Travel Light

    Getting away for a short time always seems like a great idea—until you have to pack. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}The rule is: pack light. Here are some tips to help you pack.

    Make a list. Think of what you need from your head to your toes.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} When you've done this once, it'll be easier next time.

    2). Consider buying small-size samples of shampoo, toothpaste, and other items at your local drugstore. You can reuse the plastic containers next time you go away too.

    3). Choosing which clothes to bring is probably the hardest packing decision to make. Think once again from head to toe — hat, shirts, jeans, sneakers, etc. Once you've picked out what you want to bring, think carefully. Do you really need that extra pair of jeans? If so, fine.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Don't try to fool yourself. You are the one who will be left holding the bag.

    4). Weather is an important factor in your packing. If it's cold, you could wear a jacket, a sweater, a regular shirt, and a T-shirt. Putting them on will keep you warm. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Remember how much easier it will be to carry your bag! As for shoes, you may want to call ahead to see if dress shoes are necessary. If so, one pair will be enough, along with one pair of comfortable shoes. Remember that it is you who have been invited somewhere, not your things. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} So, do it right—pack light.

    It's natural to great friends with a smile and a wave.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}But what happens if your face and body send mixed messages? Would someone be more likely to believe the look on your face or the way you hold your body?

    Scientists have recently tackled these questions. They found that when a person is looking at your face, she might not believe what she sees of your body language doesn't match the feeling that your face shows.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Previously, they had found that the tone of a person's voice can be more important than the words that are spoken. For example, most people tend not to believe a person who says in a flat voice, “I'm so excited.”

    When it came to emotions conveyed by facial expressions and body language, most scientists suspected that the face was more important. To test if this was true, psychologists from the Netherlands and Boston showed people a number of pictures of isolated faces and isolated bodies(with faces blurred out )that showed anger or fear{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    An angry face had low eyebrows and tight lips. A scared face had high eyebrow and a slightly open mouth.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}A scared body had arms forward and shoulders square, as if ready to defend.

    These results told the researchers that mixed signals can confuse people. Even when people pay attention to the face, body language subtly influences which emotion they read.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}And if you want to be understood, it helps to avoid sending mixed messages.

A. Studying such mixed messages is nothing new for scientists.

B. So, your body language plays a major role in telling people how you feel.

C. Scientists feel new to study the mixed message that confuses people.

D. An angry body had arms back and shoulders at an angle, as if ready to fight.

E. Body language can sometimes be misunderstood in different culture backgrounds.

F. When you do this, your face and body work together to show your friends that you're happy to see them.

G. They also showed pictures in which angry or scared faces were paired with angry or scared bodies

    Identical twins are born when an egg divides into two, resulting in the birth of two children with identical genes. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Some believe, however, that there is also a close connection between twins in the way they think, not just in the way they look. Twins finish each other's sentences, and share the same tastes in clothes or music. Some have argued that identical twins have mysterious, even psychic, powers.

    Although many identical twins claim to know what the other is thinking, there is no evidence to suggest that this is because of special powers. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Most of us have met up with a brother or sister, or close friend, and immediately asked, “What's wrong?” because we have unconsciously recognized, in their facial expression, that they are upset in some way. Signs we would miss in a stranger's behavior are instantly obvious in the way those close to us act. It is hardly surprising that twins notice the way their brother or sister's facial expressions or body language gives away how they feel. Indeed, the closeness of their bond is likely to improve this ability over the years.

    The media is full of stories in which a twin senses her brother or sister to be in trouble. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Damien Croft developed a bad headache one evening and, concerned, felt the need to phone his brother to check if everything was OK. When there was no reply, he drove to his brother's home, only to find him unconscious, having had an epileptic fit (癫痫症) and fallen from a ladder while decorating. On the face of it, his sixth sense had saved the day. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Damien knew his brother was decorating, and knew that he was prone to epileptic fits. Subconsciously concerned, he had just imagined the worst-case situation. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. We all know such twins are often very similar in appearance.

