In Stressful Times, Make Stress Work for You
These are stressful times. Fortunately, we can actually use that stress to improve our health and well-being. Over a decade of research suggests that it’s not the type or amount of stress that determines its impact. 1.. But how can we change our stress mind-set?
Step 1: Acknowledge Your Stress
Labeling your stress consciously and deliberately moves neural activity from the amygdala — the center of emotion and fear — to the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for executive control and planning.
In other words, when we take a moment to acknowledge our stress, it moves us from operating from a fearful, reactive place to a position where we can be thoughtful and deliberate. 2..
Step 2: Own Your Stress
3. We only stress about things that we care about. By owning our stress, we connect to the positive motivation or personal value behind our stress.
Try completing this sentence about whatever was specifically stressing you out in step one: ''I'm stressed about… because I deeply care about…''.
Step 3: 4.
Connecting to the core values behind your stress sets you up for the third and most essential step: using stress to achieve your goals and connect more deeply with the things that matter most.
Ask yourself: Are your typical responses in alignment with the values behind your stress? Think about how you might change your response to this stress to better facilitate your goals and your purpose.
There's so much happening right now that we can't control. 5.. Some psychologists argue that true transformative change can occur only during stress or crises. The trick is to channel your stress as energy to make the most of this time.
A.Use Your Stress.
B.Control Your Stress.
C.The next step is to welcome, or ''own'', your stress.
D.Instead, it's our mind-set about stress that matters most.
E.However, there are also unprecedented opportunities amid the fear.
F.It's also a chance to understand what's at the heart of your personal stress.
G.But later, we will be able to ask ourselves how we each responded to this crisis.
Most people aren’t good at creative problem solving for two reasons: First, they are not trained in how to be creative. Second, they don’t understand group strength well enough to harness(驾驭) their power to maximize group creativity.
A key element of creativity is applying existing knowledge to a new problem. The more people getting involved in solving it, the more knowledge there is to work on it. Unfortunately, research shows that the traditional brainstorming methods fail to achieve that goal. When groups get together to exchange ideas, they actually come up with fewer ideas overall than if they each had worked alone.
To fix this problem, you should consider the two stages of group problem-solving: divergence(分散) and convergence(集中). Divergence happens when the group considers as many different potential solutions as possible. Convergence happens when the various proposed solutions are evaluated and reduced to a smaller set of candidate solutions to the current problem.
The essential principle of group creativity is that individuals working alone diverge, whereas group members working together converge. In groups, once a member states a potential solution, it makes others think about the problem similarly. That is why groups working together diverge less than individuals working alone.
Therefore, be aware of when to diverge and when to converge. For example, early in the problem-solving process, have group members work alone to write down statements describing the problem. Then get them back to discuss their descriptions. The group discussion will lead everyone to accept one or a small number of these statements to work on—this is healthy convergence.
When starting to generate solutions, you again want divergence. Have people work alone to start. Then collect people’s initial ideas and send them around to others and allow the divergence to continue as everyone individually builds on the ideas of other members. Finally, let the group discuss the resulting ideas. This discussion will gradually lead the group to converge on a small number of candidate solutions.
This simple method works effectively, because it respects what individuals and groups do best.
1.We can infer that the traditional brainstorming methods ______.
A.enable people to form more ideas together
B.greatly encourage group creativity
C.actually limit group creativity
D.prevent people’s involvement in the problems
2.According to Para. 4, when a member presents an idea, others tend to _____.
A.think the other way round B.follow his way of thinking
C.be more confident in their own ideas D.be less willing to share their own ideas
3.What should group members first do early in the problem-solving process?
A.Discuss the problem. B.Put down group statements together.
C.Simplify the problem. D.Write down their individual descriptions.
4.What is the best title for the text?
A.A simple way to make group thinking more effective
B.Difficulties in organizing group thinking
C.Differences between divergence and convergence
D.Advantages of group thinking over individual thinking
The killdeer, a small bird known for its high-pitched call, could lead to the cancellation of one of Canada’ biggest music festivals.
The first hint of trouble for Ottawa’s Bluesfest, an outdoor festival that draws around 300,000 people each year, came last week after workers at the site found one of the birds. It had laid four eggs nearby, effectively claiming the main stage area as its nesting ground. “This is one of the most challenging problems we’ve been presented with, but we feel we can work through this,” said Mark Monahan, executive director of the festival.
