The Science of Risk-Seeking

    Sometimes We decide that a little unnecessary danger is worth it because when we weigh the risk and the reward, the risk seems worth tasking. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}Some of us enjoy activities that would surprise and scare the rest of us. Why? Experts say it may have to do with how our brains work.

    The reason why any of us take any risks at all might have to do with early humans. Risk-takers were better at hunting, fighting, or exploring. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}As the quality of Risk-taking was passed from on ration to the next, humans ended up with a sense of adventure and a tolerance for risk.

    So why aren't we all jumping out of airplanes then? Well, even 200,000 years ago, too much risk-taking could get one killed. A few daring survived, though, along with a few stay-in-the-cave types. As a result, humans developed a range of character types that still exists today. So maybe you love car racing, or maybe you hate it. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    No matter where you are on the risk-seeking range, scientists say that your willingness to take risks increases during your teenage years. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}To help you do that, your brain increases your hunger for new experiences. New experiences often mean taking some risks, so your brain raises your tolerance for risk as well.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#},for the risk-seekers a part of the brain related to pleasure becomes active, while for the rest of us, a part of the brain related to fear becomes active.

    As experts continue to study the science of risk-seeking, we'll continue to hit the mountains, the waves or the shallow end of the pool.

    How to Have a Good Teen Life

    As a teenager, you'll be starting high school, making new friends, and most likely dating.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Then you can remember good things from the past when you are an adult. You will be an adult soon enough, but you will experience many different changes on the way!

    Have a healthy social life. A healthy social life is the key to enjoying your life in spite of the stress of school. Shop with friends and enjoy buying clothes. Go to a theme park or take a few trips. Try to make at least two best friends. Go to pleasure ground, bowling, or teen clubs and such places.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Have hobbies at home. Sew, read, play computer games, draw, or do yoga.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Get a Facebook account, but try not to get addicted to it. Make videos with your friends and post them on YouTube. Check online to see the hottest new music and the coolest new artists and songs of your type of choice. You don't have to be a fan of pop music only; if you like to listen to some nice relaxing smooth jazz or Bob Marley, go ahead. Be a fan of your favorite sports team.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}Always turn in your homework on time and do well in tests. Education is the most important thing in your life. Doing poorly, not trying, or dropping out of school can hurt your future in a significant way. If you are getting bad grades because you are struggling with something, get help.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    Be creative. Show off your talents. Write music, write stories and poems, create cool drawings, learn how to create web pages and computer programs, create your own clothes, cook, bake, work on a car, play an instrument, etc.

A. Think on your own.

B. Study hard at school.

C. Find whatever you enjoy doing and do it.

D. Make the best of it by taking the advice below.

E. But you have to work hard and learn from your mistakes.

F. This is the best way to communicate with other people around your age.

G. But if you are lazy, it can affect your college opportunities in the future.

Help Migrant Workers

    There is nothing like going home. More so if it is for the Spring Festival family reunion. For a migrant worker it perhaps means even more. To be able to set out on a homeward journey with money from a year's toil in his pocket is the best thing he can think of. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} They had to press hard for their defaulted payments, the salaries that were failed to pay up.

    About 200 million migrant workers nationwide are something left behind by economic reforms and opening up due to their contributions in the past three decades. It is almost impossible to imagine life in these places without them. However, they still form a disadvantaged group. Their rights are violated in different forms. Among other things, unpaid salaries are the most painful of such violations that are likely to drive a migrant worker to desperate actions. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}They have taken measures to prevent employers from holding back payments to them. Yet, as the financial crisis bites deep, some small enterprises that are struck the most try to reduce their economic losses by laying off migrant workers or refusing to pay them. So it is particularly important for governments at all levels to do an even better job in helping villager-turned-workers recover their unpaid salaries before the Spring Festival.

    It is good news that quite a number of local governments have organized special taskforces to conduct inspections in those labor-intensive enterprises to make sure they have paid their migrant workers in a timely and fair manner. Construction commissions in almost all provinces have published hotlines for farmer-turned-construction workers to lodge complaints against their employers for withholding their salaries.  {#blank#}4{#/blank#} But we need to look for solutions that will work at all times. We need to put in place a mechanism that will effectively prevent employers from holding back salaries to workers.

A. Some have reportedly climbed up chimneys to jump to their death unless they get their defaulted salaries.

B. It is something every Chinese look forward to as the traditional gala draws near.

C. Unfortunately, weeks preceding the Spring Festival have turned out to be hard times for migrant workers.

D. Hopefully, these efforts will send more workers on a happy journey home for the Spring Festival with their salaries in their pockets.

