Speaking to Develop Self-confidence

Overcoming stage fright

    Most people are nervous about public speaking. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} If you know that your topic is interesting, and that your material is well organized, you have already reduced a major worry.

Facial expressions

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} During your speech try to change your facial expressions to convey the emotions that you feel. Throughout your speech you need to use expressive facial expressions.

Eye contact

    When you speak, you should look your audience straight in the eye. The idea is to give the impression that you are talking to each individual in your audience. If you have a large audience, try to look at people in the middle of the room, then slowly look to the right side of the room, then to the left side, then back to the center of the room. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} This will give the audience the idea that you are not interested in your topic or in them.

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    Enthusiasm is being lively and showing your own personal concern for your subject and your audience. If you are truly interested in your topic, your delivery is certain to be enthusiastic and lively.

Varying speaking rate

    Your words should not be too fast or too slow. If you speak too slowly you will bore your audience. If you speak too rapidly you will be difficult to understand. Adapt your rate to the content of your speech. For example, if you are explaining complex information, slow down. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. If you are nervous , take a few steps to your right or left while speaking.

B. Smiling before you start your speech shows that you are not nervous.

C. The best way to cope with nervousness is to be really well prepared.

D. If you are happy or enthusiastic, you should speed up.

E. Don't look at the floor, the ceiling or out the window.

F. Speaking with enthusiasm

G. Inspiring your audience

     {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. Why read an article in the newspaper, when the TV news can bring you the information in a few minutes and with pictures? Why read the life story of a famous man, when a short television program can tell you all that you want to know?

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. Today, newspapers sell in very large numbers. And books of every kind are sold more than ever before. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Although some books with hard covers are expensive, many books are printed today as paper books (平装本), which are quite cheap. A paperback collection of short stories, for example, is always cheaper than an evening at the cinema or the theater, and you can keep a book for ever and read it many times. Additionally, {#blank#}4{#/blank#} No matter when you are on the subway or you are waiting at the airport, a book in hand is always a good choice.

     Books are a wonderful provider of knowledge and pleasure and some types of books should be in every home.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}. A good encyclopedia (百科全书), though expensive, is useful, too, because you can find information on any subject. Besides, you can have such books as history books, science textbook, cookbooks, and collections of stories and poems. Then from time to time you can take a book of poems off your shelves and read the thoughts and feelings of your favorite poets.

A. Television has not killed reading, however

B. A printed book is a good time killer

C. Every home should have a good dictionary

D. More and more people spend less time doing sports

E. Choosing a good book is just like choosing a friend

F. Books are still a cheap way to get information and enjoyment

G. With the popularity of televisions, some think fewer people will buy books and newspapers

    Having bad feeling about world? “Cheer up.” says science writer Matt Ridley. “The world has never been a better place to live in, and it will keep on getting better both for humans and for nature.”{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

1 ) {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    It is reported that there are more than ten billion different products for sale in London alone. Even allowing for the many people who still live in poverty, our own generation has access to more nutritious food, more convenient transport, bigger houses, and better cars. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} This will continue as long as we use these things to make other things. The more we specialize and exchange, the better off we'll be.

2)Brilliant advances

    One reason we are richer, healthier, taller, cleverer, longer lived and freer than ever before is that the four most basic human needs—food, clothing, fuel and shelter—have grown a lot cheaper. Take one example. In 1800 a candle providing one hour's light cost six hours' work. In the 1880s the same light from an oil lamp took 15 minutes' work to pay for. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Today it's half second.

3 )Let's not kill ourselves for climate change

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} A child that dies from indoor smoke in a village, where the use of fossil-fuel (化石燃料) electricity is forbidden by well-meaning members of green political movements trying to save the world, is just as great a tragedy as a child that dies in a flood caused by climate change. If climate change proves to be mild, but cutting carbon causes real pain, we may well find that we have stopped a nose-bleed by putting a tourniquet (止血带) around our necks.

