Little－known facts about germs

    Germs are everywhere and in so many forms.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} There are some steps you can take to help prevent the spread of germs in your personal space.

    Computer keyboards can have more germs than a public toilet.Keys and spaces on a keyboard are main breeding grounds for bacterial and viral growth.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Clean your keyboard regularly with specialized wipes for electronics，and remove dust with an air duster.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} While it seems to make sense that covering your toothbrush would protect，the opposite is the case.With a cover on your brush，a more humid environment is created and more likely to encourage growth of germs.Wash your toothbrush when done，and allow it to air dry.Make sure you store it away from the toilet.

    Hand sanitizer(洗手液) does not always replace soap and water washing.Hand sanitizer is great when you're not near a sink，and need to clean your hands.But given the choice of a spritz of sanitizer or good old soap and water，choose the soap and water route.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}  Lather up and scrub hard for at least 20 seconds，and wash between your fingers and the back of your hands.Don't skimp with the hand sanitizer either—cover the same hand areas as for soap and water.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} If you freeze foods that you suspect might be spoiled，freezing them will not kill the germs already in the food.Freezing prevents further bacterial growth，but when you thaw it out，the bacteria continue to increase and pollute your food.

A．Freezing food does not kill germs.

B．Try not to eat outside especially in summer.

C．Exposure to germs can lead to many illnesses.

D．Toothbrush covers do not protect your brushes from bacteria.

E．There are a lot of effective ways to get rid of germs in your house.

F．Soap and water are only a better germ fighter when done properly.

G．Some reports show five times more germs on a keyboard than on a public toilet.

    Ways to Take More Vegetables into your Meals

    Recently, an increasing number of health problems among people have been reported. Surveys show that most of us get around two to three kind of vegetables a day, falling far short of the five kinds that nutrition experts advise. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Sneak vegetables into breakfast and lunch

    One reason we don't get enough vegetables is that many of us consider them merely as a rely a side dish to dinner. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Follow the golden rule

    Half of your dinner plate should be filled with vegetables.   {#blank#}3{#/blank#}This is the perfectly balanced dinner, according to experts.

      {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Half a cucumber, a whole tomato,or a long, fresh carrot are just as pleasant to eat as an apple.It may seem unusual, but who cares? A whole vegetable makes a terrific snack.

    Move your vegetables to the top shelf of the fridge

    As long as they're bagged properly, they'll last as well as they would in a vegetable fresh container. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}In particular, keep quick-to-eat vegetables such as baby carrots, tomatoes and cucumbers as accessible as possible.

    Go exotic

    Every week, try to buy a slightly foreign vegetable, perhaps something that you've never eaten before.
A. Eat vegetables like fruit
B. Take more unusual vegetables
C. More importantly,now they'll be seen easily and attractive.
D. Here are some health-boosting ways to take more vegetables into your daily diet.
E. That leaves a quarter of the plate for rice or noodles and a quarter for meal or fish.
F. If you really want to eat more vegetables, you can also eat them at breakfast and lunch.
G. When you want to eat more vegetables, make sure your fridge will be full of vegetables.

    Every person wants to achieve the goals set at the beginning of a new school year. The following are some ways to help you achieve your goals.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}When it comes to choosing your goal, ensure that it states precisely what it is that you want to achieve. Don't generalize. Your goal should involve both what you want to achieve and the effort that you will put in to achieve it. 

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}Having a copy of your goal makes it real. You can write you goal in a journal you'll be keeping all year, or you can write it on a poster and stick it on your desk so that you can look at it each day. Every time you remind yourself of your goal, you're training your brain to accept the effort needed to make the goal happen.

    Try various methods. One may not work while another may be just right for you. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Some people learn best through writing, some through listening and reading, and some through talking it through. Once you realize which way works for you, you can work better and achieve your goal easily.

    Think positive. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}Negative thoughts are unhelpful and they became roadblocks. Stop telling yourself you can't and start telling yourself you can, and talk about you are doing rather than hoping you can do something. Always believe that you're capable, even if you have difficulty along the way.

    Reward yourself along the way. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}Occasionally, when you've achieved certain “milestones” in your goal plan, take a break and reward yourself. Watch a movie, visit a friend who lives across town, go to the ice cream shop with your friends or buy yourself something new.

