The UN has recognized the contributions of volunteers on Dec. 5, International Volunteer Day. Here, the four things are offered to consider before taking the leap into overseas volunteering.

    Choose your organization carefully

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} volunteering may be a fundraising mechanism（筹资机制）for a development project. For others, volunteering is fundamental to their programs, and those serving take on professional roles in longer-term development.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Volunteers want to help and make a difference, but most know this isn't a purely selfless act. You will learn new skills, broaden your horizons and come to better understand yourself and the world.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Reflect on your motivations. You want to help reduce global poverty or protect the natural world, but what else? Have you always wanted to travel, but not as a tourist? Work with kids? When you understand your motivations, you'll be in a better position to choose the option that is right for you.

    Work alongside the local community

    Often times, travelers volunteer in isolation（隔离）from the local community in which they are working in.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} This enables you to ensure you are committing to a project that promotes long term and sustainable change.

    A volunteer trip is just the beginning

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}Further ignite（点燃）the global change maker in you by taking your experience one step further when you return home. Spread the message of your transformative experience to others, helping to spark the change within them.

    When we think of holidays, we think of traveling, beaches, fun, and adventure. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Smartphones have taken the world by storm, influencing the manner we interact with each other. Does this sound like you? If so, it sounds like you need a digital detox (数码产品戒毒期).

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Whether you are a businessman or a student, everyone needs some time away from technology.

    Having a tech-free holiday is becoming increasingly popular especially among families. The reason is obvious. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} While it may seem that sending a quick text message or uploading a photo to WeChat doesn't take so much time, these things eventually add up without us even knowing it.

    Whether to give yourself a digital detox is a difficult decision to make. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} To help you along, it is probably a good idea to choose a remote area, somewhere close to nature, where you can truly immerse (沉浸其中) yourself.

    Taking a tech-free holiday would be a good time to pick up something new, or return to hobbies which you never had time for. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} If you're going with friends or family,  perhaps bring along some board games to spend time rekindling (重新点燃) tired relationships.

In today's fast paced world, it's important to find time to stop and smell the roses — without taking a selfie at the same time, that is.

A. You could sketch (描述) the view of the coast, or take photos with your old film camera.

B. One of the best things about a digital detox is the fact that anyone can do it.

C. But the reality is, we spend most of our holidays on our personal digital products.

D. Nothing in this world can compare a holiday like this.

E. However, it may be just the thing you need to cleanse (清洗) your mind, body, and soul.

F. It enables them to spend quality time with together without being distracted by social media.

G People tend to keep connected with smartphones and never feel bored with them.

    Don't you just love ice skating every winter? I am sure that since winter is approaching, your skates are set to come out, just waiting to be used. Impress your friends with your new trick on how to ice-skate backwards with the help of these tips.

    Stand straight

    The first thing that you need to do is, stand straight. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} , if you feel that you are falling backwards. Don't worry; this happens to all.

    Confidence is what you need

    The most important step while learning how to skate backwards, is having enough confidence in yourself and in what you are doing. How can you achieve this? By practice. One of the important ice skating tips and techniques is that if you feel that you are losing your balance, then scissor（做剪式运动）your skates. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} .

    Maintain speed

    Try sculling（滑）with one skate while rolling in a straight line with the other.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} . Now bring the skate which you are using to scull, and then again, repeat the same process. Make sure that you put most of your weight on the skate which is moving straight and not the one with which you are sculling.

    Now, try the same thing using the other foot.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} .

    Once you are confident that you can scull with either foot, the next thing that you have to do is increase your speed. Try some of your own tricks now. Scull with either foot or with both at the same time.

    Scull and be aware

    While you keep one foot straight, keep sculling with the other. You can do that with both feet at the same time. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} , but don't get so involved that you don't see where you are going. If you are not watching your back, you might just bang against something or someone.

A. That is, keep pushing yourself backwards with an outwards stroke（滑动）

B. While going backwards, just get used to the feeling of moving backwards

C. Keep practicing this till you are confident about it

D. Increase your speed now

E. One must be brave enough to learn to ice-skate backwards

F. Concentrate on what you are doing

G. Just put your chin up and slightly bend your knees

    Worry problems are everywhere in our daily life. How to solve them? The answer is that we must equip ourselves to handle different kinds of worries by learning the three basic steps of problem analysis. The three steps are：

    Get the facts

    Why is it so important to get the facts? Unless you have the facts, you can't possibly attempt to solve your problem intelligently. Without the facts, all you can do is wondering around in confusion. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} When you are worried, your emotions are riding high. But here are two ideas that can help you see the facts in a clear and objective way.

