With busy lives, it can be hard to find time to volunteer. However, the benefits of volunteering are great to you, your family, and your community(社区).

    One of the better-known benefits of volunteering is the effect on the community. Volunteering allows you to connect with your community and make it a better place. Volunteering also strengthens your ties to the community and broadens your support network, exposing(使暴露) you to people with common interests, neighborhood resources, and fun and satisfactory activities.

    While some people are naturally outgoing, others are shy and have a hard time meeting new people. Volunteering gives you the opportunity to practice and develop your social skills, since you are meeting regularly with a group of people with common interests. Once you have the desire, it's easier to make more friends and contacts.

    Volunteering provides many benefits for both mental and physical health. You're doing good to others and the community, which makes you experience the pleasure of success. Your role as a volunteer can also give you a sense of pride and identity.

    Reducing the risk of depression(沮丧) is another important benefit of volunteering. A key risk factor for depression is social isolation. Volunteering keeps you in regular contact with others and helps you develop a solid support system, which in turn protects you against stress and depression when you're going through challenging times. Volunteering is good for your health whether you are young or old, but it's especially good in older adults.

    Volunteering offers you the chance to try out a new career without making a long-term commitment. It is also a great way to gain experience in a new field. Volunteering work can expose you to professional organizations or internship（实习）that could be of benefit to your career. That volunteer work is unpaid doesn't mean the skills you learn are basic. Many volunteering opportunities provide training. In addition, volunteering can also help you build upon skills you already have and use them to benefit the greater community.

    Volunteering is a fun and easy way to explore your interests and passions. Volunteer opportunities that match both your goals and your interest are most likely to be fun and satisfying for you. Doing volunteer work you find meaningful and interesting can be a relaxing escape from your day-to-day routines of work, school, and family commitments. Volunteering also provides you with renewed creativity, motivation, and vision that can be carried over into your personal and professional life.

    Most of us lead a busy life.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}We think, “If I reached my goal, then I would be happy”, or “If I could get a better job, then I would enjoy life.” But why not enjoy life right now?

    Firstly, take time to notice and appreciate the beauty in your own surroundings.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} “There is a great big world of wonder and beauty around us!” And as Brodersen explains, “Look for the beauty of the sunrise and of a friend's smile that brightens your day. Open your eyes to see the beauty you might not normally see. Doing so helps to cheer you up.”

    Secondly, taking time to experience some simple pleasures also can bring joy to your heart and ease your stress. Take me for example.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}One universal simple pleasure is finding things that make you laugh. Make time to laugh every day.

    Thirdly, don't take your family and friends for granted. Rich, rewarding relationships add greatly to the enjoyment of life. When you think of someone, why not call, e-mail or write them?{#blank#}4{#/blank#}As Wayne Lawton explains, “Invest time in relationships. Remove the attitude, what's in it for me? Happiness is found in putting other's interests, desires and concerns ahead of our own whenever possible. Selfishness is a dead-end street.”{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Be aware of beauty in nature.

B. So please treasure relationship.

C. You don't need to travel far to find beauty.

D. Driven by the “urgent”, we forget to enjoy life.

E. In my spare time, I enjoy collecting stamps and reading novels.

F. A short e-mail or phone call can make a world of difference to someone.

G. I delight in simple things like my favorite tea drink, a bubble bath or family photos.

Happiness begins from appreciation

    If you are feeling that life just cannot be any worse for you, it can be challenging to think positive. When stressed, depressed, upset or otherwise in a negative state of mind because you are aware that misfortune keeps occurring, it is important to shift those negative thoughts to something positive. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    It is often very hard to think positive when so many things are negative, but be sure that someone, somewhere is worse off than you. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} If you start with one small, positive thing and appreciate it during the course of your day, you will begin to move into a more positive situation and people will start showing up in your life. With appreciation, you will find that over time, you will change your outlook and choose to be happy, regardless of the events around you. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Begin and end each day with a “Thank you for this wonderful, glorious day!”

    When you see the rise of gas prices, say “I am so glad to have a vehicle in which to get around.”

    When your boss is too hard on you, say “I am grateful for my job as I know that many don't have one.”

    If you are having health problems, be grateful for what does work: “I really do appreciate it that my eyes see, my ears hear, my mouth tastes, my legs walk, my arms lift and my mind thinks and everything else works.”

    Write down what you're grateful for each day. In moments when you're feeling really down, read loud what you wrote previously. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} If you practice this regularly, you will find your list getting longer and longer.

    The key is to move yourself into a positive thought and keep it there long enough to make it a moment of appreciation. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. This will certainly help uplift your spirits.

B. If not, you will only attract more misfortune.

C. It is of great importance to learn to be grateful.

D. The more you appreciate, the happier you'll be.

E. If you have made some achievements in your career.

F. Here are a few common examples for you to practice.

G. You can choose to think differently by beginning with the smallest of steps.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Home can be a great place for children to study. It's important to provide a workspace of their own where they can read books or just write a letter to their friends.

