Tips for Cooking on a Tight Schedule

     From my experience，there are three main reasons why people don't cook more often：ability，money and time.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Money is a topic I'll save for another day.So today I want to give you some wisdom about how to make the most of the time you spend in the kitchen.Here are three tips for great cooking on a tight schedule：

     1．Think ahead.The moments when I think cooking is a pain are when I'm already hungry and there is nothing ready to eat.So think ahead of the coming week.When will you have time to cook? Do you have the right materials already？{#blank#}2{#/blank#}      

     2．Make your time worth it.When you do find time to cook a meal，make the most of it and save yourself time later on.Are you making one loaf of bread？{#blank#}3{#/blank#} It takes around the same amount of time to make more of something.So save yourself the effort for a future meal.

     3．{#blank#}4{#/blank#} This may surprise you，but one of the best tools for making cooking worth your time is experimentation.It gives you the chance to hit upon new ideas and recipes that can work well with your appetite and schedule.The more you learn and the more you try，the more ability you have to take control of your food and your schedule.

     Hopefully that gives you a good start.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} And don't let a busy schedule discourage you from making some great changes in the way you eat and live!

A．Try new things.

B．Ability is easily improved.

C．Make three or four instead.

D．Understand your food better.

E．Cooking is a burden for many people.

F．Let cooking and living simply be a joy rather than a burden.

G．A little time planning ahead can save a lot of work later on.

— What are you going to do this afternoon?

—I'll take them to the shoemaker's after lunch. I must have my walking shoes repaired.

—{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Something more interesting than shopping, I hope.

—{#blank#}2{#/blank#} I enjoy going round the big shops. If I finish shopping early enough, I may go to the cinema. There is a good film at the Regal Cinema this week.

—What's the film about?

—{#blank#}3{#/blank#} One of Hollywood's best pictures, I'm told. And what do you think about martial films?

—You know I don't like films of any sort. How often do I go to the cinema? Twice a year, perhaps. Most films are very foolish. I don't understand why people want to go to the cinema every week.

—{#blank#}4{#/blank#} They want to look like film stars. They want to live in the way film stars live.

—Yes, as I said, most films are very foolish and most of the people who go to films are very foolish.

—{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

—No, of course not, my dear. I wasn't thinking of you.

A. And is that true of me?

B. Oh, but I like shopping.

C. Why do you think so?

D. They want to wear clothes like those worn by film stars.

E. And what else are you doing?

F. I know nothing about it.

G. Black Hawk Down. A really good martial film.

    Most of us will admit that on occasions we can be bad－tempered. This can be for a number of reasons.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}As the body and mind are tired, it seems to take us less time to become angry just because of something that is of little importance. Young children are usually the cause of tiredness and it is highly likely that parents allow themselves to release(释放) their exhaustion directly at the children. Children are very good at remembering these instances and it will affect them for a long time.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Diet and lifestyle can be key factors in causing a bad temper. Some people don't realize that their diet can directly affect their moods. Processed food and items that contain a lot of sugars, especially those that aren't natural sugars, can cause a rise in blood sugar. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Similarly, lifestyle choices can encourage bad tempers and poor moods, especially if drug and alcohol are used too frequently.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    If you have noticed that you are becoming increasingly bad－tempered, it is important that you take steps to try and regain control. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}After you find the cause, try and make positive changes to prevent this from occurring in the future.

A. Find your ways to release your anger.

B. Check what it is that causes the bad mood.

C. Tiredness is often the most common reason.

D. Managing your anger is good for your health.

E. Therefore, it is important to have more patience when with children.

F. This rise can have a very negative effect on moods and mental performance.

G. So it is important to keep away from these temptations(诱惑) for your own mental state.

Think like This When You Feel Stressed

    It's a sweet opportunity. If you look on pressure as a threat, you are sure to be negatively impacted by its occurrence. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}They look on it as a great chance. They will cherish the pressure moment and approach it with confidence and enthusiasm.

