Kids undergo a large amount of pressure and stress during their school exams, which can often become quite overwhelming (to much) for them. It may be the first experience of stress, at this level, they have ever experienced and therefore quite frightening. Yes, you may say that it's all a part of growing up and therefore good lessons for them to learn, and to an extent I agree with you. However, it's important to learn how to prepare for life's challenges so that they aren't overwhelming or scary and so that we are able to manage them the best we can.

    Here are some tips you can use during your kids exam time.

    Break their revision plan down into small parts. Doing this will help transform what once seemed like a huge impossible task into a more manageable one.

    Help them arrange properly so that the subjects they like the least (perhaps ones that require more time and effort) are worked on first; once they are out of the way, it will help reduce the worry.

    Plan week on week to make sure they are on track. Ticking items of a list each week will help them to feel good about themselves and their progress.

    Create rewards for all the ticks - a favourite TV programme, a delicious snack, an hour's surfing the Internet, computer games or whatever it was that they enjoy the most. This will encourage them to carry on and make them feel good.

    Think of strategies on how to deal with exams calmly so their anxieties don't get the better of them.

    Talk about times in their lives when they had been successful at something and look at the qualities they used to get them there - determination, persistence, hard work, patience, positivity, dedication - discuss how they can apply these skills to their exams.

    Acknowledge that if they do their best that is good enough.

    Ensure they realize that this period in their lives will pass and that exams are only a temporary time in their lives; nothing can and does last forever.

    Ensure they keep their eye on the prize: enjoying their long summer holiday when the exams are finished; giving them something to look forward to will help to motivate them and provide a positive end in sight.

    Phyllis Ramberg,85,lives alone in Hyattsville,Maryland,in the same house for many decades.“Children keep asking me,‘When are you going to move to one of those retirement villages?'I say,‘No,no.My friends are here, my church is close,'”Ramberg said."I've got everything I need,right in this neighborhood."A year ago,Ramberg was able to take care of her backyard.This year,she just can't do it herself."When illnesses happen,you just don't have the capability that you thought you had before,"she said.

    That's where "Aging in Place",a non-profit organization,comes in.Founder Lisa Walker says she and her friends are among the seven percent of Hyattsville residents who are 65 or older."A number of my neighbors are also around my age,"Walker said."We started talking about some of the concerns we had.Several of us had had issues with parents that were getting older and they were far away from them and didn't know how to take care of them or get support."

    Seniors can call Walker's organization with a request,for example,asking for someone to shop for groceries,do small chores around the house or drive them to the doctor.Then a volunteer is assigned to provide the help.Most of the calls are for rides to the doctor."They take me to all my medical appointments,"said Louise Battiste,who is almost 90.

    Aging in Place volunteer Sally Middlebrooks says that a review of new volunteers' background,such as driving records and any criminal history is just as important as the training they receive.“We want the seniors,people we call neighbors,to be assured that they are with safe,reliable people who are also caring people,”Middlebrooks said.

    The volunteers also gain some benefits."I've learned how to stay connected to people,your family and friends," Walker said."Do I stay close to them?Do I try to keep myself devoted to the community,relating to people younger than I am?"Middlebrooks said."I'm learning a lot about this whole process of aging,and I'm learning,to my alarm,that it's very difficult.But I'm also meeting people who amaze me with their flexibility and their sense of humor and their ability to stay very much alive despite aches and pains."

    Not all volunteers are retired.Courtney Wattai,24,is a graduate student at American University in Washington who studies care giving and plans to have a career working with seniors."That's kind of what I want to do because I want to make sure I'm able to improve their lives,"Wattai said.“I want to be involved in their lives,not just sitting at a desk doing things.I thought this would be a good way to give tribute to my grandparents and what they had done for me and my brother."

    It makes Walker happy to see the younger generation stepping up.She hopes that's how residents in her neighborhood will always care for each other.

How to Make Plans

    Most people get scared when talking about planning or writing plans. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}.  And you need to plan for success as planning really works and inspires you to go straight ahead. However, how to create effective plans is still a problem. Don't worry, and just follow the steps below.

    Step 1 {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    What plans have you had in the past？Probably, in some of your plans, you haven't ended up where you thought you were going to end up. Get a good understanding of what you have done and what you haven't done in the past. It is a primary foundation for your new plan. If having no plan, just take actions and make plans right now.

    Step 2 Think about the What-Ifs

    When you are building your plans, you should consider where you are going and make clear the What-Ifs. Because not everything just goes smoothly as you believe. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}.

Step 3 Document the plans

    When starting to make plans, you should try to write them down. It is of key importance for the future.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} In addition, make sure you have the plans fully written out with all the key elements concerned, including details.

    Step 4 Update the plans

    According to your written plans and actual situation, you should check out the plans you have completed and haven't completed. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Make sure all the assumptions are there and work out the details. After hanging on for some days, planning will be getting simpler and easier.

