Fitting in fitness

    Do you find excuses not to exercise? {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Here are a few ways to get you going.

Do what you love.

    The easiest way to fall into the habit of doing exercise is to choose an activity you enjoy — one that doesn't feel like exercise, even though it is. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} If you play to your strengths, you'll find fitness activities you can enjoy for years.

Choose your hour.

    Studies have shown that people who work out in the morning are most likely to stick with a routine. By doing exercise before the day starts, they can avoid the last-minute scheduling conflicts. But if you' re not a morning person, choose whatever time works best for you. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

Call it by another name.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} If it's something you have to do anyway — like washing the car or planting some bushes in the yard — you'll achieve two goals at once.

Partner up.

    Exercise is more fun when you do it with others. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} On days when your motivation is low, you' re more likely to stick with the programme to avoid disappointing your exercise partners. You can also train with an expert. A personal trainer will help you set goals, design a personalized fitness programme, and vary your routine to keep it challenging.

How To Study English In China

    English is obviously not the native language in China. Although many Chinese want to improve their English level to the amount needed in daily work, it's very hard when only a few people speak English around them. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Here are a few tips that might help.

Join a school with native teachers to guide you.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} The more exposure you can get to these foreign teachers, the faster and better you're going to learn English. If a school doesn't give students maximum exposure to native English speakers' classes, find one that does.

Read English daily.

    This means using websites that are permitted in China, accessing English texts, newspapers and books. Read short stories in English. When you come across words you don't know write them down immediately. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

Find some English speakers.

    Spend time with them and share conversations. There is nothing better for learning any language than finding native speakers of the language to practice with. When you speak, you are practicing every aspect of the language(except writing) in the most efficient way possible.

Memorize vocabulary.

    Write new words in a notebook every week, with English definitions and a sample sentence, not a Chinese translation. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Carry it with you everywhere you go. Even if you have a question about something that you see and you don't know the English word, write it down in your own language with the plan to look it up later and learn that word in English.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} English is not well controlled by grammar rules. For every rule, there is an exception to that rule. Your time will be better spent in watching movies and learning from them than studying grammar for long hours. Find someone to write emails in English to or write a dairy every day.

    There are many other ways to improve your English. Come on!

A. Learn to write.

B. Watch an English film once a month.

C. What can you do to study more English?

D. There are many English speakers in China.

E. You can do this by writing in your notebook.

F. Follow a soap opera, comedy or radio program or TV drama.

G. You should be carrying a notebook with you everywhere you go just to write down something important.

    There are three things that will get you ahead in life: good looks, smarts, and being considered as being smart.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} And unluckily most of us are not good-looking. Let's explore some different ways to become smarter.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}College doesn't necessarily mean you'll be smarter, just educated. It means you'll be exposed to many different ideas and hopefully you'll learn how to think. Being able to think outside the box and for yourself are features smart people possess.

    Read books and educational magazines.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Educational magazines are a wealth of knowledge you can share with others, thus making you sound very smart. If you do watch television, try watching something that you can learn.

    Expand your vocabulary. Try to learn one new word a week. It doesn't seem like much, but adding 52 new words to your vocabulary will really make you appear much smarter. Subscribing (订阅) to vocabulary.com is a good start.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} This way you're actually getting 365 words a year, but that is usually more than most people can absorb.

    Don't repeat everything people tell you until you know that it's true.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}They hear a strange claim and they repeat it to the nearest ear. You can do much harm to your seek for being smart if you are known for giving bad information.

A. Go to college and get an education.

B. The first is God-given.

C. Get educated inside or outside college.

D. You will have a new word sent to your email address daily.

E. The programs actually provide you with information you can use.

F. Uneducated people and people not considered as being smart tend to do this.

G. Reading books works the brain out more than viewing television.

    We all know that being grateful and appreciative is very beneficial. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Gratitude belongs to the category of advanced life skills because it can completely transform your life.

