In today's busy and competitive world, we all lead incredibly stressful lives. When stress becomes overwhelming, it can affect our mood and productivity. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} The good news is that it is manageable and can be reduced, or even relieved completely.

    Enter the world of books. Feeling stressed out? Pick up your favorite book and leave the reality and worries behind. It is the most effective way to relax and overcome stress. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Getting lost in a book before bedtime can calm your mind and prepare your body for a good night's sleep.

    Connect with people. Another way to successfully beat stress is meeting with friends. Friends and loved ones are important to any healthy lifestyle. If you're feeling a little overwhelmed and just can't seem to shake it off, call your best friend or a member of your family and talk to them. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Walk it off. You can also effectively relieve yourself of stress by simply taking a walk around your neighborhood. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} There's a whole new world up there that you never seem to notice while rushing to work or talking to someone. Take a moment to admire a new building or a balcony somewhere high up that reminds you of a castle from your favorite movie. Enjoy your time alone and seize every moment of it.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Nothing brings you back on track like a good laughter. It is the most powerful antidote(良方) to stress and it brings joy into your life. Laughing brings people together and drives away all stress-related problems as if they never existed. It is absolutely the best medicine there is, and it will keep you both physically and emotionally healthy.

    Note-taking is a skill that can help you do well in all your school work.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} The following are some tips that might help you take good notes.

    Write down key facts and ignore unimportant details.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Some teachers write notes on the blackboard, and that's great. You can copy them in class. Some teachers may not write anything down. You should take notes of the important points said by them.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} don't be afraid to ask your teacher to repeat what you miss. Comparing your notes with your classmates' can be good for your learning. It can also help you and your classmates correct some mistakes.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} The notes of different subjects should be written in different notebooks so that you can find everything easily when a test comes.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} but in the long run it saves time. If you get into the habit of recopying your notes every evening, you will find that you have got a better understanding of your lessons.

A. Good note-taking takes time.

B. If your teacher speaks too fast.

C. Good note-taking is not just copying.

D. Your teachers might do things differently.

E. Note-taking also needs good organization.

F. Note-taking also needs good memorization.

G. It can also make you feel more confident when you are studying.

How to make a successful apology

    Have you done something that you feel bad about? Is there a person who you have treated badly? Do you need to say "I am sorry" to someone? Here are five things you can do to have a successful apology.

    Make your apology real. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}People can tell if you take responsibility for what you did or if you are lying.

    Do not make excuses.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}It is saying that you were wrong to do it.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}An apology should show that you have learned from what you did. Show that you mean what you say.

    Make it clear that you are apologizing. Just saying "I am sorry" is not enough. Talk about what you did and then say that you feel bad about doing it. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Be prepared for the unexpected. Be prepared for it to take some time for your apology to be accepted. This may be a long moment, a few minutes, or even days or weeks. The person may stay angry with you. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} 

A. Be patient and hopeful.

B. Make a promise to change.

C. Choose the right time to apologize.

D. An apology will be better accepted if it is sincere.

E. An apology is not explaining why you did something.

F. You can give your apology to the other person as a letter.

G. It is important that the person knows you are apologizing.

    The new school year is right around the corner, and the adjustment to returning to school may take a few weeks.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Kids today are faced with far more than learning new material. Interacting with teachers and other students, bullying (欺凌), peer pressure and school violence are just a few of the challenges children face. The Kern County Sheriff s Office would like to provide the following tips for parents on how to protect your children, and how to teach them to protect themselves.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Map out a safe way for your children to walk to school or to the bus stop. Teach your children to always be aware of their surroundings. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Choose a different route or walk on the opposite side of the street.

    Bus Safety

    Make sure your children arrive at least five minutes early for the bus. Be aware that bullying often happens on the bus. Ask your children about their bus rides, who they sit with, and what goes on in the bus.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    After School

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} It could be your parents or any of your neighbors who can take care of your children for you. Make sure they inform you of it the moment your children arrive home.

    At School

    Teach your children to resolve problems without fighting. Many parents mislead their children to solve problems by force in fear that their children may be bullied at school, which will only lead to more trouble. Anyway, encourage your children to report bullying behavior, either as a victim or a witness.