A. Review historical plans

B. Make new plans immediately

C. Actually, people are more likely to succeed in a planned way

D. And you need to continue what you haven't done and update it

E. Not all people can memorize every word they said and thought well

F. And what you should do next is to check your plans monthly or quarterly

G. For your benefits, you need to make Plan A and Plan B in case of changes and contingencies（偶发事件）

    Alcohol addiction is harmful. It may ruin your life, family and career. Here are some ideas to help people stop drinking.

    ⒈First Step

    The first step to stop drinking is to know why you want to stop drinking. Make a list of reasons to stop drinking alcohol.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}It would be better to display it in several places like on your fridge door and in your handbag to increase chances of seeing it.

    ⒉Reduce Drinking Alcohol Gradually

    If you're a heavy drinker for a long time, it may not be possible for you to put a full stop to drinking within one day.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}In addition, fix a date for a final complete stop.

    ⒊Talk To Your Doctor

    Alcohol addiction is a disease, and may have caused a few chemical changes in your body system. It might have affected your important organs such as liver, heart, kidney, and so on.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    ⒋Join Support Groups

    There are many support groups like Alcoholics Anonymous and AVERT.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} They provide practical tips and suggestions based on their own experience.

    ⒌Learn To Say a Firm NO

    Friends at drinking clubs may invite you to drink with reasons.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}You should learn to stay active by developing new hobbies and interests and spending that alcohol drinking time with your family and friends.

A. Turn down their invitations with polite yet firm Nos.

B. Alcohol can influence people's health and how they act.

C. You can also look for a friend's help to complete the list.

D. Usually, therefore, you need expert medical help for treatment.

E. The very best choice might be to drink less and then stop drinking gradually.

F. For example, people may drink to deal with problems like boredom, stress, or money troubles.

G. Their membership consists of previous alcohol addicts who have successfully given up their addiction.

    The recession (衰退) of 2008-09 was remarkable in rich countries for its intensity, the following recovery for its weakness. The labour market has also broken the rules, as new research from the OECD, a think-tank of mainly rich countries, shows in its annual Employment Outlook.

    Young people always suffer in recessions. Employers stop hiring them; and they often get rid of new recruits because they are easier to dismiss. But in previous episodes, such as the recessions of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, older workers were also kicked off. This time is different. During the financial crisis in 2008, and since, they have done better than other age groups.

    The researchers focus on movements in "non-employment" as a share of the total population in three age groups between the final quarters of 2007 and 2012. This measure has the advantage of including not just unemployment, where people are looking for work, but also inactivity, where people are not seeking jobs. Whereas the average non-employment rate in the OECD has risen by four percentage points among young people and by one-and-a-half points among 25-to 54-year-olds, it has fallen by two points among the 55-64 age group.

    Why have older employees done so well? In some southern European countries they benefit from job protection not afforded to younger workers, but that did not really help them in past recessions. What has changed, says Stefano Scarpetta, head of the OECD's employment directorate, is that firms now bear the full costs of getting rid of older staff. In the past, early-retirement policies provided by governments (in the mistaken belief that these would help young people) made it cheaper to push grey-haired workers out of the door. These have largely stopped.

    Many will argue that older workers have done better at the expense of the young. That view is wrongheaded. First, it is a fallacy that a job gained for one person is a job lost for another; there is no fixed amount of work. And second, as the report shows, young and old people are by and large not substitutes in the workplace. They do different types of work in different types of occupation: younger people are keen on IT firms, for example, whereas older folk tend to be employed in more traditional industries. There are plenty of things that should be done to help the young jobless, but kicking older workers out of the workplace is not one of them.

 Chongqing heat sparks highest health alert

The Chongqing Health Commission and Chongqing Meteorological Observatory upgraded the city's second-level alert {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(issue) on Wednesday for heatstroke, changing to a first-level alert for heatstroke on Friday. It is the city's first such top-level alert.

According {#blank#}2{#/blank#} the chief forecaster of the municipal meteorological observatory, Luo Juan, the city's first-level alert for heatstroke must come after temperatures in at least eight districts and {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(county) rise above 40 C for five consecutive days.

From July 29 to Aug 12, a dozen districts in Chongqing had temperatures exceeding 40 C for five to 11 consecutive days. The heat wave is expected {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(continue) the following week.

Luo said summer in Chongqing is noted for its high {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(intensify) and long duration. Temperatures are much higher and the rain is {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(significant) reduced.

Chongqing has witnessed two rounds of heat waves, with 29.3 days of high temperatures on average, {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(rank) second in the period since 1951. {#blank#}8{#/blank#} most was 30.2 days in 2006.

Last Sunday, the city's Beibei district {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(reach) 44.5 C — the maximum temperature appearing for the second time on record in Chongqing.

The local weather forecast says western and northeastern Chongqing will see temperatures reach {#blank#}10{#/blank#}even surpass record highs in the coming two weeks.