Lots of people stress out about talking in front of the class or getting laughed at if they make a mistake in front of an audience. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} The “stress hormones" that your body produces at times like these can actually help you focus.

    But when worry and stress about performing get to be too much, these hormones give people that “red alert(紧急状态)” feeling—the one that causes you to feel cold or sweaty, or get butterflies in your stomach. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Be prepared. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Rehearse(排练) as much as you can and practice in front of others at every opportunity. Most of all, think positively. Tell yourself “I'll be OK" or “I can do this" even if you are not 100% sure of it

    Look after yourself. Before big performances it's easy to let taking care of yourself slip as you spend too much time on rehearsals and practice. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Exercise can also help you feel good, and along with sleep and nutrition, is an excellent way of keeping those stress hormones from getting out of control.

    Find out what the experts do. You can find books, DVDs, and online information about how to give your best when you perform, depending on what type of performance you're preparing for {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Or ask the cast of your school play or your drama or music teacher how they beat stage fright. And if your parents or grandparents ever performed, they may have their own secrets to share.

    A kiln (窑) is a type of oven or furnace used to cure (加工处理), harden, or burn certain materials. Depending on which materials are heated in it, a kiln may be square, tunnel shaped, or beehive shaped, and usually made of brick or stone.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} It may be set as low as sixty-five degrees to cure grain or as high as 3,200 degrees to transform limestone to quicklime (熟石灰).

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} They have a variety of purposes. The cement (水泥) industry uses revolving kilns to heat and separate raw materials. Bricks, pottery, and china made from clay must be fired, or hardened, in kilns. Certain kinds of coal and wood must be kiln-dried （在窑里烘干的）before they can be used. Hobbyists use small kilns to fire a variety of ceramic (陶瓷) objects.

    There are two main types of kilns. A periodic kiln, used to fire certain kinds of delicate china, is raised to a high temperature and then completely cooled before its contents are removed. A continuous, or tunnel kiln contains several chambers, or zones, which heat, bake, and cool a product. Stacks of clay bricks move through a tunnel kiln on tracks{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Gas, oil, and coal are all used to heat modern kilns{#blank#}4{#/blank#} But for special jobs, where cleanliness and careful heat（绝热）are important, kilns must be heated by electricity oven though it is more expensive. Small kilns used in the home or in craft shops are also heated electrically because electricity is clean and convenient.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} When ancient people discovered that heat hardened some materials, they were able to make durable household objects such as jugs and bowls. Today our museums display many kinds of ancient statues and art objects that have lasted because they had been kiln-dried. They come from lands as far apart as China and Greece.

A. Its temperature may vary.

B. Then they come out, hardened, and cooled.

C. Kilns are used in industry and in craft-making.

D. Kilns have been in use for thousands of years.

E. An electric kiln is a heating chamber used to transform materials.

F. Most manufacturers use whichever material is cheapest in their area.

G. Clay, when heated properly, becomes hard enough to form bowls and plates.

    It's Friday morning, and you're taking another test. Are you ready? Students who do well on tests often have good study skills, but good study skills involve a lot of preparations as well as studying. Here are a few simple strategies（策略）that will help.

    Read ahead. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. Highlight or make notes of things that you feel are important, and share your thoughts during classroom discussions. Also, by reading ahead, class time can be used more efficiently to discuss questions or topics that need clarification. Clarifying questions in class will free up more time to review and study the new material at home.

    Take good notes. Good notes make great studying tools. Good note taking involves a lot more than copying notes from the board. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. Pay attention to textbook pages that are relevant to the discussion.

    Make flashcards. Flashcards are great review tools for basic math facts or word definitions. Write the word or question on one side and the definition or answer on the other side. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. Make one pile for flashcards that were remembered, and make one pile for flashcards not remembered. The more you review the flashcards, the smaller the flashcards pile not remembered should be.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. Get together with a few friends and quiz each other on the material and notes you've collected for the test. Explain or describe in your own words what the material is about, and compare the information you have collected with each other.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. Being prepared for class, participating during class, and reviewing after class are good strategies so that you have the most accurate and best materials to study.

A. Study in a group

B. Review notes daily

C. As you review them, make two piles

D. Doing it helps you better prepare for class

E. There are many things you can do to improve your studying skills

F. You are becoming more familiar with the concepts and topics discussed

G. Make sure to include any relevant information from the classroom discussions

    Why do we read poetry? First obvious one: because we enjoy it. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}But that's not why this is here.