“Anything that changes the schedule has a major effect, so we’re taking it very seriously.” The discovery meant that government officials rushed to protect the nest and the eggs, hiring a security guard to watch over them 24 hours a day. Environmentalists were also brought in.
“We don’t know when the eggs might hatch,” said Monahan. What is known is that the young killdeer will likely leave the nest soon after they are hatched, leading many to hope that the eggs hatch in the next day or so.
The festival is now seeking permission from Environment Canada to relocate the nest some 50 meters away or take it to a wildlife center. Moving the nest would also ensure the bird and its young would be protected during the festival’s 11-day run, said Monahan. It’s highly likely that the festival’s thousands of attendees would cause huge problems for the bird and its eggs.
Monahan was confident that the festival would go on as planned, however. “Most of the people we’re working with are looking for a positive solution,” Monahan said. “There is no one saying that the festival can’t go on.”
As news of the dilemma spread, it left residents divided. Some supported the bird, saying that moving the nest might result in the eggs being abandoned. Others expressed annoyance that protecting the eggs of the small bird, which is widespread across North America, was risking an annual festival that contributes millions of dollars to the local economy.
The killdeer’s tendency to build its nest in open fields or flat areas has caused issues in other areas of the US: earlier this year, construction on a health center in Wisconsin was temporarily stopped after a killdeer and its four eggs were discovered.
1.Which is TRUE about Bluesfest?
A.It is the first music festival in Canada.
B.It is an important event for music lovers.
C.It is a music festival held every two years.
D.It is a challenging outdoor activity in Ottawa.
2.What was especially challenging for Bluesfest this year?
A.Pressure from the government.
B.Disagreements with the public.
C.The need to protect the bird’s eggs.
D.The lack of experience in hosting the event.
3.How did the festival plan to deal with the problem?
A.Move the nest to another place.
B.Ask government officials for help.
C.Seek advice from environmentalists.
D.Hire security guards to protect the eggs.
4.What was Monahan’s attitude toward hosting the festival?
A.Negative. B.Indifferent.
C.Unsure. D.Positive.
Pangolins (穿山甲) are the most trafficked (非法交易) mammals in the world and are facing extinction. To draw attention to these scaly (有鳞片的), anteater-like animals, a new wildlife documentary, Eye of the Pangolin, is attempting a unique way to inspire action and conservation. Partnering with the non-profit organization Pangolin. Africa, the documentary was made available on YouTube in May 2019. The intention is to reach communities wherever the Internet is available, especially African communities, who live near the animal’s habitats.
Over two years, the documentary crew traveled to South Africa, Ghana, Central African Republic and Gabon in search of the four unique species of pangolin, which has never been achieved before. Filmmakers Bruce Young and Johan Vermeulen say that they went into the shoot knowing relatively little about pangolins, but grew to respect and appreciate the animals. Getting close to the creatures over two years was a crash course in these secretive creatures. Johan Vermeulen said, "One thing however that might seem unimportant is that they are actually quite fussy eaters. You would think they would eat any type of ant, but they all prefer a specific type ant."
Pangolins are hunted illegally across Africa for their scales, which are used for traditional medicine, and their meat. In April 2019, Singaporean customs officials conducted two separate seizures of 24 tons of pangolin scales, which equals to the death of 69,000 pangolins.
Though the documentary focuses less on the trafficking of pangolins, and more on the animals in their natural habitat, the aim of the documentary is to inspire viewers around the world to call for action to end trafficking and protecting these unique creatures.
Filmed on location in South Africa, Ghana, Central African Republic, and Gabon, this powerful documentary is the story of two men on a mission to get all four species of African pangolin on camera for the very first time.
1.What is the purpose of the documentary?
A.To study the situation of pangolins.
B.To collect fund to protect pangolins.
C.To raise awareness of pangolin protection.
D.To propose setting up pangolin reserves.
2.What is the meaning of the underlined word “fussy” in paragraph 2?
A.Picky. B.Messy.
C.Showy. D.Heavy.
3.What’s the documentary mainly about?
A.The illegal trade of pangolins.
B.The medical function of pangolin's scales.
