A major source of teen stress is school exams, and test anxiety is not uncommon. When you recognize your teen is under stress, how can parents help your teen stay calm before an exam? Be involved. Parents need to be involved in their teen's work. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} What they look for is your presence — to talk, to cry, or simply to sit with them quietly. Communicate openly with your teen. Encourage your teen to express her worries and fears, but don't let them focus on those fears.       

    Help them get organized. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Together, you and your teen can work out a time—table in which she can study for what she knows will be on the test.       

    Provide a calm setting. Help your teen set up a quiet place to study and protect his privacy. Give them a nutritious diet. It is important for your teen to eat a healthy, balanced diet during exam times to focus and do her best. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} If this happens, encourage your teen to eat light meals or sandwiches. A healthy diet, rather than junk food, is best for reducing stress.        

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Persuade y our teenager to get some sleep or do something active when she needs a real break from studying. Making time for relaxation, fun, and exercise are all important in reducing stress. Help your teen balance her time so that she will feel comfortable taking time out from studying to spend time with friends or rest.       

    Show a positive attitude. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}Your panic, anxiety and blame contribute to your teen's pressure. Make your teen feel accepted and valued for her efforts. Most importantly, reassure your teen that things will be all right, no matter what the results are.       

A. A parent's attitude will dictate their teen's emotions.     

B. Exam stress can make some teens lose their appetite.     

C. They will only make the situation worse.       

D. Encourage your teen to relax.       

E. The best thing is simply to listen.       

F. Help your teen think about what she has to study and plan accordingly.    

G. Your teen may also make negative comments about themselves      

How to Make Friends

    Friendship is a very important human relationship and everyone needs good friends. Good friendship has many benefits. It offers companionship, improves self-worth and promotes (促进) good health. There are times in our lives such as when we have recently moved into a new town, or changed our jobs or schools. Such changes often leave us without a friend. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} But for many of us the process is difficult and requires courage. Below are some helpful suggestions on how to make and keep friends.

● Associate with (与……交往) others.

    The first step to making friends is associating with other people. You can go to public places to meet new people. Besides, you will need to make yourself known by becoming an active member of such places.

● Start a conversation.

    Starting a conversation is the second most important step in making new friends. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} You can always start the conversation. Being able to make small talk is a very useful skill in relating with other people.

●{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Choosing friends with common interests is important in building friendship as these interests would always bring you and your friend together. Hanging out (闲逛) will always be a pleasant experience.

● Let it grow.

    It is a good thing to stay in touch. However, try not to press your new friend with calls, messages or visits as this would likely wear him or her out and finally you may lose your friend.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} The best friendships are the ones that grow naturally.

● Enjoy your friendship.

    The best way to enjoy your friendship is to allow your friends to be themselves. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Try not to change them from who they are to what you want them to be. Become the kind of friend you will want your friend to be to you.

A. Do things together.

B. Be cheerful.

C. Making new friends comes easy for some people.

D. So you will need to give your friend time to respond to you.

E. Do not wait to be spoken to.

F. For a friendship to develop you need to stay in touch.

G. Try not to find fault with your friends.

    Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving Day and the Friday before Cyber Monday in the United States. It is a busy shopping day and is a holiday in some states. Many people have a day off work on Black Friday. Some people use this to make trips to see family members or friends who live in other areas or to go on vacation.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Shopping for Christmas presents is also popular on Black Friday. Many stores have special offers and lower their prices on some goods, such as toys.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}Many people take a day of their annual leave on the day after Thanksgiving Day. Many organizations also close for the Thanksgiving weekend.

    Public transport systems may run on their normal schedule or may have changes.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}There can also be congestion (拥挤）on roads to popular shopping destinations.

    Black Friday is one of the busiest shopping days in the USA.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}One theory is that the wheels ofvehicles in heavy traffic on the day after Thanksgiving Day left many black markings on the road surface, leading to the term Black Friday.

    The other theory is that the term Black Friday comes from an old way of recording business accounts.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}Many businesses, particularly small businesses, started making profits before Christmas. Many hoped to start showing a profit, marked in black ink, on the day after Thanksgiving Day.

