With the summer holiday just around the corner, it seems like everybody is busy planning their vacations. Here are some tips that can help you enjoy your holiday without empting your pocket:

    Travel off-season

    Go to your desired destination while the demand is low and take advantage of huge discounts. During the peak season, the hotel and flight prices increase quickly, and you'll likely spend more of your vacation time standing in line due to the rush of tourists. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

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    Websites can help you find discount hotel rooms. Look for places that do not charge extra for children if they use the existing bedding. Stay with the locals. If you and your family are going to stay for a longer period, renting a small apartment is a good choice.

    Eat like a local

    Why eat at big chain restaurants when you can experience something new? {#blank#}3{#/blank#} During your family trip, try new food where the locals eat. This will not just save money, but also provide you with a new and different experience. For smaller meals and snacks, avoid restaurants and try street food or other takeout. 

    Don't hesitate to bargain

    Tourist- heavy places are known for overcharging for just about everything. Clothes, travel goodies, souvenirs, etc. are very expensive at these places. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Bargain hard to get the best price.

    Choose local transportation

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Instead, take buses, railways or subways, which are always cheaper. If you are planning to stay for a while, you can consider renting a car. Hiring a car is much easier than carrying your bags everywhere if you are moving around a lot.

A. Save on hotels.

B. Surf the Internet while traveling.

C. Therefore, avoid buying anything there.

D. So it's best to find out when the off-season starts.

E. Planning your meals is another way to reduce your travel costs.

F. For this reason, you shouldn't feel ashamed to ask for bargains.

G .As a tourist, avoid taking taxis whenever possible, since they are expensive.

    Sarah Hutchins has won a prize from Amazon.com in a competition for young inventors. She invented “camoculars”! Now what are “camoculars”?  Camoculars are binoculars(双筒望远镜) and a camera combined. Amazon.com, a web company, organized a competition for young inventors. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Sarah was at a concert when she thought of her invention. “I was sitting a long way from the stage and I was watching the band through my binoculars. While I was watching, I thought,' {#blank#}2{#/blank#} 'Then I got an idea. Why not have binoculars with a camera inside them?”

    When she got home, she took some plastic binoculars and a cheap camera and put them together. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} So Sarah sent her idea to Amazon.com and two months later, she got a surprise. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} They didn't give her the top prize in the competition, but she won $1,000 and a trip to New York.

    People are already asking Sarah what she is going to invent next. “I don't know,” says Sarah. “If you just sit there and think, you won't invent anything, because you get ideas at strange moments. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Sarah likes music very much.

B. I'd love to be able to take a picture of this!

C. Amazon.com phoned to say that she was a winner.

D. I have always dreamed of travelling around New York.

E. The only thing you can do is keep your eyes and ears open!

F. Her sister was watching her and told her about the competition.

G. Sarah was one of thousands of young people who took part in this competition.

A．Slow Down Your Life

B．Escape Now and Then

C．Separate Your Actions

D．Allow Yourself to Be Weak

E．Relieve Pressure by Firmly Saying “No”

F．Stop Expecting Everything to Be Perfect

How to Simplify Your Life

    Less is more. This is why we say: reduce things by half instead of doubling them, get rid of junk instead of piling it up, relax instead of stressing, slow down instead of speeding up. Apply these principles in your everyday life in a conscious way. You will then find yourself well along on your journey to simplification.

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    When you concentrate on one task, you find you have energy that you didn't even know you had. Just imagine: you are at a fair and you have to carry two heavy pigs over 100 yards. If you keep grabbing one and then the other, it will take forever, because one of them will keep slipping out from under your arm and running off. But if you tie one pig in a place, pick up the other, gather all your strength and make a dash for the finish line, pause for a moment, run back and get the other one, and with great determination, carry the second pig to the finish line, then you can be sure of success.

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    The pressure at work is on the increase in all occupations. In the modern nuclear family, the expectations that formerly would have been shared among all the relatives are now concentrated on the individual partner.

If you have the feeling that 24 hours per day are not enough for all the things you need to do, then it's not because the day has too few hours, but because you have too many activities. A simple fact that overloaded people often tend to forget. The solution is equally simple: refuse to accept so many work assignments in your private life or your working life.

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     “I can handle stress” is regarded as a positive statement in the world of work. People who can handle stress are given more and more to cope with—until one day they break.

    Pay careful attention to the signs that tell you that you are under more stress than you can cope with. These signals can come from various areas of life. You become ill, or your work efficiency decreases.

If you have any of these symptoms, change your life goals and decrease your tolerance of stress. Say quite openly, “I can't manage that.”

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     “If only I were slimmer, more beautiful, richer, more clever, then I would be happier.” This is a dream that makes a lot of people ill, depressed, and unhappy. Life has its flaws, defects, corners, and edges. Only those who accept this reality can lead a really full life.

