Do you dream?

    Have you ever visited some strange places in your dreams? In fact people have wondered about these strange places for long.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} However, they have been valued as necessary to a person's health and happiness.

    Historically, people thought dreams contained messages from God. It was only in the twentieth century that people started to study dreams scientifically, believing that they tell about a person's character.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} He believed that dreams allow a person to express fantasies or fears, which would be socially unacceptable in real life.

    The second theory to become popular was Carl Jung's compensation theory. Jung, a former student of Freud, said that the purpose of a dream is not to hide something, but rather to communicate it to the dreamer.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Thus, people who think too highly of themselves may dream about falling; those who think too little of themselves dream of being heroes.

    Using more recent research, William Domhoff from the University of California found that dreaming is a mental skill that needs time to develop in humans.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Until they reach the age of five, they can not express very well what their dreams are about. Once people become adults, there is little or no change in their dreams. The dreams of men and women differ. For instance, the characters that appear in the dreams of men are often other men, and often involve physical aggression.

    The meaning of dreams continues to be difficult to understand. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} If you dream that a loved one is going to die, do not panic. The dream may have meaning, but it does not mean that your loved one is going to die.

A. Dreams make up for what is lacking in waking life.

B. But anyway, people should not take their dreams as reality.

C. It gives scientists chances to better understand human mind.

D. They have been considered as meaningless nighttime journeys.

E. First, there was Sigmund Freud's theory.

F. They think their mind is trying to tell them something.

G. Children do not dream as much as adults.

How northern Europeans beat the winter blues

    Ask a child from northern Europe to draw two pictures—one on a rainy day and a second in the sunshine—and this is what you will get: in the first, as raindrops fall from the top of the page, the man behind the window has an unhappy expression. When a yellow sun sends out some light from the corner, the man is smiling.

    Northern Europeans associate rain with sadness and sunshine with happiness. They think this is true because they are so aware of how their environment affects them{#blank#}1{#/blank#}In October 2008, a group of researchers examined the influence of different daily weather factors, including temperature,wind and sunlight, on 1,200 participants. The conclusion was that good or bad weather had little effect on people's feelings{#blank#}2{#/blank#} A person who is upset on dark or cold days suffers from a negative mood, and he will be likely to experience a sad winter. This is the basis of an illness called Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD){#blank#}3{#/blank#} 

    AniKalayjian, professor of psychology at Fordham University, advises that we should take steps to strengthen the brain's system against weather-driven mood changes. Research on SAD has been focused on the brain's response to darkness and light. When our eyes detect darkness, the brain gives off melatonin, which starts sleep cycles{#blank#}4{#/blank#} It takes over to help us wake up and feel better when we detect light.“We can encourage people to take charge of their feelings,” says Kalayjian.“We tell them to leave the computers and the indoor games and get out there in the sun{#blank#}5{#/blank#}”

    A day of rain can potentially destroy your plan and affect your mood. But as the Scottish comedian Billy Connolly once said:“There is no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothing.”

A. Another chemical called serotonin, however, can make people happy.

B. It affects about10% of the population of northern Europe each year.

C. That's when people can recharge their serotonin and get a better mood.

D. Yet that link has no scientific basis.

E. Most studies prove that a negative feeling is associated with bad weather.

F. They determined that people actually differ in their sensitivity to weather changes.

G. It is seriously doubted among the people who suffer from SAD.

    When you step into a new environment, you must have a strong wish to fit in. Fitting in means making more friends, having more influence on others and getting more chances to live a happier life. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Be confident. Confidence attracts most people. Everyone is special and there is only one person like you in this world. Spend some time thinking about your strong points. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} You won't have much difficulty fitting in.

    Be kind to everyone. Kindness is the bridge to your own happiness. When people notice your kindness, they will return it one day. Always give more than you receive, and think more of others than of yourself.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Various activities like playing football can help you to be known to others. You may add more friends to your circle. At the same time, you'll be amazed to see how much they like you. Instead of wasting time being alone, go out to dance and sing together with others to develop friendship.

    Do smile to everyone every day. It makes both you and others feel happy. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Humor catches others' attention as well. People will like you for making them live happily.

    If you follow what is mentioned above, you will be accepted by people around you. As a result, you will fit in very well and enjoy your new life.

A. Be active in group activities.

B. A pleasant smile costs the least and does the most.

C. Here is some advice that can help you.

D. If so, you will be able to build up confidence step by step.

E. A person who cares for others is popular everywhere.

F. However, everybody needs friends.

G. Even so, it often leaves one to wonder if we fit in well.

    Shaking hands, American style

    People often shake hands in the United States. American men shake hands with other men. American women often shake hands with men, and sometimes they shake hands with other women. Adults shake hands with children. And some people even teach their dogs to shake hands! {#blank#}1{#/blank#} How do they shake hands just long enough? Just hard enough? Here are four little rules to remember.

