Everyone wants to be happy, but not everyone can make it. Do you want to have a good mood every day? If so, the following steps will be useful to you.

    Be grateful.

{#blank#}1{#/blank#} They can be simple things like the purple flower on the sidewalk, the beautiful sunset, and the hot shower you take every day. When you have a grateful heart, you'll cherish them and be naturally filled with happiness.

   {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

When you put your mind, heart and soul into what you're doing, you're creating a happiness state—called the "flow". When you're living in the flow, you're less likely to mind what others may think about you, and less bothered by unimportant things. The result? More happiness, of course!

    Become a problem solver.

Happy people are problem solvers.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}Instead, they face up to the challenge and channel their energies into finding a creative solution. By becoming a problem solver, you'll build up your self-confidence and your ability to accomplish whatever you determine to do.

    Practice forgiveness.

Hatred and anger are forms of self-punishment. When you forgive, you're actually practicing kindness to yourself.

{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Everyone makes mistakes. It's through our mistakes that we learn and grow to become a bigger and better person.

Give back.

    Doing good is one of the surest ways to feel good. According to Harvard, when people do good, their brains become active in the very same reward center that is stimulated when they experience other rewards. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Go with the flow.

B. Focus on what you are doing.

C. And most importantly, learn to forgive yourself.

D. When they face a challenge in life, they don't fall into a sad state.

E. When they meet with difficulties, they will solve them on their own.

F. So It's not a surprise that people who care more about others are happier.

G. Slow down, look around, and pay attention to the little details in your life.

Testing the five-second rule

    You may have seen a friend drop food on the floor, pick it up, and eat it, while declaring, “Five-second rule! ” It's said that food dropped on the floor for five seconds or less is still likely to be clean. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}.

    Students at Britain's Aston University, led by microbiology professor Anthony Hilton, tested the rule and found it to have some scientific basis. The study's results show that food dropped for five seconds is less likely to contain bacteria than if it sits there for longer, according to Hilton.

    The students also found that the type of flooring where the dropped food lands has an effect. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Bacteria are most likely to transfer from tiled (铺瓷砖的) surfaces to moist food when the food has stood there for more than five seconds.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Therefore, consumers should still be cautious. “However, the findings of this study will bring some light relief to those who have been employing the five-second rule for years, despite a general consensus that it is purely a myth,” professor Hilton said in a statement.

    The research team at Aston also surveyed 500 people to find out who employs the five-second rule. Of the people surveyed, 87% said they would eat food dropped on the floor, or have done so in the past. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} “Our study showed people are also more likely to follow the five-second rule, which our research has shown to be much more than an old wives' tale,” Hilton says.

    Still, scientists say you should be careful about eating food dropped on the floor, especially if you have doubts about the cleanliness of the surface. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. But is that true?

B. Carpeted surfaces posed the lowest risk.

C. Of those people, the majority were women.

D. We've just lost our last excuse to eat food off the floor.

E. Usually people recover from the infection in five to ten days.

F. There is still a risk of infection if certain bacteria are present on the dropped surface.

G. A biologist points out that one in six Americans get sick from food poisoning every year.

Money Matters

    Parents should help their children understand money. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} So you may start talking about money when your child shows an interest in buying things, candy or toys, for example.

    1 The basic function of money

    Begin explaining the basic function of money by showing how people trade money for goods or services. It is important to show your child how money is traded for the things he wants to have. If he wants to have a toy, give him the money and let him hand the money to the cashier(收银员). {#blank#}2{#/blank#} When your child grows a bit older and understands the basic function of money, you can start explaining more complex ways of using money.

    2 Money lessons

    Approach money lessons with openness and honesty. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} If you must say no to a child's request to spend money, explain, — You have enough toy trucks for now. Or, if the request is for many different things, say, — You have to make a choice between this toy and that toy.

    3 {#blank#}4{#/blank#} 

    Begin at the grocery store. Pick out two similar brands of a product — a name-brand butter and a generic (无商标产品), for example. You can show your child how to make choices between different brands of a product so that you can save money. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} If he chooses the cheaper brand, allow him to make another purchase with the money saved. Later, you may explain how the more expensive choice leaves less money for other purchases.

A. Wise decisions.

B. The value of money.

C. Permit the child to choose between them.

D. Tell your child why he can — or cannot — have certain things.

E. Ask yourself what things that cost money are most important to you

F. Talk about how the money bought the thing after you leave the toy store.

G. The best time to teach a child anything about money is when he shows an interest.

How to Improve Eyesight Naturally

    Eyes are important for everybody. You must take care and try everything in your hand to keep them in good condition. Here are some of the tips to improve your eyesight naturally.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Strain is known to be a factor in many health conditions and eyestrain is no exception. Try meditation, yoga or other methods of stress relief to improve your vision and overall health.

