Tips for Cooking on a Tight Schedule

    From my experience, there are three main reasons why people don't cook more often: ability, money and time. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Money is a topic I'll save for another day. So today I want to give you some wisdom about how to make the most of the time you spend in the kitchen. Here are three tips for great cooking on a tight schedule:

    1）. Think ahead. The moments when I think cooking is a pain are when I'm already hungry and there's nothing ready to eat. So think ahead of the coming week. When will you have time to cook? Do you have the right materials already? {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    2）. Make your time worth it. When you do find time to cook a meal, make the most of it and save yourself time later on. Are you making one loaf of bread? {#blank#}3{#/blank#} It takes around the same amount of time to make more of something. So save yourself the effort for a future meal.

    3）.  {#blank#}4{#/blank#} This may surprise you, but one of the best tools for making cooking worth your time is experimentation. It gives you the chance to hit upon new ideas and recipes that can work well with your appetite and schedule. The more you learn and the more you try, the more ability you have to take control of your food and your schedule.

    Hopefully that gives a good start. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} And don't let a busy schedule discourage you from making some great changes in the way you eat and live!

    Trust has been considered as the basis of any relationship, including friendship. No relationship can last long with a lack of trust. Not many of your friends will have real faith in you as you would like to believe. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Sometimes, it takes years, even a complete lifetime, to trust someone. However, how do we know if our friends have faith in us?

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} With whom will you share things that you don't want everyone to know? It would be with a close friend, whom you trust as much as you trust yourself.

    Whom do you look up to for advice when you need it the most? It has to be either your parents or your friends. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}____ This is a shining example of trust. You only seek advice from people you hold in high regard and find dependable. The friends who trust you will never forget to include you in the important decisions of their life.

    Arguments and heated discussions are a part of every relationship, and this is also true for friendship. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} While some people find it difficult to forgive and forget, your friends will never have problems moving on. It is because they trust you and believe that you will never cause any pain to them on purpose.

    There are times in life when you find yourself a lonely soldier. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Your friends will never let you down and will strongly stand for you when you need encouragement. You can determine that they trust you and believe in your beliefs if they side with you when you need them the most.

A. People can be extraordinarily jealous sometimes.

B. You know they will never pass on a wrong suggestion.

C. In fact, winning trust is, by far, the most challenging aspect of relationships.

D. Two people can't have the same reactions to a situation and different opinions do exist.

E. No matter how close you are to your friends, you can't take that comfort level for granted.

F．If your friends share their secrets, there's a good possibility that they have much faith in you.

G. However, people fortunate to have been blessed with true friends are never alone in any battle.

    Smiling is a great way to make yourself stand out while helping your body to function better. Smile to improve your health, your stress level, and your attractiveness.

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    We are drawn to people who smile. There is an attraction factor. We want to know a smiling person and figure out what is so good because anxieties can push people away, but a smile draws them in.

Smiling changes our mood

    Next time you are feeling down, try putting on a smile. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}Smiling can trick the body into helping you change your mood.

Smiling relieves stress

    Stress can really show up in our faces. Smiling helps to prevent us from looking tired or worn down. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}The stress should be reduced and you'll be better able to take action.

Smiling lowers your blood pressure.

    When you smile, there is a measurable reduction in your blood pressure. Give it a try if you have a blood pressure monitor (血压计) at home. Sit for a few minutes and take a reading. Then smile for a minute and read it again while still smiling. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

Smiling lifts the face and makes you look younger.

The muscles we use to smile lift the face, making a person appear younger. Don't go for a face lift, just try smiling your way through the day — you'll look younger and feel better.

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    Try this test: Smile. Now try to think of something negative without losing the smile. It's hard. When we smile, our body is sending the rest of us a message that “Life is good!"

