For many people, history classes are seen as no more than requirements for getting degrees in chemistry, biology, business, marketing, etc. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}． Below are a few reasons why it's vital that today's people continue to learn about the past.

    Understanding where people come from plays a key role in understanding who they are.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} For this reason, it's extremely important to learn history in order to understand why people are the way that they are.   

    Through history classes, you can experience a shift (改革) in the way you think. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}It's important to develop minds to be able to consider problems from different angles. Finally, this shift can improve your ability to analyze and understand situations, to make educated decisions and to learn how to weigh the consequences related to each choice before you.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}The idea that history repeats itself is rooted in truth. From wars to fashion to political trends, historians are often able to make predictions about the future based upon the past. By having a deep understanding of what happened in the past, today's people can better prepare for brighter futures by making the right decisions—instead of repeating old mistakes.

    Many people may not believe that a degree in history can lead to a well-paid job. In fact, students who graduate with degrees in history can become lawyers, business owners, think tank members, educators, leaders in historical organizations writers and so on. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}.

    It is necessary to be reasonable and flexible enough to avoid conflicts as much as possible and live in peace with others. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} If you have done all your best to avoid conflicts and you are still arguing, then read these effective tips on how to avoid conflicts.

● Don't get in the center of the conflict.

    Sometimes people can get in the center of conflicts due to their enthusiasm for offering help. Frankly speaking, it is very unwise, because it can make you the main figure of the conflict. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} You should focus on your own life issues.

● Be kind.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Life is full of conflicts and disagreements, that's why you should find more conservative ways of dealing with them. For example, kindness can lessen the conflict.

● Try to be a peacekeeper.

    Peacekeepers tend to cooperate with people without bad emotions which usually lead to arguments and even conflicts. “{#blank#}4{#/blank#}” This saying is the life motto of a natural-born peacekeeper. Don't worry if you are not a natural-born peacekeeper; you can gain this skill during life.

● Walk off.

    When the conflict is gathering pace and you can't manage to control yourself, you should choose to handle the situation in another way. By all means, try to keep yourself away from stress. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} You should get away from the situation for a while.

How to Overcome Depression

    Suffering from depression means more than just dealing with a bad week or even a bad month. Depression is a weakening condition that can make it impossible for you to enjoy your daily existence. To overcome your depression, you have to first determine if what you're feeling are the symptoms of depression.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}While medications can help relieve symptoms, it is still important for depressed persons to understand the disorder and develop healthier strategies for coping with it.

    Keep yourself busy. Fill your schedule with events and activities you love. Keeping a busy schedule will force you to stay active, focused, and thinking about the next thing on your plate. You can draw up a schedule for each day at the start of the week, or simply plan out each day the night before.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Improve your diet{#blank#}3{#/blank#}Even if you're losing your appetite, you need to be determined to eat three meals a day. You don't need to try to lose weight or be incredibly healthy-conscious when you're dealing with your depression, but eating healthier food regularly will improve your mental and physical state.

    Think positively. Being a more positive thinker will help you look at your life and world in a way that fills you with hope instead of despair. To think more positively, you should learn how to recognize your negative thoughts and to fight them with stronger positive thoughts whenever you can. For a jump start, find at least five things to be grateful for{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Neglecting personal hygiene (卫生) is a common side effect of depression. While you will not beat your depression by transforming your looks, if you take time to maintain your appearance and hygiene every day, you will feel better about yourself. Shower daily, brush your teeth and wash your hair.

A. Control your emotions.

B. Improve your appearance.

C Most importantly be happy about every single day.

D. Whichever method you choose, make a goal of sticking to it.

E. However, not everyone knows depression has a positive side.

F. Eating a healthy, balanced diet can also help you beat depression.

G. If you are feeling sad, lonely, or worthless, you may be suffering from depression.

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    Social media is all about connecting with others. But a new study suggests that too much social media leads to disconnection and loneliness—basically the opposite of what we are led to believe.

    The study, Social Media Use and Perceived Social Isolation Among Young Adults in the U.S, which was published on March 6, 2017 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, found that heavy use of platforms such as Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram was associated with feelings of social isolation (孤独) among young adults.

