Kids and food: advice for parents

    It is important for parents to know how to help their kids eat healthy. Here are a few easy ways.

    Parents control the supply lines.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Though kids may keep asking for less nutritious foods, parents should decide which foods are regularly provided in the house. Kids won't go hungry. They'll eat what's available in the fridge at home.

    Say goodbye to “clean-plate club”.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Lots of parents grew up under the clean-plate rule, but that way doesn't help kids listen to their own bodies when they are full. When kids feel full, they're likely to overeat.

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    Food preferences are developed early in life, so try to offer different kinds of food. Likes and dislikes begin forming even when kids are babies. Parents may need to serve a new food on several different occasions(时机) for a child to accept it.

    Food is not love.

    Find better ways to say “I love you.” When foods are used to reward kids and show love, they may start to turn to food when feeling worried or unhappy. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Kids do as you do.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} When trying to teach good eating habits, try to set the best example. Choose nutritious food, eat at the table, and don't forget breakfast.

A. Start them young.

B. Rewrite the kids' menu.

C. Be a role model and eat healthy yourself.

D. Offer praise and attention instead of food treats.

E. Let kids stop eating when they feel they've had enough.

F. You decide which foods to buy and when to serve them.

G. Let kids choose what to eat and how much of it they want.

Parents and the Young

    It is natural that young people are often uncomfortable when they are with their parents.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} They often think that their parents are out of touch with modern ways, that they are too serious and too strict with their children, and that they seldom give their children a free hand.

    It is time that parents often find it difficult to win their children's trust and they always forget how they themselves felt when young.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} It is one of their ways to show that they have grown up and they can face any difficult situation. Adults worry more easily. Most of them plan things ahead.

    Young people make their parents angry with their choices in clothes, in entertainment and in music. But they do not mean to cause any trouble: It just shows that they feel cut off from the adult's world, and they have not yet been accepted into their world.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} And if their parents do not like their music or entertainment or clothes or their way of speech, this will make the young people very happy.

    Sometimes you are so proud of yourself that you do not want your parents to say “yes” to what you do.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} It is natural enough, after being a child for so many years, when you were completely under your parents' control.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} If your parents see that you have a high sense of responsibility, they will give you the right to do what you want to do.

A. Parents should understand young people.

B. Young people like to live with their parents.

C. Young people like to act without much thinking.

D. They say that their parents don't understand them.

E. All you want is to be left alone and do what you like.

F. If you plan to control your life, you'd better win your parents.

G. That's why young people want to make a new culture of their own.

    Have you experienced times when you feel like you're under too much pressure? I think most of you will say yes. Actually, many things can strike us beyond our control. With an annoying mix of late trains, missed appointments and work deadlines, many of us are living in a constant state of stress. Experts warn, our modern lifestyles means that stress is almost continuous, and comes without the natural release that either fighting or fleeing might provide.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Conditions vary from mood swings(情绪波动) to anxiety, irritability, nervousness and tiredness. In extreme cases, it can even cause headaches, muscle cramps, and digestive problems. But there are a number of things we can do to manage the symptoms.

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    Balancing blood sugar is essential in lowering stress. To maintain its level, you can try to have one small meal every two-to-three hours that contains protein, for example, breakfast, lunch and dinner plus a mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack. In this case, your blood sugar will be steady.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Laugh as you like.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}Many studies show that laughter boosts our energy, decreases stress hormones, improves immunity and lessens pains. Try to find humor in life and engage in activities that make you laugh. Don't feel guilty about doing what you love. It will work its magic in your body.

    Schedule your workout timing.

    It could be the time, rather than the way that determines how effective your workouts would be.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}Do energy-forming exercises like running or aerobics in the morning, and milder activities in the evening. Try a walk at the end of the day to calm your mind and stretch your muscles.

A. Eat little and often.

B. So will your mood swings.

C. Laughter is the best medicine.

D. These things are activated by laughing

E. The aim of exercise is to boost your energy.

F. Adapt your exercise routine to the biological clock.

G. Living with it can lead to a whole range of health problems.

How to Know Yourself Better

    Most of us believe that we know ourselves better than anyone in this world. But a lot of people are still strangers to themselves. Why?{#blank#}1{#/blank#}For a person to have a well-lived life, it is important that he know himself good. If you are one of those who are striving to know yourself better, these steps will guide you.

