We've all experienced peer pressure (同伴压力). It happens to everybody. However, people have different reactions. Confident people refuse to do things they don't want to do, but shy and anxious people often give in. It may be because they want to be liked. It may be because they worry that their friends will make fun of them, or perhaps they're just curious about trying something new. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    It's hard being the only one who says no and the question is: how do you do it? {#blank#}2{#/blank#} If you think that missing maths, or smoking, or going somewhere you know your parents wouldn't like is a bad idea then the answer is simple: don't do it. It's your decision, nobody else's. You don't need to be aggressive. You don't need to shout and scream, but you must be confident and you must be firm. You need to say, “No thanks. I don't want to do that.”

    Being on your own against everybody else is very hard, so it can really help to have at least one other peer, or friend, who will say no too. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} You want friends who will support you when you're in trouble. You don't want people who will always agree with the majority. Remember, the most popular people aren't always the most trustworthy.

{#blank#}4{#/blank#} — You can learn a lot from people your own age. They can teach you great football skills or the best way to do your maths homework. They can recommend music and advise you on fashion. And don't forget you can tell them things too, and that always feels great. So, find friends who have similar interests. And remember, friendship isn't about feeling depressed and guilty. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    We all face quantities of stresses in day-to-day living, whether at work, in the home, or anywhere in between.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Here's how stress can help us on an everyday basis.

    Sharpen your memory.

    Did you ever notice that sometimes when you are stressed, your memory seems to improve? Remember that test you passed where the answers seemed to come out of nowhere?{#blank#}2{#/blank#} It's because of stress hormones（荷尔蒙）that increase your alertness(机敏) when it's most needed.

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    Successful employees turn stress into motivation. Have you ever noticed that you get the least amount of work done when you have the fewest deadlines? Too little stress can affect how much you actually get done. When you take risks and choose to get over the difficulty, it improves your mental toughness and self-confidence.

    Helping you resist the attack of illness.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Believe it or not, the right kind of stress can help your body's defenses against illness. When you get sick, stress causes you to make hormones that battle threats to your health. That burst of stress is helpful to your immune system when your body faces a threat.

    Making your life more interesting.

    Think about some stressful situations that we consciously put ourselves into make life more interesting and enjoyable, like asking someone out on a first date, conquering a known fear, or learning something new. These may not immediately come to mind when you think of stress because of the positive outcomes.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Helping you get an advantage at work.

B. Helping you get through difficult times.

C. This will happen whenever you are stressed.

D. That's one way your brain responds to stress.

E. You need a healthy immune system to help fight off diseases.

F. But they're the types that can help you achieve fulfillment and happiness.

G.But handled properly,stress can have many benefits for the body and mind.

Four simple ways to stay positive

    Trying to stay positive, both in good times and bad, is a great way to improve your quality of life. Try these four methods on a daily basis.

    Don't think a lot about negativity.

    Of course, staying positive 24 hours a day, seven days a week is a bit difficult. Letting things get to you is normal, and it's actually healthy to cry or express frustrations once in a while. It's when those negative moments control your life that your emotional balance is at risk. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} However, don't give that sadness another second in your day.

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    What you put into your body directly affects how you feel on the outside. Fill yourself with good, healthy foods like fruits and vegetables and limit snacking. Exercise is equally of great importance. Take a few days out of your week for at least a half an hour of activity, and try to stick to a routine. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Be kind to others.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Making someone's day a bit brighter not only puts a smile on his or her face, but also yours as well. Remember to smile and treat each person with pity and respect. Good deeds are contagious (传染的), and your positive attitude may spread among others.

    Take it one day at a time.

Being positive isn't an instant thing. It's a steady effort that we follow every hour of every day. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Instead, focus on living in the moment and doing what you can to make each moment better.

