Tips for Staying Sharp

    It's not abnormal to feel out of it from time to time or perhaps you're feeling a bit sluggish(迟钝的)when it comes to remembering things. If you're worried about your forgetfulness, try out these five tips to stay sharp.

{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    You've probably heard the term “you are what you eat.” If you decide to eat sugary foods that are heavy with fats then expect to feel lazy and have no energy. But if you decide to eat fruits, vegetables and make other healthy eating decisions you'll find that you're full of energy.

Never stop learning

Challenge yourself constantly—whether it is puzzles, reading, cooking or other tasks that will keep your mind working. If your mind is always learning new things and active, you'll realize that it's much easier for you to learn new things and to function.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

Stay fit

    Being in good health and staying in shape is a big part of staying sharp.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}If you choose to be lazy then your body is not going to give you the energy that requires remembering things and completing tasks. However, if you put forth the effort into being health then your body will expel(释放)the energy you need to achieve your goals.

Ensure enough sleep

    Be sure to get the necessary amount of sleep that your body needs to function on a daily basis.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}It also helps your body build up an energy reserve so you can improve your ability to focus and avoid distractions.

Socialize more

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Social interaction will help you develop multitasking, problem solving and other skills that are necessary in life to keep your mind sharp.

A. Feed your brain

B. Avoid eating too much

C. Your body will only give you what you put into it

D. Lack of sleep contributes to tiredness and slow reaction

E. Conversations require individuals to stay aware and active

F. According to studies, sleep helps strengthen and recover your memories

G. Remember you brain is a muscle and if you want to get the most out of it, you must use it

    Goals are the guides all through our life. We all have goals that we are moving towards and making a great effort to achieve. This is a good thing. Or can it be bad? How many of us never reach our goals and yet we have tried so hard and really thought about nothing else? I believe the mistake most of us make is that we do not focus on our present situation.

    Let me explain. Most of us see our present situation as a stepping stone that we use simply as a means of reaching our final destination. We don't take time to truly appreciate where we are today and all the great things we already have in our lives. We should focus our attention on the journey and not on the destination, or we will miss the beautiful scenery along the way.

    Let's use our job as an example. Now most of us want a promotion. We have plans to become the manager or general manager in our companies. Unfortunately, most of us will never reach the goal, but will watch others achieve our goal instead.

    What we should be doing is focusing on the job we are currently in now. Forget where we want to get to and just focus on the present. You see, what we can control is our performance in our current job. We can decide to be the best we possibly can in our current job. Now this may mean further education to have the skills we currently do not have. It may mean working harder to produce better results than our colleagues. It could simply be a change of attitude, such as stopping complaining and becoming a more devoted and supportive employee. By doing our current job to the best of our abilities, we in fact give ourselves the best chance of promotion.

    So the best thing for all of us to do to achieve our goals is to just focus on what we have and where we are now. Do the best and be the best we possibly can in our current situations, and we will give ourselves the very best chance of reaching our goals in the future. We have heard the old sayings and they are true: “Rome wasn't built in a day.”, “Patience is a virtue”, and so on.

Have patience, have appreciation of what we already have, and take time to help ourselves be the very best we can. Do these things and we will all reach our goals, but more importantly, we will enjoy our life every day.

    As is known to everyone, we all care about what others think of us and want to be liked, {#blank#}1{#/blank#}However, there are also many smaller, simpler things you can do, which can affect how others view you.

    Prove you are paying attention.

    To really show someone your interest in him or her, try bringing up a topic the person mentioned earlier. Did your co-worker talk about working with his son on a science fair project last week? Follow up and ask how it went. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}In fact, sometimes it says more that you can recall and show interest in even the small happening in another person's life.

    Handle criticism in a wise way.

    While you want to be generous with your praise, be careful with your criticism. For example, if someone makes an error, don't call that person out in front of a group. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Anyhow, be always gentle with criticism and only offer it when it's truly needed.

    Ask for advice.

    Asking someone for advice is a great way to get people to like you. It shows that you respect the other individual's opinion.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} When you make someone feel better about himself or herself, that person will most certainly end up liking you for it.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    Most people love to talk about themselves. If you are asking questions and getting people to talk about themselves, they'll leave the conversation thinking that you're the coolest.