    I'll get another chance. Under pressure, we often lose hope. We tend to distort the reality of the situation. One of the most common phrases is the "chance of a lifetime" in which we tell ourselves, "I will never get an opportunity like this again, so I can't miss it."{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    I'll do my best. This is what people who do their best under pressure tell themselves when they are going into a pressure moment. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Because it prevents them from wasting valuable energy worrying over things they can't influence and promotes confidence at the same time. Focusing on doing your best keeps you in the moment and guides your behavior toward success.

     {#blank#}4{#/blank#}People who perform their best under pressure will reduce the significance of the upcoming pressure moment, so they feel less stressed. Whether it's a sales call or an interview for their dream jobs, they are like winning athletes, and when asked how to handle the pressure of the big game, they responded, "It's just another game."

    I can control how I respond. People who do their best in a pressure moment focus on what they can control. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} If you have an upcoming interview, don't worry about the other applicants. You can't control them. Practice how you will handle an unexpected problem.
A. It's no big deal.
B. It stops you paying attention to anxiety.
C. Instead, take care of your own business.
D. Remembering past successes increases your confidence.
E. In fact, we have many chances to succeed in our lifetime.
F. But people who do their best in a pressure moment are different.
G. Focusing on doing your best quickly decreases pressure in the moment.

    "The calm before the storm" is a very familiar expression. It is usually used to describe a peaceful period just before a very stressful situation or a tense argument. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} They noted that before certain storms the seas would seem to become calm and the winds would drop.

    But why is it often so calm before a storm? {#blank#}2{#/blank#} According to US website HowStuffWorks, a calm period occurs because many storms, tornadoes and hurricanes draw in all the warm and damp air from the surrounding area. As this air rises into the storm clouds, it cools and acts as "fuel for the storm, like petrol in a car."

    Once the storm has taken all the energy it can from the air, it is pushed out from the top of the storm clouds and falls back down to ground level. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} So once it covers an area, it causes a calm period before the storm.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} First count how many seconds there are between a flash of lightning and a clap of thunder, roughly three seconds equal one kilometer. A good judgement is that if your count is below 30 seconds, you should seek shelter straight away.

    However, due to the complexity of storm system, calm doesn't always go first. So, your best bet is to keep yourself updated with weather reports for any predictions regarding a coming storm in your area. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Science has given us the answer.

B. There is no definite answer to the question.

C. Weather reports sometimes cannot be trusted.

D. British sailors coined the phrase in the late 1600s.

E. As the air declines, it becomes warm and dry, which is stable.

F. The Weather Network has a tip for working out how far away a storm is.

G. That's the most reliable way to predict the next display of nature's temper.

The secrets of successful listening

"When people talk, listen completely." Those words of Ernest Hemingway might be a pretty good guiding principle for many managers, as might the saying by Zeno of Citium, a Greek philosopher, "We have two ears and one mouth, so we should listen more than we say." {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

Some firms use a technique known as a "listening circle". {#blank#}2{#/blank#} In such a circle, only one person can talk about the issues they face at a time and there is no interruption. A study cited in the Harvard Business Review found that employees who had taken part in a listening circle then suffered less social anxiety and had fewer worries about work-related matters than those who did not.

Listening has been critical to the career of Richard Mullender, who was a hostage (人质) negotiator, dealing with everything from suicide (自杀) prevention to international crimes. He defines listening as "the identification, selection and comprehension of the key words". {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Plenty of people think that good listening is about nodding your head or keeping eye contact. But that is not really listening, Mr Mullender argues.

A good listener is always looking for facts, emotions and indications of the speaker's values. Another important point to bear in mind is that, when you talk, you are not listening. The listener's focus should be on analysis.

{#blank#}4{#/blank#} One approach is to make an assessment of what the other person is telling you and then check it with them ("It seems to me that what you want is X"). {#blank#}5{#/blank#} The fundamental aim is to build up a relationship so the other person likes you and trusts you, Mr Mullender says.

A. It is vital to all effective communication.

B. However, a listener needs to speak occasionally.

C. For people like listening to others.

D. That gives the other party a sense that they are being understood.

E. Therefore, a listener shouldn't just listen.

F. In it participants are encouraged to talk openly and honestly.

G. For people like being listened to.