B. The fact that something awful had happened was only a coincidence.

C. In contrast, there are many other stories which can be more easily explained.

D. In truth, of course, the events might also be explained in more ordinary terms.

E. Recent studies show the reasons of all those cases of mysterious happenings between identical twins.

F. In a recent, widely-reported case, for example, a young man survived a horrific fall thanks to a feeling his twin is supposed to have had.

G. A more believable explanation is that, like any pair of people who have grown up together, they are just good at understanding the thought processes behind what their twin does.

    Actions speak louder than words. A smile says, "I like you. You make me happy."

    That's why dogs make such a hit. They are so glad to see us that they almost jump out of their skins. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    A baby's smile has the same effect. Have you ever been in a doctor's waiting room and looked around at all the sad faces waiting impatiently to be seen? There were six or seven patients waiting when a young woman came in with a nine-month-old baby. She sat down next to a gentleman who was more than a little impatient about the long wait for service. The baby just looked up at him with that great big smile that is so characteristic of babies. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Soon he struck up a conversation with the woman about her baby and his grand-children and then the entire reception room joined in, and the boredom and tension were changed into a pleasant and enjoyable experience.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Telephone companies throughout the U.S have a program called "phone power which is offered to employees who use the telephone for selling their Services or products. In this program they suggest that you smile when talking on the phone. Your "smile" comes through in your voice.

    You don't feel like smiling? {#blank#}4{#/blank#}If you are lone, force yourself to whistle or hum a tune or sing. Act as if you were already happy, and that will tend to make you happy.

    Your smile is a messenger of your goodwill. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} To someone who has seen a dozen people frown or turn their faces away, your smile is like the sun breaking through the clouds. Especially when that someone is under pressure from his bosses, his customers, his teachers or parents or children, a smile can help him realize that all is not hopeless-that there is joy in the world.

    It's natural to greet friends with a smile and a wave. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} But what happens if your face and body send mixed messages? Would someone be more likely to believe the look on your face or the way you hold your body?

    Scientists have recently tackled these questions. They found that when a person is looking at your face, she might not believe what she sees if your body language doesn't match the feeling that your face shows.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Previously, they had found that the tone of a person's voice can be more important than the words that are spoken. For example, most people tend not to believe a person who says in a flat voice, "I'm so excited."

    When it came to emotions conveyed by facial expressions and body language, most scientists suspected that the face was more important. To test if this was true, psychologists showed people a number of pictures of isolated (孤立的) faces and isolated bodies (with faces blurred out (模糊的) that showed anger or fear. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    An angry face had low eyebrows and tight lips. A scared face had high eyebrow and a slightly open mouth. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} A scared body had arms forward and shoulders square, as if ready to defend.

    These results told the researchers that mixed signals can confuse people. Even when people pay attention to the face, body language subtly (微妙地) influences which emotion they read.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} If you want to be understood, it helps to avoid sending mixed messages.

    You might dream of fluency in this or that language, and maybe you have already achieved fluency in a foreign language. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Fluency, like all abstract terms, has no universal meaning. Each individual must determine what the term means. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Perfect fluency means knowing each word you encounter, speaking quickly, clearly and easily and having no accent. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} You aren't familiar with every word of your native language, and sometimes you have to search for the right word, even in your mother tongue.

    Quick fluency is the type of fluency you see in advertisements, because "Master a Language in 2 Months!" sounds very catchier than "Fluency in 20 Years!" {#blank#}4{#/blank#} It is possible to achieve quick fluency, but the fluency achieved after such a short time frame will be a very thin, superficial fluency.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Native-like fluency means that you generally know all the same words that a native knows and can speak at the same pace with the same amount of ease as a native speaker. You will likely have an accent, but as long as your conversation partner can understand you, it doesn't matter.

    Literary fluency is like graduating from native-like to educated-native-like fluency. It focuses on the more intellectual side of a language: including in literature, attending university, composing song lyrics, etc.

    There are a ton of other things that fluency could potentially be, but that's up to you to figure out.