E. However difficult the situations they are in, it is too cruel and unfair for employers to hold back salaries they should pay their migrant workers.

F. Objectively speaking, governments at various levels have done a great deal in helping these workers recover their defaulted salaries.

    Culture means any human behavior that is learned in human society. All of the meaningful parts of a culture are passed on to different generations through tradition or social learning.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}Culture exists in agricultural as well as industrialized societies.

    Culture is necessary for the survival and existence of human beings as human beings. Practically everything humans know, think, value, feel, and do is learned through taking part in a sociocultural system.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}Here is one of the cases of children growing up apart from human society. In the province of Midnapore in India, the director of a children's home was told by local villagers that there were “ghosts” in the forest. Upon looking into the case, the director found that two children, one about eight years old and the other about six years old, appeared to have been living with a group of wolves in the forest.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}In his diary, the director describes his first view of Kamala (as the older child was named) and Amala (the name given to the younger child):

    Kamala was a terrible-looking being, the head, a big ball of something covering the shoulders.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}Their eyes were bright and sharp, unlike human eyes. They were very fond of raw meat and raw milk. Gradually, as they got stronger, they began going on all fours, and afterwards began to run on all fours, just like squirrels.

    Children learn human language in the same way they learn other kinds of human behavior--by taking part in a cultural community.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. From this viewpoint, all human groups have a culture.

B. These children were the ghosts described by the local people.

C. This statement is well supported by some well-written cases.

D. Human beings can only develop human abilities by the local people.

E. Culture refers only to the high art and classical music of a particular society.

F. Close at its heels there came another terrible creature exactly like the first, but smaller in size.

G. They learn a certain human languages as well as certain kinds of human behavior through their membership in a certain cultural community.

    It's very common these days for people to take some sort of regular exercise each week. But if you've never done it before, what's the best way to go about it? {#blank#}1{#/blank#} He or she will create a personalized plan for you based on your aims.

    However, each hourly session can be steep considering you have to pay both the personal trainer and membership of the gym, too. So what's left? Well, if you have the courage to do it, you can make your own plan. It's relatively easy to do if you have the know-how. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    First, keep your fitness goal in mind. Are you looking to slim down or increase your abilities? Whatever it is, make sure the things you choose to do are achieving that goal. Next, do your research. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Watch as many of these as possible, but make sure to be a little critical of them — everyone has a different physique and what works for one may not work for another. Finally, keep your feet on the ground. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} It takes at least three months to see any realistic body changes. And don't be overzealous(过度热衷的) — never work in pain — a good workout is difficult and challenging, but never painful. Pain means you are damaging yourself.

    If nothing else, focus on calisthenics (健身操). {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Do as many of one exercise as you can without stopping, and then try and repeat that number twice more — make sure you sweat, and don't forget to rest for a minute in between each activity!

A. Be patient with yourself and set realistic goals.

B. But before you do, here are some basic pointers.

C. Well, many people make use of a personal trainer.

D. They just don't want to design their own workout plan.

E. These days, social media is full of fitness videos and advice.

F. Find a way to make each exercise more difficult as you get in shape.

G. These are the basic body movements which everyone can do anywhere.

Everyone knows that early to bed and early to rise is good for your health.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}It takes a lot of willpower to get out of bed early on a cold winter's day. For this, we specially recommend a "painless early rise" guideline.

{#blank#}2{#/blank#}The secret to becoming a morning person is exposure to natural light. Jennifer Martin, president of the board of directors for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, agrees with it firstly. That's because natural light holds back melatonin, a chemical that plays an important role in our bodies. "The sun is the driver of our internal clock," she says.

Ease in gradually. For some people like those who need to drive long distances, those first few days of being tired from switching to a new schedule aren't safe.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}"What I'll suggest to people is to shift half an hour, wait a few days, shift another halt an hour, wait a few days, and then shift another half an hour," she says.

Hold on — even on weekends.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}. Decide what time you're going to wake up every day. And stick to it without exception.

Plan something to look forward to. To force you out of bed,{#blank#}5{#/blank#}. You're not worrying if you think of that. "Now is the time to go to buy your favourite coffee or pick up some cakes to have when your alarm goes off at 5 a.m.," she says.

A. Adjust yourself to the schedule at night.

B. Seek out as much natural light as possible.

C. Becoming a morning person is a seven-day-a-week job.

D. But the reality is that getting up late is the norm for many of us.

E. In that case, Martin recommends gradually easing into the early-bird life.

F. Martin suggests treating yourself to something special you can enjoy first.

G. You should cut back on how much exposure to bright light you're getting.