In today's busy and competitive world, we all lead incredibly stressful lives. When stress becomes overwhelming, it can affect our mood and productivity. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} The good news is that it is manageable and can be reduced, or even relieved completely.

    Enter the world of books. Feeling stressed out? Pick up your favorite book and leave the reality and worries behind. It is the most effective way to relax and overcome stress. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Getting lost in a book before bedtime can calm your mind and prepare your body for a good night's sleep.

    Connect with people. Another way to successfully beat stress is meeting with friends. Friends and loved ones are important to any healthy lifestyle. If you're feeling a little overwhelmed and just can't seem to shake it off, call your best friend or a member of your family and talk to them. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Walk it off. You can also effectively relieve yourself of stress by simply taking a walk around your neighborhood. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} There's a whole new world up there that you never seem to notice while rushing to work or talking to someone. Take a moment to admire a new building or a balcony somewhere high up that reminds you of a castle from your favorite movie. Enjoy your time alone and seize every moment of it.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Nothing brings you back on track like a good laughter. It is the most powerful antidote(良方) to stress and it brings joy into your life. Laughing brings people together and drives away all stress-related problems as if they never existed. It is absolutely the best medicine there is, and it will keep you both physically and emotionally healthy.

Dear Doctor,

    My husband and I got married in 1990 and for the first ten years of our marriage, I was very happy to stay home and bring up our three children. Then four years ago, our youngest child went to school and I thought I might go back to work.

    My husband agreed and helped me to make my decision. He said he thought I could be a great success in business. After several weeks of job hunting, I found my present job—working for a small public company. At first, my husband was very proud of me and would tell his friends, “My clever little wife can run that company.”

    But as his joke was becoming true, my husband stopped talking to me about my job. I have received several promotions (升职) and pay increases, and I can earn more money than he can. I can buy my own clothes and new car.

    But things begin to change. My husband is not happy. My husband is very unkind to me in front of our friends. For the first time in our marriage, I think our marriage may come to an end. I love my husband very much, and I don't want him to feel bad, but I also love my job. I think I can be a good wife and a working woman, but I don't know how. Can't you give me some advice? Will I have to choose one or the other or can I keep both my husband and my new career?

    Please help me.

Mary

    Have you used “um…” “like…” “you know…” in your speech? Catch words(口头禅) are unnecessary words used to fill up dead paces while you speak. Speaking too many catch words is like a bad habit that we are unaware of. While most people tend to ignore it in everyday conversation, in a formal speech or an interview, too many catch words can make even the best presentation look bad.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Stop when we are in doubt. Catch words are used more often when a person is unsure about the sentence to use next.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}If you are lost or in doubt over what to say next, just stop speaking, take a long pause, breathe in , figure out what to say and start again.

    Speak consciously and slowly. If the speech is too long and you talk continuously without thinking, then you might also be pushing in a few catch words in between.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}It is best to memorize the tricky parts of the speech, like the introduction and the conclusion where a majority of the catch words are used.

{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Preparing for the speech is very important when trying to remove catch words. Make it a point to pause when there is a comma or give two pauses at the end of the sentence. If certain words in the speech need to be emphasized then underline them and practice them as they need to be said.

    Avoid catch words in conversations. Get a friend or your partner to help you out when rehearsing a conversation.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Although it can be an unpleasant and often embarrassing process, but in the long run it helps in cutting down on catch words.

A. Practise your speech when you can.

B. Remember the saying that silence is golden.

C. Therefore we can find out best friends to guide us well.

D. Anytime you use a catch word, the friend can point it out.

E. So we should learn some ways to avoid speaking such words.

F. Structure the speech well to include as much information as is needed.

G. The mind is so busy trying to figure out what to say that there is a strong urge to speak such words.

    Before there was the written word, there was the language of dance. Dance expresses love and hate, joy and sorrow, life and death, and everything else in between.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}We dance from Florida to Alaska, from north to south and sea to sea. We dance at weddings, birthdays, office parties and just to fill the time.

    “I adore dancing,” says Lester Bridges, the owner of a dance studio in Iowa. “I can't imagine doing anything else with my life.” Bridges runs dance classes for all ages. “Teaching dance is wonderful. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}It's great to watch them. For many of them, it's a way of meeting people and having a social life.”

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}“I can tell you about one young couple,” says Bridges. “They're learning to do traditional dances. They arrive at the class in low spirits and they leave with a smile. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}”

    So, do we dance in order to make ourselves feel better, calmer, healthier? Andrea Hillier says, “Dance, like the pattern of a beating heart, is life. Even after all these years, I want to get better and better.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} I find it hard to stop! Dancing reminds me I'm alive.”

A. So why do we dance?

B. Dance in the U.S. is everywhere.

C. If you like dancing outdoors, come to America.

D. My older students say it makes them feel young.

E. I keep practicing even when I'm extremely tired.

F. Dancing seems to change their feeling completely.

G. They stayed up all night long singing and dancing.

Observational Learning: To See Is to Know

    A group of psychologists, led by Albert Bandura, developed social learning theory, which emphasizes the fact that much learning occurs in a social context. This kind of learning, which results simply from observing and imitating the behavior of others, is called observational learning. Observational learning helps people acquire proper behavior in their families and cultures. By watching others, we learn how to greet people, eat, laugh and tell jokes. Do you still remember your first few days in senior grade one? By watching others, you learned how people talked to each other, what clothes were "fashionable," and how to interact with instructors.

    With modeling, you observe others' behaviors, and then none, some, or all of these behaviors may be learned and repeated, or modified. In one of Bandura's classic studies, children were divided into three groups: One group watched an adult beating up a Bobo doll, one group watched an adult ignoring the Bobo doll, and the third didn't see an adult at all. After being mildly frustrated by being placed in a room with toys, but not being allowed to play with some of them, all of the children were then placed in another room with a variety of toys, including a Bobo doll. Children in the first group tended to imitate what they had seen, mistreating the doll (and inventing new ways to abuse it).

    Researchers have discovered that several characteristics of models can make learning through observation more effective. Not surprisingly, the more you pay attention to the model, the more you learn. You are more likely to pay attention if the model is an expert, is good looking, has high status, or is socially powerful. Second, by watching others, we learn about what behaviors are appropriate for people like ourselves, so models who are seen as similar are more readily imitated. All students need to see successful, capable models who look and sound like them.

    Then, as teachers, how can you apply observational learning? Here are a few guidelines. Above all, model the behaviors and attitudes you desire your students to learn. For example, show enthusiasm for the subject you teach. Be willing to demonstrate both the mental and the physical tasks you expect the students to perform. Second, use peers, especially class leaders, as models. For example, in group work, pair students who do well with those who are having difficulties. Third, you may seek the help of class leaders in modeling behaviors. Examples include letting high­status students lead an activity when you need class cooperation or when students are likely to be reluctant at first.