Easy Ways to Keep Your Brain Sharp

    Everyone is forgetful, but as we age, we start to feel like our brains are slowing down a bit — and that can be a very annoying thing. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Read on for some techniques worth trying.

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    People who regularly made plans and looked forward to upcoming events had a 50 percent reduced chance of Alzheimer's disease (早老性痴呆症), according to a recent study. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Something as simple as setting a goal to have a weekly coffee date with a friend will do. There's evidence that people who have a purpose in life or who are working on long or short-term goals appear to do better. In other words, keep your brain looking forward.

    ⒉ Go for a walk.

    Mildly raised glucose (葡萄糖) levels can harm the area of the brain that helps you form memories and physical activity can help get blood glucose down to normal levels. In fact, exercise produces chemicals that are good for your brain. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    ⒊ Learn something new.

    Take a Spanish class online, join a drawing club, or learn to play cards. A study found that mental stimulation (刺激) limits the weakening effects of aging on memory and the mind. But the best thing for your brain is when you learn something new and are physically active at the same time. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Or go dancing with your friends.

A. Focus on the future.

B. This can be especially harmful to the aged.

C. It should be something like learning gardening.

D. So take a few minutes each day to do some reading.

E. But don't worry if your schedule isn't filled with life-changing events.

F. Luckily, research shows there is a lot you can do to avoid those moments.

G. In other words, when you take care of your body, you take care of your brain.

How to Improve Your English

    One of the most important questions that every student asks is how to improve your English. There are probably as many answers to this question as there are people {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Let's begin with the three most important rules to help guide you. You'll find further ideas below.

Rule 1:{#blank#}2{#/blank#} 

    The most important rule to remember is that learning English is a process. It takes time, and it takes lots of patience! If you are patient, you will improve your English.

Rule 2:Make a Plan

    The most important thing to do is to create a plan and follow that plan.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Patience is key to improving your English, so go slowly and focus on your foals. You'll speak English well soon if you keep to the plan.

Rule 3:{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    It's absolutely necessary that learning English becomes a habit. In other words, you should work on your English every day. It's not necessary to study grammar every day. However, you should listen, watch read or speak English every day even if it's for a short period of time.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} When you truly understand and master these three rules, then you will find your English level is really great.

    Time for a Brainstorm

    A brainstorm is a session where a small group of people come together to solve a problem. People voice spontaneous ideas, sometimes just shouting, and a note-taker writes them all down.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}By getting different ideas out there, ideas are said to bounce off each other and even can help solve the problem at hand. Brainstorming is often a group exercise but individuals can also conduct personal brainstorms.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}He defined it as using the brain to storm a creative problem and do so in commando (突击队）fashion, with each stormer attacking the same objective. According to him, it was easier to tone down a wild idea than think up a new one. He placed importance on the collection of as many ideas as possible and dismissed scientific thinking.

    Brainstorming has become one of the most popular ways to solve problems and hold discussion in schools and businesses. Many students brainstorm for a group assignment or even for a personal essay. Sarah Grace, 24, is an Australian marketing analyst and uses brainstorming during all her creative duties. She thinks brainstorming is the best way to work as a team. The sessions get everyone on the same page, everyone moving together and with a clear understanding about the foundations of an event or idea.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}.

    However, a big problem with brainstorming is creating a mess that leads people further away from a solution.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}If you don't have a strong moderator or leader of the brainstorm, can go really off track, and people just start discussing something totally different. Brainstorming can sometimes confuse the human brain.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}If you brainstorm too much and your page is filled up with all the messy links, you can paint yourself into a bit of comer and get trapped with ideas.

    You need to move past brainstorming as soon as you have something workable.

A. The ideas can be smart, strange or crazy.

B. It is caused by a lack of direction from a leader.

C. Brainstorming really helps her organize her thoughts.

D. Brainstorming really is the best way to build team spirit.

E. It can open too many doors and not suggest a clear direction.

F. Brainstorms were popularized in the 1940s by American advertising boss Alex Osborn.

G. They can be words; phrases, paragraphs and anything that can help answer the question.

New Reasons to Exercise

    It's a cruel reality that exercising is not a reliable way to lose weight and keep it off. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Here are the benefits of regular exercise.

