Why Walking Your Dog Is Great Exercise

    Having trouble sticking to an exercise program?Research shows that dogs are actually nature's perfect personal trainers-loyal,hard-working,energetic and enthusiastic.Your friends may skip an exercise session because of appointments,extra chores or bad weather.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Is dog walking really effective exercise?Many people are becoming interested in exercise to help lose excess weight.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}Dog owner-ship and obesity were evaluated in Seattle,Wash.,and Baltimore,Md.,in a study published in the journal Preventive Medicine in September 2008.Dog owners who reported walking their dogs were almost 25 percent less likely to be obese than people without dogs.

    What are the benefits of regular exercise?Dr.Joanna Kruk reviewed medical literature describing the health benefits of exercise.Her research showed that the risk of developing a number of serious health problems is reduced by physical activity and exercise.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}It's easy to forget about healthy walking plans,so set the stage for a successful program: Establish a walking schedule; plan to walk 30 minutes total each day.This might include a 10-minute neighborhood walk in the morning and a 20-minute romp at the dog park after work.Or maybe three 10-minule walks or one 30-minute walk fit in better with your day.

    If dog walking is "scheduled" each day,you'll feel more responsible for sticking with your program.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}Most importantly,daily walking your dog will keep it fit and give it an opportunity to utilize their senses while also engaging their mind.

    So,grab a leash,whistle to the pup,and go for a walk-today and every day! Take action!{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A.Plan for success.

B.Track your progress.

C.This will reinforce your good behavior.

D.Dog walking is a great way to start a healthy lifestyle program.

E.However,dogs never give you an excuse to delay exercising.

F.Plus,your dog will also get used to the routine and remind you when "it's time"!

G.Obesity is affecting about one in every three to four adults in the United States and Europe.

    You are a new manager at the American branch of your German firm in Chicago. With a few minutes to spare between meetings, you go to get a quick cup of coffee.

    “Hey, David, how are you?” one of the senior partners at the firm asks you.

    “Good, thank you, Dr. Greer,” you reply. You've really been wanting to make a connection with the senior leadership at the firm, and this seems like a great opportunity. But as you start to think of something to say, your American colleague breaks in to steal your spotlight.

    “So Arnold”, your colleague says to your boss, in such a casual manner that it makes your German soul cringe(畏缩), “So what's your Super bowl prediction? I mean, you're a Niners fan, right?”

    The conversation moves on, and you walk silently back to your desk with your coffee. You know how important small talk is in the U.S., and you feel jealous of people who can do it well.

    There's nothing small about the role that small talk plays in American professional culture. People from other countries are often surprised at how important small talk is in the U.S. and how naturally and comfortably people seem to do it — with peers, men, women, and even with superiors. You can be the most technically skilled worker in the world, but your ability to progress in your job in the United States is highly dependent on your ability to build and maintain positive relationships with people at work. And guess what skill is critical for building and maintaining these relationships? Small talk.

    What can you do if you are from another culture and want to learn to use small talk in the U.S. to build relationships and establish trust? Work hard to hone(磨练) your own version of American-style small talk. Watch how others do it. You don't have to mimic what they do; in fact, that would likely backfire because people would see you as inauthentic. But if you can develop your own personal version, that can go a long way toward making you feel comfortable and competence．

    There are two types of people in the world. Although they have equal degree of health and wealth and other comforts of life, one becomes happy, the other becomes unhappy. This arises from the different ways in which they consider things, persons, events and the resulting effects upon their minds.

    People who are to be happy fix their attention on the convenience of things. The pleasant parts of conversation, the well prepared dishes, the goodness of the wine, the fine weather. They enjoy all the cheerful things. Those who are to be unhappy think and speak only of the opposite things. Therefore, they are continually dissatisfied. By their remarks, they sour the pleasure of society, offend (hurt) many people, and make themselves disagreeable everywhere. If this turn of mind was founded in nature, such unhappy persons would be the more to be pitied. The intention of criticizing and being disliked is perhaps taken up by imitation. It grows into a habit, unknown to its possessors. The habit may be strong, but it may be cured when those who have it realize its bad effects on their interests and tastes. I hope this little warning may be of service to them, and help them change this habit.

    Although in fact it is chiefly an act of the imagination, it has serious results in life since it brings on deep sorrow and bad luck. Those people offend many others; nobody loves them, and no one treats them with more than the most common politeness and respect. This frequently puts them in bad temper and draws them into arguments. If they want to get some advantages in social position or fortune(财), nobody wishes them success. Nor will anyone start a step or speak a word to favor their hopes. If they bring on themselves public objections（反对）, no one will defend or excuse them, and many will join to criticize their wrong doings. These should change this bad habit and be pleased with what is pleasing, without worrying needlessly about themselves and others. If they do not, it will be good for others to avoid any contact(接触) with them. Otherwise, it can be unpleasing and sometimes very inconvenient, especially when one becomes mixed up in their quarrels.

    Some people love eating food right after it is cooked. I prefer food just taken out from the freezer. Fruit, candies, nuts, chocolate, cake with buttercream frosting(糖霜), even peas, all of them taste delicious when frozen. In fact, I often eat them that way.