    Location (位置)

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}Kitchen and dining room are not so well suited for regular study，since books and pens get in the way of the day­to­day uses of those areas. Set up a place where a child can settle in and leave papers and pens at hand without having to clear everything away each night. For a child that likes being alone，set aside a corner of his bedroom，but keep it separate from things like games，music and other hobbies not related to studying.

    Keeping Things in Order

    Parents should encourage their child to spread out，but to leave it neat and orderly when he isn't using his workspace. Ownership is very important for self­respect{#blank#}3{#/blank#}The workplace should be personal，but not another part of the playroom.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Encourage the whole family to help build a supportive environment that children need for success in school. Give them a good example of how to deal with problems，how to manage time and get things done in the right way. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}Study will be more enjoyable and effective when supported by the whole family.

A．Attitude Is Everything

B．Bring Organization into Your Home

C．Here are several ways to choose a location.

D．Building a Good Home Learning Environment

E．Hold a can-do attitude and your child will follow your example.

F．Setting up a space in a common area of your home can be a good idea for children.

G．A child who learns to organize his space will carry organization into every corner of his life.

注意：每个空格只填1个单词。

    We all need to feel understood, recognized and affirmed by our friends, family and romantic partners. We all need to find our tribe.

    Research has shown that among the benefits that come with being in a relationship or group, feeling accepted is regarded as the most important driver of meaning. When other people think you matter and treat you as if you matter, you believe you matter, too.

    Though we all share a need to belong, in the first decades of the 20th century, many influential psychologists and physicians did not acknowledge this fundamental aspect of human nature. The idea that children needed parental love and care to live a full and meaningful life was not only considered medically dangerous, but also dismissed as immoral and disgusting.

    As behavioral psychology came into fashion and academic psychologists turned their attention to child- raising, this view shifted and they began to examine and affirm the vital importance of attachment in early life. They discovered that people, whatever their age, needed more than food and shelter to live full and healthy lives.

    But, sadly, many of us lack close ties. At a time when we are more connected digitally than ever before, rates of social isolation are rising. The results of an Age UK poll published recently suggest that half a million people over the age of 60 usually spend each day alone, and it's not unusual for another half a million people to go without someone to speak to for five or six days. All these figures reveal more than a rise in loneliness — they reveal a lack of meaning in people's lives. In surveys, we list our close relationships as our most important sources of meaning. Research shows that people who are lonely and isolated feel their lives are less meaningful.

    While close relationships are critical for living a meaningful life, they are not the only important social bonds we need to cultivate. Psychologists have also discovered the value of small moments of intimacy. “High-quality connections”, as one researcher calls them, are positive, short-term interactions between two people when a couple holds hands on a walk or when two strangers have an empathetic(移情作用的) conversation on a plane. High-quality connections have the potential to unlock meaning in our interactions with acquaintances, colleagues and strangers. We can't control whether someone will make a high-quality connection with us, but we can all choose to start one. We can say hello to a stranger on the street rather than look away. We can choose to value people rather than devalue them. We can invite people to belong.

注意：每个空格只填1个单词。

    A total of 604 people injured in a chemical plant explosion on March 21 in Xiangshui, Jiangsu Province were still receiving medical care in nearby medical facilities, including 19 in critical condition and 98 seriously wounded. The fire quickly spread to 16 neighboring enterprises, with the latest death toll at 64.

    At the same time, rescuers were busy inspecting chemical plants damaged in the explosion for possible poisonous substance leaks. Since the explosion, six rounds of search and rescue missions have been launched, and the search area has been expanded from 1.1 square kilometers to 2 sq km. More than 4,500 medical workers and 116 ambulances have so far participated in rescue work. The National Health Commission sent 16 leading experts to treat the injured. As of the noon of March 24, victims were being treated in 16 hospitals. Specialized treatment plans had been made for every patient. Psychologists have also been sent to help the recovery of the patients, their relatives and rescuers. Workers have been sent to comfort the families of the killed. The bodies will be treated according to ethnic and religious customs where applicable.

    Sang Shulou, 36, discharged from the hospital after receiving treatment, with signs of obvious injury on his face, said that he was blessed to have survived the explosion that happened just 100 meters away from him. “I was driving a car passing the explosion site when the car was pushed away fiercely by the wave,” he said.

    More than 1,600 homes near the explosion site have been repaired. Owners of homes beyond repair will receive compensation and assistance in moving to new homes.

    The State Council, China's Cabinet, has set up a special investigation group to look into the explosion. The investigation would be thorough. It also severely criticized the local government and the company involved for their not learning lessons from previous environmental violations and failing to make effective corrections, Official records show that the concerned company had been punished several times before for taking advantage of safety loopholes and violating environmental protection regulations. Chenjiagang Chemical Park also experienced several similar safety accidents over the past few years.