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    A new study had found that just a short period of exercise can help improve the ability to remember things in the hours that follow. The report says, “Exercising four hours after learning a task can help people remember that task in the long term”

    It may keep off depression.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Researchers found that women who exercised regularly reported about 50% fewer depressive signs than women who didn't exercise as much. And the more the women reported exercising, the less likely they were to have signs of depression.

    It can control appetite.(食欲)

    Exercise may be the key to controlling your appetite . A study found that people who exercised for 15 minutes after doing mental work ate 100 fewer calories than people who did mental work and then remained seated. Exercise has the ability to increase available fuel sources in the body that may signal to the brain. “{#blank#}4{#/blank#}I don't need to fill myself with food,” says study author William H. Neumeirer.

    It increases energy.

    In a recent report, men who cycled for 20 minutes experienced a 166% increase in self-reported energy levels, compared with a 15% increase when they sat and did nothing for the same amount of time.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A.It improves memory.

B.It has mind-body benefits.

C.Here is the energy source I need.

D.We do the work at the office each day.

E.Working out regularly might prevent depression.

F.But that doesn't mean you should give up the effort.

G.If you need a reason to work out, energy increase is a worthwhile one.

Can We Stop Food Longing Through Imaginary Eating?

    Are you fighting an urge to reach for chocolate? Then, let it melt in your mind, not in your mouth. According to the recent research, imagining eating a specific food reduces your interest in that food, so you eat less of it.

    This reaction to repeated exposure to food—being less interested in something because you've experienced it too much—is called habituation. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    The research is the first to show that habituation can occur through the power of the mind. “If you just think about the food itself—how it tastes and smells—that will increase your appetite,” said Carey Morewedge, a well-known psychologist. “It might be better to force yourself to repeatedly think about chewing and swallowing the food in order to reduce your longing. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Visualizing yourself eating chocolate wouldn't prevent you from eating lots of cheese,” he added.

    Morewedge conducted an interesting experiment. 51 subjects were divided into three groups. One group was asked to imagine putting 30 coins into a laundry machine and then eating three chocolates. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Another group was asked to imagine putting three coins into a laundry machine and then eating 30 chocolates. Lastly, a control group imagined just putting 33 coins into the machine—with no chocolates. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} When they said they had finished, these were taken away and weighed. The results showed the group that had imagined eating 30 chocolates each ate fewer of the chocolates than the other groups.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Physical signals—that full stomach feeling—are only part of what tells us we've finished a meal. The research suggests that psychological effects, such as habituation, also influence how much a person eats. It may lead to new behavioral techniques for people looking to eat more healthily, or have control over other habits.

A. What's more, this only works with the specific food you've imagined.

B. People were advised to try different methods to perform the experiment.

C. For example, a tenth bite is desired less than the first bite, according to the study.

D. All of them then ate freely from bowls containing the same amount of chocolate each.

E. It meant those who repeatedly imagined eating would concern about some specific food.

F. This requires the same motor skills as eating small chocolates from a packet, the study says.

G. This study is part of the research looking into what makes us eat more than we actually need.

    I've been keeping an English blog for many years. These practical tips have helped me over the course of my blogging.

    ●Read quality books, blogs, journals, etc. which are written in English. Blogging is not always about writing. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Reading also improves your English comprehension, grammar, spelling, vocabulary and writing.

    ●Practice helps, so continue writing. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Trying to make a perfect post (帖子) free from grammar and spelling mistakes is good but you're not making use of your time efficiently (有效地).

    ●{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Think about the main points you want to raise. I prepare an outline of my post and a list of the points I want to talk about. Doing this has helped me stay on track and focus on my main points. The outline and the list of points I want to write about serve as my guidelines when I'm writing.

    ●When writing, use simple words and sentences. Using simple sentences makes your job as a blogger easier. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Always remember this: The aim of your writing is to get your message across and the only way to become an effective writer is successfully conveying your message to your readers.

    ●Write your posts ahead of time. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} To free yourself from the pressure of making a post on daily basis, which might affect your writing, consider making your posts ahead of time.