A

    Suppose you're in a rush, felling tired, not paying attention to your screen, and you send an email that could get you in trouble.

    Realisation will probably set in seconds after you've clicked “send”. You freeze in horrors and burn with shame.

    What to do? Here are four common email accidents, and how to recover.

    Clicking “send” too soon

    Don't waste your time trying to find out if the receivers has read it yet. Write another email as swiftly as you can and send it with a brief explaining that this is the correct version and the previous version should be ignored.

    Writing the wrong name

    The sooner you notice, the better. Respond quickly and briefly, apologizing for your mistake. Keep the tone measured: don't handle it too lightly, as people can be offered, especially if your error suggests a misunderstanding of their culture(i.e. incorrect ordering of Chinese names).

    Clicking “reply all” unintentionally

    You accidentally reveal(透露)to entire company what menu choices you would prefer at the staff Christmas dinner, or what holiday you'd like to take. In this instance, the best solution is to send a quick, light-hearted apology to explain your awkwardness. But it can quickly rise to something worse, when everyone starts hitting “reply all” to join in a long and unpleasant conversation. In this instance, step away from your keyboard to allow everyone to calm down.

    Sending an offensive message to its subject

    The most awkward email mistake is usually committed in anger. You write an unkind message about someone, intending to send it to a friend, but accidentally send it to the person you're discussing. In that case, ask to speak in person as soon as possible and say sorry. Explain your frustrations calmly and sensibly—see it as an opportunity to clear up any difficulties you may have with this person.

A. Be well-organised.

B. Close with a Q & A.

C. Don't be contradictory.

D. Bring it to a specific end.

E. Speak slowly and pause.

F. Drop unnecessary words

    Speaking to a group can be difficult, but listening to a bad speech is truly a tiresome task—especially when the speaker is confusing. Don't want to confuse your audience? Follow these suggestions:

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    When it comes to understanding new information, the human brain needs a little time. First, we hear the words; then, we compare the new information to what we already know. If the two are different, we need to pause and think. But a breathless speaker never stops to let us think about what he or she is saying and risks confusing us. Slow it.

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    Sometimes we all start a sentence one way and then switch directions, which is very difficult to follow. When you confuse your listeners with opposing information, you leave the audience wondering what part of the information is right and what part they should remember. Instead of relying and keeping correcting yourself, work to get the facts clear and straight.

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    Jumping from point to point as it comes to your mind puts the onus (责任）on your listeners to make up for your lack of organisation. And it's confusing for them to listen, reorganise, and figure out what you're saying all at once. But going smoothly from one point to the next helps them understand information more easily. You can arrange things from beginning to end, small to large, top to bottom or by some other order. Just be sure to organise.

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    Repeated use of um, ah, like, you know and some other useless noises can drive an audience crazy. It makes the speaker sound uncertain and unprepared, and it can leave listeners so annoyed that they can't pay attention. Recently I attended a speech that was marked by so many ums that audience members were rolling their eyes. Was anybody grasping the intended message? Um, probably not.

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    Many speakers finish up their speeches with question-and-answer (Q & A) sessions, but some let the Q & A go on without a clear end. The audience is often left confused about whether the meeting is over and when they can get up and leave. Do your listeners a favour by setting a time limit on questions, and close your speech with a specific signal—even if it's something simple like, “If you have any more questions, you know where to reach me.” Or even more to the point, conclude your speech with “Thanks for your time. ”

                                                                             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一and that can be a very annoying thing.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}Read on for some techniques worth trying.

    ⒈{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    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.

    ⒉Go 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#}

    ⒊Learn 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 Use Social Media Positively

    Nowadays so common is Social media in our society that almost everyone is connected to some form of it, whether it is Twitter, Facebook or even Pinterest. We are in a fast-paced, technologically evolving society and we are addicted to social media. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} 

    So how does one ensure a positive online reputation? It's simple:

    Keep it clean. Party photos with alcohol are an absolute no-no. Would you want to have your boss see these photos? {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Make sure to post contents that you feel positively reflect you, your creativity and your skills.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} You have a private Twitter account so you can post anything you want? This is decidedly not the case. Privacy settings make it harder to see your full account, but it's not impossible. Under no circumstance should you rely on privacy settings as a way to protect inappropriate contents.

