Anything that poses a challenge or a threat to our well-being is a stress.Some stresses get you going and they are good for you – without any stress at all many say our lives would be boring and would probably feel pointless. However,when the stresses undermine both our mental and physical health they are bad.In this text we shall be focusing on stress that is bad for you.

When we are stressed the following happens:

Blood pressure rises

Breathing becomes more rapid

Heart rate (pulse) rises

Muscles become tense

We do not sleep (heightened state of alertness)

    Most of us have varying interpretations of what stress is about and what matters.Some of us focus on what happens to us,such as breaking a bone or getting a promotion,while others think more about the event itself.How you see that stressful event will be the largest single factor that impacts on your physical and mental health.Your interpretation of event and challenges in life may decide whether they are invigorating or harmful for you.

    There are three broad methods you can follow to treat stress.

Self help for treating stress

    Exercise has been proven to have a beneficial effect on a person's mental and physical state.For many people exercise is an extremely useful stress buster.

    Alcohol and drugs will not help you manage your stress better.Either stop consuming them completely,or cut down.

    If you consumption of coffee and other drinks which contain caffeine is high,cut down.

    Eat plenty of fruit and vegetable.Make sure you have a healthy and balanced diet.

    Talk to your family,friends,work colleagues and your boss.Express your thoughts and worries.

Stress management techniques

    Stress management can help you t keep away from the source of stress,change the way you view a stressful event,and lower the impact that stress might have on your body.Stress management therapy will have the objective of pursuing one or more of these approaches.

Medicines

    Doctors will not usually prescribe medications for coping with stress,unless the patient has an underlying illness,such as depression or some type of anxiety.If that is the case,the doctor is actually treating a mental illness.In such cases,an antidepressant may be prescribed.Bear in mind that there is a risk that all the medication will do is mask the stress,rather than help you deal and cope with it.

    The expression, “everybody's doing it,” is very much at the center of the concept of peer pressure. It is a strong influence of a group, especially of children, on members of that group to behave as everybody else does. It can be positive or negative. Most people experience it in some way during their lives.

People are social creatures by nature, and so it is hardly surprising that part of their self-respect comes from the approval of others. This instinct (天性) is why the approval of peers, or the fear of disapproval, is such a powerful force in many people's lives. It is the same instinct that drives people to dress one way at home and another way at work, or to answer “fine” when a stranger asks “how are you?” even if it is not necessarily true. There is a practical aspect to this: it helps society to function efficiently, and encourages a general level of self-discipline that simplifies day-to-day interaction.

    For certain individuals, seeking social acceptance is so important that it becomes like an addiction; in order to satisfy the desire, they may go so far as to abandon their sense of right and wrong. Teens and young adults may feel forced to use drugs, or join gangs that encourage criminal behavior. Mature adults may sometimes feel pressured to cover up illegal activity at the company where they work, or end up in debt because they are unable to hold back the desire to buy a house or car that they can't afford in an effort to “keep up with the Joneses.”

    However, peer pressure is not always negative. A student whose friends are good at academics may be urged to study harder and get good grades. Players on a sports team may feel driven to play harder in order to help the team win. This type of influence can also get a friend off drugs, or to help an adult take up a good habit or drop a bad one. Study groups and class projects are examples of positive peer groups that encourage people to better themselves.

    Schools try to teach kids about the dangers of negative peer pressure. They teach kids to stand up and be themselves, and encourage them to politely decline to do things that they believe are wrong. Similarly, it can be helpful to encourage children to greet the beneficial influence of positive peer groups.

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    Do you have a spare room in your house? What about your driveway for your car?

    Both of these can help you make money. Many people who have financial difficulties are taking advantage of what's been called the 'sharing economy'.

    Perhaps the best-known example of a company in this field is Airbnb.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}It says it operates in 34,000 cities and it has 800,000 listings of rooms and apartments. They seem to have cornered the market!

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}Just Park's founder, Anthony Eskinazi, says: "When I had the original idea, I spotted a driveway close to a sports stadium. It would have been so convenient if I could have just parked in that driveway rather than in a commercial car park." And he has a big clientele(客户): Around 200,000 people have advertised their spaces on the site, and he says around half a million drivers use it.  {#blank#}3{#/blank#}They let drivers share their cars with other passengers.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}A church near Kings Cross in central London has apparently made over 200,000 pounds by renting out space in its yard to travelers! But the sharing economy has its competitors. People who run things like traditional hotels, commercial car parks and taxi services are afraid of ending up losing money.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}Because this is a new business world, those rules are not there yet. How will renting out your driveway affect your neighbor?

