When thinking about quitting（停止）smoking...

    List all the reasons why you want to quit.Every night before going to bed,repeat one of the reasons 10 times.

    Decide positively that you want to quit.Try to avoid negative thoughts about how difficult it might be.Develop strong personal reasons as well as your health and responsibility to others.For example,think of all the time you waste taking cigarette breaks,rushing out to buy a pack,hunting a light,etc.Set a date for quitting—perhaps a special day like your birthday,a holiday.If you smoke heavily at work,quit during your vacation.Make the date holy seriously, and don't let anything change it.Begin to condition yourself physically;start a modest（适当的）exercise;drink more water;get plenty of rest.

    Immediately after quitting...

    The first few days after you quit,spend as much free time as possible in places where smoking is prohibited,e.g. libraries,museums,theatres,department stores,etc.

    Drink large quantities of water and fruit juice.Try to avoid wine,coffee,and other drinks which remind you of cigarette smoking.

    Strike up a conversation with someone instead of a match fora cigarette.

    If you miss the feeling of having a cigarette in your hand,play with something else—a pencil,a pen,a ruler.If you miss having something in your mouth,try a fake（仿制的）cigarette.

    Everyone looks forward to progress, whether in one's personal life or in the general society. Progress indicates a person's ability to change the way he is living at the moment. Progress must lead a better way of doing things. All these, however, remains true only in so far as people want to accept technology and move forward by finding new and more efficient ways of doing things.

    However, at the back of the minds of many people, especially those who missed the “good old days”, efficiency comes with a price. When communication becomes efficient, people are able to contact one another no matter where they are and at whatever time they wish to. The click of a button allows people miles apart to talk or to see each other without even leaving their homes. With the communication gadgets, such as mobile phones and ipads, people often do not take the effect to visit one another personally. A personal visit carries with it the additional feature of having to be in the person's presence for as long as the visit lasts. We cannot unnecessarily excuse our selves or turn the other person off.

    With efficiency also comes mass production. Such is the nature of factories and the success of industrialization today. Factories have improved efficiency. Unskillful tasks are left to machines and products are better made and produced with greater accuracy than any human hand could ever have done. However, with the improvements in efficiency also comes the loss of the personal touch when making these products. For example, many handcrafts(手工艺品) are now produced in a factory. Although this means that supply is better able to increase demand, now that the supply is quick and efficient, the demand might fall because mass production lowers the quality of the handicraft and it is difficult to find unique designs on each item.

    Nevertheless, we must not commit the mistake of analyzing progress only from one point of view. In fact, progress has allowed tradition to keep up. It is only with progress and the invention of new technology that many old products can be brought back to their old state. New technology is required for old products to stay old.

    It is people's attitude towards progress that causes the type of influence that technology has on society. Technology is flexible. There is no fixed way of making use of it. Everything depends on people's attitude. The worst effects of progress will fall on those who are unable to rethink their attitudes and views of society. When we accept progress and adapt it to suit our needs, a new “past” is created.

    Nowadays science has made great progress in every aspect and more and more really good inventions have changed our daily lives. However, the U.S. Patent Office has issued over 7.5 million patents (专利), and not all of them are quite so celebrated. Some good, some bad, and some crazy! The following lists some of the most unusual ideas that have come along.

    Snake Leash (皮带)

    In 2002, a patent was issued for a snake-walking leash. There are at least two major problems with this idea. 1) Dog leashes fit securely between the head and shoulders. A snake does not have shoulders; so it might slither (蜿蜒滑行) away. 2) Dogs are OK for public places because they are social animals, and people like them. Snakes are not OK for public places because they are not social, and some people are terrified of them.

    Stadium Helmet

    Americans are known for their love of sports. Unfortunately, good tickets to games are expensive, so some fans have to sit in the backward sections. This invention, patented in 2000, is designed for these fans. Featuring a built-in radio, binoculars (望远镜), a cooling fan, and a helmet for falling litter, this design transforms the stadium experience.

