 53 percent for teachers in the control group without the training.

    "Emotional regulation is the ability to recognize what behavior is appropriate in the present situation," says Wendy Reinke, professor in the College of Education at the University of Missouri. "For example, a student might have difficulty controlling the feeling of anger if he or she becomes annoyed with another student. But under this program, the teacher encourages them to move to a different spot in the classroom, effectively teaching them that sometimes stepping away and taking a break is a good way to calm down and manage8ha8feeling."

    After one school year of using the program in classrooms, students improved their social ability and ability to regulate their emotions. These improvements resulted in an increase in the tests for students in Incredible Years classrooms vs. students in control classrooms. And this classroom management approach can help reduce the risk for struggling learners early on, which could help prevent more accumulative support needs in a child's future.

Here are four books recommended by one of the most respected editors from Reader's Digest. If you have time to dip yourselves into the books, they can surely offer much food for thought.

Face It

Debbie Harry

HARPERCOLLINS

Picture this: it's the late 1970s and the punk music scene is starting to take hold. The band releases the album ParallelLines, which becomes the greatest hit. Everyone wants to attend her concert and some teenage girls even dream to be her. Now 75, Harry bares all about herself in Face It, starting from her childhood. Part shocking, this book is as humorous, moving and vigorous as its subject.

Scatterbrain

Henning Beck

NEWSOUTHBOOKS

If there is no obvious connection among what we see, the brain will substitute in the rest of the information without you even noticing, Beck says in the chapter Memory. In this "user's guide for your brain", he argues that mistakes are the keys to success. He combines science with brain-boosting advice and real-life stories to take the reader on a fascinating adventure through human memory.

You're Not Listening

Kate Murphy

PENGUINERANDOM HOUSE

When was the last time you listened to someone? Really listened without thinking about what you wanted to say next? And when was the last time someone really listened to you? Compared with talking, listening isn't considered so important, argues journalist Kate Murphy, but she insists it is actually the more powerful position in communication. Her insights could transform your conversations, your relationships and your life.

The Right-Brain Work Out

Russel Howcroft with Alex Wadelton

PENGUIN

In 1968,1600 five-year-olds were given a creativity test. They were retested at ages 10 and 15 and their scores were compared against adults. While 98 per cent of five-year-olds were assessed in the "highly creative" range (genius level), only two per cent of adults could be considered "highly creative". In The Right-Brain Work Out, the authors promise to re-train your brain to be more creative, using 70 questions to challenge you.