Sometimes you'll hear people say that you can't love others until you love yourself. Sometimes you'll hear people say that you can't expect someone else to love you until you love yourself. Either way, you've got to love yourself first and this can be tricky. Surely we all know that we're the apple of our parents' eyes, and that our Grandmas think we're great talents and our Uncle Roberts think that we will go to the Olympics，but sometimes it's a lot harder to think such nice thoughts about ourselves. If you find that believing in yourself is a challenge, it is time you build a positive self-image and learn to love yourself.

    Self-image is your own mind's picture of yourself. This image includes the way you look, the way you act, the way you talk and the way you think. Interestingly, our self-images are often quite different from the images others hold about us. Unfortunately, most of these images are more negative than they should be. Thus changing the way you think about yourself is the key to changing your self-image and your whole world.

    The best way to defeat a passive self-image is to step back and decide to stress your successes. That is, make a list if you need to, but write down all of the great things you do every day. Don't allow doubts to occur in it.

    It very well might be that you are experiencing a negative self-image because you can't move past one flaw or weakness that you see about yourself. Well, roll up your sleeves and make a change of it as your primary task. If you think you're silly because you aren't good at math, find a tutor. If you think you're weak because you can't run a mile, get to the track and practice. If you think you're dull because you don't wear the latest trends, buy a few new clothes. But remember, just because you think it doesn't mean it's true.

    The best way to get rid of a negative self-image is to realize that your image is far from objective, and to actively convince yourself of your positive qualities. Changing the way you think and working on those you need to improve will go a long way towards promoting a positive self-image. When you can pat yourself on the back，you'll know you're well on your way. Good luck!

    While dog keepers realize their dogs can read their moods accurately,scientists have always been a little doubtful.Now thanks to some researchers at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna,Austria,we finally have some convincing evidence.

    For their study,biologist Corson Miller and his team exposed eleven selected dogs to digital images of women that were either angry or happy.Half the dogs were rewarded for touching the screen when shown a happy face,while the other half got their treat for selecting those that appeared angry.

    Interestingly,the dogs were not provided with the entire face.Some dogs were shown only upper halves while the others observed lower halves.That's because the scientists believe humans show their emotions on their entire face.

    After some training like how to recognize small differences like the wrinkles between the eyes or the changes in their shape that accompany the happy or angry expressions,the dogs were mostly able to identify the correct expression not only on a familiar face but on a strange face.The researchers concluded the dogs were smart enough to read human emotions.

    They also found those being trained to read angry expressions took a longer time to learn.They guess it may be because dogs find angry faces disgusting,causing them to withdraw quickly.However,once the smart dogs realized they were getting rewarded,the trepidation seemed to disappear.In fact,the dogs had such a good time playing the computer "game" that scientists had a hard time keeping them away from the touch screens after the study was completed.

    The researchers also noticed only dogs with a male owner had a harder time understanding the expressions correctl. Since the touchscreen models were all females, this confirmed what has been observed in previous studies-dogs are more efficient at reading facial expressions of people that are the same gender as their owner.

    Recently some American scientists have given a useful piece of advice to people in industrialized nations．They say people should eat more of the same kind of food eaten by humans living more than 10,000 years ago．{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    The scientists say that the human life has changed greatly．Our bodies have not been able to deal with these changes in lifestyle and this had led to new kinds of sicknesses．{#blank#}2{#/blank#} So they are called "diseases of civilization"．Many cancers and diseases of the blood system are examples of such diseases.

    Scientists noted that people in both the Old Stone Age and the New Stone Age enjoyed very little alcohol or tobacco, probably none．{#blank#}3{#/blank#} However, a change in food is one of the main differences between life in ancient times and that of today.

    Stone Age people hunted wild animals for their meat, which had much less fat than domestic ones．They ate a lot of fresh wild vegetables and fruits．They did not have milk or any other dairy products, and they made very little use of grains．{#blank#}4{#/blank#} We eat six times more salt than our ancestors．We eat more sugar．We eat twice as much fat but only one third as much protein and much less vitamin C.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} But scientists say that we would be much healthier if we eat much the same way the ancient people did, cutting the amount of fatty, salty and sweet food.

 A．Modern people used to suffer from "diseases of civilization".

 B．People today probably don't want to live like our ancestors.