    Study co-author Brian Primack and his team from the Center for Research on Media, Technology and Health at the University of Pittsburgh surveyed 1,787 U.S. adults aged 19 to 32 and asked them about their usage of 11 social media platforms (outside of work). They also asked participants questions related to social isolation, such as how often they felt left out. The participants who reported spending the most time on social media—over two hours a day—had twice the possibility of social isolation than those who said they spent a half-hour per day or less on the same sites. Additionally, people who visited social media platforms most frequently (58 visits per week or more) had more than three times the possibility of perceived social isolation than those who visited them fewer than nine times per week.

    According to Tom Kersting, psychotherapist and author of Disconnected, the key to understanding these results lies in our understanding of "connections." "Humans are social-emotional beings, meaning that it is in our DNA to be connected, face-to-face, with other humans," he told Reader's Digest. "Although people think being on social media all the time makes them 'connected' to others, they are actually 'disconnected,' because the more time one spends behind a screen, the less time one spends face-to-face."

    "Part of the issue of loneliness is that the majority of people who use social media aren't just posting, they are also viewing," Kersting continued. "They are spending a lot of time looking at everyone else's posts, where they are, where they are going and what they are doing. Then everyone else's 'perfect' life experiences cause them to have feelings of being left out, of being lonely."

    So what's the answer? It's simple, says Kersting—although it does involve a significant amount of will power. "To solve this, what you should do is resist the temptation (诱惑) to look at everyone else's life. Just focus on your own life, where you're going, what you are grateful for, and what you want to accomplish in this world. Then go out and do it and stop wasting so much time comparing."

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    Sometimes willpower is a lot like the television remote control- hard to find just when you want it most. Whether you're trying to lose weight, stop smoking, get to the gym regularly, developing your sense of willpower is an important part of changing any behavior. Breaking a bad habit or forming a new and healthy one can be difficult. But there are ways to increase your willpower.

    Don't try to change your social situation, win a high position and lose weight all on the same morning. Set one clear, specific goal and make a realistic plan for achieving it. Extra willpower sometimes requires extra energy, so don' push yourself too hard. Focus on one goal at time.

    Whatever your goal is, don't expect to achieve it immediately. If you are trying to break a caffeine habit, start by replacing your morning cup of coffee with a glass of water, instead of vowing （发誓） never to drink coffee again Congratulate yourself on the small achievements that will lead to a larger one. These successes help your willpower grow.

    Improve your willpower by a support network. Ask friends, family or colleagues for help and tell them exactly how they can help. If your credit card bills have increased sharply, for example, let friends know that you are reducing costs. Suggest having a common dinner instead of meeting at an expensive restaurant Find a support group or organization related to your goal and attend their meetings. You can get valuable advice, understanding and information there.

    If possible, change your environment to encourage positive behavior. Want to get in shape? Keep an extra set of workout clothes in your office as a reminder to stop by the gym on the way home. Giving up smoking? Don't go to bars or restaurants where you might be attracted to light up.

    Sometimes changing your behavior requires more than willpower. If you are struggling with a bad habit or want to make an important lifestyle change, seek the support of a professional. An expert may be able to provide related support or medical treatment if necessary.

    Parents often say that they don't mind what their children do in life just as long as they are happy. Happiness and pleasure are almost universally seen as among the most precious human goods.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}Philosopher Jeremy Bentham believed that all sources of pleasure are of equal quality, but John Stuart Mill disagreed. Mill argued for a difference between higher and lower pleasure.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}Lower pleasure, in contrast, requires mere (仅仅的；纯粹的) senses.

    The entire debate assumes a clear divide between the physical and the mental.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}What will it mean for our ideas about pleasure?

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}Food is usually considered to be the lower pleasure. All animals eat, using the senses of smell and taste. It doesn't require any complex cognition (认知) to conclude that something is delicious. However, these people failed to appreciate something that the French food writer Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin captured. That is, "Animals feed; man eats; only the man of intellect(才智) knows how to eat."

    Eating shows that the difference between higher pleasure and lower pleasure is not what you enjoy but how you enjoy it.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}Preparing it using the powers of reflection and attention turns it into a higher pleasure.

A. The dining table is a good place to start.

B. Wolfing down your food is a lower kind of pleasure.

C. What's the real difference between high and low pleasure?

D. What happens if the physical and the mental cannot be separated?

E. All philosophers believed that cookery could never be a form of art.

F. Higher pleasure depends on human abilities such as self-awareness or language use.

G. However, disagreements will be caused about whether some forms of pleasure are better than others.