How to Enjoy Life As a Teen

    The "best years of your life"? Maybe not, but you can learn to make the most of your high school days.

    Learn to appreciate small things. Whether it's having a computer, having friends, having a good supply of food, a bed to sleep on, family that loves you, having a decent education or simply being born in this world, value it. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Be happy, and life will reward you. Remember that these are the last few years you will be able to enjoy yourself without having to worry about the responsibility of an adult, but make sure you prepare yourself for when you do become one. When you actually become an adult, you'll learn to love that responsibility and you probably never want to go back.

    Choose your friends wisely. Unlike what many articles state, you don't have to be popular and have a gazillion friends to be happy. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Try to have friends that like you who you are, not just because you are wearing a certain brand of shoes or something like that. These are people who shop at the same store as you; not someone who will sympathize with you when your dog dies.

    Keep your grades up. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} This also sets you up to get into a college you want to go to, which in turn prepares you for a career you will enjoy, improving your quality of life in the future. You'll get cheap car insurance as well if you have at least a B or A average.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Participating in clubs, activities, and sports increases your chances of meeting new friends. While you only need 4 or 5 close friends, that doesn't mean you shouldn't try to meet new people. Participating gives you something to do instead of sitting bored at home and wallowing in self-pity.

    Work at a job you can enjoy. Working is a great way co gain experience and to meet other people. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} This will look great on your resume. If you can't find work, especially in this hard economic time, volunteer or make your own job.

A. Be sociable.

B. Remember the point of life is for you to enjoy it.

C. Find a hobby that is meaningful or practical.

D. In fact, many of the "friends" you have when you are popular are not true friends.

E. When you do get out of college, interviewing companies will look at your previous work experience.

F. Even though you want to enjoy your teen life as best as possible, don't idle away your time in school.

G. There is nothing more satisfying than seeing your hard work pay off in the form of A's and B's (but mainly A's).

    It's well-known by all the people to greet friends with a smile and a wave.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} However, what happens if your face and body send mixed messages? Would someone tend to believe the look on your face or the way you behave?

    Recently, scientists have dealt with these questions. They found that when a person is staring at your face, he might not believe what he sees if your body doesn't match the feeling that your face shows.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}Previous study had showed that the tone of a person's voice can be more important than the words spoken. For example, most people are more likely not to believe a person who says in a flat voice, "I'm so excited."

    When talking about emotions conveyed by facial expressions and body language, most scientists suspected that the face was more important. To test if this was true, psychologists from the Netherlands and Boston showed people a number of pictures of isolated faces and isolated bodies that showed anger or fear,{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    An angry face had low eyebrows and tight lips. A frightened face had high eyebrow and a slightly open mouth{#blank#}4{#/blank#} A scared body had arms forward and shoulders square, as if ready to fight back.

    These results told the researchers that mixed messages can confuse people. Even when people pay attention to the face, body language surely influences the emotion they read.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}And if you want to be understood it helps to avoid sending mixed messages.

A. Studying such mixed messages is nothing new for scientists.

B. So, your body language is important for telling people your feelings.

C. Scientists feel new to study the mixed message that puzzles people,

D. An angry body had arms back and shoulders at an angle, as if ready to fight.

E. Body language can sometimes be misunderstood in different culture backgrounds.

F. They also showed pictures where angry or scared faces were paired with angry or scared bodies.

G. When doing this, your face and body work together to show your friends that you are happy to see them.

    The search for one of life's greatest goals, happiness, is what brings almost 1,200 students to one of Yale University's most popular classes ever. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}Psychology professor Laurie Santos teaches the class.

    One in four Yale undergraduate students has registered to take it. It has the largest class registration size in Yale's 317-year history. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}Santos says it is the hope that science can help students find peace among all the stresses and difficulties they face at college. "Students report being more depressed than they have ever been in history at college," she said.

    Social science research has led to many new understandings of how people find happiness, Santos says. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} she said of the students taking her happiness class.

    Santos said feelings of happiness are created through several things. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} She added that while many people may see money and possessions as goals in life, those things are not usually what make people most happy. School work for the happiness class, also known as Psyc157, includes showing more gratitude, performing acts of kindness and increasing social connections. Because of the popularity of the class, it has been made publicly available -- for free – on the website Coursera.

    The class is already helping Yale students like senior Rebekah Siliezar. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}"What's most pressing on our minds is grades, it's the next job, it's a potential salary after graduation," said Siliezar. Now, she said tries more to "focus on the present moment and the people around me."