 C．These new sicknesses were not known in ancient times.

 D．Ancient people also got lots of physical exercise.

 E．In that case, they would live much healthier.

 F．But today, we enjoy eating a lot of these.

 G．Stone Age people lived a simple life.

    There was a story many years ago of a school teacher—Mrs. Thompson. She told the children on the first day that she loved them all the same. But that was a lie. There in the first row was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard. He did not play well with the other children and he always needed a bath. She did not like him.

    Then Mrs. Thompson got to know that Teddy was actually a very good boy before the death of his mother. Mrs. Thompson was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when, like all her other students, Teddy brought her a Christmas present too. It was his mother's perfume(香水).

    Teddy said, “Mrs. Thompson, today you smell just like my Mom used to.” After the children left she cried for at least an hour. On that very day, she stopped teaching reading, writing and math. Instead, she began to teach children.

    Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. The boy's mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he improved. By the end of the sixth grade, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class.

    Six years went by before she got a note from Teddy. He wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life. He went to college. Mrs. Thompson got two more letters from him with the last one signed, Theodore F.Stoddard, M.D. (医学博士)

    The story doesn't end there. On his wedding day, Dr Stoddard whispered in Mrs. Thompson's ear, “Thank you, Mrs. Thompson, for believing in me. You made me feel important and showed me that I could make a difference.”

    Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back, “Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn't know how to teach until I met you.”

    There are an extremely large number of ants worldwide. Each individual (个体的) ant hardly weigh anything, but put together they weigh roughly the same as all of mankind. They also live nearly everywhere, except on frozen mountain tops and around the poles. For animals their size, ants have been astonishingly successful, largely due to their wonderful social behavior.

    In colonies (群体) that range in size from a few hundred to tens of millions, they organize their lives with a clear division of labor. Even more amazing is how they achieve this level of organization. Where we use sound and sight to communicate, ants depend primarily on pheromone (外激素), chemicals sent out by individuals and smelled or tasted by fellow members of their colony. When an ant finds food, it produces a pheromone that will lead others straight to where the food is. When an individual ant comes under attack or is dying, it sends out an alarm pheromone to warn the colony to prepare for a conflict as a defense unit.

    In fact, when it comes to the art of war, ants have no equal. They are completely fearless and will readily take on a creature much larger than themselves, attacking in large groups and overcoming their target. Such is their devotion to the common good of the colony that not only soldier ants but also worker ants will sacrifice their lives to help defeat an enemy.

    Behaving in this selfless and devoted manner, these little creatures have survived on Earth, for more than 140 million years, far longer than dinosaurs. Because they think as one, they have a collective (集体的) intelligence greater than you would expect from its individual parts.

    The faces of the four U. S. presidents on Mount Rushmore will likely last for centuries. But at a newly opened exhibit in Japan, you can catch them only for about eight months. This year, the annual sand sculpture event at the Sand Museum in Tottori, Japan, is focused on another country. This is the 10^th anniversary of the event. Artists came from 19 countries to shape sand into different sculptures that represent events in U. S. history and American landmarks.

    Tottori is a remote city in western Japan. In the past, not many tourists traveled to it. To attract more visitors, Tottori officials decided to use a natural resource: sand. They decided to create a sand museum that would house a series of sand sculptures based on different geographic areas of the world. The sand from each year's exhibition is used again the next year. The project has been a success. About 500,000 people visit the museum during the eight months. Some return year after year to see the new sculptures.

    The city is now a popular spot for sand sculpture artists too. Sculptors from around the world come to Tottori each spring, spending a few weeks working on their masterpieces. They use special tools to smooth the sandy surfaces, cut angles and details. They use only sand and water to create the huge sculptures, some of which tower over their creators.

    Originally, the artists built their creations outside. But the works lasted less than two months outdoors. So the museum built a permanent structure 10 house the artworks, which extended their life to eight months. Now many more tourists get to see the sculptures. Still, the fact that this art is not permanent is part of the appeal. The temporary sculptures reflect the Japanese value of appreciating the fleeting（稍纵即逝）nature of the world.

    Tottori is not the only Japanese town that shows temporary art like this. Sapporo, in northern Japan, hosts a similar exhibit in the winter, using snow instead of sand. Thai will be just about the time that the U. S. sand sculpture exhibition is taken apart, and the sand is saved for next year's show.