The holiday season isn't just about shopping and gifts. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} However, holiday travel can be more expensive than the gifts. Fortunately, the following tips will help keep your travel spending under control.

● Plan ahead. The earlier you book your travel, from airfare to hotels, the easier it is to find good deals. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Your best prices on airfare come when you book three weeks before the plane leaves for domestic flights. For international flights, consider booking 30 days in advance. Many experts point out that you should book travel between  one month and three months out for high-traffic holidays.

● Book your air travel on cheaper days. Traveling by air on Tuesdays and Wednesdays often costs less than traveling on Fridays and Sundays. During the holidays, it is not just about a specific day of the week. You also need to consider the days surrounding the holiday but days immediately before and after a holiday can be expensive. One of the best ways to save is to plan your air travel on the Day of the holiday. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

● Consider traveling overnight. Red-eye flights and overnight flights often cost less than those at more convenient times. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}Traveling overnight can help you avoid a night in the hotel, as well as save your money on travel to your destination.

●{#blank#}5{#/blank#} You can't bring liquids with you on the airline, but you can bring sandwiches and other snacks. When you are on the road, you can buy food at local groceries to make your own meals. If you are staying in a hotel long-term, consider cooking your own food, especially if you have access to a microwave.

    It's very hard to write your own resume because a resume is a macro view of your life, but you live your life at the micro level. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} After all, spending money on a resume writer is one of the few payouts that will have good return right away.

    But some of you will be able to do a proper job rewriting your resume on your own. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} You need to rethink the goals and rethink the rules of a resume in order to approach the project like the best of the resume professionals.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} A resume is not your life story. No one cares. The only things that should be on your resume are achievements. Anyone can do their job, but only a small percentage of the population can do their job well, wherever they go. The best way to show that you did your job well is from achievements. The best achievement is a promotion. It is an objective way to show that you impress the people you will work for. Presenting clearly your achievements is enough and also necessary. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Don't make your resume a moral statement. It's a marketing document. Think about when a company announced the launch of their product. You need to take the same approach with your resume, because a resume is a marketing document. The best marketing documents show the product in the best light, which is to use whatever possible means to make you look good. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. As long as you are not lying, you will be fine.

B. Don't focus on your responsibilities, focus on what you achieved.

C. Write what achievements you will make for the people you work for.

D. Anything on your resume that is not an achievement is wasting space.

E. So I recommend to a lot of people that they hire someone to help them.

F. The first thing you'll have to do is to make some mental shifts.

G. So learning to write your own resume is important.

    Sheila Green was married 12 years ago.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}When her youngest child reached school age, she decided to go back to work.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}Her salary could make a difference between a financial struggle and a secure financial situation for her family. Sheila also felt bored and frustrated in her role as a homemaker and wanted to be more involved in life outside her home.

    However, Sheila was worried about her children's adjustment to this new situation. She arranged for them to go to stay with a woman nearby after school each afternoon.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}While a problem seemed to appear between Sheila and her husband Sandy. When Sheila was at home all day, she was able to clean the house, go grocery shopping, wash the clothes, take care of the children and cook two or three meals each day.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Now the same things need to be done, but Sheila has only evenings and early mornings to do them.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Sandy is accustomed to sitting down and reading a paper of watching TV until dinners is ready. This is exactly what Sheila feels like doing, but someone has to fix dinner and Sandy expects it to be Sheila. Sheila is becoming very angry at Sandy's feels that everything should be the same as it was before Sheila went back to work.

A. They seemed to be happy with the arrangement.

B. Sheila thought that she should contribute to the household finances.

C. Her oldest child studies in a school near her home.

D. Both Sheila and Sandy are tired when they arrive home at 6 p.m.

E. She has three children and lives in a suburb outside Columbus, Ohio.

F. Sheila does not only work in a company, but also the housework.

G. She was very busy, of course, but she succeeded in getting everything done.

How to protect your ears

    You and your friends are leaving a concert on a Friday night. When you get outside, your ears are ringing. You have to shout to be heard. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} So no harm done…right?