A. Ridley calls himself a rational optimist—rational, because he's carefully weighed the evidence.

B. Overreaction to climate change could prove just as damaging to human welfare as climate change itself.

C. Shopping fuels invention.

D. And, of course, we earn more pounds and dollars than any who lived before us.

E. In 1950 it was eight seconds.

F. It's high time that we took immediate action to fight climate change.

G. Here's how he explains his views.

    You're growing up. That means you're probably experiencing lots of changes all at once. Your body is changing. It might even seem as if your entire self is changing. It can be confusing and even scary.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} And it's good!

    Growing up means that you can do more, learn more, and start to make your mark on the world. In order for that to happen, your body produces chemicals called hormones that help both body and mind grow. Hormone levels change constantly, rising and falling.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} But it's partly to blame for intense emotions, surprising reactions, and mood swings.

    Because of the way your brain develops, it is somewhat ruled by emotion now and through your teen years. As a result, growing up can seem like an emotional roller coaster！{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Take care of yourself. If you eat right, sleep enough, and get good exercise, your brain will be much more able to deal with the stress.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} When you feel your moods swinging or you're upset, or confused, some quiet time will allow you to gather your thoughts and get calmer.

    Practice relaxing your body and deep breathing when you go to bed and when you wake up.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Plus, when stuff happens during the day, you'll be able to calm yourself quickly with a deep breath or two before you react. Your body is changing.

A. Take a time-out.

B. But the truth is, it happens to every teen.

C. Work out regularly to keep physically fit.

D. This changing is needed for your body's development.

E. It will help you fall asleep—and start the morning right.

F. Here are a few things you can do to make the ride smoother.

G. Usually, these feelings settle down when you realize what is going on.

How old is “old”?

    How old is “old”? {#blank#}1{#/blank#}Two hundred years ago, you were old at 35. That was the average life then. At the turn of this century, as medical knowledge advanced, the average life span(长度) increased to 45. In 1950, 70-year-olds were really old. Today, a healthy 70-year-old is looking forward to many more active years.

    So, how old is old? The answer is one you've heard many times, from all sorts of people. “You are as old (or young) as you feel!” The calendar(日历) simply tells you how many years you have lived. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Once an unknown author wrote,“ {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Nobody grows old by living a number of years; people grow old by giving up their goals.”

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}Alice Brophy, when she was with the New York City commission for the Aging, said, “It upsets me when people say, 'Gee, you look young for your age!' What does that mean? Is there some model that you're supposed to look a certain way at 65 and 75 and 85? You know you can die old at 30 and live young at 80.”

There are many wrong ideas about aging. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}Here are some of the more common ones. For example, most older people are in poor health, or older people are unable to change.

A. Old is a point of view.

B. It's extremely terrible to be grown old.

C. The answer has changed over the years.

D. Your body tells you how well you've lived.

E. Older people are stubborn, unable to change.

F. Youth is not a time of life but it is a state of mind.

G. These ideas stereotype (固化) people on the basis of age.

    Successful students have good study habits. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Read about study habits below. Work to develop any study habit you do not have.

    Plan specific times for studying. Study time is any time you are doing something related to schoolwork. It can be completing assigned( 指定的) reading, working on a paper or project, or studying for a test.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}. Studying at the same time each day establishes a routine that becomes a regular part of your life

    When a scheduled study time comes up during the day, you will be mentally prepared to begin studying.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} You may delay( 延误) starting your studying because you don't like an assignment or think it is too hard. If you keep delaying for any reason, you will find it difficult to get every thing done when you need to. You may rush to make up the time you wasted getting started, resulting in careless work and errors. So it is important to make preparations in advance and act as they are.

    Work on the hardest assignment first. Your most difficult assignment will require the most effort.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}.

    Review your notes before beginning an assignment. Reviewing the notes can help you make sure you are doing an assignment correctly. Also, your notes may include information that will help you complete an assignment.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}.So call another student when you have difficulty with an assignment.

A. Start studying as planned

B. They apply these to all of their classes

C. Developing good study habits will help you study properly and efficiently.

D. Start with it since this is when you have the most mental energy.

E. There is a case where “two heads may be better than one”.

F. Concentrate on what you are studying.

G. Try to study at the same time each day.