How to smile for better health

    As a fun way to improve your physical and mental health, smiling is free of charge. This article explores the ways you can smile to be healthy. 

    Smile to relieve stress. Stress is easily shown in our faces. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} When you're stressed, try to put on a smile, as it will make you feel happy, and you will appear happy. Your feelings of stress will be reduced.

    Smile to help your immune(免疫) system work better. Smiling brings about a sense of relaxation which helps your immune system to work better. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Smile to stay positive. Have a simple test. First, try to think of something negative(消极的), and then smile. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. When we smile, our body and mind are sending us a message that everything is okay, and that life is great.

    Smile to live longer. Those who smile are thought to live an average of 79.9 years, while non-smilers live an average of 72.9 years. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}.

    Smile to achieve success. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. They will put their boss into a happy mood and are more likely to be approached by many people. They are more likely to be promoted. And it is an easy way to improve your relationships with others.

A. People who smile appear more confident.

B. Smiling is a good way to make new friends.

C. Smiling prevents people from looking too tired.

D. When someone is sad, try to make him laugh to cheer him up.

E. The only conclusion to be reached from this is to smile every day.

F. You will see that it is hard to combine the negative thought with the smile.

G. You can reduce the risk of sicknesses such as the cold and the flu by smiling.

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    Safety in the highway is not totally out of our hands. Here are four ways we can protect ourselves when we travel.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} people in small cars are injured more often and more severely than people traveling in large cars. Factories of small cars are strengthening their products' safety, which helps. But the mix of large cars and small cars on the road is the main reason of the problem.

    Being thrown into glass and mental cars parts, or being thrown from the car can really hurt or even kill you.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}The safety belt's main purpose is to pull you back if your car has a sudden crash with another vehicle or object, or if it rolls over. A belt can reduce the chance of deadly injury by 45% and the chance of serious injury by 50%.

    Air bags are important. More than half of all new cars sold have air bags. Air bags provide protection in frontal crashes—the type of crash that kills the most drivers—when they are also wearing safety belts. Most people are demanding air bags in the cars they buy.  {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Effective as they are, they can't take the place of safety belts.

    Drunk driving crashes are less likely to happen if you don't drink. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}Many people have realised that drunk driving can lead to death and injury, prison time and other results. There are movements to strengthen penalties(处罚) for drinking and driving.

A. How to drive safely?

B. You are safer in a large car

C. How to protect ourselves in the highway?

D. Air bags are not installed in all cars.

E. That's why safety belts should be worn.

F. Drunk driving is the most serious problem.

G. But the protection provided by air bags is limited in side or rear crashes.

    Communicating with elderly parents is an important part of making sure they're doing okay.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    It's important to set aside time every week to call up or drop by and see how your parents are doing.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}Also listen for the things they're not telling you, such as health problems or money worries.

    Your parents might be slower and less active than before.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}It's important to respect this. Don't think that your elderly parents can't take care of their needs unless there are clear signs that this is the case. Remember, your elderly parents always care about being treated as someone who matters.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Also you must keep your words simple and often ask your elderly parents whether they've really understood. If you realize your parents need to make a major change, like moving to a nursing home, talk about such future issues early in small steps. Ask them about their plans for the future and what they hope. When you get a feel for what they prefer, you can slowly mention the topic of starting to make such changes.

    Accepting the generation gap (代沟) is also important.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}For most people, making changes to their lifestyles, their opinions and their beliefs gets much harder as they age. Your views might differ a lot, but it's best to agree to disagree.

A. Bring happiness into your parents' life.

B. Be clear when you explain anything to your parents.

C. However, they're still able to make their own decisions.

D. Know their daily happenings and ask them what they're doing.

E. Though life is busy, remember to stay in touch with your parents.

F. Your parents have been doing things a certain way for a long time.

G. Be prepared to find suitable advisers that your parents might need.

    Recently, I've been following a simple rule that is helping me crush procrastination(拖延症) and making it easier for me to stick to good habits at the same time. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} There are two parts to the 2-Minute Rule.

    Part 1—If it takes less than two minutes, then do it now.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} For example, washing your dishes immediately after your meal, tossing the laundry in the washing machine, taking out the garbage, sending that email, and so on.

    If a task takes less than two minutes to complete, then follow the rule and do it right now.

    Part 2—When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do.

