Researchers have shown that your talent for happiness is, to a large degree, determined by your genes（基因）. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} We can do this by overcoming negative emotions and developing positive emotions.

    Strategy（策略）1: {#blank#}2{#/blank#} 

    The first step is to make a choice to be happy. In Seeking Happiness, Bertrand Russell said, “Happiness must be an achievement rather than a gift of the gods, and in this achievement, effort must play a great part.”

Once you've decided to be happier, you can choose strategies for achieving happiness.

    Strategy 2: Develop gratitude（感激）.

    In Authentic Happiness, psychologist Martin Seligman encourages readers to perform a daily “gratitude exercise”. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} 

    Strategy 3: Remember, money can't buy happiness.

    Research shows: {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Yes, “we always think that some things are wrong because they cannot bring us happiness.” writes Daniel Gilbert in Stumbling on Happiness.

    Strategy 4: Take part in meaningful activities.

“People are seldom happier,” says Jackson, “than when they're doing meaningful activities.”

    Yet, he has found that the most common leisure（休闲）activity — watching TV — produces some of the lowest levels of happiness.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Active leisure that helps a person grow does not come easily, he writes in Finding Flow.

A. Choose to be happy.

B. Seek happiness.

C. However, psychologists believe we can pursue happiness.

D. This drives bitterness from our heart, and promotes happiness.

E. Happiness is decided by many things.

F. To get more out of life, we need to put more into it.

G. More money doesn't often bring more happiness.

House Sitting

    In many countries of the world people do what is called house sitting. It means that if owners of the house are going away, they want someone to come into their home and look after the house and maybe pets while they are away.

    In Australia, many people travel. After people retire, they might buy a van and travel all over the country. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    So if someone wants to travel or go away for some reason, they might want someone in their home to care for it and keep the gardens tidy. House sitters might have to care for pets. Also, quite a few people have swimming pools in their back yard and they need cleaning. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} I feel it is a great way of seeing the country, because you go and stay in a new city, get to meet new people, and have time to go sightseeing in a new area.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} There are websites where you find the advertisements by people who want to travel, and by replying to the advertisement, you can make arrangements to go and look after their home.

    There are some requirements to be a house sitter. You must be a trusted person, so that the home owner knows you will not steal anything. You must be able to go when the house owner wants you to go, so you need lots of free time. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} You need to be good with pets, able to care for cats and dogs, or other pets they may have.

    Some house sitting jobs are just for a few days or a couple of weeks while the house owners have a short holiday. Sometimes it is for much longer. We have had one house sit for six months, while the home owner travelled to Europe.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Then you can travel to many different countries and stay there. One of  the important things to get is references from the home owners where you have stayed. A reference is a written letter to say that you are trustworthy and have looked after their home well. You can show these letters to possible house sitting jobs and they know you will do a good job.

A. I have done house sitting many times.

B. Thousands of people do this all the time.

C. It is also possible to do house sitting in other countries.

D. Generally you have many opportunities to get a house sitting job.

E. You must take a little care over what your description says about you.

F. This is an international house sitting service for all city and country areas.

G. You must have a good car, so you can travel to different parts of the country.

    Time is the most valuable thing that mankind has.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Many people try to manage their time. They arrange information and tips in order to effectively do so.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Time can be managed easily by finding out what is important and arranging these things in the order of importance. In this way you know your direction before making any plans and do not waste time and energy unnecessarily.

    Now comes the next question.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} The answer is that you need to find out what steps you need to take and what you want to do. Then you know much time to spend for each thing. These steps are like goals.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Not having them is like walking blindly in a dark room, trying to find the door.

    Time management also demands a set schedule that works best for you. In this way you will be able to arrange your tasks based on their importance and finish them. In this way you will not waste your time in beating around the bush.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}There are lots of things that we need to do in short time. Therefore, having good itme management skills is at the top of the list of things we all need.