C.The life of pangolins in their natural habitats.
D.The efforts of Pangolin, Africa to save pangolins.
4.Where is the text most likely from?
A.A brochure. B.A diary.
C.A novel. D.A magazine.
If you are crazy about paintings, you shouldn’t miss the following four famous masterpieces which have stood the test of time.
The Arnolfini Portrait
Jan van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait, an oil painting on wood produced in 1434, in which a man and a woman hold hands with a window behind him and a bed behind her, is undoubtedly one of the masterpieces in the National Gallery, London. This painting is as visually interesting as it is famed. It is also an informative document on fifteenth-century society, through van Eyck’s heavy use of symbolism—while husbands went out to engage in business, wives concerned themselves with domestic duties.
The Starry Night
Vincent van Gogh painted The Starry Night, oil on canvas(帆布), a moderately abstract landscape painting of an expressive night sky over a small hillside village, during his 12-month stay at the mental hospital near Saint-Rémy -de-Provence, France between 1889 and 1890. When the Museum of Modern Art in New York City purchased the painting from a private collector in 1941, it was not well known, but it has since become one of van Gogh’s most famous works.
The Harvesters
The Harvesters is an oil painting on wood completed by Pieter Bruegel the Elder in 1565. It depicts the harvest time which most commonly occurred within the months of August and September. Nicolaes Jonghelinck, a merchant banker and art collector from Antwerp, commissioned this painting. The painting has been at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City since 1919.
Guernica
Guernica, a large black-and-white oil painting, was painted by the Cubist Spanish painter, Pablo Picasso in 1937. The title “Guernica” refers to the city that was bombed by Nazi planes during the Spanish Civil War. The painting depicts the horrors of war and as a result, has come to be an anti-war symbol and a reminder of the tragedies of war. Today, the painting is housed at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofaí in Madrid.
1.Which of the following paintings was produced earliest?
A.The Arnolfini Portrait B.The Starry Night.
C.The Harvesters. D.Guernica.
2.What do we know about the painting The Starry Night?
A.It was painted on wood in oil.
B.It wasn’t widely recognized before 1941.
C.It described the painter’s life in hospital.
D.It was given away to the museum by a collector.
3.Who created the painting describing the tragedy of war?
A.Pieter Bruegel the Elder. B.Vincent van Gogh.
C.Jan van Eyck. D.Pablo Picasso.
阅读下面短文，根据所给情节进行续写，使之构成一个完整的故事。
Emily White came to the world 17 years ago, with so many birth problems in her body. Some of her organs, bones and muscles were out of shape. No one expected her to survive long. She did make it but with her strange body figure, everyone could recognize her, even from a distance.
In her hometown, a yearly outdoor performance was held in the school auditorium(礼堂). It had been performed for so many years and actually had become one of the most important events of the Christmas season for many of the town's people.
Many people tried out each year for it, but so many were turned away. It can only include the most excellent people in the field.
Emily had a beautiful singing voice. Last year she went to Mrs. Owens- her music teacher to ask to join in the performance. Without letting her sing, Mrs. Owens took a glance at Amy's body and said, "Child, you are just not suitable. Everyone would stare at you and that would make you uncomfortable. It would make them uncomfortable, too.”
Without singing a single note, Emily was sent back through the door of the choral room. Hurt and upset, she decided never to try out again. But Mrs. Owens then retired.
This year, there came a new music teacher, Mr. Butler. He heard about Emily and suggested that she have a try.
Emily didn't want to be rejected again, so she hesitated about it. As Emily struggled, the door was pushed open and Mr. Butler called, “Emily, you're next." Kind of nervous as she was, Emily did as Mr. Butler told her to. Mr. Butler sat by the piano to keep Emily company. When Emily finished her testing performance, she thanked Mr. Butler and knew the result would be posted on the door of the choral room the next day.
Emily couldn't sleep that night. She tossed and turned in bed one thousand times. She was suffering from the feelings that she didn't fit and the great need to be accepted. By the next morning, her stomach was even in pain due to stress.
注意：1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2. 至少使用5个短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3. 续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
4. 续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1：
Emily hurried to the choral room and anxiously glanced at the list on the door.
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Paragraph 2：
Finally, the day of performance came.
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