Noticing the signals that people send out with their body language is a very useful social skill.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}Fortunately, with a little extra effort, you can learn to read body language, and with enough practice it'll become second nature.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}The closer they are, the warmer they are thinking of you. The farther away that someone is, the less they actually care about the situation or person. If you move slightly closer to them, do they move slightly further away? That means they don't want your communication to be any more personal than it already is.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}And if they respond by getting even closer to you, they probably really like you or are very comfortable around/by you.

    It is worth noting that personal space is culturally different; keep in mind that what is considered close in one country is far away in another.

    Check their arms.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}Though some people just cross their arms as a habit, it may indicate that the person is slightly reserved, nervous or embarrassed about their appearance and trying to cover it, or just trying to hide something on their shirt. If their arms are crossed while their feet are wider apart, this is a position of toughness or authority. If someone rests their arms behind their neck or head, they are open to what is being discussed or just easy-going in general. If their hands are on their hips(双手叉腰), they might be waiting, impatient or just tired.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. If they don't move further away, then they are willing to listen and accept.

B. How to read body language needs to be learned.

C. Some of us can read it naturally and some of us can't at all.

D. If their hands are closed, they may be angry, or nervous.

E. People with crossed arms are closing themselves to social influence.

F. Pay attention to how close someone is to you.

G. Some people tend not to move further away.

Are you afraid of making mistakes?

    Learn to accept mistakes as opportunities, then you'll feel less stressed and fearful and you'll be more confident. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} So what should you do?

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    Accept that you're human and that each of us will make mistakes.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} If you are open to learning from your mistake, you will be able to move on rather than wallowing in (沉湎于) regret.

Be aware

    In other words, look for areas of improvement. Be aware of what you are doing, why you are doing it, how you feel, and how you make others feel. Sometimes, your words just don't land right or you say something but it is not what you mean to say. People have difficulty expressing what they really mean.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

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    Whenever you make a mistake or you are involved in a misunderstanding, take responsibility. There is always something to be learned or improved even if the other person is wrong, too.

A. By being fully aware of how you impact others, you keep an open state of learning which allows you to practice being a better person.

B. Be open to making mistakes and consider them as opportunities to learn valuable life lessons.

C. Here are some ideas that can prevent you from making mistakes.

D. Be open to making mistakes.

E. In short, you will benefit from the mistakes.

F. Say your words again so that others can understand you.

G. Accept full responsibility.

Every art lover has a dream—to buy an old painting at a low price and later discover that it's worth millions. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} But this dream can become a nightmare if it turns out that the painting is stolen.

    The following true story happened in London. An art collector was walking around an outdoor market in the East End when he saw two interesting paintings.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} He decided to buy them after they got the price down to 145 pounds. The art collector knew it was a good deal, but he wasn't sure how much his paintings were really worth.

    He decided to take the paintings to the Sorheby's, a famous auction house.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} They were painted by two of England greatest painters Thomas Gainsborough and Sir Joshua Reynolds. They had been stolen from Lincoln's Inn, a famous historical building in London and were worth about two million pounds.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Experts at Sotheby's were convinced that he was an art thief and called the police. Within minutes the police arrived. They arrested the frightened man and took him to the police station. After hours of questioning, the police realized that they had made a mistake and let the man go.

    The art collector returned them immediately because he was worried about his good name.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} So the stolen paintings are now back at Lincoln's Inn.

A. Nothing is more exciting.

B. At this point the art collector was in trouble.

C. An auction house is a place where things are sold to whoever offers the most.

D. Although he wasn't an art expert, he saw that they were old.

E. Obviously, he did not want to be associated with stolen works.

F. The art experts who saw the paintings recognized them immediately.

G. He recognized that they were stolen works worth great value.

They Just Can't Help It

    My theory is that the female brain is mainly built for empathy — the ability to understand other people — and that the male brain is mainly built for building systems. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} For example, women are more likely to read magazines on fashion and parenting, while men will choose magazines that feature computers and sport.