    ⒈Use your right hand.

    ⒉Use good eye contact(眼神交流). Look at the person in the eye while you are shaking hands.

    ⒊Don't shake too long. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Then let go and pull your hand back toward you.

    ⒋{#blank#}3{#/blank#} When a handshake is weak, Americans think the person may not be a hard worker or a good leader. When a handshake is too strong, Americans think the person is too rough(粗鲁) or has bad manners.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} They shake hands when they meet for the first time. They shake hands to say congratulations. They shake hands when they meet after not seeing each other for a while. And they often shake hands when they say good-bye. In business, shaking hands shows agreement and honesty.

    Handshakes are good everywhere. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} So make sure to shake plenty of hands.

A. Offer you hand first.

B. Shake for no more than three seconds.

C. How do people shake hands correctly?

D. Don't shake too strongly or too weakly.

E. It is not polite to refuse a person's hand.

F. When do people in the United States shake hands?

G. Make sure your hands aren't sweaty when you do this.

    Much of the work in today's world is accomplished(完成) in teams. Most people believe the best way to build a great team is to gather a group of the most talented individuals. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}Companies spend millions hiring top business people. Is their money well spent?

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}They focused on football, basketball and baseball. The results are mixed. For football and basketball, adding talented players to a team proves a good method, but only up to the point where 70% of the players are top talent; above that level, the team's performance begins to decline. Interestingly, this trend isn't evident in baseball, where additional individual talent keeps improving the team's performance.

    To explain this phenomenon, the researchers explored the degree to which a good performance by a team requires its members to coordinate(协调) their actions. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}In baseball, the performance of individual players is less dependent on teammates. They conclude that when task interdependence is high, team performance will suffer when there is too much talent, while individual talent will have positive effects on team performance when task interdependence is lower. If a basketball star is, for example, trying to gain a high personal point total, he may take a shot himself when it would be better to pass the ball to a teammate, affecting the team's performance. Young children learning to play team sports are often told, "There is no I in TEAM." {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Another possibility is that when there is a lot of talent on a team, some players may make less effort. Just as in a game of tug-of-war(拔河比赛), whenever a person is added, everyone else pulls the rope with less force.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} An A-team may require a balance——not just A players， but a few generous B players as well.

A. It's not a simple matter to determine the nature of talent.

B. Sports team owners spend millions of dollars attracting top talent.

C. The group interaction and its effect drew the researchers' attention.

D. Stars apparently do not follow this basic principle of sportsmanship.

E. Several recent studies examined the role of talent in the sports world.

F. Building up a dream team is more complex than simply hiring the best talent.

G. This task interdependence distinguishes baseball from football and basketball.

Life Lessons

    Life is not easy when you are pursuing something worthwhile and ready to learn from the best experiences. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Here are some life lessons which people will learn the hard way in majority of cases.

    It takes consistent time and effort to be successful in any area. However, People usually get discouraged when it takes more time than they thought it would. At this time, people refer only to people who have already achieved what you want to be, which most people fail to do. Look at any successful person and you'll notice one thing common in all of them. They took time to learn and mastered their skills like no one else. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Be brave to take the road less travelled. In our whole life, we always want to follow the same path that everyone suggests, do the same things everyone does, take the same career path everyone takes, wear the same clothes everyone wears, and hang out with the same people we work with. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} But when you get bored of life, you will realize that you are not meant to do what everyone does and that your destiny is different from anyone else's out there in the world. But the price you pay to realize this is high because it takes a great amount of courage to follow your own path.

    You don't have to live your life in a way society wants you to. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Parents sometimes force their children to select a career they don't want because other children have selected that career. Worst of all people follow them without even asking. There is no harm in old rituals(惯例) and beliefs but when you pursue them before your interest, sooner or later you'll realize that you should first do what you think is right.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} However, if you are smart enough to learn early and wish not to waste your precious time learning them the hard way, learn them now and apply it to your life as soon as possible.

A. You have to break the rules sometimes.

B. After all, life lessons are always learned the hard way.

C. There is no elevator to success; you have to take the stairs.

D. The reason why we follow others is that we are scared to fail.

E. It always takes tests and then fails us to learn anything worthwhile.

F. The general rule goes that the harder you try, the greater results you get.

G. Many old beliefs are being performed these days and are followed blindly.