People who are confident really seem to be naturally outstanding and just seem to do everything with more styles than others. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} It is a habit that everyone can develop in life. Try these simple tips to drill and build up your confidence:

1). Admit your shortcomings calmly.

    Do not try to flee from them or cover them. Face them bravely. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Fight against them every day until the day when you could break away and conquer them.

2). Dress for self-confidence.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} And therefore pay attention to your dress, display your unique physical advantages and exhibit your best image. In addition, on formal occasions such as a business conference or a wedding ceremony, elegant dressing contributes to building your confidence.

3). {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    You should break your routine that deals with the work passively. Concentrate your efforts immediately on overcoming it, because it will make your restless mind at ease and build your self-confidence.

4). Be positive.

    Feel pity neither on yourself nor on others. If you are used to hating and accusing yourself, others would tend to do that and believe it. Instead, you should speak positively about yourself, your progress, and your bright future. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    With busy lives, it can be hard to find time to volunteer. However, the benefits of volunteering are great to you, your family, and your community(社区).

    One of the better-known benefits of volunteering is the effect on the community. Volunteering allows you to connect with your community and make it a better place. Volunteering also strengthens your ties to the community and broadens your support network, exposing(使暴露) you to people with common interests, neighborhood resources, and fun and satisfactory activities.

    While some people are naturally outgoing, others are shy and have a hard time meeting new people. Volunteering gives you the opportunity to practice and develop your social skills, since you are meeting regularly with a group of people with common interests. Once you have the desire, it's easier to make more friends and contacts.

    Volunteering provides many benefits for both mental and physical health. You're doing good to others and the community, which makes you experience the pleasure of success. Your role as a volunteer can also give you a sense of pride and identity.

    Reducing the risk of depression(沮丧) is another important benefit of volunteering. A key risk factor for depression is social isolation. Volunteering keeps you in regular contact with others and helps you develop a solid support system, which in turn protects you against stress and depression when you're going through challenging times. Volunteering is good for your health whether you are young or old, but it's especially good in older adults.

    Volunteering offers you the chance to try out a new career without making a long-term commitment. It is also a great way to gain experience in a new field. Volunteering work can expose you to professional organizations or internship（实习）that could be of benefit to your career. That volunteer work is unpaid doesn't mean the skills you learn are basic. Many volunteering opportunities provide training. In addition, volunteering can also help you build upon skills you already have and use them to benefit the greater community.

    Volunteering is a fun and easy way to explore your interests and passions. Volunteer opportunities that match both your goals and your interest are most likely to be fun and satisfying for you. Doing volunteer work you find meaningful and interesting can be a relaxing escape from your day-to-day routines of work, school, and family commitments. Volunteering also provides you with renewed creativity, motivation, and vision that can be carried over into your personal and professional life.

    Last week the electricity in my flat went out. I had just got home from work and was happily making my tea, when all a sudden I was surrounded by complete darkness. I tried to fix it but failed. I had to wait for an electrician to come in the morning{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    I sat down to eat my half-cooked dinner. And then I wasn't really sure what to do. My typical evening is spent watching the TV and looking through social media{#blank#}2{#/blank#} So for me it was an early night. And I couldn't help but think, do we rely too much on electricity? That night, losing our electricity felt like losing a basic necessity. As basic as running water{#blank#}3{#/blank#}I use electricity all the time, even when it's not really necessary.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}It contributes to global warming. It is harming our environment and we need to do what we can to stop it. Not only that, but if we continue to use the same large amount of energy we will soon run out.

    So, shouldn't we start preparing for it now? Cutting back on our use of electricity would make losing it easier, and also save energy resources so that they could last for longer{#blank#}5{#/blank#} And if everyone does the same, we can make a big difference.

A. Tonight this wasn't possible.

B. Obviously, we can't survive without it.

C. Our over-use of electricity is a big problem.

D. This left me a whole night without any electricity.

E. Electricity brings us convenience and trouble.

F. But really, we've grown to take electricity for granted.

G. I know for sure that I could cut down on my use of electricity.

    At a special ceremony(仪式), a special award was offered to a group of students from Changjiang University on February 11, 2010. They were brave enough to help save two boys from Changjiang River. All the students were there except three, who lost their lives when they tried to save the boys.

    On the afternoon of October 24, 2009, some students were taking a trip to Changjiang River. Suddenly two boys fell into the river. Some of them quickly jumped into the water and saved one boy. However, things didn't go so well when they tried to save the other one. More students joined in, and, hand in hand, they formed a human wall. Finally the other boy was saved.