A. Smiling helps you stay positive.

B. Smiling makes us attractive.

C. Do you notice the difference?

D. Smiling can bring you luck and sorrow.

E. When you are stressed, take time to put on a smile.

F. There's a good chance that your mood will change for the better.

G. As long as you try smiling daily, it can make you look younger.

    We are not suggesting that you can reach a permanent state called “happiness” and remain there. But there are many ways to turn the path of anxiety, anger, and sadness into a state of happiness. Here are four ideas to get you started. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

● Laugh out loud

    Just expecting a happy, funny event can raise levels of pleasure-causing hormones (荷尔蒙) and lower production of stress hormones. Researchers at the University of California tested 16 men who all agreed they thought a certain videotape was funny. Half were told three days in advance they would watch it. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} When they actually watched the video, their levels of stress hormones dropped greatly, while their levels of pleasure-causing hormones rose 27 percent.

● Do one thing at a time

    Edward Suarez, professor of medical psychology at Duck, found that people who do several things at the same time are more likely to have high blood pressure. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Instead of talking on the phone while cleaning the kitchen, sit down in a comfortable chair and turn your entire attention over to the conversation.

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    Although relationships help take away stress, sometimes you need time to recharge and reflect on your own. Take yourself out to lunch or to a movie, or simply spend an afternoon reading at home, or looking through books in a bookstore.

● Practice mindfulness

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Instead of worrying about your check-up tomorrow while having dinner with your family, focus on the here and now — food, the company, and the conversation.

A. Spend time alone.

B. Focus on the present.

C. Take care of the soul.

D. Take that finding seriously.

E. Choose the ones that work for you.

F. They started experiencing biological changes right away.

G. Find a quiet place near your house and make it your secret place to escape.

    Did you know that money is not worth the paper it is printed on? Money is really just a symbol.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Long ago, people did not use money. They made or grew food, clothes, and other things they needed. Later, people started trading. They would trade what they made to someone else in order to get different foods and goods. To trade like this is to barter（物物交换）.

    The barter system was a good system. Bakers could trade bread for wheat. Weavers could trade cloth for meat. Trading not just let people work at certain jobs.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    But one problem with bartering was that not everyone agreed on prices. People had to work out a price each time they wanted to trade. Another problem was that the goods might be too heavy to carry. What if the cow farmer wanted to trade a cow for a horse with the horse farmer? They would have to carry their animals with them.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} What if the cow farmer wanted to trade a cow for a chicken? A cow is worth more than a chicken. The farmer should get “change.” But how can you make change from a cow?

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} People used to use all kinds of small things for money. They used shells, beads, feathers, seeds, and even salt. A group of people would decide the worth of a kind of shell. Other kinds of shells would be worth more or less. Then people had money that was worth a certain amount. It was easy to carry. It was easy to make change.

    With time going by, we finally have the money that we use today.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. This is where money comes in.

B. That means it stands for something else.

C. They made clothes from wool from their sheep.

D. Bartering did not have a way to make change, either.

E. It also gave people a way to buy things they needed.

F. With money, we don't have to travel with chickens, cows, or clay pots!

G. When people traded, they no longer had to make everything they needed.

    We are told that 'a family that eats together stays together'. We even follow it by making the whole family sit in front of the television while eating, right? Wrong. Television does nothing to help make the family relationships better. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} It's thus better to give the TV a break and to sit at the dinner table. Family dinners need another important part－conversations that bring in a pleasant atmosphere.

    It often serves well to start the conversation right before dinner so that setting the table and doing other things may become less boring. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} as a result, there are no embarrassing moments when people are actually eating. Also, you can change the topic if you feel that it might start arguments.

    Children aren't usually very good at sharing information and don't know how to reply when you ask them questions like 'How was your school today?' {#blank#}3{#/blank#} For this, you can ask them about the after-class activities that they might be taking part in.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Therefore, all controversial (有争议的) topics should not be talked about. Actually, if you have had a funny incident in your day at the work, share it with others. What's more, it serves well if you share your childhood memories with your family. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} In a word, it is always important to choose the right topics for the family dinner conversations.

A. Try to know more about them than just their school life.

B. It's often difficult to start a conversation at a family dinner.

C. But try to keep in mind some family dinner conversation ideas.

D. Doing things together can make family members feel interested.

E. In fact, it only increases the distance between members of the family.

F. They, especially your kids, will feel excited to hear about what you did as a child.

G. Conversations during dinnertime should encourage family members to eat well.