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    Sleep, as we know, is important to us because it helps restore tired organs and tissues in our body. But how much sleep do we actually need?

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    For most of us, eight hours seems to be about the right amount. Yet we know that there are a great many people who get along perfectly with less sleep and some who may even need more. A great deal depends on the way we live. But a good general rule to follow is to sleep as long as we have to in order to feel happy and be able to work at our best when we are awake.

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    There are actually different levels of sleep. There is a deep sleep and a shallow sleep. In a shallow sleep our body does not get the same kind of rest as it gets in a deep sleep, so that after eight hours of a shallow sleep we may still feel tired. But a short deep sleep can be very restful.

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    Alexander the Great was able to get a deep sleep whenever he needed it. Once, during the night before an important battle, he remained awake longer than anyone else. Then he wrapped himself in a cloak and lay down on the earth. He slept so deeply that his generals had to wake him three times to give command to attack!

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    Normally when we go to sleep, our “ sleep center” blocks off nerves so that both our brain and our body go to sleep. One prevents us form wanting to do anything and the other makes our internal organs and limbs go to sleep. But someone will fall asleep (brain sleep) and keep on marching, because his body is not asleep!

    The worst time to look for a job is when you must have a new one immediately. Job Searching under pressure often results in nervous interviewing and decision-making from rela-tively few options. If you are not in need of an immediate career change, here are ways you can improve your long-term career prospects （前景） today:

    Identify at least two different roles. You do not have to be qualified for these positions today, nor do they have to exist in your company. However, these roles should be related to your current skill set. They are career options that look interesting. Once you have a couple of targets, think about why and what interests you. Pay close attention to what appeals to you, and write it down. This will give insight into your motivations and targets.

    Subscribe to a career specific magazine. Knowledge is power in the workplace. All busi-nesses must stay relevant to their customers in order to win the competitions and increase revenue（收益）.Reading about industry trends, advancements and success stories keeps you in touch with market conditions. This information allows you to see which companies and professionals are leading the peck. You can follow their examples in your own workplace. If you associate with those that stand out from the rest, you are likely to find yourself with better opportunities.

    Do exceptional work. In any role, there is a way to perform at your best. Look for ways to deliver a top performance. Show up early, be flexible to new assignments, have a positive attitude, cooperate with other departments, pay attention to the little details.

    Be professionally curious. Talk to people about their careers. Learn more about how success is measured in other roles, departments and companies. Ask people their thoughts on different industries. Challenge yourself to expand your business knowledge through interactions with people at regular time. People hire people. You never know what connections may be relevant when you start your next job search, so develop a habit of making good connections no matter where you go. Take the time to learn about others, and be helpful when you can.

    As in all things in life, getting in front of a difficult task early is always less stressful than reacting to a career surprise. Changing jobs is to be expected. No matter how secure you feel today, the time will come when either you or your employer decide it is time to change.

Digitalization could Pay Off in Health and Sustainability

With technology permeating (渗透) everything we do, it has led to a significant transformation in the workplace — specifically, how, where, who is working and what work employees do. The speed of change across industries has also caused greater uncertainty as many businesses rethink the way they manage their talent and real estate.

For one, automation and artificial intelligence will change many job functions—particularly jobs and tasks that are manual or process driven. Research has found that the future workforce will be divided into three parts；core employees，freelancers（自由职业者）and consultants．Core employees will be concentrated in smaller and fewer locations, ideally in central business districts with transportation and amenities(便利设施) concentrated nearby —reducing their energy and resource usage. This smaller core workforce could mean smaller office footprints requiring less energy from power and less waste produced. In parallel, the appearance of the “liquid workforce”— freelancers, consultants and more — means potentially less commuting(通勤) and perhaps a cleaner way of working. The need for flexibility to accommodate the uncertain operating environment and more project-based work could require possibly less material and waste in the building process.

We've seen how many forward-thinking organizations have already adopted more efficient real estate management in the form of smart buildings and smart offices. This is essentially powered by the Internet of Things(物联网) to drive efficiency and real-time optimization (最优化）of building operations such as automatic monitoring and optimization of air conditioning— of particular interest in Asia, where indoor as well as outdoor air quality is a long-time issue.

    Some features of smart buildings and workplaces also announce a shift to a less paper-based workplace. Companies are also accepting a whole view of sustainability. They're thinking about more than cost-savings or making the most of space. They are considering creating a healthy, fulfilling, and productive environment for employees.

We now speak about healthy buildings instead of simply sustainable ones. In fact, the World Green Building Council now promotes the concept of healthy green buildings—buildings that are not only environmentally sensitive but also provide for the well-being of staff. For instance, buildings with more access to nature and greenery make a significant difference to workers. A survey done last year found that over 90% of those surveyed felt more productive and creative with access to fresh air, indoor light, healthy food, fitness centers and even mental health services.

    Overall, the drive towards a digitized workplace and improved employee experience could just lead us to a healthier, happier life and a more sustainable future.

