Questions you should ask yourself when you fail

    The more new things we try the more failure we are likely to have.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}. Experiencing failure can be a learning experience and an opportunity for a fresh start. A good way to begin this process is by asking yourself some tough questions.

⑴What can I learn from this?

    Take responsibility for what went wrong. OK, so it was not all your fault—but some of it was. Successful people don't make excuses or blame others. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} So you should look at the experience objectively(客观地).

⑵Do I need to acquire or improve some skills?

    Did the problem reveal some lack of skill on your part? How could you learn or improve those skills? Perhaps there are books or courses or people you could turn to. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

⑶Who can I learn from?

    Is there someone to whom you can turn for advice? Did a boss, colleague or friend see what happened? {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. Most people do not ask for help because they believe it to be a sign of weakness rather than strength. It's not. It shows that you are ready to learn and change.

⑷What will I do next?

    Now draw up an action plan. Will you try something similar or something different? Revisit your goals. Failure doesn't mean you have to give up; maybe you just need to change it in another way. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    Nowadays, more people lose their jobs and the prices of goods and services steadily increase.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} But where do I start? Everything I'm paying for is necessity. There's nothing I can cut down on.

    But if you take a careful and objective look at your bills and all the “stuff” you're paying for, you actually do not need a good majority of them. I've put together 5 tips that you can follow right now to reduce your costs.

    1）Cut Back on Eating out.

    Maybe you didn't notice eating out is one of the things at your budget and you can save so much money just by reducing the number of times you eat out.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} It's so much cheaper preparing food at home and healthier too. This does not mean that you should never eat out. You can choose special days to eat out like birthdays or anniversaries.

    2）Reduce Your Electricity Consumption

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} This will help reduce your electricity consumption. With CFLs (节能灯) you save so much on power. Also unplug appliances (家用电器) that you're not using.

    3）Cut Back on Magazine or Print Subscription (订阅费)

    Magazines are great but sometimes they come with articles that you don't really care about so you don't bother reading them.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Review your magazine or print subscriptions to determine which ones to unsubscribe from. You can also draw out a list of topics or categories you like reading about and search for free online alternatives where you can read about the topic of your choice.

    4）Cancel Your Gym Membership or Go for a Pay-Per-Use Plan.

    Exercise is important to stay healthy. In fact, you save more money when you stay physically fit than if you are in poor health. But there are more affordable ways to keep fit, if you exercise for health's sake and no as a body builder or something.

    Exercise at home or jog around your neighborhood. If you can't work out without an exercise trainer, try searching for exercise routines on You Tube. If you want to use gym equipment, then you can convert your gym membership style to pay-per-use.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    Of course, you don't need to practice all of these at once, but if you are really willing to cut down on those costs, then one of these will surely come in handy.

A. Start by turning off the lights you're not using.

B. They're so simple but the results are impressive

C. As an alternative, make more home-cooked meals

D. It's time for you to take action and do something about your bills

E. That way you pay only when you come to the gym to use the equipment

F. Invest in gym equipment to cut down recurrent costs of gym membership

G These days most of the information or news is available on the Internet for free.

    Finland is a small country of just 5.3 million people, but over three million saunas(桑拿浴). {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Finns have a sauna at least once a week. Saunas can be found all over Finland: in offices, factories, sports centres and hotel, and 2/3 of the people have one in their house.

    Some of the basic rules for using the sauna include not eating or drinking. Also, you can't wear any clothes or swimsuits in the sauna. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Men and women visit the sauna separately, unless they're members of the same family.

    Saunas have existed for hundreds of years in Finland. In the past, Finns dug holes in the ground and put heated stones in them. When water was thrown on the hot stones, they gave off a vapour.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Traditional type is the smoke sauna. We find smoke saunas mostly in rural areas. They're heated with burning wood. Once the room is hot enough, the fire is allowed to die and the room is ventilated (使通风) by letting the smoke out through a hole in the ceiling. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} With these, you simply turn on an electric stove an hour before you want to go in. This is seen as the safest and easiest way to heat the room.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Many think that they're important for your wellbeing (幸福). Finns believe that the sauna can treat a number of diseases. Having a sauna is also seen as a good way to relieve stress and tension.

