Ways to Increase Your Confidence

There are some ways you can use to increase your self-confidence. Some of them you'll need to practice a lot before they start to work. It's like playing the guitar or soccer. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} But as you do them, you build a deeper confidence in yourself.
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Exercise will improve your confidence and your way of looking at life. Plus, being healthy and looking better can also help you feel more confident.
Create something
Everyone is a creative(有创造力的) person, Rediscovering your creativity is a good way to improve your confidence in yourself. Creating something is a wonderful but not always easy experience. But when you're done, you not only feel good about yourself. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}
Use your body.
If you start to walk fast you'll soon start to feel nervous. If you start to walk slower you'll soon start to feel more relaxed. To feel more confident, use your body in more confident way. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Learn how confident people around you or on the TV use their bodies.
Compare yourself to yourself.
This will take away a lot of unnecessary pain in your life. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}Compare yourself to yourself. Improve yourself and see how you grow and become a more successful, more confident and happier person.

A. Take exercise
B. Take it into the future
C. This makes you more active
D. Walk, sit, stand and move in a more confident way
E. Sometimes you will also discover new parts of yourself
F. Pay attention to yourself, not the other people around you.
G. They might not work too well the first or second time you try them

    In spite of so many years of education behind us, can we confidently say we understand what it feels like to be a teacher?

    The biggest misunderstanding about teaching jobs is that anyone can be a teacher. In fact, the truth is far from it. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} They also know the teaching theory well. They should know how things should be taught and how one can be inspired to learn. Also, they need to have an idea about classroom management and students' psychology（心理学）.

    Now it can be really annoying for a teacher if someone says teaching is one of the easiest jobs around, because everyone just needs to be taught for a few hours a day. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} However, teachers work longer to come up with ways to make the knowledge appear more interesting to students and help them learn better.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} And this is a big reason why more people decide to choose teaching as a career. However, good teachers choose to make good use of the break, by enrolling (注册) themselves for workshops on teaching, classroom management, and related things.

    All teachers are not the same, as against what is widely believed. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Every teacher is different and has a different approach（方法）to teaching.

 {#blank#}5{#/blank#} A teacher has meetings to attend, and is responsible for (对……负责) organizing school events. An important duty of a teacher is to prepare the progress report of each student and discuss it with his or her parents.

    In a word, teachers ought to be respected for what they do, and we should never forget their great contribution（贡献）to our success in life.

A. A teacher has many things to do rather than just teach.

B. It is true that teachers get a lot more holidays than others.

C. A good teacher is one who motivates students to overcome challenges.

D. To begin with, teachers are people who perform well in their fields of study.

E. A statement that is true for one teacher is not necessarily true for the others.

F. And common people even believe teachers are probably overpaid when their days end at 3 pm.

G. These teachers give all they can to create an ideal learning environment for their students.

    “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”, so when you want to do business in France, you have to get to know French culture, to make marketing plans, and to run your business by local laws.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}The French take great pride in their language, so anyone who does not speak it may run the risk of being disrespected by his French colleagues or business partners. Also, another reason why learning French is important is that it is a great way to show every possible French business partner that you care and respect their country's culture and language.

    There are obvious ways of greeting people in French. When you meet someone new, it's usual to shake his hand firmly and always look at the person in the eye.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Dress well.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Your business clothing is a reflection of your success and social status. Always try to be stylish. Women are advised to dress simply but elegantly. Wearing make-up is practiced widely by business women.

    The French are passionate about food, so lunches are common in doing business in France, which usually consist of an appetizer, main meal with wine, cheese, dessert and coffee, and normally take up to two hours{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Do not begin eating until the host says, “Bon appetite”. Pass dishes to the left, keep wrists above the table and try to eat everything on the plate{#blank#}5{#/blank#} This may suggest that you find the food tasteless. If eating in a restaurant, the person who invites always pays.