    Many of us read poetry simply because we often feel depressed and hopelessly lost, and in poetry we see how beautiful and strange everything is. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    There are many different kinds of poems. They are not all calming. Some poems make me anxious, angry, scared, and sad, which is why I value them.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}I want the sweet and the bitter. Often, I read poetry when I'm already relaxed. In fact, I read more when I'm not stressed out.

    Here are the main reasons I respond to poetry, as far as I can tell. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}Usually, this is done by setting up a rhythm and then violating it or almost violating it. And then returning to it again. This satisfies my desire for order and also my desire for testing boundaries.

    Poetry plays with language. It often slams words together in surprising ways, which is thrilling the way food can be when the chef has paired ingredients you never thought would taste good together but somehow do.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}Words mean two or three things at once and lots of suggestions are packed between the lines. This is intellectually inspiring and it allows me to read the same poem over and over, always finding new things in it.

    And, of course, there's the subject matter. It interests me just as it would if the same subject was explored in a story or essay. Not all poems interest me in this way, but then not all stories and essays do, either.

A. Many poems are dense.

B. So in that way poetry calms our anxiety.

C. As a reader, I want a full meal, not just dessert.

D. Another reason is to appreciate the suggestions offered.

E. The only other reason seems to be for academic purposes.

F. The best part about poetry is that they are flexible in length.

G. Metrical(格律的) poems are about setting up rules and then bending them.

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” —Lao Tzu

    If you are in a city where everyone rushes, realize that you don't have to be like everyone else. You can be different. You can walk instead of driving in rush hour traffic. You can be on your iPhone or Blackberry less, and disconnected sometimes. Your environment doesn't control your life you do. I'm not going to tell you how to give you a step-by-step guide to moving slower. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Do less.

    Cut back on your projects, on your task list, on how much you try to do each day. Focus not on quantity but on quality.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Save smaller, routine tasks for later in the day, but give yourself time to focus.

    Have fewer meetings.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}And they eat into your day, forcing you to squeeze the things you really need to do into small windows, and making you rush.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    When you do the important things with focus, without rush, there will be things that get pushed back, and that don't get done. And you need to ask yourself: how necessary are these things? What would happen if I stopped doing them?

    Practice mindfulness.

    Simply learn to live in the present, rather than things so much about future or the past. When you eat, fully appreciate your food. When you are with someone, be with them fully. When you are walking, appreciate your surroundings, no matter where you are.

    Try these things out. Life is better when unrushed. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Start to put off or cancel the unnecessary.

B. Meetings are usually a “big waste of time”.

C. The world likely won't end if you don't pass one of the examinations.

D. But here are some things to consider and perhaps adopt, if they work for your life.

E. Remember the quote: if nature can get everything done without rushing, so can you.

F. Pick 2-3 important things—or even just one important thing—and work on those first.

G. Give yourself more time to get ready and get there.

Money Matters

    Parents should help their children understand money. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}So you may start talking about money when your child shows an interest in buying things, candy or toys, for example.

    ⒈The basic function of money

    Begin explaining the basic function of money by showing how people trade money for goods or services. It is important to show your child how money is traded for the things he wants to have. If he wants to have a toy, give him the money and let him hand the money to the cashier(收银员). {#blank#}2{#/blank#}When your child grows a bit older and understands the basic function of money, you can start explaining more complex ways of using money.

    ⒉Money lessons

    Approach money lessons with openness and honesty. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} If you must say no to a child's request to spend money, explain, "You have enough toy trucks for now." Or, if the request is for many different things, say "You have to make a choice between this toy and that toy."

    ⒊{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Begin at the grocery store. Pick out two similar brands(品牌) of a product—a name-brand butter and a generic(一般的), for example. You can show your child how to make choices between different brands of a product so that you can save money. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} If he chooses the cheaper brand, allow him to make another purchase(购买) with the money saved. Later, you may explain how the more expensive choice leaves less money for other purchases.

A. Talk about how the money bought the thing after you leave the toy store.

B. Wise decisions

C. The best time to teach a child anything about money is when he shows an interest.

D. Tell your child why he can—or cannot—have certain things.

E. The value of money

F. Permit the child to choose between them.

G. Ask yourself what things that cost money are most important to you.