    Ensure you're careful and professional. Keep it classy (优等的)! Discover your brand, or what you want people to think of you. Proper spelling and grammar is always a plus, but it may not be your brand. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} In this way, you can earn approval.

    Follow these simple rules and you're on your way to building, or restoring an online reputation. Using social media positively doesn't mean you can't have fun and use it to express yourself; however, you want to ensure that you're OK with anyone seeing everything you post.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} So your post can get your friends active and happy.

    Like it or not, your social networks reflect you ── make sure you look like the shining star that you truly are. Try to do everything as well as you can.

A. In fact, we long for social media and need it.

B. Social media is very fast to use but very difficult.

C. Don't trust privacy settings at all.

D. Be entirely sure about what you're posting.

E. Once you click post, there's no looking back.

F. Make sure your post is written personally.

G. Try to do everything as well as you can.

    Whenever we see a button on a doorbell or on a remote, we may press it. This is true in most cases. But some buttons are actually fake(假的), like the "close" button on an elevator.

    Many people are in the habit of pressing the "close" button because they don't have the patience to wait for the elevator doors to shut. But according to experts, the buttons are a complete trick—the doors will not close any faster however hard you press.

    It started in the 1990s when the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed, making sure that all elevators stayed open long enough so that people with disabilities could enter. Only firefighters and maintenance workers(维修工) can use the buttons to speed up the door-closing process if they have a code or special keys. But to normal elevator riders, the buttons aren't completely useless.

    According to psychologists, fake buttons can actually make you feel better by offering you a sense of control. Experts have showed that a lot of buttons that don't do anything exist in our lives for this same purpose. For example, pedestrian crosswalk buttons don't live up to their names. Pressing them used to help make the traffic signals change faster, but that was before computer-controlled traffic signals were introduced.

    But psychologists found it interesting that even when people are aware of these little "white lies". They still continue to push fake buttons because as long as the doors eventually close, it is considered to be worth the effort.

    That habit is here to stay, John Kounios, a psychology professor at Drexel University in the US, told The New York Times. "After all, I've got nothing else to do while waiting. So why not try the chance?"

    How long could you stand on Antarctic ice before your bare feet froze solid? A minute. Maybe two? If you're an emperor penguin, you can do it for two months in cruel winds at as low as-75 degrees Fahrenheit{#blank#}1{#/blank#}, but their special circulation acts as a kind of antifreeze to keep them warm enough.

    Penguin legs and feet have evolved to lose as little heat as possible. Penguin feet preserve heat by restricting blood flow in really cold weather, keeping foot temperature just above freezing{#blank#}2{#/blank#}.

    Blood vessels to and from the feet are very narrow and woven closely together, cooling the blood from the body on the way to the feet and heating the blood as it returns to the body.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}.

    This special ability is part of how penguins keep their eggs warm until they hatch. Each penguin egg's father balances it on his feet and covers it with his very warm layer of feathered skin to keep it cozy while females are out feeding at sea.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}. If females haven't returned with food by time the chicks hatch, male penguins feed their babies for a few days on a kind of "milk" made from special cells inside their throats.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}Your hands get whiter during freezing weather because there's less blood in them which has been redirected to the central part of your body to make sure vital organs stay warm.

A. Penguin legs work like a heat exchange system

B. Those naked bird feet may look extremely cold

C. Therefore, the male penguins must stay together in groups

D. However, parenting doesn't stop there for these devoted fathers

E. Emperor penguins also have the ability to 'recycle' their own body heat

F. Feet get cool blood so there's less heat to lose, while the body stays warm and comfortable

G. In fact. humans have the ability to restrict blood flow to their hands and feet in cold weather too