Fun doesn't have to be expensive

    Everyone likes to have fun, but not everyone has much money to upend. Here are some free or cheap ways to enjoy yourself.

Get outside

    Going outside in good weather can be n lot of fun, especially if you go with a friend{#blank#}1{#/blank#} If you live in a city, you can go window-shopping. Or you can explore an old part of town and admire the building.

Try a hobby

    While you're out. take pictures of things you find. Planning and taking pictures can make you aware of the beauty all around you. Photographic equipment can be expensive, but it doesn't have to be. You probably already own a camera or a cell phone that can take pictures. Other creative hobbies can also be done with basic materials.

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Find an event

    Libraries often hold free public events.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} And while you're there, borrow a book or movie for free. Museums and universities also hold free events.

    If you can't find a free event, you can volunteer at an event that requires tickets. People who organize concerts and plays need help.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Sometimes they reward volunteers with free tickets.

Meet a friend

    Relationships are often the best things in life{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Invite a friend for a walk, an event or a time working on your hobby. Hosting doesn't have to be difficult. If your friend comes in the afternoon, you don't have to serve a meal. You can sit and talk, play board games or card games or watch a movie.

A. A friend in need is a friend indeed.

B. Stop by one to find out what's going on.

C. Hike or bicycle on a nearby path or in a park.

D. Whatever you do, find someone to share it with.

E. It's a good idea to stay at home to watch a movie.

F. You could set up or take down chairs or greet visitors.

G. Drawing and writing require nothing more than a pencil and paper.

    Why do many people play sports? You might say “to get exercise'' and you'd be right. To have fun? That's true, too. But there's more.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}According to the Women's Sports Foundation, girls who play sports get a lot more than just fit.

    Girls who play sports do better in school. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}But research shows that girls who play sports do better in school than those who don't. Exercise improves learning, memory, and concentration, which can give active girls an advantage in the classroom.

    Girls who play sports learn teamwork and goal-setting skills. Sports teaches valuable life skills. When you working with coaches, trainers, and teammates to win games and achieve goals, you're learning how to be successful. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Sports are good for a girl's health. In addition to being fit and maintaining a healthy weight, girls who play sports are also less likely to smoke. And later in life, girls who exercise are less likely to get breast cancer.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Girls who play sports feel better about themselves. Why? It builds confidence when you know you can practice, improve, and achieve your goals. Sports are also a feel-good activity because they help girls get in shape, maintain a healthy weight, and make new friends.

    Exercise cuts the pressure. Playing sports can lessen stress and help you feel a little happier. How? {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Friends are another mood-lifter. And being on a team creates tight bonds between friends. It's good to know your teammates will support you—both on and off the field!

    Taking good notes is a time-saving skill that will help you to become a better student in several ways.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Second, your notes are excellent materials to refer to when you are studying for a test. Third, note-taking offers variety to your study time and helps you to hold your interest.

    You will want to take notes during classroom discussions and while reading a textbook or doing research for a report. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}whenever or however you take notes, keep in mind that note-taking is a selective (选择性的）process.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    The following methods may work best for you.

    Read the text quickly to find the main facts and ideas in it.

    Carefully read the text and watch for words that can show main points and supporting facts.

    Write your notes in your own words. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Note any questions or ideas you may have about what was said or written.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} When you do, be sure that you understand your symbols and that you use them all the time. Otherwise, you may not be able to read your notes later.

A. Use words, not complete sentences.

B. There are three practical note-taking methods.

C. You must write your notes on separate paper.

D. As you take notes, you may want to use your own shorthand(速记),like symbols..

E. You will also want to develop your own method for taking notes.

F. That means you must first decide what is important enough to include in your notes.

G. First, the simple act of writing something down makes it easier for you to understand and remember it.

    How can we keep safe personal information on our computers or cellphones? {#blank#}1{#/blank#}View emails with a careful eye

    It's best to view all emails with care. Hackers (黑客) can make emails look like real company emails. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} It's best to search for the original source of the information, and try to find the direct link from the site instead of using the link provided in the email.