    I was a kid when I picked up the habit. In my family, lots of things were thrown into the freezer — finally, two freezers — to prevent them from going bad. Among them were some of the candies my sisters and I had collected on Halloween.

    If we eat when they are still warm, we'll find ourselves taking the cookies more than we should. It's better if we can put them into the freezer and wait. That way we'll eat less and enjoy them more because they are hard and chewing becomes a slower, more patient effort. That's the point about frozen buttercream frosting. Put it in your mouth at room temperature, and it's gone very quickly. But when it's frozen, you can enjoy the taste much longer as it melts(融化) in your mouth.

    The freezer treats a lot of fruit kindly. Take frozen grapes for example, I keep a bowl of grapes in my freezer. They become a little icy, and somehow their sweetness is improved. They are perfect and healthy dessert(点心). This is the same with oranges, apples, bananas…You might think bananas would get super­hard when frozen. Wrong! They become cool, creamy and sweet. If you have wisely covered some or all of the bananas with melted chocolate before putting them into the freeze, they will have a double taste.

    As long as you aren't eating anything that truly has to be hot, go ahead and experiment.

    Bamboo is one of the world's most useful plants. For thousands of years, bamboo has been used in many different ways-from food to medicine to clothing and, in small ways, as a building material.

    However, bamboo is not often used as a building material in the developed world. A professor at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania is trying to change that. The professor and his students are testing the strength of bamboo.They are testing how much pressure or weight it can take before breaking.

    Kent Harries is a professor at the University of Pittsburgh. Harries says that testing methods for bamboo need to be the same for all. They need to be standardized. Standardizing test methods for bamboo will help to bring the plant into common use. It will also give engineers and builders around the world a dependable standard.

    Harries says that bamboo is strong in nature. The strength of at least three species of bamboo is similar to steel.Besides its strength, bamboo has other features that make it very useful in building. He says it is resilient(有弹力的), meaning it keeps its shape and strength even under pressure.

    Bamboo also grows quickly. Bamboo that is suitable for construction needs much less resources than wood. The harvest cycle of bamboo is about 3 years. Softwoods such as cedar, pine and spruce have a harvest cycle of about 10 years. And hardwoods that come from flowering plants such as oak and walnut need more than 30 years.

    Bamboo is widely used as food for panda bears. It is also used for flooring and window covers. However, for building, bamboo is not used much outside its native growing area. This is mostly because of its round shape. But there are other reasons too. People think -- or have the mentality--that bamboo is a low quality building material.

    "Hey, Bruno! Great to see you again, man!" Zeca shouted. "Come over here and meet the boys." But before Bruno could move he was frisked by two guards. He cringed as the men searched his body for hidden guns, knives or other weapons.

    "He's clean, boss," one of the men shouted out.

    Zeca introduced all the members of his gang, including the man who worked inside the printer's who was going to steal the exams. He then explained all the details of the plan. It seemed foolproof and nothing could go wrong.

    They all shook hands and quickly left.

    Bruno's heart was beating fast. He was anxious to get away from the gang and phone Clara. He raced down the hill. Then he stopped at the bottom and looked behind him. It was clear, no one was following him. He took out his phone and called Clara.

    "Hey, Clara. Listen." He was out of breath, panting heavily. "Everything went according to plan. To my plan, of course, not Zeca's!" he added, laughing excitedly.

……

    "This is amazing!" the police officer said, smiling broadly, as he looked at Bruno and Clara, who were sitting in front of him at the police station. "Well done! How did you manage to come up with such a brilliant idea?"

    "Thanks. I guess it was kind of clever." Bruno answered, acknowledging the compliment with a polite smile. He felt slightly embarrassed. "Believe it or not, the idea just popped into my head while I was taking a shower. I remembered I saw an advert once on the Internet for special spy-camera sunglasses. They have a tiny, hidden, built-in video recorder. Here they're only used by detectives and law enforcement agencies, but anybody can buy them on the Internet."

    When Bruno talked to Clara before his meeting with Zeca's gang, they both agreed it would be wrong to steal the exams, and help Zeca sell them to other people. But Bruno had worked out an ingenious plan to dounle-cross Zeca and stay out of trouble himself.

    First of all, he had wisely agreed to go along with Zeca's plan, and go to the meeting with the gang of thieves. When he arrived at the hideout, they frisked him for hidden weapons, but no one ever imagined that Bruno was wearing sunglasses with a tiny built-in camera. Bruno had secretly videoed the entire meeting, making sure he had taken close-up shots of all the gang members. Their conversations with all the details of their plan had also been recorded.

    Then, as soon as he was sure that he wasn't being followed, he phoned Clara and together they went to the police with the camera and told them the whole story.

    "Thanks to this evidence we can finally catch Zeca and his entire gang red-handed," the police officer continued. "But we need you and Clara to help us. It's very important that you both continue to act as if nothing has happened. You must play along with whatever Zeca wants. We'll be following your every move from now on. Just do everything Zeca tells you to, OK?"

    The police then went to the printer's and spoke to the owner. He agreed to co-operate and they installed some hidden cameras there, too. The day of the theft they saw the thief copy the exam papers on Closed Circuit Television(闭路电视), but they did not arrest him yet.

    Then they waited until Zeca made the next move.