Reducing the amount of sleep affects students' performance at school. An American study asked schoolteachers to look at the effects of sleep restriction（限制） on children between six and twelve years of age. The teachers found that children who stayed up late had trouble thinking clearly and had more learning problems.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Doctor Fallone now works at the Forest Institute of Professional Psychology in Springfield, Missouri. He presented the results last month at a science reporter conference in Washington, D. C. The Publication Sleep also reported the findings.

    The teachers were asked to complete weekly performance reports on seventy-four schoolchildren. The study lasted three weeks. During that period, Doctor Fallone and his team controlled the amount of sleep the children received.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} During another week, every child was kept awake later than normal. Each night, the youngest boys and girls had less than eight hours of sleep. The older ones were limited to six and a half hours. During the final week of the study, each child received no less than ten hours of sleep a night.

    The teachers were not told about how much sleep the students received. The study found that students who received eight hours or less had the most difficulty remembering old information. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    The study did not find that sleep restriction caused hyperactivity(极度活跃) in the children. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Doctor Fall one said that the results provided experts and parents with a clear message: {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    We are a primary school in England. Our students start arriving at our playground from about 8:45 a.m. Most of the children live nearby, so they walk to school. But some children have to travel to school by car. Each of the children is dressed in a school uniform (校服) and carries the homework and packed lunch in a schoolbag.

    School starts at 8:55 a.m. The teacher on duty blows a whistle (哨子) and the children line up in their class groups. They wait quietly for the teacher to send them to their classrooms. When they arrive at their classrooms, the children empty their schoolbags and put their homework in their boxes. After the children take their seats, the teacher reads out each child's name in turn. Upon hearing his / her name, the child replies “yes, Mrs. (the teacher's name)” and the teacher writes down whether the child is in school or not.

    And then at 9:10 a.m. the children attend an assembly in our main hall. They sit on the floor in rows with the youngest children at the front and the older children at the back. As the children enter the hall, they listen to music quietly. Each week we have a different musical theme (主题). Besides, the children also listen to stories.

    After the assembly, the first lesson of the day begins at 9:30 a.m. Our morning lessons are usually English and Maths. Each of these lessons lasts an hour. Between classes, the children have their morning break from 10:20 a.m. to 10:35 a.m. They eat their snacks (小吃) or play games like football on the playground. At the end of the break, the teacher on duty blows a whistle. The children stand still and wait to be told to line up.

    Each day, the children have their lunch break from 12 noon to 1:10 p.m. Most of the children bring their own packed lunches from home. A packed lunch usually consists of sandwiches, fruit, a drink and a packet of crisps. Some children have a school dinner cooked in our school kitchen. While the children are waiting to have lunch or after they have finished eating, they play games on the playground or attend lunch-time clubs. We have teachers on duty, who look after the children during lunch breaks. After the lunch break, the children have afternoon lessons, which continue until 3:15 p.m. when the children go home.

Tips for Upcoming Senior Two

    People often describe Senior Two as a year with “much more homework, more frequent exams and more fierce competitions”.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    ⒈Manage your time carefully and make full use of it.

    Try to study not hard but efficiently. Make a to-do-list for your time after school. Don't just spend quite a long time on only one subject.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}Remember to take breaks when you feel exhausted.

    ⒉Treat Competition in Class in a right way.

    Don't treat your classmates as potential(潜在的)enemies. Competition cannot be avoided, but everyone wants to study and live in a friendly environment.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}By helping others solve problems, you inspire others, enrich your own knowledge and gain lasting friendship.

    ⒊{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Don't let your former rankings limit you. What really matters is how you treat exams and ranking. Forget the class ranking or grade rankings, but compete with yourself. In a while, you will see yourself climbing in scores and rankings.

    All in all, the coming new school year is sure to be full of challenges. Too much worry only adds to your difficulties in your development.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}Wish you the best of luck in the new academic year!

A. Learn for yourself, not for others.

B. Have a right attitude towards your rankings.

C. Good time management skills are very important.

D. Instead, divide the hours into small periods for different subjects

E. When you prepare for the battle, some advice from me may be of help

F. So when they turned to you for help, just share your wisdom immediately

G. If you keep my advice in mind, you will achieve a lot and lead a happy life.

    Remembering names is an important social skill. Here are some ways to master it.

    Recite and repeat in conversation. When you hear a person's name, repeat it. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. You could also repeat the name in a way that does not sound forced or artificial.

