If you're looking for a challenging situation to practice your English, pick up the phone. Not being able to see the other person and the body language can make the chatting difficult. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Here are some tips to guide you through an average phone conversation in English.

1)．Greetings

    Every phone call should begin with a polite greeting such as “Hi, how've you been？” or “Nice to hear from you”. Even if you're calling a business contact for a specific purpose, it'd be rude to jump right into business.  {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

2)．Getting to the point

    There always comes the point where you want to move on from friendly chatting and get down to business. What should you do in this situation? {#blank#}3{#/blank#} However, if you are waiting to find out why someone called you, you can guide the conversation by saying “So what can I do for you？”

3)．Interrupting without offence

    Sometimes you may happen to be speaking with a very talkative person. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Keep in mind when you'd like to interrupt, and be sure to do it politely. For example, begin with “I'd like to say something here”．

4)．Closing the call

    This can be the trickiest part of the conversation! It may be the time to offer good wishes if it's appropriate. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Sometimes it's easiest to just say you enjoyed speaking to the other person. Also remember cleverly saying the word well at the beginning of a sentence can indicate you're ready to end the conversation.

     Becoming Refreshed without sleeping

Sometimes there is just not enough hours in the day to get everything done and get a good night's rest.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Once in a while you can get away with a sleepless night and still feel reasonably good by adjusting your meals and activities.

     {#blank#}2{#/blank#} The last thing you want to do when you are tired is get warm and cozy, this will cause you to fall asleep. Keeping the air conditioner on will make you feel much more alert and refreshed.

     Eat small amounts. Eating small amounts of healthy food will help refresh you. Fruit and nuts are a good choice because they are nutritious and will energize you {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Try to stick to low carbon meals to keep you going. Chewing gum after your snack or small meal will also help keep you awake.

     Keep it bright. When it is dark your body thinks it is time to go to sleep. Turn on lots of lights, which will trick your body into waking up and feeling better. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} You get double the benefits if it is daytime.

     Take a break. Taking a little break will help you in the long run. Turn up some energizing music to get yourself positive. Relax and talk to a friend in person or on the phone for a few minutes.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Keep it cool

B. Calm down and sleep

C. Avoid big, heavy meals as they will make you tired

D. Going outside whether it is day or night for some fresh air

E. Missing sleep regularly can make you sick and should be avoided

F. When you are tired, you may just want to sit around and do nothing

G. Having a good time for a few minutes will refresh you quicker than anything else.

    Although most games have winners and losers, the goal of sports is not to win every game. The real goals include getting exercise, having fun, and learning important social skills, like sportsmanship.

    Good sportsmanship is all about respect. Good sports (具有运动家品格的人) respect the other players on their team. They respect he players on opposing teams. They respect coaches, and they also respect the referees or other officials involved in their games.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}they yell at their teammates and they talk back to coaches or referees.

    Kids usually learn sportsmanship - good and bad - from the adults in their lives.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}If parents and coaches show disrespect to other fans, referees, or each other, kids will likely act the same way on the field.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Some of them are very basic and easy to do, like shaking hands with other players before a game. Other examples may take a little more courage, such as acknowledging a great play made by the opposing team.

Learning good sportsmanship is important because it helps you develop an attitude of graciousness (礼貌) and respect that will carry over into all the other areas of your life.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Being a good sport in the classroom will eventually lead to being a good sport in the workplace.

    So be a good sport in whatever you do!{#blank#}5{#/blank#} When others see you acting in a way that makes it clear that winning isn't the most important thing, you can move on to focusing on the important things, like having fun, getting exercise, and improving your skills!

A. Good sportsmanship can be shown in many ways.

B. On the contrary, bad sportsmanship is all about disrespect.

C. The example you set can be a powerful teaching tool for others.

D. Players ‘parents and coaches set examples that kids tend to follow.

E. We can be good sports by encouraging others but not laughing at them.

F. Starting as a good sport earlier will help you be a good sport as you get old.

G. If you're a good sport on the field, you'll also likely be a good sport in the classroom

    It's well-known by all the people to greet friends with a smile and a wave.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} However, what happens if your face and body send mixed messages? Would someone tend to believe the look on your face or the way you behave?

