Everyone knows that fish is good for health. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}  But it seems that many people don't cook fish at home. Americans eat only about fifteen pounds of fish per person per year, but we eat twice as much fish in restaurants as at home. Buying, storing, and cooking fish isn't difficult. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}  This text is about how to buy and cook fish in an easy way.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Fresh fish should smell sweet: you should feel that you're standing at the ocean's edge. Any fishy or strong smell means the fish isn't fresh.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}  When you have bought a fish and arrive home, you'd better store the fish in the refrigerator if you don't cook it immediately, but fresh fish should be stored in your fridge for only a day or two. Frozen fish isn't as tasty as the fresh one.

     There are many common methods used to cook fish. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} First, clean it and season it with your choice of spices(调料). Put the whole fish on a plate and steam it in a steam pot for 8 to 10 minutes if it weighs about one pound. (A larger one will take more time.) Then, it's ready to serve.

A. Do not buy it.

B. The easiest is to steam it.

C. This is how you can do it.

D. It just requires a little knowledge.

E. The fish will go bad within hours.

F. When buying fish, you should first smell it.

G. The fats in fish are thought to help prevent heart disease.

    Four smart ways to help build your children's vocabulary

    “Johnny next door can name his colors, but Gloria can hardly even say her own name. What am I doing wrong?”{#blank#}1{#/blank#}But the good news is that children really are born to absorb the language around them. The following are some ways to help build your child's vocabulary.

Never use baby talk

    Young children understand so much more than they can initially repeat.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}Of course you are not going to start speaking to a baby in difficult English, but it's important to speak to them the way that you'd speak to anybody else. Even if your child can't or doesn't use the same vocabulary when he talks, it is helping his language development.

Follow your child's lead

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Trying to turn her attention away from the clown (小丑) so that you can point out the word for “elephant”, is not only frustrating, but also it's probably not doing much good. Instead of driving the conversation, you'll be more successful in making words “stick”, if you look at what your child is paying attention to.

Encourage any kind of reading.

    Even young kids who haven't yet learned to read will memorize books that they've often heard. So go ahead and have your child “fill in” words as you're reading together.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}For older children who are already readers, it's important to let them choose their own reading material.

{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    At two years of age, some kids may only use about 30 words while others may be able to use 300 words. But there's very little evidence that those children with 30 words at age two will have worse outcomes by the time they are five or six years of age.

A. So don't talk down to them.

B. Correct pronunciation gently.

C. Don't panic if your child is slow to talk.

D. It will help with their vocabulary development.

E. That sort of comparison can lead to a lot of parental anxiety.

F. Let's say you're taking a trip to the circus with your young daughter.

G. The best thing that parents can do is really just talk to their children all the time.

    Q & A

    Question: I have recently got a senior position within my company．One of my new tasks is to made monthly progress reports on my department in front of other senior officials. During my first meeting, I presented and the n opened the floor to questions．{#blank#}1{#/blank#}  My first reaction was to answer defensively．Later, I realized that I shouldn't have felt that way．But how can I keep cool and effectively answer questions in this type of settings?

    Answer: Congratulations on your new position! Presenting in front of your peers （同事）is a hard task in itself and it becomes much more difficult when a question-and-answer period is required! Question-and-answer periods are a great way to clarify the message and strengthen key points．{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    When a person is asking a question, show interest and a desire to understand the question by listening and asking for clarification．

    Buy time

When facing a hard question, most people can't give an answer immediately．Buy time by repeating the question in your own words．{#blank#}4{#/blank#} These techniques allow you to quickly organize your thoughts as well as to make sure you will be correctly answering the question．

    Suggest a private meeting.

A one-to-one meeting is a calmer setting than speaking in front of your peers．{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A．Show your true interest．

B．Restate the question with respect．

C．Some ideas can be quite concrete．

D．There were many difficult questions．

E．It can also be more effective in exchanging ideas．

F．You may also ask for clarification on the question．

G．Here are some ideas that can help prepare for your next meeting．

    There have always been a lot of commonly believed but false ideas about being fat and doing exercise. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} While others hold that if they stop exercising, their muscles will turn into fat. Here are some more myths(缪见):

    I'll never lose weight—I come from a fat family

    Wrong! While we can't change the body type we are born with, we can't blame our genes for making us fat. There's plenty of evidence that fatness runs in families.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Wrong! Fatness is not caused by a slow metabolism(新陈代谢). In fact, although fat people consume more energy than slim people, they also fail to realize how much they eat! Keeping a diary can help you work out your daily food intake more accurately.