    The new school year is right around the corner, and the adjustment to returning to school may take a few weeks.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Kids today are faced with far more than learning new material. Interacting with teachers and other students, bullying (欺凌), peer pressure and school violence are just a few of the challenges children face. The Kern County Sheriff s Office would like to provide the following tips for parents on how to protect your children, and how to teach them to protect themselves.

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    Map out a safe way for your children to walk to school or to the bus stop. Teach your children to always be aware of their surroundings. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Choose a different route or walk on the opposite side of the street.

    Bus Safety

    Make sure your children arrive at least five minutes early for the bus. Be aware that bullying often happens on the bus. Ask your children about their bus rides, who they sit with, and what goes on in the bus.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    After School

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} It could be your parents or any of your neighbors who can take care of your children for you. Make sure they inform you of it the moment your children arrive home.

    At School

    Teach your children to resolve problems without fighting. Many parents mislead their children to solve problems by force in fear that their children may be bullied at school, which will only lead to more trouble. Anyway, encourage your children to report bullying behavior, either as a victim or a witness.

A. Getting to School

B. Preparing for School

C. Encourage them to report any bullying behavior on the bus.

D. Some kids just can't wait to return to school after a long holiday.

E. Have your children check in with an adult as soon as they get home.

F. Be aware of slow moving vehicles or parked vehicles that appear to be occupied.

G. Returning to school can be fun and exciting, but it can also be difficult for some children.

    Music is very powerful. The kind of music you listen to says a lot about who you are. What music you choose to listen to today will help to determine what type of person you are tomorrow. Be careful about what type of music you choose to listen to. Music can either build you up or tear you down.

    Garbage in, garbage out

    In almost all categories of music, there are artists that deliver positive messages through their music and then there are artists that deliver destructive, hateful messages in their music. The kind of music you choose to listen to will help determine the level of success you achieve in life. Think negative thoughts and you will attract negative into your life. Think positive thoughts and you will see the positive in your life. Opportunities come to the optimists in life. When you entertain negativity in your life, opportunities are often lost or ignored.

    Use Positive Music to get what you want out of life

    Actively choose music with a positive message to listen to. Making this conscious choice will lead to positive experiences in your daily life. Music has a powerful effect on our beliefs and our actions. Being active in choosing the music we listen to will lead to a happier and fulfilling life. If you aren't happy with the current state of your life, a great place to start changing it for the better is to choose better music to listen to.

    Not convinced that you should listen to positive music?

    Consider that all action is preceded(先于) by a thought. It's impossible to take an action without having some thought about the action before you do it. Where do your thoughts come from? They come from what you are listening to, what you are seeing and who you are hanging out with. These influences over time, are responsible for our beliefs and ultimately our actions.

    How to make positive changes in your life

    Choosing music with a positive message is a great way to start making positive changes in your life. Don't you like where your life is headed? Changing the music you're listening to is an important first step towards creating a different, more positive life for yourself.

注意：每个空格只填1个单词。

Time for Americans to act on climate change

    The climate crisis is worsening at a rate that is becoming harder and harder to ignore. For more than two decades, scientific reports have made it clear that global warming is real, that humans cause it and that the consequences will be disastrous.

    The scientific community has become increasingly panicked over the past year. The latest assessment from the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change painted a far more terrible picture than its previous analyses, and the long-awaited National Climate Assessment made clear that climate change represents a severe threat to human health as well as our economic security. Out of this panic came the treaty(条约)reached this past weekend by world leaders to keep the Paris climate agreement alive.

    Yet many Americans still don't regard the threat as a key priority for our government, and support President Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris treaty. Campaign contributions from fossil fuel companies have convinced elected officials to look the other way. A certain amount of despair has resulted in widespread apathy(漠然).

    But there is another reason that has been discussed far less openly. While a growing number of people understand that climate change will have significant worldwide consequences, many Americans have an intuitive(直觉的)belief that their nation is more capable than others of adapting to a changed environment. Why? Because they have before.

    This historical success, however, resulted from the federal government taking science seriously, and making investments to urge revolution and innovation.

    But these innovations did not happen by themselves, or simply because of the United States' rich resources. They depended on consistent support from the leaders about the need to take action when faced with crises. This has been especially true in the environmental crisis.

    President Bill Clinton had a shockingly modest record of advancing climate security, particularly given that his vice president, Al Gore, had been one of the most outspoken environmentalists in Congress. By far Clinton's biggest accomplishment was assigning Gore to participate іn thе Куоtо Рrоtoсоl negotiations. Сlіntоn сhоѕе, hоwеvеr, tо аvоіd whаt ѕurеlу wоuld have been a terrible fight in the Senate to gain approval of the treaty. While this effort probably would have failed, it would have signaled to the American people how seriously the Democratic Party took climate change.

    Thus, the time has clearly arrived for progressive candidates to start campaigning on a platform built around the need for a sustainability revolution. Such a plan should include a carbon tax, well-funded clean energy research, evolved agricultural policies and smarter public transport. Given that Generation X and millennials(千禧一代)never bought into the fiction that the United States is immune to the dangers of global warming, the time is ripe to make climate security a crucial government responsibility. Only by doing so can we begin the long-overdue(拖延好久的)campaign to save the planet.

Time for Americans to act on climate change