    Help others turn away from negativity. If some people you know insist in talking about negative things all the time, find a wise way to tell them that you really don't appreciate it. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Look for reasons to say thank you. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} They'll be more likely to do nice things for you because you appreciate their efforts. In turn, you'll have even more reasons to feel gratitude. When other people sense that you appreciate them, it changes your relationship with them.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} When you find yourself in a difficult situation, look for the beneficial aspects created by that situation. Ask yourself: “What have I learned here? Will it benefit me in the future? When I look back on this experience a year later, what will I be grateful for?”

    Have a gratitude review. Do this as soon as you wake up in the morning and before you go to sleep at night. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Think of all the things you have to be grateful for in your life. If you start and end each day with gratitude, your whole life will shift in a more positive direction. It only takes a minute or two to allow gratitude to fill your heart and mind.

A. See the big picture.

B. Show gratitude to others.

C. Actually, it is more than that.

D. Everyone loves to be appreciated.

E. Don't get pulled in a negative talk.

F. Remember to count your blessings daily.

G. So you could be doing them a huge favor.

    As is often the case, you are trying hard to keep your eyes open in class after a late night doing piles and piles of homework, "{#blank#}1{#/blank#}" You are probably thinking, " This weekend I'll make up for all the sleep I have lost."

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Most people think the same way-if you stay in bed longer on Saturdays or Sundays, you will recover your missed sleep during the week.

    However, this is not correct.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Actually, researchers have just discovered that sleeping during the weekend will not do you any good, but rather make you feel more tired on Monday morning.

    Our body keeps a clock inside. It tells us when to wake up in the morning and when to feel sleepy at night. But the time on our body clock can be changed once we start taking on different sleeping habits.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} This may mean on Monday morning we sometimes struggle to get out of bed.

    If we decide to get up only 20 minutes or half an hour later, it won't matter. This is because our body clock can accommodate(顺应) a delay of up to an hour, which means that a short lie-in at weekends is unlikely to have any big effect, we needn't worry about it at all.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    So, what should we do to balance and make up for all the sleep we've missed? Scientists say that simply eight hours of sleep would do the trick, not any longer.

A. You are not alone.

B. I need more sleep!

C. Sleep is important for everyone.

D. Sleeping is nothing like paying back money.

E. However, if we sleep longer our sleep becomes less efficient.

F. But delays of up to two hours or more can throw our body out of order.

G. This is why staying in bed for longer than usual might confuse our body clock.

When you think about art, you might consider it to be permanent. After all, that picture you drew in kindergarten might still hang on your refrigerator years later. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Think about a Broadway performance. When it's over, it's over. Sure, it might live in your memory. But the live show is a special event. It is limited to a certain time and place. 

Can you think of other forms of art that are temporary? If you're a fan of the beach, sandcastles might come to your mind. Have you ever spent hours building a beautiful sandcastle? {#blank#}2{#/blank#} You knew your work of art would be gone as soon as the tide came in. The sandy beach is a canvas where nature erases "paintings" daily. 

Most of the time, art made from sand can't last long. Still, many people love using sand to create their own unique vision of beauty. One of the most attractive types of sand art is sand animation. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Artists who work in sand animation use sand to make a set of images that usually tell a story. They often start with a large amount of sand on a flat surface, such as a table. They then use their hands and fingers to draw in the sand. 

{#blank#}4{#/blank#} However, the wide variety of beautiful and highly-detailed sand artworks might surprise you. Many of these works or art are temporary. That's where the animation part comes in. 

Sand animation artists create a series of images that move to tell a story. They might also use music and special lighting to complete the effect. Sometimes they photograph or video their creation throughout the process. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}.

A. It is a type of live performance art. 

B. Not all works of art are permanent, though. 

C. Sand animation is beautiful but lasts only for the moment. 

D. Then, they turn it into a sand animation movie when it's finished. 

E. It might seem like using sand would limit the art you could make. 

F. If you have, you would probably be sad when it was time to leave the beach. 

G. Building a sand castle is a family-friendly activity perfect for large groups.