A. It is the third-oldest university in the United States.

B. The class is called "Psychology and the Good Life"

C. She describes her mindset before taking the class

D. Therefore, why do so many students want this class?

E. They really want to learn those insights in a science-driven way

F. Happy people even make time to talk to people who work at coffee shops.

G. Among them are socialization, exercise, meditation (冥想) and plenty of sleep.

    You'd think the human race would have understood sleeping very well by now, but many of us are still sleeping poorly. Part of the problem is that we have wrong information and beliefs about this important health need. Let's set the facts straight. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    ⒈More sleep is better for you.

    There could be such a thing as too much sleep. The amount of sleep we need varies by person and also changes as we age. Harvard researchers found that a lot of sleep (9 hours or more) is linked with poor sleep quality. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Aim for better sleep.

    ⒉{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Alcohol can help most people fall asleep. However, it also can cause you to wake up more during the night, decreasing your sleep quality. Consider drinking non-alcoholic drink before bed instead.

    ⒊If you wake up in the middle of the night, lie in bed until you eventually fall back asleep.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}We all hope to quickly fall back asleep. So we tend to stay in bed hoping it'll happen at any minute now. If that doesn't happen, though, within 15 minutes, most experts recommend getting out of bed to do something that occupies our bodies and brains without overstimulating us. Try not to check the clock either.

    ⒋You can catch up on sleep on weekends.

    When we lose sleep during the week, we accumulate a kind of sleep ＂debt＂. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}Not so fast. This might actually make you sleepier the next week. Instead of waking up later on the weekends, you'd better go to sleep earlier or perhaps take a nap in the afternoon.

A. Alcohol helps you sleep.

B. Here are some things you might have been told about sleeping but aren't completely true.

C. Everyone should get 7—8 hours of sleep per night.

D. So don't aim for more sleep — even on the weekends.

E. Waking up in the middle of the night is the pits (烦心事), but it happens to all of us.

F. You'll have a better day and perhaps sleep better at night.

G. Can you pay that debt back by sleeping on Saturday or Sunday?

    Ways to Take Care of Your Books

    What do you do to take care of the books in your library? Some collectors(收藏者) refuse to read the books in their collection; so the books remain in good condition. Others buy two copies of a book: they read one and leave the other untouched. However many readers must read their books but they still want to protect. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}.

    Avoid Writing.

    You may have been told to write in your books or even to underline words, phrases, and paragraphs. But if you plan to keep the book, add it to your library or even sell it — don't write in the book in ink. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. Use a notebook to take notes or use pieces of paper.

    Avoid Food and Drinks.

    Food and drinks are things that may be dangerous to your books. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. If you need to read while you eat make sure your fingers are clean and dry as you hold the book or turn the pages.

    Take Care.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. Don't let it drop to the ground. Don't place your book with the book open, face down. You'd better use a book cover to keep your book in the best condition.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}.

    If you want to take care of your books keep your books on a shelf when you are not reading them. But also take care that the books should be placed in an upright (竖立的) position.

A. Put it on the shelf.

B. Protect it from dust.

C. The ink may damage your book forever.

D. When you handle (握) your book, hold it with care.

E. No one knows exactly how to protect their books.

F. So the best way is to avoid eating or drinking while you read.

G. Here are some tips to keep your books in good condition.

    Coca-Cola is probably the most famous brand in the world. Although the company is trying to present itself as a health-conscious company, you can't really say that drinking cola is healthy for you. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} And we tell ourselves that it's all okay as long as we don't overdo it. However, Coca-Cola has other functions besides drinking.

    Cola removes the tarnish(暗锈) from old pennies. Got some old rusty pennies? Not to worry! {#blank#}2{#/blank#} When you get them out, you'll have shiny pennies that will look as if they were coined a couple of days ago. If you couldn't clean those pennies with industrial acids, just buy a can of cola and let it do its magic!

    You can remove gum from your hair with cola. If you've got gum stuck in your hair and don't know a better way to get it out, don't worry, you won't have to cut it. Just pour some cola into a bowl and dip the part of your hair with gum on it inside. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}You probably know about this one. You can make an exploding fountain by putting a mint inside a two-liter bottle. Then move away from the bottle and get ready for a Coca-Cola explosion. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Don't eat a mint and drink cola at the same time, because a similar thing could happen to your stomach.

A.You can make an exploding fountain.

B.This is a fun thing to do, but it is also a warning.

C.Still, we all drink cola, some more and some less.

D.Coca-Cola is also very cheap and safe for people to drink.

E.Put them inside a glass of cola and let them rest for a while.

F.Leave it for a couple of minutes and then simply wipe off the gum.

G.In some areas you can even access it easier than clean drinkable water.