How to prepare for exams?

    Here are some tips you can read with your child.

    The first step in preparing for examinations is to set a fixed time each day to study and a schedule to say when to start the revision and for which subject. The plan should include how many chapters to revise and how many worksheets (活页练习题) to work on. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Parents who do not know the examination schedule can search “exam timetable” to see the official examination schedule. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    The second thing is to decide on the place to study. Some need total silence in a library before they can concentrate while others like to have some background music like in the cafeteria, {#blank#}3{#/blank#}So there is no need to tell your child to change the study place if he is producing the desired results.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}For lessons, pupils must participate in lessons and discussions actively. For exercise, work on the simple ones in the textbook. For theory, pupils can use the mind map method to summarize the facts.

    At last, be smart. Focus on chapters that are the core of the subject or difficult chapters. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Next the most effective way to revise is to use an active approach.

B. Making good preparations counts.

C. The mind map can help you a lot in your revision work.

D. Your child has to be self-disciplined (自律的) to follow the plan.

E. It is not necessary to read from the first to the last page.

F. The best time to start revision is one or two months before the examination.

G. Both are alright as long as your child is comfortable with it.

    Most people would like to keep a healthy diet during the holiday season. There are many social events to celebrate—we love to look our best when we're there, and we don't always look our best with bloated(肿胀的) stomachs and pained expressions on our face after having too many cookies, candies and pies. We also need healthy food to provide us with the energy necessary to go to all of these parties with a big smile on our face, gift in hand, and enthusiastic attitude in heart. Starting the New Year with some healthy habits in place, rather than a long list of things to change, can also add momentum (动力) towards reaching other goals. The unfortunate reality is that many of us have a hard time with healthy eating during the holidays.

    The holiday season is when we bring out candies, cookies, and all the other party foods! It's easy to eat too much of the wrong thing. It's also the time of year when people cook really delicious food in abundance: turkeys, roasts, hams and other great foods are the centerpieces of feasts that tempt(引诱)us to eat more than we need. The holiday season is also a busy and stressful time of year. We're rushing too much, spending too much, and letting perfectionism and stress take hold of us all too often. This can lead to emotional eating.

    People who are celebrating often consume more than they would in their regular lives. When celebrating the holidays, there are several occasions where people might relax their dietary standards a little, in the name of celebration. These celebrations, however, can be rather plentiful during the holiday season, and the indulgence(放纵) can add up.

    Fortunately for all of us, there are some pretty effective ways to deal with holiday eating problems, and they're mostly under your control. For instance, adding certain spices (香料) to your foods can not only make them more flavorful which can lead you to feeling more satisfied as you eat, but these spices can bring added health benefits as well. Additionally, try mindful eating, a healthy eating strategy that has been gaining popularity lately. By eating mindfully, you can eat less and enjoy your food more, relieving stress in the process. It's win-win-win!

    Sometimes the best defense is a good offense. If you plan ahead, you can head off temptation for unhealthy holiday eating. For example. If you're going to a party or an event where you know you'll be tempted, eat some healthy food first so you won't show up starving. Learn your triggers(诱因), and have strategies for combating them.

注意：每空一词。

    A recent study points out a so-called “gender-equality paradox(性别平等悖论)”: there are more women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) in countries with lower gender equality. Why do women make up 40 percent of engineering majors in Jordan, but only 34 percent in Sweden and 19 percent in the U.S.? The researchers suggest that women are just less interested in STEM, and when liberal Western countries let them choose freely, they freely choose different fields.

    We disagree.

    From cradle to classroom, a wealth of research shows that the environment has a major influence on girls' interest and ability in math and science. Early in school, teachers, unconscious prejudice push girls away from STEM. By their preteen years, girls outperform boys in science class and report equal interest in the subject, but parents think that science is harder and less interesting for their daughters than their sons, and these misunderstandings predict their children's career choices.

    Later in life, women get less credit than men for the same math performance. When female STEM majors write to potential PhD advisors, they are less likely to get a response. When STEM professors review applications for research positions, they are less likely to hire “Jennifer” than “John,” even when both applications are otherwise identical—and if they do hire “Jennifer,” they pay her $4,000 less.

    These findings make it clear that women in Western countries are not freely expressing their lack of “interest” in STEM. In fact, cultural attitudes and discrimination are shaping women's interests in a way that is anything but free, even in otherwise free countries.

    “Gender-equality paradox” research misses those social factors because it relies on a broad measure of equality called the Gender Gap Index (GGI), which tracks indicators such as wage difference, government representation and health outcomes. These are important markers of progress, but if we want to explain something as complicated as gender representation in STEM, we have to look into people's heads.

    Fortunately, we have ways to do that. The Implicit Association Test (IAT) is a well-validated tool for measuring how tightly two concepts are tied together in people's minds. The psychologist Brian Nosek and his colleagues analyzed over 500,000 responses to a version of the IAT that measures mental associations between men/women and science, and compared results from 34 countries. Across the world, people associated science more strongly with men than with women.

    But surprisingly, these gendered associations were stronger in supposedly egalitarian (主张平等的) Sweden than they were in the U.S., and the most pro-female scores came from Jordan. We re-analyzed the study's data and found that the GGI's assessment of overall gender equality of a country has nothing to do with that country's scores on the science IAT.

    That means the GGI fails to account for cultural attitudes toward women in science and the complicated mix of history and culture that forms those attitudes.