A. We all live in a fast-paced world now.

B. Using every passing second effectively can benefit us.

C. Could you divide your time equally while doing your work?

D. How do you manage time and what type of information is needed to do so?

E. Setting goals is the most important part of time management.

F. Managing time is not that hard.

G. The aim of time management is to give us a feeling of satisfaction.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}You probably think you will never be a top student. This is not necessarily so, however. Anyone can become a better student if he or she wants to. Here's how:

    Plan your time carefully. When planning your work, you should make a list of things that you have to do. After making this list, you should make a schedule of your time. First your time for eating, sleeping, dressing, etc. Then decide a good, regular time for studying. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}A weekly schedule may not solve all your problems, but it will force you realize what is happening to your time.

    Find a good place to study. Look around the house for a good study area. Keep this space, which may be a desk or simply a corner of your room, free of everything but study materials. No games, radios, or television. When you sit down to study, concentrate on the subject.

    Make good use of your time in class.  {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Listening carefully in class means less work later. Taking notes will help you remember what the teacher says.

    Study regularly. When you get home from school, go over your notes, review the important points that your teacher is going to discuss the next day, read that material.  {#blank#}4{#/blank#} If you do these things regularly, the material will become more meaningful, and you'll remember it longer.

    Develop a good attitude towards tests. The purpose of a test is to show what you have learned about a subject. They help you remember your new knowledge. The world won't end if you don't pass a test, so don't be over worried.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} You will probably discover them after you have tried these.

A. There are other methods that might help you with your studying.

B. Don't forget to set aside enough time for entertainment.

C. Take advantage of class time to listen to everything the teacher says.

D. No one can become a top student unless he or she works hard.

E. Maybe you are an average student.

F. Make full use of class time to take notes of what the teacher says in class.

G. This will help you understand the next class.

Evaluating Sources of Health Information

    Making good choices about your own health requires reasonable evaluation. A key first step in bettering your evaluation ability is to look carefully at your sources of health information. Reasonable evaluation includes knowing where and how to find relevant information, how to separate fact from opinion, how to recognize poor reasoning, and how to analyze information and the reliability of sources. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} 

    Go to the original source. Media reports often simplify the results of medical research. Find out for yourself what a study really reported,and determine whether it was based on good science. Think about the type of study. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Watch for misleading language. Some studies will find that a behavior " contributes to " or is "associated with" an outcome; this does not mean that a certain course must lead to a certain result. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Carefully read or listen to information in order to fully understand it.

    Use your common sense. If a report seems too good to be true, probably it is. Be especially careful of information contained in advertisements. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Evaluate "scientific" statements carefully, and be aware of quackery (江湖骗术).

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Friends and family members can be a great source of ideas and inspiration, but each of us needs to find a healthy lifestyle that works for us.

    Developing the ability to evaluate reasonably and independently about health problems will serve you well throughout your life.

A. Make choices that are right for you.

B. The goal of an ad is to sell you something.

C. Be sure to work through the critical questions.

D. And examine the findings of the original research.

E. Distinguish between research reports and public health advice.

F. Be aware that information may also be incorrectly explained by an author's point of view.

G. The following suggestions can help you sort through the health information you receive from common sources.

    Last summer over 12,000 fans were at Wembley Arena in London, shouting and cheering. Thousands more were watching online. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} It was esports, or competitive computer gaming.

    Millions of people in the UK play computer games for fun. Some of them have become professional gamers, playing games as their full-time job. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} They practice for ten or more hours a day, five or six days a week. They do exercises like typing something and trying to type it faster and faster. They also study videos of other players and plan ways to beat them.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Are players athletes? Some say no. Esports players don't need to run, jump, throw or do big physical actions. At the moment, the UK government classifies esports as kinds of games, not as sports.

    But others say yes: esports are sports. Players do need some physical skills, especially hand-eye coordination, reflexes, accuracy and timing. If darts, snooker and shooting are classified as sports, then perhaps esports should be too.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}And they will be an official medal sport in the Asian Games starting from 2022. Next step: the Olympics?

    For many esports fans and players, though, the most important thing is that esports are growing in popularity and importance.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. But this wasn't a football, basketball or tennis match.

B. All like playing computer games.

C. It's not easy being a professional gamer, though.

D. But are esports really sports?

E. It is certain that esports will come into the 2024 Olympics.

F. In fact, China and South Korea do classify esports as sports.

G. If esports are not as important as sports now, they definitely will be in the near future.