Not quite. Temporary buzzing may be easy to ignore, but repeated exposure to loud noise will eventually cause serious— and irreversible(无法治愈的)— hearing loss. A new study conducted by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston shows that one in five people between the ages of 12 and 19 are experiencing slight hearing loss, and one in 20 have mild hearing loss. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}But the good news is that there plenty of ways you can protect your ears from further damage — and still listen to the music you love:

    Ask around. Put your earbuds in or your headphones on, and then ask a friend next to you whether or not he or she can hear what you're listening to. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Turn it down.

    Buy noise-canceling headphones. A pair of earbuds or headphones that fits comfortably will limit outside noise so that you can hear your music better at lower volumes.

    Take breaks.  {#blank#}4{#/blank#} So when listening to music, take your headphones off for 15 or 20 minutes and let your ears enjoy the quiet.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}You can buy a cheap pair at any drugstore as an easy way to lower volume at concerts — or while playing or practicing your own music — without changing the quality of the sound.

A. Use earplugs.

B. Keep the volume below 70 percent.

C. If the answer is yes, your music is too loud.

D. But by morning, your hearing is totally back to normal.

E. Like every other part of your body, your ears need rest.

F. Unfortunately, there's no way to get back hearing you've already lost.

G. The exposure to noise is louder and longer than in any previous generation.

How to improve reading efficiency

    ⒈Make sure of your purpose of reading.

    Before you start reading, ask yourself why you are reading this book. Most people read for two main reasons: pleasure or knowledge. Being specific and clear about your reading purpose not only helps you to avoid books that you don't need to read, it also reminds you the book is important to you.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    ⒉Read only what you are attracted to.

    Whether you are reading fiction or nonfiction, it's important to enjoy what you read. Your friends may recommend books that they love, but those books might not necessarily be the ones you enjoy. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    ⒊Give up books that you don't enjoy.

    You may have selected books that match your purpose. You may have selected books that you are attracted to. But you are reading them, there may still be some books that you won't enjoy reading. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Remember reading shouldn't make feel annoyed.

    ⒋{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Having a reading goal helps you figure out how much reading you need to do in a week or even a day.

    ⒌Give yourself a deadline to finish each book.

    Before you read each book, ask yourself when you need to finish this book. What I find interesting is that I tend to read books that I borrow from libraries faster than the books I bought. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} I don't need to return those books. When you don't set a deadline to finish you book, there isn't a sense of urgency. And when something isn't urgent, you tend to slow down.

A. Set a reading goal.

B. Understand each word of the sentence.

C. Read books which you are interested in.

D. Reading is the most important way to get knowledge.

E. The reason is that the books I bought don't have a due date.

F. This encourages you to keep reading and complete the book faster.

G. Whenever you realize that you aren't enjoying the book you are reading, give it up.

    We all have days, or even weeks, on the job when our productivity declines. But if your output has been steadily decreasing, it could be because you're wasting time rather than focusing on key tasks at hand. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Turn off your cellphone

    If you're eager to stop wasting time at the office, silence your cellphone. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Turn on your phone only during breaks.

    Organize your calendar

    It's easy to waste time when you don't have a preset schedule outlining your days at work. But if you're guilty of not maximizing your time at the office, it'll help to create a daily calendar with blocks of time for various tasks.

    Organize your space

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} If your desk is in a mess, carve out some time to get it organized. Throw away papers you don't need, file essential documents in some sort of order, and make your supplies more accessible.

    Build in breaks

    Sometimes we waste time at work by talking to colleagues, checking text messages, or surfing the internet because our minds need a break from the constant work. If that sounds like you, then you'd better schedule some breaks during the day but powering through otherwise. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    The more time you waste at work, the more your manager and peers are likely to take notice– and that's a good way to hurt your reputation and put your job at risk. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Doing so might save you from a busy night.