    Use two-factor authentication (双重认证)

    Two-factor authentication adds a second level of safety to an account. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} It's a safety option that requires a password as well as an additional piece of information only the user would know.

    Update apps and operating systems

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} While these updates may appear to only change the way your phone's software looks, they often come with safety improvements. There may be a bug (软件漏洞). Those bugs are discovered by cell providers or smartphone makers, so it's a good idea to upgrade them.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}It's no surprise that changing your password has always been a basic form of protection. But what we pick as passwords and how we manage them are important. First, passwords should never include your personal information. So stay away from names and birthdates. Ideally, passwords are a combination of lowercase (小写) and uppercase (大写) letters and random characters. It could be a strong, long password that doesn't have any personal information, making it harder to remember.

A. Manage passwords safety

B. Here are some steps to make it.

C. It can trick readers into clicking on dangerous links.

D. Often users are unwilling to update their mobile devices.

E. Combine your personal information with random figures.

F. Here are some ways to create your online personal passwords.

G. Do it if there's an option for your email, banking site or social media site.

    The most important thing to keep in mind when deciding to serve another is that service expects no rewards. When you expect something in return, and are not serving out of the goodness of your heart, others will notice. Sure they'll thank you. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    When you give from your heart, the real power of service comes into play. Serving is a great opportunity to strengthen your trust and respect for another, and for them to do the same to you. Not only do you feel great about helping out, but you build your relationship with them, and they will feel more willing to help you in the future. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    However, why is service so rarely seen these days? {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Sure, living in this day and age does not leave us much time, and the last thing people want to do is more work. I'm too busy, there's too much work, or I don't have the time, "may run through your head when you hear the word service, but the truth is the benefits are worth the sacrifice. Gandhi once said that, "The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others." {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Some ideas of places you can serve are volunteer centers, nursing homes, boys and girls clubs, and so on. You can serve people as long as you want to.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Although it does take some work, the benefits are more than worth the sacrifice. Not only do you feel better about making another's day a little less stressful, but you strengthen your relationship with them and they will be more willing to help you in the future.

A. It's a win-win situation.

B. Service is simple.

C. Overall, service and selflessly giving to others is very powerful and has many benefits.

D. And they will offer you worse service.

E. Service is a complex event.

F. The problem is, there's always an excuse not to serve.

G. But the service becomes more of a situation, "I'll do this for you if you do this for me".

    Much of the work in today's world is accomplished(完成) in teams. Most people believe the best way to build a great team is to gather a group of the most talented individuals. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}Companies spend millions hiring top business people. Is their money well spent?

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}They focused on football, basketball and baseball. The results are mixed. For football and basketball, adding talented players to a team proves a good method, but only up to the point where 70% of the players are top talent; above that level, the team's performance begins to decline. Interestingly, this trend isn't evident in baseball, where additional individual talent keeps improving the team's performance.

    To explain this phenomenon, the researchers explored the degree to which a good performance by a team requires its members to coordinate(协调) their actions. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}In baseball, the performance of individual players is less dependent on teammates. They conclude that when task interdependence is high, team performance will suffer when there is too much talent, while individual talent will have positive effects on team performance when task interdependence is lower. If a basketball star is, for example, trying to gain a high personal point total, he may take a shot himself when it would be better to pass the ball to a teammate, affecting the team's performance. Young children learning to play team sports are often told, "There is no I in TEAM." {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Another possibility is that when there is a lot of talent on a team, some players may make less effort. Just as in a game of tug-of-war(拔河比赛), whenever a person is added, everyone else pulls the rope with less force.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} An A-team may require a balance——not just A players， but a few generous B players as well.

A. It's not a simple matter to determine the nature of talent.

B. Sports team owners spend millions of dollars attracting top talent.

C. The group interaction and its effect drew the researchers' attention.

D. Stars apparently do not follow this basic principle of sportsmanship.

E. Several recent studies examined the role of talent in the sports world.

F. Building up a dream team is more complex than simply hiring the best talent.

G. This task interdependence distinguishes baseball from football and basketball.