    However, the human wall broke down and many students were swept away by the rushing water. At that moment several members of a winter swimming team nearby came to help and succeeded in saving many of the students. But the three of them, who were only 19, were nowhere to be found.

    “Sorry for keeping you waiting. I left my cell phone at home, so I went hack to get it,” Adam said as he apologized to Vicky after arriving an hour late for their first date. Vicky tried to be polite, so she forced a smile and replied, “It's all right. Let's order something to eat.” While they were waiting for their food. Vicky discovered that Adam had been checking his cell phone. Just as she got the chance to talk to him Adam's cell phone rang and he answered it without delay. He talked continuously and totally ignored his date, who was sitting right next to him. Twenty minutes later, when Adam finally hung up and turned hack to Vicky, he saw nothing but an angry face. “Why don't you date your cell phone?” said Vicky. Then, she stood up and shouted, “Don't ever call me again!”

    We can understand why Vicky was so angry at Adam. In fact, like Adam, many people in modern society can't stand to be separated from their cell phones. With their cell phones, they talk to others, listen to music, check e-mall, and download applications as well as photos. Their dependence on this technological device has become so great that the cell phone is now often considered a necessity rather than a luxury (奢侈品). Some people cannot even imagine life without their cell phones. As a result, a psychological(心理学的) phrase known as "disconnect anxiety" was born.

    According to psychologists, when these people are not using their phones, they may start to feel uneasy. Some feel socially separated without their cell phone. Others worry about not being able to respond to emergencies in time. Still others are so psychologically influenced by their cell phones that they often believe their phones have been ringing without their knowledge. Those who suffer from disconnect anxiety frequently check their cell phones for any missed calls or messages. In addition, they like to keep in touch with their friends-even just to kill time. What's more, if these heavy cell phone users discover that they have forgotten to bring their cell phones along with them, they will insist on returning home to get their "cells".

    It's nice to have a cell phone, and it makes sense, of course, to enjoy all the advantages this clever product has brought. However, we need to use it wisely. For example, when we are doing something important, we should turn off our cell phones to concentrate on our work. As for Adam, he had better leave his cell phone at home on his next date with Vicky-if he gets another chance to go out with her!

    If you said you were suffering from "burnout" in the early 1970s, you might have raised some eyebrows.

    At the time, the term was informally to describe the side effects that heavy drug users experienced.

    However, in 1974, a German-American psychologist Herbert Freudenberger found the volunteers at his clinic were struggling, too: their work was tough, and many were lacking in motivation. Freudenberger defined this condition as a state of extreme tiredness caused by constant overwork－and borrowed the term "burnout" to describe it.

    Late last month, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the problem will be recognized as a syndrome (综合征) "resulting from workplace stress that has not been successfully managed."

    Feeling the burn so how can you tell if you're almost burned out?

    "A lot of the signs and symptoms of pre-burnout would be very similar to depression," says Siobhan Murray, a psychotherapist. She suggests looking out for bad habits, such as increased alcohol consumption and relying on sugar to get you through the day. Also watch out for feelings of tiredness that won't go away or not having the energy to exercise or go for a walk. As soon as you begin to feel this way, Murray advises going to see your doctor. "Depression and pre-burnout are very similar. But it is still classified as an occupational phenomenon which is still best tackled by making lifestyle changes."

    And how do you know if you're really on the edge of burnout? "Stress is really important, and anxiety is what motivates us to do well," says Murray. "It's when we're continually exposed to stress and anxiety that it starts to turn into burnout."

    You're pre-burnout: What's next?

    "Sometimes they feel the need to be too perfect so they're having to work very hard to cover up that they're not quite as good as everyone thinks." Another therapist Walker says.

    However, sometimes the work environment is the problem. According to a 2018 study of 7,500 US workers, burnout comes from unfair treatment at work, an unmanageable workload and not knowing what a person's role should involve. Workers were also stressed out by a lack of support from their manager and punreasonable time pressure.

    Whatever the cause of your burnout, Murray's top tip is to be kind to yourself.

    In Murray's experience, a key driver of burnout is today's culture of wanting it all. Often it's just not possible to have a healthy social life and complete a big project at the same time. She says it's vital to prioritize and not expect too much of yourself; when others seem like the perfect boss, parent and friend all at the same time, they're probably misleading us.

    If you feel that you might be close to joining the burnout club, take a step back, figure out what's going wrong－and let yourself off the hook.