    Recently, scientists have dealt with these questions. They found that when a person is staring at your face, he might not believe what he sees if your body doesn't match the feeling that your face shows.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}Previous study had showed that the tone of a person's voice can be more important than the words spoken. For example, most people are more likely not to believe a person who says in a flat voice, "I'm so excited."

    When talking about emotions conveyed by facial expressions and body language, most scientists suspected that the face was more important. To test if this was true, psychologists from the Netherlands and Boston showed people a number of pictures of isolated faces and isolated bodies that showed anger or fear,{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    An angry face had low eyebrows and tight lips. A frightened face had high eyebrow and a slightly open mouth{#blank#}4{#/blank#} A scared body had arms forward and shoulders square, as if ready to fight back.

    These results told the researchers that mixed messages can confuse people. Even when people pay attention to the face, body language surely influences the emotion they read.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}And if you want to be understood it helps to avoid sending mixed messages.

A. Studying such mixed messages is nothing new for scientists.

B. So, your body language is important for telling people your feelings.

C. Scientists feel new to study the mixed message that puzzles people,

D. An angry body had arms back and shoulders at an angle, as if ready to fight.

E. Body language can sometimes be misunderstood in different culture backgrounds.

F. They also showed pictures where angry or scared faces were paired with angry or scared bodies.

G. When doing this, your face and body work together to show your friends that you are happy to see them.

    Last week after my motorcycle crashed on the freeway, I wanted only two simple things from technology: to call 911 and tell loved ones where I could be found. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} When she opened Google Maps, she could see precisely where I was.

    For years, tech companies have offered different ways for people to tell one another where they are. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} If used carelessly, location tracking may hurt your privacy. But used thoughtfully, it can be a powerful and efficient communication tool. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    When you make plans to meet friends somewhere like a movie theater, get in the habit of sharing your location for a short duration, like an hour. This way you can skip saying things like " I'm on my way" or " I'm running a few minutes behind" because people can simply follow you on the map.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Location sharing can be useful for being thoughtful (考虑周到的) of your partner's time and space. For example, I am less likely to text my partner when I see she is at the office or driving on a freeway, but I will text when I see she is at the grocery store to ask her to pick something up.

    Next time you plan an event at a large outdoor space, do your friends a favor: {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Wandering around aimlessly in a crowded open space can be annoying.

A. Here are my suggestions for the best times to use it.

B. For safety reasons, avoid sharing your location publicly.

C. Use an app to share your current location so they can find you.

D. Consider sharing your location occasionally with your partner.

E. There are many ways for third parties to find out where we were.

F. Yet location tracking has caused disagreement for the last decade.

G. Before calling 911, I texted my partner who was already tracking my location with an app.

Rich and Famous

    Twenty years ago the most common ambition of American children was to be a teacher, followed by working in banking and finance, and then medicine. But today's situation is quite different. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Instead they most commonly say they want to be a sports star, a pop star, or an actor—in other words, they hope to become a celebrity (名人).

    According to experts, young people desire these jobs largely because of the wealth and the fame. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Let's take athletes and singers as an example. Their careers are short-lived. Many athletes' best time only lasts a few years and singers can have a very limited career. The field that was once the focus of their lives becomes something they have little or no involvement in. As a result, they'll have a feeling of worthlessness and a lack of control. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} The truth is quite simple: they have been so far removed from it for so long.

    In spite of these disadvantages, there is greater ambition than ever among young people to achieve that status. They are not satisfied just making a living—they want to be rich and famous. Globally, more and more TV shows provide talent competitions where winners can achieve their goals in just a few weeks or months. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}They unrealistically believe that this lifestyle is easily obtained and leads to great satisfaction.

    While many people argue that there is nothing wrong with having such ambitions, others feel that this trend will finally lead to dissatisfaction as more and more people are unable to reach their goals. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} That means they ignore the simple fact that great effort is needed before success. As a result, many people won't realize their childhood dreams, which could have a negative effect on their happiness.

A. The younger generation don't favor these professions any more.

B. In many ways this has been brought about by the celebrity culture.

C. Unfortunately, they do not always have a positive effect on people's life.

D. Besides, it can be difficult for them to adapt back to a normal everyday life.

E. People no longer have a sense of satisfaction once their goals have been achieved.

F. This quick way of gaining wealth and fame creates a celebrity culture among people.

G. The reason is that they don't realize it takes talent and hard work to be rich and famous.