A. Any driver knows how valuable a place to park is.

B. A British company is doing something with parking spaces.

C. There are other sites doing very similar things, like Uber and Lyft.

D. It offers travelers a global network of accommodations offered by locals

E. Another problem is that regulations for these new businesses are unclear.

F. The American web business allows you to rent out your spare room to holidaymakers.

G. Now that the sharing economy is gaining the support of the financial community, corporations start paying attention.

    Eyesight plays a very important role in our daily life. Every waking moment, the eyes are working to see the world around us. Over forty percent of Americans worry about losing eyesight, but it's easy to include steps into our daily life to ensure healthy eyes. Here are five suggestions for a lifetime of healthy eyesight:

    Schedule yearly exams. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Experts advise parents to bring babies 6 to 12 months of age to the doctor for a careful check. The good news is that millions of children now can have yearly eye exams and following treatment, including eyeglasses.

    Protect against UV rays(紫外线). Long­term stay in the sun creates risk to your eyes. No matter what the season is, it's extremely important to wear sunglasses. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Give your eyes a break. Two­thirds of Americans spend up to seven hours a day using computers or other digital products. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Experts recommend that people practice the 20/20/20 rule: every 20 minutes, take a 20­second break and look at something 20 feet away.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} As part of a healthy diet, eat more fruits and vegetables each day. Vitamins(维生素) C and E help protect eyesight and promote eye health.

    Practice safe wear and care of contact lenses(隐形眼镜). Many Americans use contact lenses to improve their eyesight. While some follow the medical guidance for wearing contact lenses, many are breaking the rules and putting their eyesight at risk. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Otherwise, you may have problems such as red eyes, pain in the eyes, or a more serious condition.

A. Eat your greens.

B. Eye care should begin early in life.

C. They can properly protect your eyes.

D. Stay in good shape by taking more Vitamins.

E. Parents usually don't care about their own eyesight.

F. Always follow the doctor's advice for appropriate wear.

G. This frequent eye activity increases the risk for eye tiredness.

    Most of us lead unhealthy lives; we spend far too much sitting down. If in addition we are careless about our diets, our bodies soon become loose and fatty and our systems slow moving.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}I am thinking of such features of modern city life as pollution, noise, rushed meals and stress. But keeping fit is a way to reduce the effects of these evils. The usual suggestion to a person who is looking for a way to keep fit is to take up some sport or other. While it is true that every weekend you will find people playing football and hockey in the local park, they are outnumbered a hundred to one by the people who are simply watching them.

    For those who do not particularly enjoy competitive sports—{#blank#}2{#/blank#}—there are such separate activities as cycling, walking, jogging and swimming. What often happens though is that you do them in such a leisurely way, so slowly, that it is doubtful if you are doing yourself much good, except for the fact that you have at least managed to get up out of your armchair.

    Even after you have found a way for keeping in shape, through sport or gymnastics, {#blank#}3{#/blank#}, because, according to the experts, you must also master the art of complete mental and physical relaxation. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}Yoga, as practiced in the West, is the most widely known and popular of the systems for achieving the necessary state of relaxation. It seems ironical (讽刺性的), though, that as our lives have improved in a material sense we have found it increasingly necessary to go back to forms of activity—{#blank#}5{#/blank#}—which were the natural way of life of our forefathers.

A. be active and practise Yoga

B. There are some aspects of our unhealthy lives that we cannot avoid.

C. and it is especially difficult to do so if you are not good at them

D. physical effort on the one hand and relaxation on the other

E. they spent most of the time out of doors

F. you are still only half way to good health

G. It has to do with deep breathing, emptying your mind of all thoughts, meditation, and so on.

注意：每个空格只填1个单词。

    New discoveries suggest that trade between Europe and Asia along the Silk Road probably began many centuries earlier than once thought. The findings add a fascinating new page to the epic(史诗）of the Silk Road, which spread far and wide in no time.

    The latest and most surprising discovery is pieces of silk found in the hair of an Egyptian mummy from about 1,000 BC, long before regular traffic on the Silk Road and at least one thousand years before silk was previously thought to be used in Egypt. Other research may extend human activity along this route back even further, perhaps a million years to the moving of human ancestors into eastern Asia

    The official origin of East-West trade along the road is usually placed in the late 2nd century BC when an agent of the Chinese Emperor Wudi returned from a dangerous secret mission across the desert into the remote high country of Central Asia. The agent, Zhang Qian, traveled as far as Afghanistan and brought back knowledge of even more distant lands such as Persia, Syria and a place known as Lijien, perhaps Rome. Historians(历史学家）have called this one of the most important journeys in ancient times. His journey opened the way for what have been thought to be the first indirect contacts between the ancient world's two superpowers, China and Rome. Chinese silk, first traded to Central Asia for war horses, was soon finding its way to the markets of Rome through a network of businessmen.

    But the new discoveries show that Chinese silk apparently existed in the West long before the Han emperor started organized trade over the Silk Road. The research could change thinking about the early history of world trade and provide insights into the mystery(谜) of just how and when Europe first realized the glorious culture at the other end of Eurasia.