Ways to sleep smarter

    Studies show that poor sleep influences people to make good decisions, concentrate on tasks or even manage a friendly mood(情绪) at work. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Today we've got our top favorite sleep tips and facts.

Set a regular bedtime

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Choose a time when you normally feel tired. Try not to break this routine(惯例) on weekends when you will probably stay up late. If you want to change your bedtime, make the change gradually, such as 15 minutes earlier or later each day.

Eat the right food

    Some foods are more helpful to a better night's sleep than others. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Others like bananas, potatoes, and whole-wheat bread are also helpful.

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    Exercising provides lots of good health benefits(好处). A good night's sleep is one of them. But make sure you exercise in the morning or afternoon. The National Sleep Foundation reports that exercise in the morning or afternoon can help deepen sleep. However, those who worked out in the evening hours saw little or no improvement in their sleep.

Reduce(减少) screen time before bed

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} A recent study shows that people who use electronic media(媒体) just before bedtime report lower-quality sleep even when they get as much sleep as those who don't.

How Can I Fight Laziness?

    Lazy people will never amount to anything in life. However, laziness can be defeated once a few changes have been made in your mind.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. Many people lack sleep constantly, since they stay up too late and get up too early to prepare for work. These people have little motivation once they arrive home. Laziness works hand in hand with a lack of motivation and a tendency to put off things. By adjusting your sleep schedule to provide a few more hours of meaningful rest, you can fight laziness throughout the day.

    Another way to fight laziness is to change your mind from passive to active. Some people treat their lives as if they were pushed from task to task. Others take a more proactive（主动的） approach, viewing each task as a challenge they must overcome alone. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Some people fight laziness by removing the temptations(诱惑) that surround them. A television in the living room may provide entertainment, but watching too much TV often contributes to laziness. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Complete a few tasks and reward yourself with what you enjoy, such as a good dinner or a film.

    Laziness can also be a lasting problem at home. Couples and children may all have different energy levels, but laziness can be spread if not dealt with immediately. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Be the first to collect and wash dishes after a meal. Others in the home may eventually follow your example and perform their own task. It is difficult to practice laziness when you are surrounded by motivated people.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Enough exercise and a balanced diet can help you to develop a healthy lifestyle, thus enabling you to have more energy and help lift your spirits.

A．To fight family laziness, set an example.

B．One way to fight laziness is to get enough sleep.

C．Knowing how to fight laziness is important.

D．Finally, taking exercise regularly can help you fight laziness.

E. With strong determination, you will be able to achieve your goal.

F. Create a reward system for yourself, just as parents do for a child.

G. Laziness sets in when you no longer feel in charge of your own life.

    Earth is home to around 7,000 languages, around half of which are expected to disappear by 2100.

    Languages disappear for many reasons. Sometimes younger generations stop learning a language because parents want children to fit in. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Native American children of the late-19th century were required to attend boarding schools where educators forbade them from speaking their native languages.

    The United Nations ranks endangered languages according to their risk level. For example, a "critically endangered" language is one that even grandparents don't speak often. New York's Onondaga language is an example with only 50 speakers left. An "extinct" language has no speakers. It is gone forever. Alaska's Eyak language is one example. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}In the same way, different languages contribute to cultural diversity. Saving these languages benefits our understanding of other cultures. Languages can show how a society looks at the world and what it values. A language may describe something in a way that is funny, too. In Welsh, it rains not cats and dogs, but old wives and walking sticks.

    The Endangered Language Alliance wants to save languages from disappearing. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} However, its efforts are limited. If an endangered language is going to make a real comeback, it'll probably get its start in schools. For nearly 100 years, public schools in Hawaii did not teach the Hawaiian language. Now students can keep learning in Hawaiian from elementary schools to college and beyond.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} At least one did. In 1881, a Jewish linguist named Eliezer Ben-Yehuda brought the 3,000-year-old language Hebrew back to life. Today it is one of the official languages of the country of Israel, with more than 4 million speakers.

