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.

    Some students get so nervous before a test, they do poorly even if they know the material. Sian Beilock has studied these highly anxious test-takers.

    Sian Beilock: “They start worrying about the consequences. They might even start worrying about whether this exam is going to prevent them from getting into the college they want. And when we worry, it actually uses up attention and memory resources. I talk about it as your cognitive horsepower that you could otherwise be using to focus on the exam.”

    Professor Beilock and another researcher, Gerardo Ramirez, have developed a possible solution. Just before an exam, highly anxious test-takers spend ten minutes writing about their worries about the test.

    Sain Beilock: “What we think happens is when students put it down on paper, they think about the worst that could happen and they reappraise the situation. They might realize it's not as bad as they might think it was before and, in truth, it prevents these thoughts from appearing suddenly when they're actually taking a test.”

    The researchers tested the idea on a group of twenty anxious college students. They gave them two short math tests. After the first one, they asked the students to either sit quietly or write about their feelings about the upcoming second test.

    The researchers added to the pressure. They told the students that those who did well on the second test would get money. They also told them that their performance would affect other students as part of a team effort.

    Professor Beilock says those who sat quietly scored an average of twelve percent worse on the second test. But the students who had written about their fears improved their performance by an average of five percent.

    Next, the researchers used younger students in a biology class. They told them before final exams either to write about their feelings or to think about things unrelated to the test.

    Professor Beilock says highly anxious students who did the writing got an average grade of B+, compared to a B- for those who did not.

    Sain Beilock: “What we showed is that for students who are highly test-anxious, who'd done our writing intervention, all of a sudden there was no relationship between test anxiety and performance. Those students most prone to worry were performing just as well as their classmates who don't normally get nervous in these testing situations.”

    But what if students do not have a chance to write about their fears immediately before an exam or presentation? Professor Beilock says students can try it themselves at home or in the library and still improve their performance.

    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.

    Every summer, hundreds of thousands of students travel to other countries looking for work and adventure. Most of the opportunities are in seasonal work, mainly connected with tourism and agriculture. The pay is usually poor, but most people work abroad for the thrill of travel. You can pick grapes in France, work on a family campsite, entertain kids on American summer camps, and of course, there are always jobs in hotels and restaurants.

    But it is not as easy as it used to be to find work. "Unless you speak the language of the country will, there will be very few openings." Says Anthea Ellis, an adviser on vacation work for students. "If you work as a nanny with a family in Italy, then of course you'll have to speak Italian. When you arrive to wash dishes in a restaurant in Paris, the owner will expect you to speak French."

    Not everyone enjoys the experience. Sarah James was an assistant responsible for a summer camp group of forty America children in Europe. One child lost his passport; another became seriously ill and was flown home; four children were lost in Madrid for a whole day; the whole group was thrown out of one hotel because of the noise they made. "I did visit a lot of new places," she says, "but it wasn't worth it. The pay was awful and really was a 24-hour-a-day job. The kids never slept!"

    "The trouble is, students expect to have an easy time of it," Anthea Ellis points out. "After all, they see it as a holiday. In practice, though, you have to work hard. At the same time, all vacation work is casual work. You'll have a job when the hotel, the restaurant, or the campsite is busy and you have few employment rights. As soon as the holiday season finished, they'll get rid of you. If you don't work hard, or if your employer doesn't like you, you'll get fired."

    “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.