    Exercise is boring

    Wrong!{#blank#}4{#/blank#} The key is to develop a balanced and varied program that's fun as well as progressive. If you enjoy a Sunday walk, take a different route. If you do yoga, try a tai chi class. If you like swimming, set yourself a distance or time challenge.

    No pain, no gain

    Wrong! Exercise is not meant to hurt. Indeed, pain is your body telling you something's wrong, and continuing to exercise could lead to serious injury. You may experience mild discomfort as you begin to exercise regularly, but this is your body adapting to the positive changes in your lifestyle and the aches should disappear relatively quickly.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. And the main reason is that they share the same habits of eating too much and exercising too little.

B. I am fat because I burn calories slowly.

C. Anything will be interesting if you do the same kind of exercise.

D. If they don't, rest and seek medical advice.

E. And the main reason is that their parents are fat.

F. Anything will become boring if you do it repetitively.

G. Some people believe that they can't help putting on weight as they get older.

    We automatically assume that as adults, we're wiser than when we were children. However, actually we can learn a lot from our childhood self. For example, we can learn to develop optimism about the future. Do you remember how excited you used to be just before Christmas? {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Reintroduce that childlike wonder into our daily experiences.

    We can learn to dream big and imagine the impossible. How often have you heard a child say something like “One day, I'm going to be an astronaut”? Our adult minds immediately laugh at this idea and think about all the logical reasons as to why this might never happen. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}We minimize our chances of attaining what we dream about. It is okay to dream big just as our childhood self did.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Our childhood self looked at possibilities and believed we could achieve them successfully. If we wanted to build a tree house, we'd go about thinking about how to make it happen instead of focusing on all the reasons it might not happen. In this way we can fill our life with possibilities rather than regrets.

    We can learn to be playful and silly sometimes, {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Children spend a large amount of time escaping from reality to mess about and have fun. Make time for your childhood self to come out and play. Run around the garden, wear a silly hat or spend time laughing. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Don't imagine things could go wrong.

B. We can learn to hold a “can do” attitude.

C. That feeling of great joy is hard to beat.

D. Most children tend to think in a positive way.

E. All of these activities can make us feel happy and alive.

F. We employ self-limiting beliefs without even realizing it.

G. All work and no play makes a person very dull and upset.

Four simple steps to be truly thankful

    Thanksgiving is more than pie and turkey. It's about helping and loving the family, friends and world around you. The following tips will help you show your thankfulness.

    ⒈Family

    A lot can happen in a year. Your family may have added some loved ones and lost some at the same time. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}, and let your family know how important they are to you and how glad you are that you all could get together.

    ⒉Friends

    Do what you always do — throw a party. In college, Chicago natives Heather and Nosheen threw a dinner party for their friends on Thanksgiving and came up with HANTDE: Heather and Nosheen's Thanksgiving Day Extravaganza. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}.

    "HANDTE is a reunion time that we all look forward to every year," Heather says. "{#blank#}3{#/blank#}, so HANTDE has become a time to see and be with each other."

    ⒊Community (社区)

    You could volunteer at a local soup kitchen or bring unused items to a food bank. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. This year, Heather and Nosheen are asking their HANTDE guests to offer a donation, which they will donate to help low-income families.

    ⒋Self

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}, for example, the debts you paid off or the friends you've made. Being able to give thanks for yourself and what you've done is the first step to being able to show thankfulness to others.

A. Stop racing for the next raise

B. Look back on your recent achievements

C. Take the time to raise a glass during dinner

D. You could also turn your celebration into a good cause

E. We have jobs now and don't see each other that much

F. What started in their dorm room now is a yearly tradition

G. Perhaps a family member is fighting against a deadly disease