A. Getting to School

B. Preparing for School

C. Encourage them to report any bullying behavior on the bus.

D. Some kids just can't wait to return to school after a long holiday.

E. Have your children check in with an adult as soon as they get home.

F. Be aware of slow moving vehicles or parked vehicles that appear to be occupied.

G. Returning to school can be fun and exciting, but it can also be difficult for some children.

Fear of missing out

    It's Friday night. While many of your friends may celebrate by going to the movies or checking out a restaurant that's just opened, you've decided to spend this highly cherished night of the week by yourself. The night is yours to enjoy. If you think this sounds relaxing, you're not alone. At least for a little while until you start wondering if you've made the right choice. A doubt begins sinking in as you imagine the fun your friends are having in your absence. Suddenly, the quiet evening you planned for yourself begins to lose its initial appeal, and you find your excitement quickly turns to anxiety.

    Fear of missing out, or FOMO, is a common feeling. A recent study defined FOMO as “the uneasy and sometimes all-consuming feeling that you're missing out — your peers are doing or in possession of more or something better than you.

    Fear of missing out often develops as a result of deeper unhappiness. Research has found that those with low levels of general life satisfaction are more likely to experience FOMO. Further worsening the all- too-common feeling is the rise of social media use. Active users of social media have a higher probability of comparing their achievements with others'. Rather than finding happiness through their own experiences, they begin worrying that theirs aren't objectively better than anyone else's.

    The consequences of FOMO are significant and far-reaching. One study conducted with first-year university students found that fear of missing out was associated with fatigue(疲劳), stress, and sleep problems. Furthermore, in a 2018 study of 1,045 Americans aged 18-34, nearly 40% of participants admitted going into debt just to keep up with their friends' lifestyles, often through increased spending on food, travel, clothes, and electronics.

    So how can you overcome the fear? Begin with gratitude. By reflecting on what you already have, you're less likely to put valuable mental energy in worrying about what you don't. Another alternative?

    Embrace(欣然接受) JOMO, or the joy of missing out. JOMO allows you to shift your focus to what you really want at any given moment, without feeling concerned about what those around you may be doing. So, turn off your phones and tablets, and engage in something you enjoy while resisting the urge to upload and share it. While this may take practice and perseverance(坚持不懈), the results are well worth the effort.

    By embracing the joy of missing out, you make room for all the benefits that come from spending time with yourself and the inner wholeness you contain; you create space to keep up with the things you wish you had more time for — gardening, reading, resting, exercising, cooking, learning, or simply being; and you see yourself in new ways and unearth the talents, fears, joys and quirks that lie beneath the surface.

This Way to Dreamland

    Daydreaming means people think about something pleasant, especially when this makes them forget what they should be doing. Daydreamers have a bad reputation for being unaware of what's happening around them. They can seem forgetful and clumsy. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}They annoy us because they seem to be ignoring us and missing the important things.

    But daydreamers are also responsible for some of the greatest ideas and achievements in human history. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}Can you imagine what kind of world we would have without such ideas and inventions?

So how can you come up with brilliant daydreams and avoid falling over tree roots or otherwise looking like a fool?

    First, understand that some opportunities(机会) for daydreaming are better than others. Feeling safe and relaxed will help you to slip into daydreams. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}And if you want to improve your chances of having a creative idea while you're daydreaming, try to do it while you are involved in another task—preferably something simple, like taking a shower or walking, or even making meaningless drawings.

It's also important to know how to avoid daydreams for those times when you really need to concentrate. "Mindfulness", being focused, is a tool that some people use to avoid falling asleep.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}.

    Finally, you never know what wonderful idea might strike while your mind has moved slowly away. Always remember that your best ideas might come when your head is actually in the clouds.

A. Having interesting things to think about also helps.

B. They stare off into space and wander by themselves.

C. Without wandering minds, we wouldn't have relativity, Coke or Post-it notes.

D. At one time, daydreaming was thought to be a cause of some mental illnesses.

E. It involves slow, steady breathing for self-control that helps people stay calm and attentive.

F. Daydreams are often very simple and direct, quite unlike sleep dreams, which may be hard to understand.