A. The last person who spoke it died in 2008.

B. Why should we save endangered languages?

C. Various animals and plants benefit our environment.

D. With just 5 speakers left, it is absolutely endangered.

E. Can a language with zero native speakers come back to life?

F. Sometimes societies force minorities to give up their language.

G. The nonprofit group finds native speakers and records their stories.

    Are you having trouble concentrating when you're reading a book or listening to a lecture? This list of activities might help to improve your study habits.

    Make a List. We often have trouble paying attention to one thing because our brain wants to think about something else. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} You don't worry about whatever else you should be doing.

    Sleep More. Studies show that people who sleep fewer than eight hours a night for a period of time have slower response systems and more difficulty recalling information. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Eat Healthier Foods. Many people enjoy foods high in fats and sugars. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} They might give you a temporary burst of energy. However, that energy is soon followed by a crash.

Reduce Screen Time. This may be the most unpopular suggestion among young people. Screen time — or time spent looking at cell phones, televisions, computer screens, has a clear effect on the attention span. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Concentration improves for students who participate in team sports. It could be that being active is helpful in this way. Participating in a sport trains your brain to concentrate on specific tasks, and shut out other thoughts.

A. Be active.

B. Practice more.

C. These foods can provide enough energy for focusing.

D. But these foods can't be helpful enough when it comes to focusing.

E. That is bad news for teens who stay up studying the night before a test.

F. Researchers advise parents to limit it when their children need to be focused.

G. By writing down all the things you need to do, you'll gain a sense of control.

    Here are some easy steps for you to stay safe and secure on the Internet.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Never give out your full name, address and phone number, unless it is a safe site or it is a well-known site.

    Protect your money. Do not give out your card information unless it is a secure site. You can tell if the site is safe by looking at the lower part of your screen.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} If it is locked, the site is secure. "Unlocked" means that you should not give a card number.

Don't believe "Get Rich Quick!". If it sounds too good to be sure— it is! If you get an e-mail that says you can make thousands of dollars in a few days, it isn't true. Most likely it will cost you in the end.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    A good virus scan (杀毒软件). Update your virus scan.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}When you buy a virus scan, it may have been on the shelves for months, so you need to update it frequently.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Do not open e-mail attachments (附件) that are programs. Receiving these programs in e-mail is harmless, but opening and running them can be dangerous.

A. There is a small lock.

B. Stay away from these offers!

C. New viruses come out daily.

D. There are always some unsafe sites.

E. Keep your main e-mail address private.

F  Don't give out personal information.

G. Protect yourself from dangerous e-mail viruses.

    The history of writing instruments, with which humans have recorded and conveyed thoughts and feelings, is the history of civilization itself. This is how we know about our ancestors and their life.

    The handy sharpened-stone was adapted into the first writing instrument. Around 24 000 BC, the cave man started drawing pictures with the stone onto the walls of his cave. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Walls at the Apollo site in Namibia are believed to be the oldest rock paintings to date.

    Before paper came along, people used clay or wax tablets on which they wrote with sharp objects such as metal sticks or bones. Around 6000 years ago, the Egyptians invented the first paperlike material called papyrus. The word "paper" actually comes from the word "papyrus".

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Bones or metal sticks were no longer useful as the papyrus could not be scratched. So the Egyptians created a reed-pen perfect for the papyrus. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} And thus, ancient Egyptians transformed bamboo stems (茎) into an early form of a fountain pen.

    Another writing instrument that remained active in history for a long period was the quill (鹅毛) pen. Introduced around 700 AD, the quill was a pen made from a bird feather. Goose feathers were most common. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} For making fine line drawings, crow feathers were the best.

    When writers had better inks and paper and handwriting had developed into both an art form and an everyday occurrence, man's inventive nature once again turned to improving the writing instrument. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Now something was needed to write upon the papyrus.

B. The papyrus became the most popular material at that time.

C. Swan feathers were of a high quality, being rare and most expensive.

D. Bamboo stems were better and much more expensive than goose feathers.

E. This led to the development of the modem fountain pen in the 19th century.

F. These were mostly the stems of grasses, especially from the bamboo plant.

G. These drawings showed events in daily life like the planting of crops or hunting victories.