Of course there are activities in which errors are dangerous：driving a car, crossing the road. But life doesn't consist entirely of these things. In among them there is a lot of room for small and large mistakes.

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    Successful people all have their own places where they can withdraw in order to work. Find out which places improve your creativity. For me it's the train. When I know that I'm going to be traveling for four hours without phone calls and people knocking on my door, I find my mind is free and I can read or write complex articles. There can be problems working on the train, of course: if the person sitting opposite you keeps talking away, or if train trips make you tired(some people fall asleep after a few miles)．

How to make Quick Decisions For Your Life

    We make decisions every day{#blank#}1{#/blank#}When it comes to making decisions, choosing the right one can at times be stressful, especially if the decision must be made quickly. Indecision often weighs us down, but there are some useful tips for making quick decisions more easily.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}Sometimes the key to making a quick decision comes down to planning ahead of time for just such an occasion. We all know we're going to come to an important decision-making point sooner or later, so having a plan already in hand can put our mind at ease when that time comes.

    Overcome fear.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}While it may seem difficult to overcome the fear of making the wrong choice, many experts agree that we shouldn't be afraid to make the wrong decision, even if it seems important. The vast majority of wrong decisions can be corrected, while delaying decisions can often lead to more problems.

    Write down all the advantages and disadvantages of your decision. Even if you don't have all the information, writing down all the pros and cons（优缺点） is a good starting point for figuring out what to do. In cases where there simply isn't enough time to write things down, make a mental list in your mind. Thinking of the pros and cons can help you organize your thoughts.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Determine criteria. Remember that every decision you make should come with a certain list of criteria.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}But once you know the requirements you're looking for, making a decision will become easier. Look for the choice that satisfies the list you've made, and once that choice is found, you should move ahead with it.

A. Have a plan.

B. The list may be short or quite long.

C. Communicate your decision with others.

D. And this can always lead to a clear answer.

E. So cut out any options that you know you will not choose.

F. Often, one thing that keeps us from making decisions is fear.

G. Some can be very important while others are not serious in the long run.

    Food safety is a problem in all places around the world and people in different areas of the world prepare foods in different ways. The WHO released （发布）five simple rules for preparing food in a safe way. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Key 1: Keep clean.

    The first key tells about the importance of washing. People should wash their hands often——before touching food, while they are preparing food, and any time after they go to the toilet. People should wash all surfaces and equipment used for preparing food. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Key 2: {#blank#}3{#/blank#} 

    People should separate raw生的, or uncooked food from foods that are already cooked and foods that will not be cooked. People should store raw meat, chicken, and fish in containers, or in separate areas. Raw foods should not touch prepared foods.

    Key 3: Cook completely.

    People should cook eggs and meat, like birds, seafood, and animals, especially carefully. These foods may carry more micro­organisms than other foods. Food like soup must be boiled for at least a minute to make it be cooked completely. It is also important that people re­heat cooked food completely.

    Key 4: Keep food at safe temperatures.

    When people are finished with eating, they should keep the left food in a refrigerator below 5℃ and shouldn't store it for too long. At room temperature, about 20℃, the amount of micro­organisms微生物 can increase增加 very quickly. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} They cannot grow as quickly in a very hot or very cold environment.

    Key 5: Use safe water and raw materials.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}Damaged or old food may develop harmful chemicals化学物 as it gets older.

A．They call these rules the “Five Keys to Safer Food.”

B．Eat cooked food immediately, while it is still hot.

C．People should also protect cooking areas and food from insects and animals.

D．Keeping everything clean helps people to avoid micro­organisms.

E．People should use safe water and choose fresh foods.

F．Separate raw and cooked.

G．But temperatures above 60℃ or below 5℃ control控制 the growth of micro­organisms.

    The first Thursday in May is World Password Day, but don't buy a cake or send cards. Computer chip maker Intel created the event as an annual reminder. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}.

    The purpose of a password is to limit access to information. Having a very common or simple one like "abcdef" or even normal words like "password", is barely any security at all. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. Hackers' password cracking tools take advantage of this lack of creativity and get in our accounts easily. More experienced users would choose a less common password. However, they might still fall victim to cracking software.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}? A secure password is all that stands between us and a cybercriminal. It should be unique and complex which a hacker can't easily guess or crack. The best passwords are supposed to be at least 15 characters long and full of random numbers and letters. However, a long password means a complicated process to log into a website. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. You may want to write it down, but it is not suggested due to risk.

    Then what should we do? {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. You can choose a phrase such as "I want to go to England." Next, convert it to an abbreviation (缩略语) by using the first letters of each word and changing the word "to" to "2". Then you get following password phrase: iw2g2e. You can make it even more complex by adding punctuation, spaces or symbols: %iw_2g2e!@. It is much easier to remember and safer.

    Can't wait to try? Let's say goodbye to "666666" and change your password right now.