A. Try to be confident and respectful.

B. Everyone likes to feel needed and important.

C. It doesn't have to be a big, life-changing event.

D. Ask other people about their lives and interests.

E. Always use an individual's name in a conversation.

F. You can discuss your own mistakes before digging into someone else's errors.

G. The basics of getting people to like you are obvious—be nice, considerate and polite.

    If you need to interview someone for an article but you have never interviewed before, it can be frightening. Here are some tips for preparing for and conducting a successful interview.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} If the person is a known author or speaker, take the time to read or listened to his/her work, or at least get familiar with his/her most recent or most important work. If the interview will cover events, review whatever is known publicly about those events.

    Being a recording device(录音设备). You can use your phone or an audio recorder. In this way you needn't struggle to write things down. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} And this will make it easier to include direct quotes when you start writing.

    Remember to make it a conversation rather than a list of questions. Prepared questions are just a guideline. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. You can also try to ask your interviewee about his/her personal thoughts and reactions to events and people they deal with.

Appropriate feedback(反馈) is also important. Feel free to say words that show you are listening, like “yeah” and “Mmmm”. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} You can also give more facial feedback like smiling.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} If the interviewee changes suddenly from one line of thought to another, lead them back to the area you are focusing on. Guide the interview but don't keep interrupting with many questions.

A. Politely ask if you can interview them.

B. Do your homework before you pick up the phone.

C. Then you can focus all your attention on the interview.

D. Consider how all the questions can be asked in a short time.

E. Nodding your head can be an encouragement to the interviewee.

F. In order to get the information you need, you should guide the interview.

G. You can try to ask questions based on what they have said to you in previous responses.

    Every animal sleeps, but the reason for this has remained foggy. When lab rats are not allowed to sleep, they die within a month. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    One idea is that sleep helps us strengthen new memories. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} We know that, while awake, fresh memories are recorded by reinforcing (加强) connections between brain cells, but the memory processes that take place while we sleep have been unclear.

    Support is growing for a theory that sleep evolved so that connections between neurons(神经元) in the brain can be weakened overnight, making room for fresh memories to form the next day. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Now we have the most direct evidence yet that he is right. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}The synapses in the mice taken at the end of a period of sleep were 18 per cent smaller than those taken before sleep, showing that the connections between neurons weaken while sleeping.

    If Tononi's theory is right, it would explain why, when we miss a night's, we find it harder the next day to concentrate and learn new information — our brains may have smaller room for new experiences.

    Their research also suggests how we may build lasting memories over time even though the synapses become thinner. The team discovered that some synapses seem to be protected and stayed the same size. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} "You keep what matters," Tononi says.

A. We should also try to sleep well the night before.

B. It's as if the brain is preserving its most important memories.

C. Similarly, when people go for a few days without sleeping, they get sick.

D. The processes take place to stop our brains becoming loaded with memories.

E. That's why students do better in tests if they get a chance to sleep after learning.

F. "Sleep is the price we pay for learning," says Giulio Tononi, who developed the idea.

G. Tononi's team measured the size of these connections, or synapses, in the brains of 12 mice.

Getting the Cheapest Flights

    After interviewing 10 travel agents in the area, we've compiled (汇编) the very best tips for finding the cheapest flights.

    Book your flight 21 days before you want to fly. Booking a flight is like playing a game of chicken. Airlines want to get the most money possible for their tickets and have difficult computer programs that adjust their prices automatically. Booking too early, you might miss out on some major deals. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}The best advice is to book your flight 21 days before your planned departure date to get the best deals.

{#blank#}2{#/blank#}Most airlines update their reservation systems on Tuesday at 7 p.m. GMT. People tend to buy their tickets on weekends, so airlines make changes on one of the slowest days of the week—Tuesday.

    Fly on Tuesday or Wednesday. Tuesday and Wednesday are the least busy days at airports, and are also the cheapest days to fly. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Friday and Sunday are the peak flying days of the week, and are the worst, and most expensive days to fly.

Book early for international flights. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}You can also try flying into smaller airports, which sometimes have better deals.

    Eat your cookies（网络标记). Delete your Internet browser cookies if you've visited an airline site within the last 30 days. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    Compare prices. Use travel search engines, in addition to airline websites, to make sure you're getting the best deal possible.

A. Collect it one day ahead.

B. Tuesday is the best day of the week.

C. Pay in cash when you receive your ticket.

D. Booking too late, you might be shocked to see prices skyrocket.

E. The best deals for international flying are found 11-12 weeks in advance.

F. As an added bonus, you'll also have less people to deal with at the airport.

G. It's been discovered that some airlines will raise prices for previous visitors to their websites.