{#blank#}1{#/blank#} 

    Whenever you do things you don't like, you will start to hate yourself a bit more. You will hate yourself for not being consistent. For doing things you know that you don't want to do, another stress is right there.

Do less

    This is one of the hardest things, especially for me. I'm doing too many things at the same time. In itself, doing many different things to figure out what works and what doesn't isn't that hard. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} .But at some point you need to

     let go of the things that don't work and focus on the things that work. And that's the hardest part, at least for me.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} .And if you always try to make everything work, you'll usually end up with nothing working at all.

Get rid of complicated things

    There are many complicated（复杂的）things in life. Complicated relationships, complicated jobs, complicated whatever. what all of these things do is that they steal our focus. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} 

Read books, not blogs

    Blogs consist of too much information for our brains to process. Blogs usually leave out the story our brains need. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Don't believe me? Try it. What parts of this blog post do you remember? Probably none.

A. It's actually quite good.

B. Never hate to be yourself

C. Don't do things you don't like.

D. I always try to make everything work.

E. Our brains can make up a good story.

F. They also add an extra stress to our lives.

G. Our brains need a story to remember things.

    Nowadays a vegetarian (素食的) lifestyle is becoming more and more popular. Keeping a vegetarian diet is one of the best things we can do.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} A well planned vegetarian diet provides us with all the nutrients (营养素) we need and avoids fat, cholesterol (胆固醇) found in animal flesh, eggs, and dairy foods. And it can provide protection against various kinds of diseases, including the three biggest killers: heart disease, cancer, and other serious diseases. The American Dietetic Association states that vegetarians have lower rates of death from heart disease, lower blood cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure and lower rates of high blood pressure. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Scientists have also found that vegetarians have stronger immune systems than their meat-eating friends. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Vegetarians live, on average, 6 to 10 years longer than meat eaters.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Animals raised for food consume the vast majority of their calories simply in order to live, just as we do. We feed more than 70 percent of the grains to farm animals. So it's really a huge waste, isn't it? Try your best to find tips on the health benefits of a vegetarian diet. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Growing all the crops needed to feed animals requires great amounts of water and land.

B. This means that they are less likely to be affected by everyday illnesses like the flu.

C. Vegetarian diets are the only diets that work for long term weight loss.

D. All of these diseases are more likely to happen to meat eaters.

E. Healthy vegetarian diets support a lifetime of good health.

F. It's never too late to turn over a new page.

G. Living on plants also saves energy.

    Ways to build strong friendships

    Be loyal to a friend. Part of being a friend is being prepared to devote your time and energy to helping out your friends. If a friend needs help with an unpleasant thing, or if he or she just needs a shoulder to cry on, be there for them. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} This is a good way to attract the kind of friends you want in your life.

{#blank#}2{#/blank#} When you say you'll do something, do it. When your friend tells you a secret, keep it secret from others. Be someone that people know that they can rely on. If you show this quality to your friends, they will appreciate it and will be reliable in return.

    Be a good listener. Many people think they have to appear very interesting.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Listen carefully to what people say, remember important details about them, ask questions about their interests, and take the time to learn more about them.

    Stress your good qualities. Show others what makes you stand apart from the crowd. Talk about your interests and hobbies. Everyone has interesting stories to tell – don't be afraid to share yours.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}  People love to be around someone who makes them laugh.

    Choose your friends wisely. As you make friends with more people, you may find that some are hard to get along with. Sometimes you may even realize that certain friendships are unhealthy.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Cherish those friends who are a positive influence in your life, and do your best to be a positive influence in theirs.

A. Be a reliable friend.

B. Keep your promise to your friend.

C. Be respectful of their decisions and share yours with him.

D. Besides, a little humor always keeps a conversation light and happy.

E. In this case, walk your way out of the friendship as gracefully as possible.

F. Being a loyal friend will attract other people to you who value this quality.

G. Far more important than that, however, is the ability to show that you're interested in others.

    There are many expressions with the word “dog”.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}They take their dogs for walks, give them good food and medical care. However, dogs without owners to care for them lead a different kind of life. The expression, lead a dog's life, describes a person who has an unhappy existence.

    When we say we live in a dog-eat-dog world{#blank#}2{#/blank#} A person has to work hard like a dog to be successful. Such hard work can make people dog-tired. And, the situation would be even worse if they became sick as a dog.

    Still, people say every dog has its day. This means that every person enjoys a successful period during his or her life{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Yet, some people say that you can never teach an old dog new tricks. They believe that older people do not like to learn new skills and will not change the way they do things.

    Some people are compared to dogs in bad ways. People who are unkind or uncaring can be described as junkyard dogs living in places where people throw away things they do not want. Junkyard dogs are often used to guard this property. They bark or attack people who try to enter the property. However, sometimes a person who appears to be mean and threatening is really not so bad{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Dog expressions are also used to describe the weather. The dog days of summer are the hottest days of the year{#blank#}5{#/blank#}But we do not want it to rain cats and dogs.

A. We could say his bark is worse than his bite.

B. That means many people are competing for the same things, like good jobs.

C. But there are many difficulties on the road to success.

D. People love dogs and treat them well.

E. To be successful, people often have to learn new skills.

F. Dogs are loyal to people.

G. A rainstorm may cool the weather.

    Rent movies over the weekend. Try to follow the story line of comedy shows.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}Not having to respond in English lets you concentrate on simply understanding what is being said. Understanding how English is used in conversation will help you to better communicate in the language.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}When you are reading, pay more attention to the correct pronunciation of the words you are reading rather than comprehension of each word. Read easy books that were written for children. Reading simple books takes away the frustration of sounding out hard words.

A. Read out loud for twenty to thirty minutes every day.

B. Listen to English radio while getting ready in the morning.

C. Observe how much the mouth is opened to say certain words.

D. Find a friend or teacher who is willing to help you learn English.

E. Repeat the conversations several times to increase your speaking speed.

F. Watching TV shows and movies allows you to hear English used in conversation.

G. The more a person practices his or her skills, the easier speaking English will become.

     A lot of parents help their kids do homework and study for school.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    A photographer in India's Bihar state took a photo of dozens of parents risking their lives to help their 10th-graders cheat on tests. The parents climbed the walls of a four-story school to throw cheat sheets through the window for their children.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} About 600 students were expelled(开除) from the school. And police have detained(拘留) more than 1,000 people connected with the scandal(丑闻).

    The tests the Bihar students were taking are called board exams. These exams help determine who will be considered the top students in each class. India's best university will take only students with a 95 percent score or better.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Students who make it into India's top universities have a much better chance of getting well-paid jobs. They can help their families by becoming doctors or engineers. Many of the students who don't pursue(追求) these kinds of careers have a much more difficult time making money.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}About 30 percent of its citizens are considered poor. In many parts of the country, a family of five might struggle to survive on as little as $80 a month. For students who do well, the exams can be a life-changing event for their families.

    Few believe the Bihar incident will stop people from cheating on exams. Many students think that because others are cheating, they also have to cheat to keep up.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    Officials believe that new laws and policies will help only so much. To stop cheating, they say, people need to change their attitudes toward it.

A. India has a high poverty rate.

B. This cycle has proved very difficult to break.

C. The exam season can be called cheating season.

D. The government cannot stop cheating in exams.

E. The serious cheating outbreak did not go unpunished.

F. But the parents of some students in India have taken helping their kids to a new level.

G. As a result, students throughout the country are under great pressure to do well on the tests.