    Bacon Alarm Clock

    When you think about it, waking to the dreadful, blaring noise of an alarm clock is a terrible way to start the day. However, this clock could change that. You simply put a piece of frozen bacon in the alarm clock, set the alarm, and go to sleep. The clock gently wakes you up with the mouth watering smell of bacon the next morning, just like waking up on a Sunday morning to the smell of mom cooking breakfast. Who said there's no time to eat breakfast?

    Toilet Lock

    In 1969, a patent was issued for a really bad idea the toilet seat lock. First of all, fishing for your keys when you have to go seems very unpleasant. Then there is the possibility of losing the key altogether. What about guests? Just think that you would have to ask permission for the bathroom. Of course, there is the ultimate question: Why would you lock it in the first place?

    Since we are social beings, the quality of our lives depends in large measure on our interpersonal relationships. One strength of the human conditions is our possibility to give and receive support from one another under stressful(有压力的) conditions. Social support makes up of the exchange of resources among people based on their interpersonal ties. Those of us with strong support systems appear better able to deal with major life changes and daily problems. People with strong social ties live longer and have better health than those without such ties. Studies over types of illnesses, from depression to heart disease, show that the presence of social support helps people defend themselves against illness, and the absence of such support makes poor health more likely.

    Social support cushions stress in a number of ways. First, friends, relatives and co-workers may let us know that they value us. Our self-respect is strengthened when we feel accepted by others in spite of our faults and difficulties. Second, other people often provide us with informational support. They help us to define and understand our problems and find solutions to them. Third, we typically find social companionship supportive. Taking part in free-time activities with others helps us to meet our social needs while at the same time distracting (转移注意力) us from our worries and troubles. Finally, other people may give us instrumental support — money aid, material resources, and needed services — that reduces stress by helping us resolve and deal with our problems.

    When Casey Waletich, the director of safety and operations at the Hillsboro School District in Oregon, decided to start a campaign against bullying (欺凌）in his district, he knew he had to get the students on board.

   "We knew that this had to be a student-led effort. The days of having schools do things without the involvement of the students are over，"Mr. Waletich says.

    So he got a group of students together and asked them how they would like to do things. The resulting campaign," Rethink, Redefine, Where Do You Stand?" was launched in October 2014.

    The Hillsboro campaign is just one example of how schools nationwide are increasingly turning to students to develop-anti-bullying movements designed to not just discourage bulling, but also to encourage students to get involved.

    In 2013, some 20 percent of high school students reported experiencing bullying, according to federal data on Stop Bulling gov. The figure jumps to 28 percent when middle school students are included. Some 70 percent of young people say they have witnessed bullying.

    In response to these issues, anti-bullying campaigns in which students have a central role are being conducted across the country. From West Jordan, Utah(where students participated in a three-year character-building program to stop bullying), to Lisbon, Iowa, and Goodrich, Mich, school officials report that their students are taking ownership.

   "This year I've noticed our students are already thinking about what they need to do to make Sunset Ridge an accepting, safe environment." Said Julie Scherzinger, a guidance councilor at Sunset Ridge Middle School in West Jordan." Students come up to me and ask if anyone needs help"

   "There are many reasons why having students at the center is most

important." Says Ron Avi Astor, a professor in social development at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles." Bullying takes place when adults are absent. The kids see and hear more and can go and inform adults when they aren't there to respond immediately"

   "Teaching kids to step up when someone is being bullied teaches them how to be responsible citizens." Ron Avi Astor added.

Not many years ago, a rich and kind old man named Johnson lived alone in a village in the south of England. He had made a lot of money by selling and buying goods. When he was seventy-five, he gave f 12,000 to the village to buy land and equipment for a children's playground.

As a result of his kindness, many people came to visit him. Among them was a newspaper man. During their talk, Johnson said that he was seventy-five and expected to live to be a hundred. The newspaperman asked him how he managed to be healthy at seventy- five. Johnson had a sense of humor. He liked wine and drank some each day. "I have an injection(注射)in my neck each evening." he told the newspaperman, thinking of his evening glass of wine.

The newspaperman did not understand what Johnson meant. In his newspaper he reported that Johnson was seventy- five and had a daily injection in his neck. Within a week Johnson received thousands of letters from all over Britain, asking him for the secret of his daily injection.