    Try palming.

    Sit upright in a comfortable chair.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Cup your hands so that there is no pressure on your eyes. Let your fingers rest across your forehead. There should be no light entering your eyes. Palming should be done for a period of 5 to 10 minutes to start. Palming should be relaxing. It may help to do palming in a darkened room.

    Avoid sugar as much as possible.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} It will unpleasantly affect your eyesight, which affects the eyes by producing a larger amount of insulin (胰岛素) in the blood. Therefore you shouldn't be having much fruit juice or something that contains a lot of sugar.

    Exercise your eyes.

    The only exercise most eyes get is that daily rubbing we give them when we're tired or suffering from eyestrain. But eye exercises are actually good for your eyes and can improve your vision.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Blink as fast as you can for a few seconds then close your eyes tightly, open and repeat. Do this exercise 3 to 4 times daily.

    Eat healthy.

    You probably hear that statement all the time but eating the right foods are necessary to good health.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Foods that are high in fiber, vitamin C, D and beta carotene as well as other vitamins and minerals can help improve your vision. Here are a few foods that can be beneficial to good vision: carrots, eggs, blueberries, spinach, kale, grapes, and fresh garlic.

A. Reduce eyestrain.

B. Keep your eyes moist.

C. Sugar is your eyes's worst enemy.

D. Give your eyes a workout with the following exercise.

E. You may not be aware that your diet affects your vision but it does.

F. Close eyes and cover them with the palms of your hands.

G. Be sure to get plenty of sleep so your eyes don't strain to stay open during the day.

    Many countries have traditional dishes, made with special ingredients and prepared in a certain way. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}, and when tourists visit, these are the foods they want to try. But why are some foods more popular than others in certain areas?

Traditional ingredients

    Typical recipes (菜谱) are usually made with native plant and animal products. For example, Korean dishes often include rice and soybeans because both plants are native to East Asia and grow well in hot, wet areas. In contrast, wheat grows well in drier areas, like the Middle East, where bread is a common staple (主要的) food. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}, whereas inland cuisines tend to use more meat from farm animals.

    Food preservation

    Local cuisines often depend on how people traditionally prepared food for storage. In warm weather, meat and fish can go off quickly, so they must be cooked right away or preserved for later. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}, For that reason, modem Norwegian cuisine includes many smoked foods.

    Cooking techniques

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. In China, people often fry food in a deep metal pan or steam it in a basket over hot water. In Morocco, people cook traditional dishes in a special pot called a tajine, while in parts of India, people use a large oven, called a tandoor. And some local dishes aren't cooked at all.

    Imported (进口的) ingredients

    Sometimes local cuisines include ingredients that originally came from another place. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}, while many Russian dishes are made with potatoes. However, all of these ingredients were brought to Europe from South America in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. But now they are common around the world.

A. Seafood is often a key ingredient in coastal areas

B. There is a danger that local food traditions will be lost

C. Many different cooking techniques are used around the world

D. For example, Italian dishes often include tomatoes and peppers

F. Nowadays, we can buy food products from all around the world

E. These local dishes can become symbols of a place and its culture

G. In Norway, the Vikings used to “cure” meat and fish by smoking them over a fire

    Entering a university is an important part of a person's life. Today, many people go to a university to study and train for a future job in subjects like law, medicine or education. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} An important one started in Egypt over one thousand years ago.

    The world's oldest surviving university, AL-Azhar, is in Cario, Egypt. It was first built as a mosque for religion (宗教寺院) in A.D.972. A few years later, learners and teachers began meeting in the mosque. They read and talked about the subject of religion and law. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Leaders in the city of Cario decided to create a school for higher learning and soon after that, and AL-Azhar University was founded.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} For these teachers at AL-Azhar, they needed to think about what courses to teach and how to teach them. The earliest courses were in law and religion. In a course, students read and studied with the teachers, but there was also free discussion. Often, students and teachers had interesting discussions, and there was no ‘right' answer. In the years that followed, the new university interested scholars from around the world. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} At AL-Azhar, people studied the past, but it was also a place for sharing new ideas.

    Over a thousand years later, AL-Azhar is still an important university in the world. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Today, many of the world's most important universities such as Oxford and Harvard still follow the same traditions as they do at AL-Azhar.

A. However, the university is not a modern invention.

B.There are many reasons to study in Egypt.

C.They came here to teach and do research.

D.Around the year 988, a new decision was made.

E. Its library contains many of the world's oldest and most valuable books.

F. The cost of university education is increasing year by year.

G. A university was a new idea at that time.