A. Eat healthy and stay fit.

B. Take your lunch breaks outside.

C. Don't worry about what the future may bring.

D. Gratefulness helps you appreciate life in bad times.

E. Good feelings come from acts of kindness and selflessness.

F. Take a few minutes to feel sad and accept what happened.

G. Even going outside for a walk and enjoying the sunshine improves your mood.

    From now on, never spend your limited time thinking of reasons for your failures and weaknesses. Instead，realize that seeds of success were planted within you when you were born. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    The seeds, and the power to grow them, are contained in the most powerful machine ever created: the human mind. Success is a choice but not a chance. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} You were also born rich. You can be a success if you make the right choice.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Your level of self -confidence is always based on the degree of control that you are able to exercise over yourself, and thus over your life. People with low self-confidence are people who do not believe that they have any power, or responsibility for their lives. They are mere victims.(受害人)

    You can exercise control over your life only to the degree that you believe that you are responsible for everything that happens in your life. Failures think that everything happens by accident and chance and they have no responsibility for it. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Everything happens as a result of something. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} We are responsible for what we choose to think and believe. One generally rises to the level that one experts. We are responsible for setting our expectations. Our success is dependent upon our level of confidence.

A. You were born a winner.

B. Don't lose heart even if you're in face of failure.

C. successful people realize they are responsible.

D. If we can recognize the cause, we can control the effect.

E. Only you yourself have the power to make those seeds grow.

F. You cannot be successful without first developing your self-confidence.

G. depends on your cooperation with others as well as your own effort.

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” —Lao Tzu

    If you are in a city where everyone rushes, realize that you don't have to be like everyone else. You can be different. You can walk instead of driving in rush hour traffic. You can be on your iPhone or Blackberry less, and disconnected sometimes. Your environment doesn't control your life you do. I'm not going to tell you how to give you a step-by-step guide to moving slower. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Do less.

    Cut back on your projects, on your task list, on how much you try to do each day. Focus not on quantity but on quality.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Save smaller, routine tasks for later in the day, but give yourself time to focus.

    Have fewer meetings.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}And they eat into your day, forcing you to squeeze the things you really need to do into small windows, and making you rush.

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    When you do the important things with focus, without rush, there will be things that get pushed back, and that don't get done. And you need to ask yourself: how necessary are these things? What would happen if I stopped doing them?

    Practice mindfulness.

    Simply learn to live in the present, rather than things so much about future or the past. When you eat, fully appreciate your food. When you are with someone, be with them fully. When you are walking, appreciate your surroundings, no matter where you are.

    Try these things out. Life is better when unrushed. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Start to put off or cancel the unnecessary.

B. Meetings are usually a “big waste of time”.

C. The world likely won't end if you don't pass one of the examinations.

D. But here are some things to consider and perhaps adopt, if they work for your life.

E. Remember the quote: if nature can get everything done without rushing, so can you.

F. Pick 2-3 important things—or even just one important thing—and work on those first.

G. Give yourself more time to get ready and get there.

Reversal—change your perspective and solve your problem

It's often your definition of a problem that limits you in finding a suitable solution. Creative solutions require a change of perspective. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

The reversal technique is a creative thinking technique that is based on the thought that to change your perspective, you sometimes need to change the order of the words in your problem definition.

How you change the order of the words doesn't matter much, as long as the key words are reversed. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Your challenge is "How do we make sure that fewer people take cars to their work?". Swapping the key words, you could rephrase this challenge as "How do we make sure that fewer cars take people to their work?" In this case, the first statement will make you think of alternative means of transportation, like trains or bikes, while the second statement will probably make you think of solutions like carpooling—fewer cars for the same number of people.

Not every problem statement is suitable for a reversal. Sometimes using this technique requires you to first rephrase the question altogether. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}For instance, the question "how might we sell more washing machines?" is not easily reversed—there is no key word to swap with "washing machines". Yet, when you rephrase the question to "How might we sell more washing machines to young parents?" you can easily change it to "How might we sell more young parents to washing machines? {#blank#}4{#/blank#} You could interpret this last sentence as "the washing machine pays the young parents to try it out". Then, you could start communicating to potential buyers how much they will save each year when they choose your energy efficient washing machine.

As this example shows, some reversals will require a very flexible way of thinking. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} However, thinking about the tiny amount of time it will "cost" you to try out a reversal, you have very little to lose and, potentially, lots to gain.

A. The second problem statement is much more logical.

B. Often it helps to add one more key word to the sentence.

C. Rephrasing your challenge is to change the problem statement.

D. A great way to do this is by "reversing" your problem statement.

E. For instance, imagine you are responsible for limiting the traffic jam in your area.

F. Admittedly, it is a very unusual challenge, but it might just stimulate a creative thought.

G. Not everyone will be able to move from an unreasonable statement to a useful solution.