Noticing the signals that people send out with their body language is a very useful social skill.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}Fortunately, with a little extra effort, you can learn to read body language, and with enough practice it'll become second nature.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}The closer they are, the warmer they are thinking of you. The farther away that someone is, the less they actually care about the situation or person. If you move slightly closer to them, do they move slightly further away? That means they don't want your communication to be any more personal than it already is.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}And if they respond by getting even closer to you, they probably really like you or are very comfortable around/by you.

    It is worth noting that personal space is culturally different; keep in mind that what is considered close in one country is far away in another.

    Check their arms.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}Though some people just cross their arms as a habit, it may indicate that the person is slightly reserved, nervous or embarrassed about their appearance and trying to cover it, or just trying to hide something on their shirt. If their arms are crossed while their feet are wider apart, this is a position of toughness or authority. If someone rests their arms behind their neck or head, they are open to what is being discussed or just easy-going in general. If their hands are on their hips(双手叉腰), they might be waiting, impatient or just tired.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. If they don't move further away, then they are willing to listen and accept.

B. How to read body language needs to be learned.

C. Some of us can read it naturally and some of us can't at all.

D. If their hands are closed, they may be angry, or nervous.

E. People with crossed arms are closing themselves to social influence.

F. Pay attention to how close someone is to you.

G. Some people tend not to move further away.

    A great life doesn't happen by accident. It is the result of allocating（分配）your time, energy, thoughts, and hard work towards what you want your life to be. Stop setting yourself up for stress and failure, and start setting up your life to support success and ease. It is the result of using what you get in a creative and thoughtful way, instead of just what comes next{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    S – Simplify. A great life is the result of simplifying your life. People often misinterpret what simplify means{#blank#}2{#/blank#}When you focus on simplifying your life, you free up energy and time for the work that you enjoy and the purpose for which you are here. In order to create a great life, you will have to make room for it in yours first.

    E – Effort. A great life is the result of your best effort. Creating it requires that you make some adjustments. It may mean re-evaluating how you spend your time, or choosing to spend your money in a different way. Life will reward your best effort.

    C – Create priorities（首要事情）. A great life is the result of creating priorities.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} instead of intentionally using the time, energy and money you have in a way that's important to you. Focus on removing the obstacles that get in the way of you making sure you are honoring your priorities.

    R – Reserves. A great life is the result of having reserves—reserves of things, time, space, energy, and money. Reserves are important because they reduce the fear of consequences, and that allows you to make decisions based on what you really want instead of what the fear decides for you.

    E – Eliminate distractions（使人分心的事）. A great life is the result of removing distractions{#blank#}4{#/blank#}. Find ways to free up your mental energy for things that are more important to you.

    T – Thoughts. A great life is the result of controlling your thoughts so that you accept and allow for the possibility that it actually can happen to you!{#blank#}5{#/blank#}Motivated people have specific goals and look for ways to achieve them. Believing there is a solution to the same old problems you encounter year after year is vitally important to creating a life that you love.

    S – Start. A great life is the result of starting. Don't wait for a raise, or until the kids get older. Today, right now, is the right day to start to take a step in the direction of your heart's desires. It's what you do TODAY that will make a difference in your life tomorrow.

A. Keeping it simple is a fashionable way of life now

B. Now please use “secrets” to fit your own needs and style, and start creating your own great life today

C. Up to 75% of your mental energy can be tied up in things that that are draining and distracting you

D. Your belief in the outcome will directly determine how successful you are

E. It's not a way to remove work from your life

F. Concentrating on your priorities is the key to success

G. It's easy to spend your days just responding to the next thing that gets your attention

    I think a close friend is someone you get on well with, who helps you when you have problems, who gives you advice, and who always has time for you. I didn't use to have many close friends when I was at school because I was very shy, but now I have several. They are all women. I think it's difficult to have a close friend of the opposite sex（异性）.

—Marie

    I think a close friend is someone who you've known for a long time, and who you still get on with. They have similar hobbies to you so you can do things together. I've got three close friends who I was at middle school with and we often go out together （without our parents of course）. We often go camping, play football, or walk outside in the open air.

—David

    I'm not sure how to answer the question because I don't really have any close friends. I know a lot of people but mainly through work, and the social occasions（场合） when we meet are business dinners, things like that. I think if you come from a really close family, friends are a bit unnecessary. I like spending my free time with my family.

