Being outspoken is a quality that, when used with skill and wisdom, can set you apart from the crowd. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} The quality of being outspoken is a positive and active skill. Here are some tips.

    Gain self-knowledge(自找认识)through journaling. Knowing who you are, what you believe, and how you feel is the beginning of knowing yourself, and journaling is a great way to gain that knowledge. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Not only can you know yourself better, journaling is an excellent tool to improve self-confidence. Self-confidence is the foundation of being outspoken.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} In order to be outspoken, you have to believe that your voice has worth. You have to believe that your input will make any conversation better. And it probably will! It's different opinions that make conversations or debates interesting.

    Overcome shyness. The fact that you're confident doesn't mean you like hearing your own voice. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Overcoming a natural tendency towards shyness can seem horrible, but doing the opposite of your natural instinct can open up a whole new set of choices: brave choices.

    Back up your opinion with facts. Some people feel uncomfortable having or expressing an opinion because they don't know much about a topic. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} 

A. Be confident

B. Open your mind and speak it out.

C. The next step is overcoming your shyness.

D. Practice journaling for 15 minutes each night before bed.

E. Being outspoken is to speak your mind—to be honest and frank.

F. Allowing the other parties to make their points fully can help you seem more reasonable.

G. You can combat this feeling and have more confidence about your opinion if you learn facts that can support your opinion.

    Recently some American scientists have given a useful piece of advice to people in industrialized nations．They say people should eat more of the same kind of food eaten by humans living more than 10,000 years ago．{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    The scientists say that the human life has changed greatly．Our bodies have not been able to deal with these changes in lifestyle and this had led to new kinds of sicknesses．{#blank#}2{#/blank#} So they are called "diseases of civilization"．Many cancers and diseases of the blood system are examples of such diseases.

    Scientists noted that people in both the Old Stone Age and the New Stone Age enjoyed very little alcohol or tobacco, probably none．{#blank#}3{#/blank#} However, a change in food is one of the main differences between life in ancient times and that of today.

    Stone Age people hunted wild animals for their meat, which had much less fat than domestic ones．They ate a lot of fresh wild vegetables and fruits．They did not have milk or any other dairy products, and they made very little use of grains．{#blank#}4{#/blank#} We eat six times more salt than our ancestors．We eat more sugar．We eat twice as much fat but only one third as much protein and much less vitamin C.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} But scientists say that we would be much healthier if we eat much the same way the ancient people did, cutting the amount of fatty, salty and sweet food.

 A．Modern people used to suffer from "diseases of civilization".

 B．People today probably don't want to live like our ancestors.

 C．These new sicknesses were not known in ancient times.

 D．Ancient people also got lots of physical exercise.

 E．In that case, they would live much healthier.

 F．But today, we enjoy eating a lot of these.

 G．Stone Age people lived a simple life.

                                                                                                   Money Matters

    Parents should help their children understand money. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} So you may start talking about money when your child shows an interest in buying things, candy or toys, for example.

    ⒈The basic function of money

    Begin explaining the basic function of money by showing how people trade money for goods or services. It is important to show your child how money is traded for the things he wants to have. If he wants to have a toy, give him the money and let him hand the money to the cashier (收银员). {#blank#}2{#/blank#} When your child grows a bit older and understands the basic function of money, you can start explaining more complex ways of using money.

    ⒉Money lessons

    Approach money lessons with openness and honesty. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} If you must say no to a child's request to spend money, explain, “You have enough toy trucks for now.” Or, if the request is for many different things, say, “You have to make a choice between this toy and that toy.”

    ⒊{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Begin at the grocery store. Pick out two similar brands of a product— a name-brand butter and a generic (无商标产品)，for example. You can show your child how to make choices between different brands of a product so that you can save money.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} If he chooses the cheaper brand, allow him to make another purchase with the money saved. Later, you may explain how the more expensive choice leaves less money for other purchases.

A. Wise decisions.

B. The value of money.

C. Permit the child to choose between them.

D. Tell your child why he can —or cannot — have certain things.

E. Ask yourself what things that cost money are most important to you.

F. Talk about how the money bought the thing after you leave the toy store.

G. The best time to teach a child anything about money is when he shows an interest.

Five Steps to Better Handwriting

    Some kids love handwriting, but others hate when it's time to put their pen to paper. Maybe they are worried about their handwriting. Are you one of them？{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Here are five steps that really work!

