Kids' health: four steps for fighting stress

    Everybody gets stressed from time to time. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}some ways of dealing with stress— like screaming or hitting someone— don't solve much. But other ways, like talking to someone you trust, can lead you to solving your problem or at least feeling better.

    Try taking these four steps the next time you are stressed:

    (1.)Get support. When you need help, reach out to the people who care about you. Talk to a trusted adult, such as a parent or other relatives. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}they might have had similar problems, such as dealing with a test, or the death of a beloved pet.

    (2.)Don't take it out on yourself. Sometimes when kids are stressed and upset they take it out on themselves. Oh , dear, that's not a good idea. Remember that there are always people to help you. Don't take it out on yourself. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    (3.)Try to solve the problem. After you are calm and you have support from adults and friends, it's time to get down to business. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}even if you can't solve it all, you can solve a piece of it.

    (4.)Be positive. Most stress is temporary（暂时的）. Remember stress does go away, especially when you figure out the problem and start working on solving it.

    These steps aren't magic, but they do work.. and if you can stay positive as you make your way through a tough time, you'll help yourself feel better even faster. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Ask for a helping hand to get you through the tough situation.

B. Notice your friends' feelings and find a way to help them.

C. Different people feel stress in different ways.

D. Ah, it feels so good when the stress is gone.

E. You need to figure out what the problem is.

F. And don't forget about your friends.

G. Then, find a way to calm down.

    If you think your vocabulary is weak, a little effort every day over six to nine months can go a long way in improving it. Here are some tips for increasing your vocabulary.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. You may be comfortable reading a particular part of the newspaper but make an effort to read different articles on every page. The editorial (社论的) page is highly recommended not only for vocabulary but also for structuring and presenting thoughts.

    Make it a habit to read a new book every week. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. You can consider becoming a member of the local library. Make a list of new words and look up their meanings in the dictionary.

    Watch English movies and television shows. It's an interesting way to enrich your vocabulary. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}.

    Use vocabulary cards. Vocabulary cards are used by students who are trying to learn many words in a short time. You can make your own cards by writing the word on one side and the meaning on the other side of a piece of paper. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}.

    Use the Internet. The Internet is an unlimited resource for reading material.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. You will come across plenty of material to read. The Internet will also introduce you to new words. Be sure to look them up in a dictionary.

    Meet Thomas Wilson. Thomas is famous all over the world. He holds the world record for sleeping in (睡过头). One weekend, Thomas slept in for two days, three hours and fourteen minutes. It was unbelievable. No one in history had ever slept in for so long before.

    Thomas was very proud of his world record. His friends were proud of him, too. Whenever Thomas walked down the street, people always came up to him and shook his hand. Thomas was a star.

    The on]y who wasn't proud of Thomas's world record was his father. Dad didn't like it when Thomas slept in. He complained that whenever Thomas slept in, the lawns didn't get mowed. He was worried about how high the grass was getting. Every weekend, it seemed to get higher and higher. “It's like a jungle there,” Dad moaned (抱怨) to Thomas one day. But Thomas wasn't worried about the grass getting higher. He had more important things on his mind—like sleeping in.

    One morning, Thomas was woken from a deep sleep by a loud roaring noise. It sounded like a wild animal pacing about under his bedroom window.

    Thomas rushed over to the window and pulled the curtains back. His eyes bulged like basketballs. “What on Earth…?” He gasped. There, in the middle of the backyard, was a lion! “Awesome!” cried Thomas. Suddenly, a giraffe poked its head through the window. It munched the leaves from a plant sitting by Thomas's bed. Next, an elephant walked past the swimming pool and squirted (喷出) water all over Dad's car! “Cool!” cheered Thomas. “Now I don't have to wash Dad's car today.”

    A few changes about how a teacher runs a classroom can make a huge effect on how concentrated students will be in that classroom. It's an issue every teacher has to face. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Here are just a few of my strategies.

    Rearrange (重新安排) Seats.

    I did the seat rearrangement because class conversation had become dull, and students just seemed to be there but not actually there. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} I had all of my students pick new seats at the tables. The rules were simple. They could not sit with more than one other person they'd already sat with, and it had to be at a different table.