    Ask the other person to recite and repeat. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. After you've been introduced to someone, ask that person to spell the name and pronounce it correctly for you. Most people will be pleased by the effort you're making to learn their names.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Admitting that you can't remember someone's name can actually make people relaxed. Most of them will feel sympathy if you say, "I'm working to remember names better. Yours is right on the tip of my tongue. What is it again?"

    Use associations (联想). {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. For example, you could make a mental note: "Vicki Cheng—tall, black hair." To reinforce (强迫) your associations , ,write them on a small card as soon as possible.

    Limit the number of new names you learn at one time. When meeting a group of people, concentrate on remembering just two or three names. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. Few of the people in mass introductions expect you to remember their names. Another way is to limit yourself to learning just first names. Last names can come later.

A. Admit you don't know.

B. Recite and repeat names.

C. Free yourself from remembering everyone.

D. You can let other people help you remember their names.

E. If you can't remember someone's name, you may tell him the truth.

F. Immediately say it to yourself several times without moving your lips.

G. Link each person you meet with one thing you find interesting or unusual.

How to Overcome Challenges in Your Life

    We all face tough and difficult challenges in life. To overcome challenges you need to have that "never quit" attitude in life. If you develop it, you'll overcome quite a bit.

    Motivate yourself. Say "YES, I CAN." The challenge should bring out the best of you in this situation. Slow it down, and think that process through.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} If you develop that mindset(心态), you'll get it done.

    Stay calm and cool­headed. Remain calm when you're facing serious troubles and problems in life. You have to recollect yourself, and calm down. You can't solve problems when you're panicking. Take a deep breath, relax, and slow it down. Think things through calmly.

    Let failure and fear fuel you in a positive way. Everyone fails at times. If you fail the first, second, or third time, don't give up.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Learn what made you fail and overcome these challenges. Simplify the challenge you're facing. Make the challenge easier than it is. Start by breaking it down into steps. As you get through each step, you develop more confidence and you believe you can get it done, and then you will overcome them.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} To overcome a challenge, you have to believe you can really do it. You have to find out all the ways you can use to overcome it, and put them to full use with all your effort. It's our own mental stability that's the difficult part. When you do it mentally, you'll actually be able to do it.

A. Stay positive and confident.

B. Most people will avoid any challenge, because they're scared of failing.

C. Develop that confidence in saying there's no way you're going to fail at this.

D. Pick yourself up, and learn from why you've failed, and move on in a positive direction.

Fighting the curse of presenteeism

    "It's true hard work never killed anybody, but I figure, why take the chance?" Beyond a certain level, extra effort seems to be self­defeating. Studies suggest that, after 10 hours a week, employee productivity falls sharply.

    But that doesn't stop some managers from demanding that workers stay chained to their desk for long periods. Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, recently applauded the "996" model, where employees work from 9am to 9pm, six days a week, as a huge blessing". However, to modern office workers presenteeism is a curse.

    There will be days when you do not have much to do, just waiting for someone else to respond to a request. As the clock ticks past 5pm, there may be no purpose in staying at your desk. But you can see your boss hard at work and, more important, they can see you. So you make an effort to look busy.

    If bosses do not like to go home before their underlings (下属)and underlings fear leaving before their bosses, everyone is trapped. Staff may feel that they will not get a pay rise, or a promotion, if they are not seen to be putting in maximum effort. This is easily confused with long hours. Managers, who are often no good at judging employees5 performance, use time in the office as a measurement.

    But presenteeism has more serious consequences. As well as reducing productivity, this can increase medical expenses for the employer. According to a study, these costs can be six time: higher for employers than the costs of absenteeism among workers. To take one example, research found that Japanese employees with lower­back pain were three times more likely to turn up for work than in Britain. As a result, those workers were more likely to experience greater pain and to suffer from depression. What could be more discouraging than being in pain while feeling trapped at work?

    "None of this is to say that employers are not entitled to expect workers to be in the office for a small amount of time. Unavoidably there will be a need for some (preferably short)meetings. Dealing with colleagues face-­to­-face develops friendships, allows for a useful exchange of ideas and enables workers to have a better sense of their common needs.

    With portable smart phones and laptops, we can work at home as easily as in the office. Turning an office into a prison does nothing for the creativity that is increasingly demanded of office workers as routine tasks are automatic. To be productive you need presence of mind, not being present in the flesh.