    Get a great grasp

    Try this—hold your pencil at the top and try to write your name. Pretty hard？ But when you hold your pencil the correct way, writing is much easier. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Hold it in place with your thumb, and your index(食指) and middle fingers.

    Let the lines be your guide

    Lined paper is your friend！ Those lines can help you create letters that are the right size and proportion(均衡)．{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Also be sure to fill up the lined space completely. Those capital letters should be from the bottom line to the top one.

    Slow down

    If your writing is hard to read, try slowing down a little. If you rush, it's hard to control where you stop and start your letters.

    Lower the pressure

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} That makes it harder to make the smooth lines. Try easing up and don't hold the pencil too tightly.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    Lots of games require you to write or draw pictures. So even though it's not schoolwork, you're still using the skills you need to control your pen better.

A. Play games.

B. Ask for more advice.

C. You've been writing since you were a little kid.

D. So "a" should be half the height of a capital "A".

E. Some kids press down really hard when they write.

F. The good news is that just about everyone can improve their handwriting.

G. The best way to hold a pen or pencil is to let it rest next to the base of your thumb.

    Movies have documented America for more than one hundred years. Since Thomas Edison introduced the movie camera in 1893  amateur and professional movie-makers have used moving pictures to tell stories and explain the work of business and government. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} By preserving these movies, we will save a century of history.

    Unfortunately, movies are not made to last. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Already the losses are high. Only 20% of US feature films from the 1910s to 1920s survive. Of the American features produced before 1950, about half exist. For independently produced works, we have no way of knowing how much has been lost.

    For many libraries and museums, the hardest step in preserving movie collections is getting started. The Movie Preservation Guide is designed for these organizations. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} These institutions have collections of moving pictures but lack information about how to take care of them. The guide contains basic facts for "beginners"—professionals trained in history but unschooled in this technical area.

    The guide grew from user workshops at Duke University. At the sessions, beginners talked with technical experts about what they needed to know to preserve and make available their movie collections. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Following the advice, the guide describes methods for handling and storing moving pictures that are practical for research institutions with limited resources. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} The guide has been translated into Chinese, Japanese and Korean.

A. "Keep it simple!" was the advice of the discussions.

B. They'll be damaged within years if not properly stored.

C. These organizations are the first to save American movies.

D. It is organized in chapters and includes case studies and charts.

E. It introduces movie preservation to nonprofit and public institutions.

F. They show how generations of Americans have lived, worked and dreamed.

G. They store the original movies and new ones under cool-and-dry conditions.

    What do you order when you go to a Chinese restaurant? Do you start with an appetizer of fried dumplings and then move onto General Tso's chicken? {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Tofu is made from soybeans(黄豆).There are different types of tofu, from soft creamy silken tofu to pressed extra firm tofu. The difference is the amount of water in them. The longer the tofu is pressed, the more water is squeezed out and the tofu becomes denser(更密实)and chewier.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} In the letter to his friend John Bartram, Franklin cites(引用)a description of a type of Chinese cheese made from soybeans called "teu-fu" by Fernandez Navarette who published accounts of his travels to China in the late 1600's.

    However, there isn't much documentation of tofu production in the United States. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    In 1917, as part of an effort to develop new sources of protein for American soldiers during World War I, the United States Department of Agriculture sent Chinese-born doctor Yamei Kin a dietitian well-known for promoting tofu as an nutritious meat alternative, to China to study soybeans {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    It wasn't until the 1970's that tofu started to become better known, during a wave of interest in vegetarianism(素食主义), natural food, and less wasteful food sources. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} And the restaurant, chain Chipotle successfully added tofu to its menu a few years ago.

A. Americans are not big consumers of tofu.

B. Let's take a look at tofu and its history in the United States.

C. Or do you start with deep-fried tofu and then choose Ma Po tofu instead?

D. Today, you can buy different types of tofu in many American supermarkets.

E. Despite the government's efforts, interest among the American public never picked up.

F. One of the earliest references to tofu by an American is in a letter by Benjamin Franklin.

G. It is likely that by the early 1900's, cities with large Asian populations had small tofu shops.