    Take a moment to write down things that you know "very good" about yourself - your interests, likes, dislikes, preferences, hobbies, strengths, weaknesses, hopes, fears, dreams, etc.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}By creating a list of your personal attributes that you are familiar with, you are keeping yourself in touch with yourself.

    Take personality and psychological tests. This is another way to know yourself better. The Internet has a rich source of free online personality and psychological assessments and tests.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Know yourself better by understanding people's perceptions about you.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}Sometimes, you think you know yourself enough, but other people who see you from their point of view can offer you some insights how you act and get understood by others. Be careful, however, to balance both perceptions to come up with an objective view of yourself.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}It's a lifetime process. Everyday you will be given new insights about yourself. Writing a journal will help you keep track of these new discoveries. Maintaining that hunger to know yourself better will make you more self-aware, opening up new opportunities to enrich your life.

A. Keep on learning who you are.

B. Remember that you are a worthy person.

C. By answering them, you will understand yourself better.

D. The better you know yourself, the easier it will be to love yourself.

E. Reflect on these qualities and find out how they impact your overall life.

F. Pay attention to what your family, friends, coworkers, etc. observe and say about you.

G. Not everyone is courageous enough to travel the path within to achieve a better self-understanding.

    Are Your Clothes Causing Pollution? Very small pieces of plastic, called microfibers, are polluting rivers and oceans. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Clothes worn for outdoor activities and exercise are often made of artificial material, which is useful in keeping warm. But they contain very small plastic fibers, which may also be harming the environment when you wash them. When people wash these clothes, very small pieces go down the drain （下水道） with the wash water.

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    Pollution caused by plastic is not new，but recent studies have shown the effect of microfibers in the environment.

    Studies show very small microfibers are ending up in our waters，which may come from waste water treatment factories. A 2015 study found them in fish from California.

    Microfibers, effect on food supplies.

Beyond the waterways，the researchers say microfibers may end up in soil and agricultural lands. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}This means there is much to be learned about microfibers and the environment. Some studies have shown that microfibers end up inside sea animals，like oysters. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Researchers say that the fibers tend not to move into the tissue of the fish，but it needs more study.

    Steps to save or keep microfibers from the environment.

    Until more information becomes known，there are steps to take to reduce the amount of microfibers in the environment. People should use less of the artificial materials. If we already have those in our lives and we're using them，an important step would be washing them less. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} A bag is being designed in which to wash these clothes. It traps the microfibers in the bag and it may be available for purchase soon.

A. New technology may also help.

B. Studies on microfibers in the environment.

C. They can also move around the atmosphere.

D. Studies on how much of the microfibers is released.

E. The source of these microfibers may surprise you: your clothes.

F. Washing machines keep microfibers from escaping with wash water.

G. So if these microfibers have been found in fish and seafood, are they safe to eat?

    Rivers play an important role on the earth, and we can't imagine what the earth would be like without rivers. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    With a length of 6, 650 kilometers, the Nile is the longest river in the world. The Nile River has been the source of human civilization since ancient times. The Nile has two main branches—the White Nile and the Blue Nile. The White Nile starts from the Great Lakes region of East and Central Africa through Lake Victoria.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} The Blue Nile carries with it a lot of fertile soil which turns out to be very important to farming in Egypt.

    The Amazon River is the world's largest river with a width of about 40 kilometers during the rainy seasons but about 10 kilometers wide when it is not flooded. The Amazon River has such a big water volume that it accounts for(占.....比例) more than 20% of all the world's fresh water—far more than any other river. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}The main Amazon River flows mostly through Brazil and Peru but its tributaries can also be found in many other countries.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}It has a depth of about 250 meters. Its length is 4, 700 kilometers. The sources of the Congo River are in the highlands and mountains in the Eastern Africa Rift Valley. It's the second largest river in terms of water volume. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}The Congo River basin(盆地) is the catchments(流域，集水区) area of the Congo River. It lies in both north and south of the Equator, making its flow very stable as there are always some tributaries experiencing a rainy season at any time.

A. Some of them are worth mentioning.

B. The Congo River is the world's deepest river.

C. Do you know which is the deepest river in the world?

D. The Blue Nile originates from(发源于)Lake Tana in Ethiopia.

E. Without rivers, there would be no living life in and along them.

F. And it flows through the second largest rain-forests in the world.

G. Streams that begin in the Andes Mountains are its sources.