If you think your vocabulary is weak, a little effort every day over six to nine months can go a long way in improving it. Here are some tips for increasing your vocabulary.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. You may be comfortable reading a particular part of the newspaper but make an effort to read different articles on every page. The editorial (社论的) page is highly recommended not only for vocabulary but also for structuring and presenting thoughts.

    Make it a habit to read a new book every week. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. You can consider becoming a member of the local library. Make a list of new words and look up their meanings in the dictionary.

    Watch English movies and television shows. It's an interesting way to enrich your vocabulary. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}.

    Use vocabulary cards. Vocabulary cards are used by students who are trying to learn many words in a short time. You can make your own cards by writing the word on one side and the meaning on the other side of a piece of paper. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}.

    Use the Internet. The Internet is an unlimited resource for reading material.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. You will come across plenty of material to read. The Internet will also introduce you to new words. Be sure to look them up in a dictionary.

A. Read the newspaper every day.

B. Everyone has his own way of choosing books.

C. Vocabulary is important for you to learn English well.

D. Pick up a topic you like and search for articles about it.

E. Besides, by doing this you can learn the correct pronunciation as well.

F. Flash cards are a convenient tool to use to learn new words in your free time.

G. It is not surprising that those who read a lot of books develop good vocabulary.

    The search for one of life's greatest goals, happiness, is what brings almost 1,200 students to one of Yale University's most popular classes ever. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}Psychology professor Laurie Santos teaches the class.

    One in four Yale undergraduate students has registered to take it. It has the largest class registration size in Yale's 317-year history. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}Santos says it is the hope that science can help students find peace among all the stresses and difficulties they face at college. "Students report being more depressed than they have ever been in history at college," she said.

    Social science research has led to many new understandings of how people find happiness, Santos says. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} she said of the students taking her happiness class.

    Santos said feelings of happiness are created through several things. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} She added that while many people may see money and possessions as goals in life, those things are not usually what make people most happy. School work for the happiness class, also known as Psyc157, includes showing more gratitude, performing acts of kindness and increasing social connections. Because of the popularity of the class, it has been made publicly available -- for free – on the website Coursera.

    The class is already helping Yale students like senior Rebekah Siliezar. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}"What's most pressing on our minds is grades, it's the next job, it's a potential salary after graduation," said Siliezar. Now, she said tries more to "focus on the present moment and the people around me."

A. It is the third-oldest university in the United States.

B. The class is called "Psychology and the Good Life"

C. She describes her mindset before taking the class

D. Therefore, why do so many students want this class?

E. They really want to learn those insights in a science-driven way

F. Happy people even make time to talk to people who work at coffee shops.

G. Among them are socialization, exercise, meditation (冥想) and plenty of sleep.

    The process of forgiveness can be a liberating experience. Interestingly, forgiveness can only occur because we have been given the gift of the ability to make choices. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} The choice of offering forgiveness develops along three steps.

    At step one you are filled with self justified anger. At some point in your life you have been hurt and you are mad at the person who you feel has wronged you. You blame the person committing the wrong. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} You have forgotten that you have a choice as to how you will react.

    The second step towards forgiveness emerges when after feeling angry with someone for a while you realize that the anger does not feel good to you. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} So you take steps to forgive. You may begin to see the problem from the other person's point of view or you may simply decide to let the problem go. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    The third stage of forgiveness comes after you have seen the beneficial results of forgiveness and you don't want to waste your precious life in discomfort. In this stage the choice is to work to either repair the relationship or let go of seeing the situation as a problem. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} At this stage you are aware that the length of time you experience the situation as a sorrow is primarily up to you.

A. If we want to forgive someone, no one can stop us.

B. We have the choice to forgive or not to forgive and no one can force us to do either.

C. In either case you decide to forgive because you have had some practice with it and see the benefit in your life.

D. It is their action and not your choice of response that you feel causes your anger.

E. In either case you are no longer angry and you have forgiven the person.

F. This could emerge in a situation where you are cut off by another car on the road.

G. It may be hurting your emotional balance or your physical health.

Habits to Make You a Happy Person

    Habits remain the same even if everything around us is changing fast. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} So they are beneficial to our achievements.

    However, positive habits are hard to develop. People fail and make mistakes when making changes and trying new things. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} That's just life and nothing to feel upset about. What you are supposed to do next is trying again, and develop the positive habits gradually. Here are three little habits that can make a big difference in your life.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} How you take care of yourself will make a difference in the quality of your life. The tiny habits of caring for your body and spirit will give you the energy to achieve your goals-plus increase your well-being.

    Don't forget to forgive others. Forgiving takes you one step closer to your happiness. Make a habit of not holding hatred(仇恨). It does nothing but hurts your own happiness and success. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Instead, you will be more likely to get relief and succeed.

    Encourage yourself to be curious(好奇的). There is no stage in life when we can't be learning something valuable. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. And as long as you follow your heart and your curiosity, you won't miss out on learning. The habit of being curious means you will always benefit from life.

A. Try to be healthy.

B. Never forget to take notes.

C. Trying things again will bring you happiness.

D. Forgiving yourself doesn't mean you are a loser.

E. As long as you live, there will be something to learn.

F. They will probably not succeed the first time they do it.

G. Good habits can bring us happiness and help us to achieve our goals.

Reading the world in 195 books

    In 2012, I set myself the challenge of trying to read a book from every country of all 195 UN-recognized states in a year. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. I created a blog called A Year of Reading the World and put out an appeal for suggestions of titles that I could read in English.

    The response was amazing. Before I knew it, people all over the planet were getting in touch with ideas and offers of help. Some posted me books. Others did hours of research on my behalf. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. Even with such an extraordinary team behind me, however, sourcing books was no easy task.

    But the effort was worth it. As I made my way through the planet's literary landscapes, extraordinary things started to happen. Far from simply armchair travelling, I found I was inhabiting the mental space of the storytellers. I discovered, bookpacking offered something that a physical traveller could hope to experience only rarely: it took me inside the thoughts of individuals living far away and showed me the world through their eyes. More powerful than a thousand news reports, these stories not only opened my mind to basic information of life in other places, but opened my heart to the way people there might feel. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. Through reading the stories shared with me by bookish strangers around the globe, I realized I was not an isolated person, but part of a network that stretched all over the planet.

    One by one, the country names on the list that had begun as an intellectual exercise transformed into places filled with laughter, love, anger, hope and fear. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. At its best, I learned, fiction makes the world real.

    Your children are watching you. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} According to the Health Program, developing healthy habits is an important part for your children. And when it comes to developing healthy habits, parents influence their children more than anyone else.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} What happens during those early years can influence children for the rest of their lives. This includes some eating and exercise habits. Children are very careful, even at a young age. Children watch what others do carefully and imitate the behaviors of those closest to them. As parents, you should do the following: {#blank#}3{#/blank#} If you do that, your children are more likely to be enthusiastic about developing theirs.

    Let your children see you taking care of your own physical health by eating fruit and vegetables. Talk to them about healthy habits in appropriate terms and at a proper time. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Computers, televisions and other forms of technology are a major part of life in the 21st century. Unfortunately, as the use of technology in the home increases, so does the time spent watching TV or playing on the computer. So as parents, you should also arrange the time for your children wisely.

A. Don't get rid of technology, but use it wisely.

B. Take part in physical activities and exercise regularly.

C. Be enthusiastic about developing healthy habits of your own.

D. Your actions are speaking to them louder than your words will.

E. Children prefer to imitate their parents rather than listen to them.

F. This can be helpful to teach your children to form good eating habits.

G. It's easy for the children to form their healthy habits when they are young.