A. Black Friday is a public holiday in some states.

B. Black Friday is a shopping day for a lot of reasons.

C. Losses were recorded in red ink and profits in black ink.

D. Others use it to start shopping for the Christmas season.

E. Some stores extend their opening hours on Black Friday.

F. As time goes on, a new explanation of black Friday has become popular.

G. There are two popular theories as to why the day after Thanksgiving Day is called Black Friday.

    There was once a lonely girl who longed so much for love. One day while she was walking in the woods she found two starving birds. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} She cared them with love and the birds grew strong. Every morning they greeted her with a wonderful song. The girl felt the great love from the birds.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} The larger and stronger of the two birds flew from the cage. The girl was so frightened that he would fly away. As he flew close, she grasped him wildly. Her heart felt glad at her success in capturing him. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} She opened her hand and stared in horror at the dead bird. Her desperate love had killed him.

    She noticed the other bird moving back and forth on the edge of the cage. She could feel his great need for freedom. He needed to fly into the clear, blue sky. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} The bird circled once, twice, three times.

    The girl watched delightedly at the bird's enjoyment. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} She wanted the bird to be happy. Suddenly the bird flew closer and landed softly on her shoulder. It sang the sweetest songs that she had ever heard.

    The fastest way to lose love is to hold on it too tight, while the best way to keep love is to give it wings!

A. Her heart was no longer concerned with her loss.

B. Suddenly she felt the bird go softly.

C. She took them home and put them in a small cage.

D. She gave them some delicious food and left.

E. She lifted him from the cage and threw him softly into the air.

F. One day the girl left the door of the cage open.

G. One day she left with the two birds at home alone.

    Porridge doesn't have a very tasty name, does it? {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. I'm here to try and convince you that porridge can be a delicious, convenient and very healthy way to start the day.

    Porridge is a type of food served for breakfast, usually a type of grain with either milk or water. It is thicker than liquid, but not solid. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}, so it's a very good option for people who are ill, and it provides long-lasting energy for the day.

    Porridge preparation, such as the amount of materials and cooking time depends on what you choose to use as your porridge base. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}, I put a very big handful of oats (麦片) in a pot, add a little bit of water and about 200ml of milk, and let the mixture boil. It takes about five minutes to cook.

    Once it's cooked, the fun part is adding the flavors (味道). Porridge alone doesn't have a very strong flavour. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}, I think this is what makes porridge exciting! It is like a blank piece of paper-you can add almost anything you want to the porridge base. Seeds, nuts and dried fruits are very healthy options to add and can give you energy for the day. But if you don't like these, or you're allergic, then sugar and chocolate are also very tasty options.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. Either oats or corn or both are "staple foods" for most people on the earth. You can usually buy big bags of either, then add local materials to make your porridge interesting-whatever is cheap and convenient to find, wherever you are.

Hopefully porridge sounds a lot tastier now!

A．If you've never eaten it

B．If I'm cooking for myself

C．The porridge base is very easy to digest

D．It doesn't have a very tasty reputation, either

E．It is often heated up but lacks all kinds of nutrition

F．You can make porridge almost anywhere in the world

G．Although some people think this makes porridge boring

    The importance of self - improvement often goes unnoticed. Truth is - you can't run away from yourself. The idea should be to focus on continuous self - development at every stage of life.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Increase Self - awareness.

    The first step of self - improvement asks you to become more self - aware. Self - awareness is an ongoing journey. As life goes on, you meet with different experiences and challenges. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} To be on the path of self - improvement, it's important to never lose touch with yourself.

Enhance Strengths.

    Self - improvement lets you identify your personal strengths. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} It gives you a better understanding of what you are working and where you are likely to be promising. It helps you set life goals and make them happen.

    Step Out of the Comfort Zone.

    Choosing to work on improving yourself requires you to step out of your comfort zone. It lets you face your fears, try new things, and challenge yourself. There will be times when you'll discover a new side of your personality. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Don't let failures get you frustrated. And never get self - satisfied and too comfortable in familiar spaces because life begins outside your comfort zone.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    People who're invested in their continuous self-improvement come with an extremely positive attitude towards learning. Instead of being ignorant and escaping from their problems, they make it a point to learn from their mistakes to grow and succeed. This is a wonderful quality to have as having a learning attitude is essential in achieving success.

A. Form a Positive Attitude.

B. Develop a Learning Attitude.

C. And knowing your strengths is important.

D. However, there'll also be times when you'll fail.

E. They make you more aware of your personality, thoughts and feelings.

F. After all, you can only achieve what you want when you know what you want.

G. Here're some reasons why self - improvement is important regardless of your age.