A. Write down your goal.

B. Choose specific and realistic goals

C. Be aware of the way you learn best

D. Remember that everyone makes mistakes

E. Set aside some time each week for exercise

F. All study and no reward can break your spirit

G. If you're not in the right state of mind, you won't be able to succeed.

Some Steps for Breaking Through Your Comfort Zone

    A comfort zone is a self-­imposed boundary where a person will refuse to push past. Doing so usually fills him or her with nervousness and anxiety. So let's talk about breaking out of this comfort zone.

    Get information. To break through your comfort zone you need to first educate yourself. Your goal here is to find out about whatever skill you're pursuing. You'll talk to people who have done the same thing.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} And you'll check out articles on the Internet about this subject.

    Have a plan. After educating yourself it's important to create a plan of action. With this step you're going to write down a step ­by­ step blueprint for how you're going to break through your comfort zone.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Then you create a plan to get to each level. In this plan you need to create benchmarks. These are mini ­goals that put you one step close to pushing past your comfort zone.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} This is an important step because the people in your life will keep you on track. You want them to give you that "push" as you're pushing your boundaries. They will make it hard for you to quit because you know you'll look foolish if you did.

    Remain positive. There will be times when you experience a negative outcome, something that shakes your confidence and makes you feel scared. The trick is to not let anything prevent you from blasting past the point of comfort. Recognize that you will have negative outcomes.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Keep expanding your comfort zone{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Find stuff that you never imagined you would do. Like teaching a class on the subject that once filled you with fear. Or you could work on a related skill.

A. Look for new challenges.

B. You can't become an overnight success.

C. Have people around you know of your plan.

D. You start with the easiest thing to do.

E. It's a natural part of the process.

F. You won't have time to think about your fear.

G. You'll read books on the subject.

    Many effects of a lack of sleep, such as being bad-tempered and not working at your best, are well known.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}Regular poor sleep puts you at risk of serious medical conditions, including obesity and heart disease, and it shortens your life expectancy.

    How much sleep do we need?

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}But some need more and some less. What matters is that you find out how much sleep you need and then try to achieve it. As a general rule, if you wake up tired and spend the day longing for a chance to have a nap, it's likely that you're not getting enough sleep.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}An occasional night without sleep makes you feel tired and irritable( 急躁易怒 ) the next day, but it won't harm your health. After several sleepless nights, the mental effects become more serious. Your brain will- fog, making it difficult to concentrate and make decisions. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

How to catch up on lost sleep?

    If you don't get enough sleep, there's only one way to compensate (补偿) —getting more sleep.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}If you've had months of limited sleep, you'll have built up a big sleep debt, so expect recovery to take several weeks.

    Starting on a weekend, try to add on an extra hour or two of sleep a night. The way to do this is to go to bed when you're tired and allow your body to wake you in the morning (no alarm clocks allowed!).

A. What happens if we don't sleep?

B. Why is a good sleep vital for a long life?

C. It won't happen with a single early night.

D. If it continues, lack of sleep can affect your overall health.

E. However, the cost of all those sleepless nights is more than those.

F. It's now clear that a solid night's sleep is essential for a long and healthy life.

G. Most of us need around 8 hours of good-quality sleep a night to function properly.

    China has been the birthplace of many of the world's greatest inventions. It was, for example, the first country to produce paper money. Before the invention of paper money and coins, people used many different kinds of things for buying and selling{#blank#}1{#/blank#}This exchange of goods and services for other goods and services is called bartering.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}In 1200 BC, people in China began to use shells (贝壳) as money. Usually the shells used as money were very small. This made it easier for people to carry money over long distances, and allowed for trade to develop between different parts of the country.

    In the years which followed this invention, many other countries around the world began to do the same.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    The next development was in 1000 BC, when China started making bronze and copper shells. It wasn't long before the Chinese made round coins out of metal.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}By 500 BC, metal coins had begun to appear in countries like Persia and Greece, and later in the Roman Empire.

    About 1,000 years later, leather was used as money in China, and in 806 AD, the first paper banknotes were produced by the Chinese people.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. People also began collecting foreign coins as souvenirs.

B. During that time, for example, buying a chicken might cost several potatoes.

C. It was still many years before paper currency appeared in Europe.

D. However, as economies developed, such exchanges became impractical.

E. They also used tiny shells as money for buying and selling.

F. As time went by, trade between countries increased.

G. The first coins often had holes in them so that people could string them together.