—Richard

    For me close friends are the people you spend your free time with. I go out at weekends with a group of people, and they are all my close friends. They're also people who live near me. I don't think you can have close friends at a distance because you need to be able to see each other often. But I don't think you need to be doing the same things. I mean I'm at school but none of my friends are.

—Anna

    The Center for Humane Technology is made up of people who created many popular apps(软件)for big tech companies like Google, Facebook and Twitter. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    The center has started a movement called the Truth About Tech. Its purpose is to teach students, parents and teachers about the dangers of spending too much time on smart phones and computers.

    According to studies on kids and technology, more than 95 per cent of primary school children spend time every day using a computer, or smart phone. About 78 per cent of teenagers check their phones every hour. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} They are afraid that they may miss an important call or message during night.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} For example, spending too much time online can cause people to put on weight and also influence how they feel. Many people become worried or nervous because they feel they aren't having as much fun as their friends are. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} They may also find it harder to make friends in real life.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} They say that when big tech companies are designing tech tools for kids, they should think about what they would want for their own children.

A. These people are worth our respect.

B. Now they are telling kids to put their phones away.

C. Most students are forbidden to use a phone in class.

D. And more than half of them sleep with their phones.

E. Students may have a harder time paying attention in school.

F. Using phones or computers too much can cause some health problems.

G. The center also wants governments and tech companies to take steps to protect children.

    As free as they make us, mobile phones still need to stay close to a power source. Soon that may change with "green" power.

    Three Chilean students got the idea for a plant-powered device(装置) to charge（使……充电） their cellphones, while sitting in their school's outdoor courtyard during a break from exams, with dead mobile phones. Then, one of them had an "aha" moment.

    “It occurred to Camila to say about plants,” said inventor Evelyn Aravena. “'Why don't you have a socket, if there are so many plants? 'After that, we thought, 'why don't they have a charging outlet（插座）? Because there are so many plants and living things that have the potential to produce energy, why not?'”

    Their invention—a small biological circuit called E-Kaia—uses the energy plants to produce during photosynthesis(光合作用). A plant uses only a small part of that energy and the rest goes into the soil, and that's where the E-Kaia collects it. The device plugs into the ground and then into your phone.

    "It's the most amazing project I've ever seen in my life, plain and simple. They brought this original model, and it worked — and that's when it all changed, at least from my personal point of view and I began to support them." said Mauricio Cifuentes.

    The device solved two problems for the engineering students — they needed an idea for a class project, and an outlet to plug in their phones.

    "Looking for a place to charge the notebook, which had no power, and the mobile phones, we weren't able to find anything because all the other students were in the same state of madness trying to find a place to charge their devices," said Aravena.

    But plants are everywhere, and the bio－circuit makes good use of their excess(过多的) power.

    The E-Kaia doesn't carry much charge but it's powerful enough to completely recharge a mobile phone in less than two hours.

    The student inventors have applied for patents（专利） on their technology, and expect the E-Kaia to go on sale in the near future.

    In Chinese customs, red is the main color for weddings. It is used in different ways as it signifies love, joy and happiness. The bride's wedding gown（女礼服）is often red, the wedding invitations, gift boxes and envelopes are red and the bride and the groom's homes are decorated in red on the wedding day.

    Before the wedding, the married couples from the groom's family visit the bride's place with gifts in red baskets and boxes. One of those baskets has milk honey. Three days before the wedding, the women from the bride's family bring return﹣gifts to the groom's family.

    On the wedding day, the groom arrives at the bride's place on his way to the chapel（佛堂）. The groom has to give gifts in cash wrapped in red paper to the bride's friends for letting her go. The bride and the groom then leave for the chapel together.

    The wedding ceremony is attended only by the couple's immediate relatives. Just after the wedding ceremony, the bride serves tea to her parents in﹣laws as a tradition. The couples will then go to get wedding pictures. Then a reception（宴会）will follow.

    In the reception, a welcome speech is followed by a cake cutting ceremony. A Chinese wedding cake has many layers（层）, and each one represents a step to success for the newly married couples. So couples cut the cake from the bottom

    Travour.com describes and provides information on the wedding traditions of the Chinese and around the world. Below are some wedding traditions performed in Italy.