You walk into the classroom, look at that white piece of paper in front of you and are told you've got an hour and a half to do it. That can make anyone nervous, but here is the guide to stay calm.

    Get a good night's sleep the night before the test, and eat a healthy breakfast next day. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} If you're too tired, you won't remember what you learnt the night before.

    Get to class a little earlier. If you get there early, you'll make sure to get your favorite seat. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Breathe. Before the test, breathe in through your nose deeply and slowly. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Repeat this several times. If you experience a sudden panic during the test, perform the exercise again.

    Skip questions if necessary. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} If you come across a difficult question, skip the question and move on. You can come back to it at the end of the test if you have time, and later questions may help you get the answer(s) to the one(s) you skipped.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Don't panic if you notice other students writing very quickly or handing in their tests early. Tell yourself it's just a test. Really, it is. No matter what happens, everything will be OK.

    The key to dealing with test-day anxiety is through preparation! {#blank#}1{#/blank#} It is important to prepare your mind and body for the experience of working under pressure.

    Get some sleep. I know you've heard this before, but it's often repeated because it's so important. Get plenty of sleep the night before the test! If you don't have enough rest, you'll find it much harder to concentrate. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Leave early. Be sure to leave earlier than normal on the day of a test to avoid the added fear of arriving late. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} The embarrassment will cause you to be distracted and lose valuable time.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Once you arrive at school or at the testing center, find a quiet space where you can be all alone. You can use your car if you drive, or you can find an empty locker room or office (ask a teacher). Once you locate in a quiet place, do a relaxation session. Close your eyes and try to relax completely. Take deep breath and keep calm.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} It's possible that some students start to stress out as other students discuss the material. When you hear others chatting, it might sound like you skipped over something important or you misunderstood a concept. It's probably not even true——but it can seem like it!

A. Take a quiet moment.

B. A sleepy brain is a foggy brain!

C. Watch out for the road conditions.

D. Walking into an exam late is the last thing you need!

E. You might also find time for a quick bite during a break.

F. Don't talk with other students in the minutes before a test.

G. But full preparation means more than knowing the test material.

How to read more and learn more

    These days, more and more Chinese people enjoy sending and receiving messages on the phone. It can help them to get the latest news and communicate with friends. But I think I should read more books besides the textbooks, the more, the better. It can broaden my mind and improve my language skills.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Here are some tips for you.

    Clear your purpose for reading.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}Most people read for two main reasons, pleasure or knowledge. Clearing about your reading purpose can not only help you choose the books you really need to read, but also remind you why reading the book is important to you, so you will keep reading and complete the book faster.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    No matter what you are reading, it is important to enjoy what you read. Your friends may introduce you the books they love, but those books might not necessarily be the ones you enjoy.

Give up books that you don't enjoy.

    You may have chosen books that you are interested in, and they are right purpose. But while you are reading them, there may still be some books that you don't enjoy reading. Whenever you realize that you aren't enjoying the book you are reading, give it up. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Set a reading goal.

    It is interesting that I read the books borrowed from libraries faster than those I bought. The reason is the books I bought don't have a due date! I don't need to return those books.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}Before you read each book, ask yourself what time you need to complete this book by.

A. Read only what you are interested in.

B. Read the books borrowed from others.

C. Remember reading shouldn't be a burden（负担）.

D. Of course, it also can help me to get good grades.

E. We need to get the latest news and communicate with friends.

F. Before you start reading, ask yourself why you are reading this book.

G. Having a reading goal helps you work out how much reading you need to do in a week or even a day.

    In a study recently published in the journal Neuron, researchers found that super memorizers don't have unusually large brain regions that allow them to remember a lot of information. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Here are a few of their favorite tricks that can help you to remember things in your everyday life.

    To Remember: New words

    Technique: Change routine

    In a study, a group of students studied a list of words in two separate sessions. Some studied in a messy room ant some in a neat space. One group of students spent both sessions in the same room, while the other split the sessions between the two environments. During a test, the students who studied in multiple places remembered much more. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} That includes the time of day, the music in the background, whether you sit or stand, etc.