    Can all of your goals be accomplished in less than two minutes? Obviously not. But, every goal can be started in 2 minutes or less. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    It might sound like this strategy is too basic for grand life goals, but I beg to differ. The 2-Minute Rule works for big goals as well as small goals because of the inertia(惯性)of life. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} I love the 2-Minute Rule because it embraces the idea that all sorts of good things happen once you get started.

    The most important part of any new habit is getting started—not just the first time, but each time. It's not about performance, it's about consistently taking action.

    I can't guarantee whether or not the 2-Minute Rule will work for you. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Anyone can spare the next 120 seconds. Use this time to get one thing done. Go.

A. I call this little strategy the "2-Minute Rule".

B. And that's the purpose behind this little rule.

C. Here's what you need to know to stop procrastinating.

D. Once you start doing something, it's easier to continue doing it.

E. But, I can guarantee that it will never work if you never try it.

F. The goal is to make it easier for you to get started on the things you should be doing.

G. It's surprising how many things we put off that we could get done in two minutes or less.

Tips for Using Google Maps When You Travel

    Traveling somewhere new can bring exciting adventures. But it can also bring unwelcome surprises. That may be in the tools you use before and during your trip. With the right technology, you can make the most of your time on the road. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} While people most commonly use Google Maps for directions from one place to another, it offers many other kinds of travel tools. Today, we bring you several tips for using Google Maps.

    ⒈Plan a road trip route

    When you are traveling on a road trip, you do not have to plan each part of the trip separately with Google Maps. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} To plan a road trip, open Google Maps. Search for your first destination, and then click on the arrow to get directions. Then, click on the plus + sign to add more destinations to your trip.

    ⒉Save your maps for offline use

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Or you may not want to pay international charges for using your phone in other countries. The good news is that you can still use Google Maps even without the Internet. You can download a map from Google Maps to your phone. To do this, open the Google Maps app on your phone and search for the area you want to save. Click on the address at the bottom of the screen, then choose Download.

    ⒊Use Google Maps for a walk or bike ride

    While Google Maps may first give users directions to a place by car, it also offers biking or walking directions.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} The results also tell you the elevation change of the route, so you know how much energy you will have to use by choosing to walk or ride a bicycle.

    ⒋Save money on gas

    If you are planning a car trip in North America, Google Maps can show you the lowest gas prices in the United States and Canada. Search for “gas stations” on the Google Maps app and you will see a list of nearby stations with gas prices.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Therefore, Google Maps is really a great convenience to tourists.

A. Google Maps has many tech tools that help make traveling easier.

B. When traveling, you may not always have access to the Internet.

C. You can get those directions by clicking the walking or bicycle icon.

D. The “gas stations” on the Google Maps app are sometimes difficult to find.

E. They will also be marked on the map so that you can see the closest ones to you.

F. The apps and maps are of great help when people are going to a store or supermarket.

G. You can search for all of the parts of the trip in order to prepare your route more efficiently.

    Color is fundamental in home design——something you'll always have in every room. A grasp of how to manage color in your spaces is one of the first steps to creating rooms you'll love to live in. Do you want a room that's full of life？Professional？Or are you just looking for a place to relax after a long day？{#blank#}1{#/blank#}, color is the key to making a room feel the way you want it to feel.

    Over the years, there have been a number of different techniques to help designers approach this important point. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}, they can get a little complex. But good news is that there are really only three kinds of decisions you need to make about color in your home: the small ones, the medium ones, and the large ones.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. They're the little spots of color like throw pillows, mirrors and baskets that most of us use to add visual interest to our rooms. Less tiring than painting your walls and less expensive than buying a colorful sofa, small color choices bring with them the significant benefit of being easily changeable.

    Medium color choices are generally furniture pieces such as sofas, dinner tables or bookshelves{#blank#}4{#/blank#}. They require a bigger commitment than smaller ones, and they have a more powerful effect on the feeling of a space.

    The large color decisions in your rooms concern the walls, ceilings, and floors. Whether you're looking at wallpaper or paint, the time, effort and relative expense put into it are significant. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}.

A. While all of them are useful

B. If you're experimenting with a color

C. Whatever you're looking for

D. Small color choices are the ones we're most familiar with

E. It's not really a good idea to use too many small color pieces

F. Color choices in this range are a step up from the small ones in two major ways

G. So it pays to be sure, because you want to get it right the first time