    When trying to get the facts, you can pretend that you are collecting this information not for yourself but for some other person. This will help you to take a cold and fair view of the evidence. You can also pretend that you are a lawyer preparing to agree.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} You will generally find the truth lies somewhere in between.

    Analyze the facts

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} And write out all the various steps you could take and then the probable consequences (后果) of each step. For example, what am I worrying about? What can I do about it? Here is what I'm going to do about it. After carefully weighing all the facts, you can calmly come to a decision.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Unless you take your action, all you face—finding and analysing—is a waste of energy. How can you break the worry habit before it breaks you? Move worry out of your mind by keeping busy.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Accept what can't be avoided If you know a situation is beyond your power, say to yourself: “It is so; it can, t be otherwise.” Don't permit little things to ruin your happiness. Try to develop a mental attitude that will bring you peace and happiness.

A. Act on that decision.

B. It is not an easy job to get facts.

C. Decide how much anxiety a thing may be worth.

D. Plenty of action is one of the best ways to cure worry.

E. There comes a time when you must decide and never look back.

F. Try to get all the facts both on your side and the other side of the case.

G. Whenever you are worried, write down the questions that make you worry.

How to Love Your Parents

    Even if you think that your parents are mean-spirited at times, loving your parents is a normal and fulfilling part of life. You love them for the fact that they created you, raised you, and are in part, a source of who you are. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Tell them you love them every morning. A gentle "good morning" and "I love you" will warm a coldest heart. Remember that they brought you into this world. Without your parents, we might still wander at an unknown corner in an unknown world.

    Respect them more and cherish these moments. You can use these moments to learn from them, preparing yourself for when you're off on your own. It's OK to get angry but angry actions don't help you or your parents. Act calmly, cool off, write down your feelings, or talk to a friend. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Obey their requests. It will make your attitude better and earn you more respect from them. It may seem like you are going through hell when you don't get what you want or you have to clean. However, you had better remember they keep a roof over your head when it's cold, raining, snowing, or too hot. Understand that parents are human beings and make mistakes. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Since you can forgive your friends, why not forgive your parents?

    Keep company with them. Do things with your parents like watching TV, or go somewhere with them. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}Listen to their old stories and learn from them. You will find they are your teachers in this way or another.

    Some people simply may not be able to love their parents. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}Seek help if you are being abused（虐待）in anyway. Parents do not have a right to harm you.

A. Parents will in turn express their love to you.

B. Forgiveness is the key.

C. Here are some ways to love your parents.

D. There can be realistic reasons for this, family violence for example.

E. Anyway, spend as much time with them as you can.

F. After this, share your feelings with your parents.

G. Please remember parents are as important as friends.

The Feynman Technique(费曼学习法)is a powerful method that you can use to learn anything faster because it forces you to actively think about the problem instead of passively reading or listening to someone else talk about it. You can take the following five simple steps to study better.

·Find out the topic you want to learn. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Otherwise, you'll end up jumping between topics without developing a deeper understanding of any of them.

·Explain the topic as if teaching a sixth-grader. This step is the heart of the FeynmanTechnique—{#blank#}2{#/blank#}.This requires you to meet the child at their level of understanding by using the simplest way.

.Identify areas of improvement in your explanation. You'll need to critically(批判性地)review the explanation you cane up with in Step Two {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. Try to find any knowledge gaps, together with any areas where you felt that you couldn't explain the topic simply.

·Improve and optimiez(优化) your explanation. Think about all the knowledge gaps and otherareas of improvement you found before. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

· Repeat the steps until you've achieved mastery of the topic. Keep going through each step you're fully satisfied with your explanation.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}, and that is why going through all the prior snnjust once is usually not enough to achieve topic mastery.

A. Use those to improve your explanation

B. To do so, take a critical look at your explanation

C. Make sure that your explanation is interest-based

D. Your explanations need to be short and to the point

E. The Feynman Technique works best with a repeat

F. It's important that you clearly know the topics you're trying to learn

G. Explaining the topic simply enough to be understood by a sixth-grade student