    You may think that these preferences are influenced by the way people are taught to behave when they are growing up. However, this is not the case. A new study carried out at Cambridge University shows that newborn girls look longer at a face, and newborn boys look longer at a mobile. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} It has also been observed that girls are better at noticing signs of changes in other people's feelings. Boys, however, seem to enjoy building toy towers and playing with toys which have clear functions. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} People whose jobs are in the construction industries are almost male. Math and engineering, which require high levels of systems-thinking, are also male-chosen disciplines. Why do men and women have the difference? Actually women have four times as many brain neurons (神经) that connect the right and left part of their brains. Because of it, women have a better ability to multitask than men. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Men tend to focus on a limited number of problems at a time. They will separate themselves from problems and view tasks as independent from one another.

    Some people may worry that I am suggesting one gender (性别) is better than the other, but this is not the case. My theory says that males and females differ in the kinds of things that they find easy, but that both genders have their strengths and weaknesses. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} It is not true. The study simply looks at males and females as two groups, and asks what differences exist, and why they are there.

A. Generally speaking, there are clear differences.

B. Their preference for building systems may change over time.

C. You can see the same kind of pattern in the adult workplace.

D. They will consider many sources of information at the same time.

E. It is important to stress that the female brain may be built more for empathy.

F. That suggests certain differences between male and female brains are biological.

G. Others may think the theory creates a belief of what a particular type of person is like.

Gardening 380 Kilometers above Earth

    Astronauts have to go through physical, psychological, and technical training. They also go through training in how to care for plants. These “astronaut gardeners” share their work and living space with plants.

    Taking seeds and plants along on a trip isn't a new idea. As space trips become longer, it will be necessary to grow food in space. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Because of this, it's not practical to send everything needed for a long journey, only to be used once and thrown away.

    Plants can serve many uses on a space journey. They can provide more fresh things. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Also, plants can help to make air quality better because they produce oxygen. They can improve the quality of the air inside the spacecraft—the only air the astronauts can breathe.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Due to the lack of gravity in space, the oxygen that the plants produce stays around the plants. This can actually kill them, so fans are needed to circulate the air. Without gravity, roots don't “know” to grow down, leaves don't “know” to grow up, and water doesn't easily travel up the roots to the leaves. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Besides, soil is too heavy to send to space, and special liquid gels (胶) are used to help plant growth.

    Scientists are also working on the plants themselves. They are trying to make plants grow more rapidly and grow with less water and light in space, and they are looking for ways to make plants more resistant to disease. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Imagine that deserts may one day provide lots of fresh food for local people, saving transportation costs. Similarly, plants that are resistant to disease could provide an important food supply. With the world's population now at seven billion (十亿) people, our astronaut gardeners may help discover ways to feed those billions.

A. Every plant grown in space must have several uses.

B. However, there are challenges with growing plants in space.

C. Such methods may result in improvements back here on Earth.

D. The cost of taking anything into space is about $22,000 per kilogram.

E. Specialized containers are being developed to help the plants grow correctly.

F. Astronauts will welcome the addition of fruits and vegetables to their diet of dry foods.

G. Currently all oxygen is taken aboard in tanks and then caught again so it can be reused.

Useful Memory Strategies

    Form associations between new and remembered information. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}, then you can increase the chance that new memories will be formed. Try coming up with a familiar picture, song, joke, or rhyme that you can associate with the new material. Form a picture in your mind that includes the new fact.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. It may be boring, but simply repeating new information over and over in different ways will help it stick in your brain better, especially if you space out the repetition over time. For example, if you're trying to remember the definition of a new word, read it several times to yourself. Then speak the definition out loud a couple times, and try writing it down once or twice.

    Teach someone else the information you're trying to learn. Teaching others can help you remember and understand things better. Find a classmate or co-worker who needs to learn the same information, form a study group, and take turns teaching each other different concepts.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}!

    Test yourself after learning something new.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}. You have to actually practice finding the information from your memory in order to strengthen the connections within your brain. Be sure to immediately check your answers to make sure you've got them right. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}, you will be more likely to remember it incorrectly in the future as well, so instantly correct yourself and repeat the right answer a few more times.

A. If you answer something wrong

B. After the basic information is right

C. Repeat new facts as soon as you come across them

D. If you can link new ideas with previously established ones

E. Simply re-reading the same information isn't good enough

F. Then keep trying effective methods and cooperation with others

G. Alternately, ask your friends if they're willing to learn something new from you