    The word “pub” is short for public house. There are around 60,000 pubs in the U.K. One of the oldest pubs, Fighting Cocks in St. Albans, Herts, is located in a building that dates back to the eleventh century.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} People talk, eat, drink, meet their friends and relax there. Pubs often have tow bars, one usually quieter than the other, and many have a garden where people can sit in summer.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Groups of friends normally buy “rounds” of drinks.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}It is sometimes difficult to get served when pubs are busy: the bar staff will usually try and serve those who have been waiting the longest at the bar first.

    Most pubs offer a complete range of beers, local and imported, with German, Belgian and French beers being in demand.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}As a matter of fact, pubs sell soft drinks, too.

    The legal age to purchase alcohol is 18 in the U.K.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}But they must be with an adult and the adult orders it.

    It is illegal to sell alcohol to someone who already appears drunk. Fourteen-year-olds may enter a pub unaccompanied by adults if they order a meal. Children may enter a pub with their parents until 9 p.m., which lets families enjoy reasonably priced pub meals together. And it also allows pubs to play their traditional roles as community centers. Customs in British pubs differ from those in American bars. In most pubs in the U.K., you must go to the bar to order drinks and food and pay for your purchases immediately.

A. Most people might think pubs are places where people simply drink alcohol.

B. The person whose turn it is will buy drinks for all the members of the group.

C. People aged 16 and 17, with the license's permission, may have only one glass of wine during a meal.

D. In the salon bar the atmosphere is quieter and there are fewer people.

E. Children can go into pub gardens with their parents.

F. Pubs are an important part of British life.

G. British people like drinking beers in pubs.

    In 2015, motorcyclist Robert Jan kicked off a three-month solo(独自的) ride from the Netherlands to India.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} One day when he was watching a TV show about a man documenting his travels across countries, Robert decided he wanted to do something similar. About a decade later, he got his driver's license. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Two years after that, Robert began a solo motorcycle trip from his home in the Netherlands to India. He traveled more than 10,000 miles in just under three months.

    Robert, who is today a 30-year-old graphic designer (平面设计师), began planning the trip in September 2014, shortly after his graduation from Willem de Kooning Academy. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} He secured the necessary paperwork, got cash, and supported the adventure through a graphic design job. He and his blue motorcycle—which he nicknamed Perry—took off in late August of 2015.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} He met fellow travelers along the way and slept outside, all the while writing about his experience on his blog, Going Eastwards.

    But the three-month adventure also came with its challenges. Sometimes, he would go miles without spotting a much-needed gas station, and money eventually grew scarce(不足的). {#blank#}5{#/blank#} In the end of November, Robert finally reached Mumbai, India. There, he shipped his bike back to Houten in the Netherlands and put himself on a plane back home.

    “Took 81 days to get there,” he posted on Instagram, “back within 18 hours.”

A. And in 2013, he bought his first motorcycle.

B. From a young age, Robert has been an adventurer.

C. By the time he arrived, all the beds were occupied.

D. They helped Robert get the motorcycle out of the freezing cold water.

E. Riding through 14 countries, Robert met a diverse set of people and landscapes.

F. Closer to the end of the trip, the motorcycle broke down—but a local helped him out.

G. He spent the next several months reading stories of motorcycle adventurers like Paul van Hoff and Gordon G. May.

Fear of missing out

    It's Friday night. While many of your friends may celebrate by going to the movies or checking out a restaurant that's just opened, you've decided to spend this highly cherished night of the week by yourself. The night is yours to enjoy. If you think this sounds relaxing, you're not alone. At least for a little while until you start wondering if you've made the right choice. A doubt begins sinking in as you imagine the fun your friends are having in your absence. Suddenly, the quiet evening you planned for yourself begins to lose its initial appeal, and you find your excitement quickly turns to anxiety.

    Fear of missing out, or FOMO, is a common feeling. A recent study defined FOMO as “the uneasy and sometimes all-consuming feeling that you're missing out — your peers are doing or in possession of more or something better than you.

    Fear of missing out often develops as a result of deeper unhappiness. Research has found that those with low levels of general life satisfaction are more likely to experience FOMO. Further worsening the all- too-common feeling is the rise of social media use. Active users of social media have a higher probability of comparing their achievements with others'. Rather than finding happiness through their own experiences, they begin worrying that theirs aren't objectively better than anyone else's.

    The consequences of FOMO are significant and far-reaching. One study conducted with first-year university students found that fear of missing out was associated with fatigue(疲劳), stress, and sleep problems. Furthermore, in a 2018 study of 1,045 Americans aged 18-34, nearly 40% of participants admitted going into debt just to keep up with their friends' lifestyles, often through increased spending on food, travel, clothes, and electronics.

    So how can you overcome the fear? Begin with gratitude. By reflecting on what you already have, you're less likely to put valuable mental energy in worrying about what you don't. Another alternative?

    Embrace(欣然接受) JOMO, or the joy of missing out. JOMO allows you to shift your focus to what you really want at any given moment, without feeling concerned about what those around you may be doing. So, turn off your phones and tablets, and engage in something you enjoy while resisting the urge to upload and share it. While this may take practice and perseverance(坚持不懈), the results are well worth the effort.

    By embracing the joy of missing out, you make room for all the benefits that come from spending time with yourself and the inner wholeness you contain; you create space to keep up with the things you wish you had more time for — gardening, reading, resting, exercising, cooking, learning, or simply being; and you see yourself in new ways and unearth the talents, fears, joys and quirks that lie beneath the surface.