Clara Barton，founder of the American Red Cross，gained worldwide honor for her dedication to easing human suffering and earned the nickname  “Angel of the Battlefield.”

    Barton was born into a liberal (开明的) freethinking family in 1821. Her elder brothers and sisters happily tutored her in math and reading, so when she entered school at three years old, she could read and spell three-syllable words. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Concerned about Barton's difficulty in making friends, her parents sent her to a boarding school, hoping it would make her more comfortable with her peers. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Barton lost her appetite and cried constantly. After only one term, she had to be brought home. Then, Barton stayed out of school to nurse her older brother through a serious injury and also volunteered to care for poor families during a smallpox (天花）outbreak.

    In 1861，the Civil War broke out. The sight of wounded soldiers touched Barton deeply. She began to collect and distribute food, bandages, medicines, and other supplies for the Union army.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} There, with little concern for her own safety, she cooked meals, assisted surgeons, and comforted wounded soldiers.

    Eventually，because of working too hard，Barton collapsed，ill with typhoid fever (伤寒症). {#blank#}4{#/blank#} It was there that she learned of an organization based in Switzerland — called the International Red Cross, whose work mirrored her own.

    Shortly after Barton arrived back home in 1873，her sister died. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} When recuperating (休养）at a health facility in New York，she began planning for the establishment of an American wing of the International Red Cross. Although at first the government resisted，her efforts finally paid off. The American Red Cross was officially organized on May 21, 1881. Her influence lives on today in the work of the organization she founded.

    Some students get so nervous before a test, they do poorly even if they know the material. Sian Beilock has studied these highly anxious test-takers.

    Sian Beilock: “They start worrying about the consequences. They might even start worrying about whether this exam is going to prevent them from getting into the college they want. And when we worry, it actually uses up attention and memory resources. I talk about it as your cognitive horsepower that you could otherwise be using to focus on the exam.”

    Professor Beilock and another researcher, Gerardo Ramirez, have developed a possible solution. Just before an exam, highly anxious test-takers spend ten minutes writing about their worries about the test.

    Sain Beilock: “What we think happens is when students put it down on paper, they think about the worst that could happen and they reappraise the situation. They might realize it's not as bad as they might think it was before and, in truth, it prevents these thoughts from appearing suddenly when they're actually taking a test.”

    The researchers tested the idea on a group of twenty anxious college students. They gave them two short math tests. After the first one, they asked the students to either sit quietly or write about their feelings about the upcoming second test.

    The researchers added to the pressure. They told the students that those who did well on the second test would get money. They also told them that their performance would affect other students as part of a team effort.

    Professor Beilock says those who sat quietly scored an average of twelve percent worse on the second test. But the students who had written about their fears improved their performance by an average of five percent.

    Next, the researchers used younger students in a biology class. They told them before final exams either to write about their feelings or to think about things unrelated to the test.

    Professor Beilock says highly anxious students who did the writing got an average grade of B+, compared to a B- for those who did not.

    Sain Beilock: “What we showed is that for students who are highly test-anxious, who'd done our writing intervention, all of a sudden there was no relationship between test anxiety and performance. Those students most prone to worry were performing just as well as their classmates who don't normally get nervous in these testing situations.”

    But what if students do not have a chance to write about their fears immediately before an exam or presentation? Professor Beilock says students can try it themselves at home or in the library and still improve their performance.

    Aristotle once wrote that “happiness is a state of activity”. In other words, whether you're seeking life-long satisfaction or a few moments of good cheer, you've got to move forward. We've interviewed the experts and found five steps to take toward a sunny mood（心情）：

    Over a 30-year period, University of Illinois researchers asked nearly 120, 000 people how income, education, political participation volunteer activities and close relationships affected their happiness. Reported Newsweek, s Sharon Begley on the findings, “The highest levels of happiness are found with the most stable and satisfying relationships. ”

    Singing aloud, talking to a stranger, raising your hand: all may increase a feeling of happiness, according to a study from Wake Forest University. Participants（参与者）followed the development of their moods for two weeks and reported feeling happier when they were more outgoing and less happy when reserved or withdrawn.