A. The French draw information about people based on their appearance.

B. This is a time for relationship building.

C. Maybe you have heard the expression.

D. Language should be the focus of anyone planning to do business in France.

E. Be careful with adding salt, pepper or sauces to your food.

F. When you meet a friend, kissing is common.

G. English and French are both spoken in formal occasions.

    If you'd love to be more eco-friendly but don't know where to begin, start with a few small changes.  {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Adjust your thermostat（恒温器）to save on heating and cooling costs.  {#blank#}2{#/blank#}In summer, set your thermostat to 78 ℉when you're at home and raise the temperature when you're away. In winter, turn your thermostat to 68 ℉ and lower it by 5°-10° when you're sleeping or out of your house. To stay warm in winter, put on a sweater or another layer instead of turning up the thermostat.

    Turn off lights and unplug power strips that you're not using. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Some devices can still use energy even when they're turned off. So, turn off the power strips at night to completely cut off energy use. If you need to leave your computer or TV on, try setting it to sleep mode.

    Make your taps and toilets low-flow. Cut back on water waste by installing flow restrictor(节流装置) inside your taps and installing a low-flow shower head in your bathroom. This can save 3 to 4 gallons of water for every minute. If you're replacing a toilet, look for a low-flow one to save thousands of gallons of water a year.  {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Adjust your washing machine to use cold water instead of warm. Since more energy is spent drying the clothes, skip the machine and hang your washed clothes on a clothesline. If you don't have space for a clothesline or can't hang clothes outside, set up a clothes drying rack that you can use inside. Try running your clothes through an extra spin cycle to remove even more water from the clothes. This will make them dry quicker.

    Researchers define self-control or self-discipline as "ability to control or change one's inner responses". {#blank#}1{#/blank#} However, some people think that as an immediate consequence of leading lives of constant self-control, they aren't likely to gain a lot of pleasure from life.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} To start, 414 adults completed on online survey. In the survey, they rated their self-control by indicating how much they agreed with 14 statements, such as "I indeed do certain things that are bad for me, if they are fun."

    In their study, 205 adults were given smart phones and required to report their emotions at random moments throughout the week. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} If so, they had to report how hard they tried to resist them, and whether they eventually ended up acting on them.

    The researchers found that the more self-control people had，the more satisfied they were with their lives in the long run. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} In fact, such people's increased happiness to a large extent accounted for the increased life satisfaction.

    These researchers also figured out that people high in self-control are simply less likely to find themselves in situations where that's even an issue. They don't waste time fighting inner battles over whether or not to eat a second piece of cake. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} And that, it would seem, makes them happier……even if occasionally a little bit sad.

A. In a word, they are not bothered about such little desires.

B. Researchers checked these general ideas through a survey and study.

C. It is generally believed that in the long run self-control can make people happier.

D. Meanwhile, they were also asked to report whether they were experiencing any desires.

E. However, people with more self-control were also more likely to be happy in the short run.

F. But they are still uncertain why some people are more able to control their inner responses.

G. Most adults reported they failed to control their desire to play video games before an exam.

How to Master Your Public Speaking Voice

    Public speaking skills can be a disaster if you don't know how to use your voice. However, a little bit of practice and a confident outlook can help you to be a fantastic public speaker. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}.

    Learn the sound of your own voice

    Record yourself as often as possible—speaking your thoughts aloud, having conversations with friends, giving a presentation at work, etc. so you can hear what your voice sounds like when you are relaxed, having fun, and in stressful situations. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}.

    Master your breathing

    The first step in developing a strong public speaking voice is mastering your breathing. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}, which causes their voices to sound high and weak. Develop a habit of breathing deeply at a controlled pace throughout the day so that when it comes to your time to speak, you'll have less trouble doing it.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}.

    It's not just your breathing and vocal cords (声带) that have a physical vocal on your voice. When it comes to public speaking, it is essential that you stand or sit with your back straight. This makes your voice stronger and clearer by allowing you to breathe deeper. It also has the added benefit of making you look more confident.

    Adjust your speaking rate

    Speaking too slow can cause people to get bored while speaking too fast can be hard to follow. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. The best speaking rate is in the range of 120-160 words per minute. Practice to control your time.