    Take over A Lesson.

    Once in a while, it can be fun to let the students take over a lesson in a unit. Let them become the teachers, and the teacher becomes the student. You can provide the topic they need to cover. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Have Open Projects.

    Open projects have been very successful in my class. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} I used to dictate every part of my project assignments. Students would ask to do things a little differently. And I'd give in, surprised that their ideas were better than mine.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    Sometimes teachers forget to bring the fun to the classroom. We try so hard to cover the courses for our students until they break down. Sometimes it's good to just set things aside for a day or two and have some fun.

A. Have fun.

B. Listen carefully.

C. But it can be solved in some very simple ways.

D. Let the students choose the topic and teach whatever they want.

E. It's one of the simplest ways to rearrange a class and get things going again.

F. They get to deal with the material in a way that is refreshing and new to them.

G. I've found that the more choices I gave my students, the better the projects have been.

    When was the last time you read a book or a magazine article? Do your everyday reading habits centre around updates on the Internet? In case you are one of innumerable individuals who don't make a habit of reading consistently（持续的）you may be passing up a great opportunity: Reading has a remarkable number of advantages and only a couple of advantages of reading are recorded below.

    Everything you read fills your head with new bits of information and you never know when it might be useful to you. The more knowledge you have, the better-equipped you are to overcome any challenge you'll ever face. Additionally, here's a bit of food for thought: Should you ever find yourself in terrible circumstances, remember that although you might lose everything else—your job, your possessions, your money, even your health—knowledge can never be taken from you.

    At the same time, the more you read, the more words you gain exposure to, and they'll surely make their way into your everyday vocabulary. Being able to express your ideas clearly in words is of great help in any profession and knowing that you can speak to higher-ranking people with self-confidence can be a great encouragement to your self-esteem（自尊）. It could even aid in your career as those who are well-read, well-spoken, and knowledgeable on a variety of topics tend to get promotions more quickly (and more often) than those with smaller vocabularies and lack of awareness of literature, scientific advances, and global events. Reading books is also vital for learning new languages, as non-native speakers gain exposure to words used in context, which will improve their own speaking and writing fluency.

    When you read a book, you have to remember a lot of characters, their backgrounds, ambitions, history as well as a variety of plots that weave their way through every story. That's a fair bit to remember, but brains are wonderful things and can remember these things with relative ease. Amazingly enough, whenever you remember something new, new synapses（神经元的突触）are formed and existing ones are strengthened. How cool that is!

    No matter how much stress you have at work, in your personal relationships, or countless other issues faced in daily life, it all just slips away（溜走）when you lose yourself in a great story. A well-written novel can transport you to other realms（领域）while an interesting article will distract you and keep you in the present moment, letting tensions drain away and allowing you to relax.

    Some recent surveys show that the health conditions of many white collar employees and office workers are rather critical. Death cases among white collar employees and office workers are increasing year by year and these cases are generally believed to have been caused by overwork and spending little time taking rest or doing exercise.

    If their offices are within the distance of half an hour's walk, some office workers now choose to go to work on foot. Ms. Deng, who works in a foreign enterprise in Beijing, has been walking to her office for more than six months now. I usually have a tight work schedule and can't find time to do exercise. So I choose to walk to work. As she said, if the office is not far from home, most women would like to go to work on foot. Walking is good for their health and can help them to keep good figures as well.

    Apart from walking to office, one can also find time to do exercise when one is at work. The simplest way is to abandon the lift. Mr. Wei, who works in the Passenger Service Department at Shenzhen Airlines, is one of such men who frequently climb stairs to his office. I only use the lift whenever I'm with my colleagues or my boss. Otherwise, I would climb stairs instead of taking the lift.

    In addition, some office workers try to find time to go to a gym at the end of a day. Ms. Sang works in a law firm in Shenzhen. She goes to the gym several times a week when she has the time. I go to the gym every weekend. During the weekdays, I will also go there whenever I have the time. Ms. Sang and her husband both have a gym membership card for a whole year. The cards cost them 3, 000 yuan. However they think it's worth it.