A. Now there are several types of sauna.

B. That is to say, you have to go naked.

C. Why are saunas so popular in Finland?

D. Saunas play an important role in Finnish life.

E. Since then, saunas have been introduced to Asia.

F. However, the most common type is the electric sauna.

G. If you ever visit Finland, don't forget to have a nice, relaxing sauna.

    Kids and Food: Advice for Parents

    It is important for parents to know how to help their kids eat healthy. Here are a few easy ways:

    Parents control the supply lines. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Though kids may keep asking for less nutritious foods, parents should decide which foods are regularly provided in the house. Kids won't go hungry. They'll eat what's available in the fridge at home.

    Say goodbye to “clean-plate club”. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Lots of parents grew up under the clean-plate rule, but that way doesn't help kids listen to their own bodies when they are full. When kids feel full, they're likely to overeat.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Food preferences(喜好) are developed early in life, so try to offer different kinds of food. Likes and dislikes begin forming even when kids are babies. Parents may need to serve a new food on several different occasions(时机) for a child to accept it.

    Food is not love. Find better ways to say “I love you.” When foods are used to reward kids and show love, they may start to turn to food when feeling worried or unhappy. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Kids do as you do. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} When trying to teach good eating habits, try to set the best example.

    Choose nutritious food, eat at the table, and don't forget breakfast.

A. Start them young.

B. Rewrite the kids' menu.

C. Be a role model and eat healthy yourself.

D. Offer praise and attention instead of food treats.

E. Let kids stop eating when they feel they've had enough.

F. You decide which foods to buy and when to serve them.

G. Let kids choose what to eat and how much of it they want.

Tips to fight summer weight gain

    When we think of summer, most of us think of outdoor fun. So it seems like we should naturally lose weight over the summer—not gain it. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Lots of summer activities can work against our efforts to stay at a healthy weight. The good news is that it's easy to avoid problems if we know what to look out for.

    Get going with goals. When we don't have a plan, it's easy to spend summer moving from couch to computer, with regular stops at the fridge. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Just be sure to plan for some downtime so you can relax a little!

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} With school out, we lose our daily routines. If you don't have a specific job or activity to get up for, it's easy to sleep late, watch too much TV, and snack more than usual. Make sure your summer days have some structure — like getting up at the same time each day and eating meals at set times. Plan activities for specific times, like exercising before breakfast, for example. If you have time on your hands, offer to make dinner a couple of nights a week so your family can enjoy a sit-down meal together.

    Think about what and how you eat. Summer means picnics and barbecues — activities that revolve around an unlimited spread of food. Pace yourself. Don't overload your plate. Avoid going back for seconds and thirds. Choose seasonal  healthy foods like fresh fruit instead of high-sugar, high-fat desserts. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Stay busy. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} In addition to helping you avoid the cookie jar, filling your days with stuff to do can give you a sense of accomplishment. That's especially true if a dream summer job or planned activity fell through. Limit your screen time — including TV, computer, and video games — to no more than 2 hours a day.

A. Stick to a schedule.

B. Plan more activities.

C. Appropriate summer eating sets you up on the right track!

D. Most of us, however, don't take summer weight gain seriously.

E. In reality, though, summer isn't all about beach volleyball and water sports.

F. When we're bored, it's easy to fall into a trap of doing nothing and then feeling low on energy.

G. Avoid this by setting a specific aim, like volunteering, mastering a new skill, or working at a job.

    If you seriously and honestly take a look at how you think, act and respond to life, you will quickly realize that in most cases your actions and responses are from fear rather than from love and joy.

    Why is it so? {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Humans, unlike animals or plants, are able to image hundreds of different possibilities about our future. But we cannot decide which will really take place and therefore we often feel confused and worried about our future. However, if we were certain about one outcome, we could get rid of any anxiety or anger. This is possible, only when we move from fear based living to love and joy based living. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    The only way out is to be aware of our fears. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Then we can try taking baby steps and move up the uncertainty. When faced with any situation next time, try to change the habit of being you and try to act out of love. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} One step at a time, and try to change your habitual responses.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} They can be in a parent, a teacher or in yourself. Once you are able to develop unshakable faith in the process of life, you won't bother about the outcome of most things. Instead, you will let go of your fears and learn to enjoy the process of life.

A. And see how things change for better.

B. The best way to lose your fear is to develop love and faith.

C. Only after we have the awareness can we accept our current position and uncertainty.

D. But how can we go from fear to love?

E. The main reason for this is that the future is unpredictable.

F. So it is from the fearful unknowing background that we act.

G. The amount of uncertainty we can think up about the future is unimaginable.