    The editors of forbes. Com gave $5 or $20 to 46 strangers by chance. Half the group was told to spend the money on themselves, while the other half was told to spend it on others. Those who'd shared the wealth felt much happier at the end of the day than those who'd spent it on themselves. There was no difference in happiness between those who spent $5 or $20, suggesting that it's not how much money you spend, but how you spend it, that inspires the spirit.

    Studies from the Positive Psychology Center showed that discouraged people who wrote down three good things that happened to them each day for six months reported an improved attitude.

    Drinking water really can help keep you cheerful. A small 2012 study from the University of Connecticut suggested that even slight dehydration（脱水） affected the moods of its female participants.

    My mother is a kind woman. She is very busy from morning till night. As a teacher, she works hard. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Both my brother and I love her dearly as she loves us. My mother has been teaching math at a middle school in my hometown. She goes to work early in the morning and does not return home until late in the afternoon. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} She treats them with patience and teaches them well.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Every day, when she comes back home from work, she sets about doing housework, sweeping the living room and bedrooms. As she has been very busy working every day, she looks older than her age. But she looks as cheerful and happy as ever. Mother never buys expensive dresses for herself. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Often she says to us, “Work while you work, and play while you play. That is the way to be a happy person. If you do not work, you will become lazy and be of no use to society". What a piece of good advice this is! {#blank#}5{#/blank#} This advice of hers will always serve as a guide to my behavior. My mother is great indeed, and I always feel proud of her.

A. She enjoys listening to classic music.

B. As a mother, she takes good care of us and gives us every comfort.

C. She loves her students and cares for them.

D. She often buys expensive and high quality clothes for us.

E. My mother is hard-working and never wastes money.

F. I never forget it and always bear it in my mind.

G. Can you tell us something about your mother？

    Today is a perfect day that can leave you with good memories you may someday share with your friends. Here's how:

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} You can see or do something a million times, but you can only see or do it for the first time once. As a result, first time experiences usually leave a deep mark in our minds for the rest of our lives. So try to experience something different and you'll have more memories.

    Work on something that's great to you.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Life is short. Today is the day to take action. Smile and notice what's right. Everything that happens in life is neither good nor bad.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} And no matter how it turns out, it always ends up just the way it should. Either you succeed or you learn something.

    Be true to yourself. The only shoes you can wear are your own. If you aren't being yourself. You aren't truly living.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Make a new friend. People are interesting creatures, and no two people arc exactly alike.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}Find out what makes them different. They'll likely open your eyes to wonderful ideas. And you never know, they just might change your life.

Be present. Be here now. Remember, right now is the only dear moment to you. Right now is life. Don't miss it.

A. Learn a new skill.

B. Try something new.

C. It just depends on your opinion.

D. So meet someone new today.

E. And in fact, you're only existing.

F. Pay close attention to what you're doing.

G. Make yourself busy with something meaningful.

Some Steps for Breaking Through Your Comfort Zone

    A comfort zone is a self-­imposed boundary where a person will refuse to push past. Doing so usually fills him or her with nervousness and anxiety. So let's talk about breaking out of this comfort zone.

    Get information. To break through your comfort zone you need to first educate yourself. Your goal here is to find out about whatever skill you're pursuing. You'll talk to people who have done the same thing.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} And you'll check out articles on the Internet about this subject.

    Have a plan. After educating yourself it's important to create a plan of action. With this step you're going to write down a step ­by­ step blueprint for how you're going to break through your comfort zone.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Then you create a plan to get to each level. In this plan you need to create benchmarks. These are mini ­goals that put you one step close to pushing past your comfort zone.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} This is an important step because the people in your life will keep you on track. You want them to give you that "push" as you're pushing your boundaries. They will make it hard for you to quit because you know you'll look foolish if you did.

    Remain positive. There will be times when you experience a negative outcome, something that shakes your confidence and makes you feel scared. The trick is to not let anything prevent you from blasting past the point of comfort. Recognize that you will have negative outcomes.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Keep expanding your comfort zone{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Find stuff that you never imagined you would do. Like teaching a class on the subject that once filled you with fear. Or you could work on a related skill.

A. Look for new challenges.

B. You can't become an overnight success.

C. Have people around you know of your plan.

D. You start with the easiest thing to do.

E. It's a natural part of the process.

F. You won't have time to think about your fear.

G. You'll read books on the subject.