    To Remember: Your PIN

    Technique: Count it out

    You could use your birthday, or your phone number, but identity thieves have a way of figuring those numbers out. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Write a four- wort sentence. Then count the number of letters in each word. For instance, "This is my PIN" =4223.

    To Remember: Faces

    Technique: Focus on noses

    White some super memorizes specialize in associating names with faces, the memory-palace technique doesn't work as well if the image of the face is changed in any way. Rather than focusing on eyes, as most people do, focus on the centre or to the left of a person's nose. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}.

    To Remember: Facts & figures

    Technique: {#blank#}5{#/blank#}.

    To learn and remember statistics, reviewing the material repeatedly over a longer time is far more effective than repeating it in a shorter one. If your exam is in a week, study today and then again in a day or two. If it's a month away, study today and then wait a week before your second session.

A. Value exams

B. Give yourself time

C. This allows you to take in their whole face.

D. Their brain structures are in fact the same as the rest of ours.

E. Instead, try this tip from Dominic, an eight-time World Memory Champion.

F. The theory is that your brain links the words to the environment around you.

G. Studies showed that varying other aspects of your environment can also help.

Dear Boris,

{#blank#}1{#/blank#}After I had spent a week with my English family, I slowly began to understand their English a little better. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}Students in my group are from different cities of Britain and their dialects are different too! Some of their accents are quite strong and they also have their own words and expressions. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Before I came to England I had thought that fish and chips were eaten every day. That's quite wrong! I get rather annoyed now when I hear all the foolish words about typical English food. I had expected to see "London fog". Do you remember our texts about it? We had no idea that most of this "thick fog" disappeared many years ago when people stopped using coal in their homes. But the idea to speak about weather was very helpful. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}On the other hand, habits are different. People tell me what is typical British here in London is not always typical in Wales or Scotland. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}But what is ordinary for all British is that they follow traditions(传统). Probably Britain has more living signs of its past than many other countries. And people have always been proud of having ancient (古老的) buildings in capitals, big cities and the countryside. I will tell you more about Britain in my other letters. Love from Britain.

A. The weather in London is really changeable.

B. I have difficulty in understanding my classmates.

C. Thanks for your nice letter.

D. The family I live with are friendly.

E. It's very different from what I learned at school.

F. Local habits and traditions are not the same as what we knew.

G. But it's not the language that's different and surprising.

You know that eating healthy, staying active, and solving a few brain games can help keep your memory. But the following lesser-known habits work wonders too.

⒈{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

When we sit with our shoulders bent forward, this defeated position actually causes us to feel anxious or depressed — which makes it harder to think clearly and remember things. Conversely (反过来), straight upright posture apparently improves memory because it boosts blood and oxygen flow to the brain.

⒉ Exercise — Once

Having trouble remembering faces? {#blank#}2{#/blank#} In a study, pictures of faces were shown to

older folks after they pedal a stationary (静止的) bike at an intense pace or simply sit on a self-pedaling bike. On average, people remembered the faces better after the intense exercise. What's more, the memory gains after a single workout were similar to the gains after 3 months of regular exercise.

⒊ Limit TV

Every parent and grandparent has heard that too much screen time can hurt a child's cognitive development. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} According to a study, people (aged 50 or older) who watched more than 3. 5 hours of TV a day for 6 years experienced a greater drop in verbal memory test scores than those who watched less.

⒋ Draw aimlessly

A research shows those who drew the words remembered the most when recalling words. That's because while some parts of the brain about getting memory back become worse as people grow older, the picture processing regions usually don't.  {#blank#}4{#/blank#}    

⒌ Walk Backward

{#blank#}5{#/blank#}Walk back! Backward motion — whether real, imagined, or watched — helps people remember the information better than sitting still and, in most cases, better than forward motion. It may be that moving backward in space mentally helps us move back in time to the moment we learned something.

A. Sit Tall.

B. Stand Straight.

C. Start more workouts.

D. Sweat for physical training.

E. Thus sketching can help adults keep their memory sharp.

F. But what about those at the other end of their life span?

G. Next time you're trying to recall something, don't just think back.