Ways to Create Calm in Your Daily Life
Most of us need some space for calm in our lives. A few simple minutes can create much needed moments of calm.1. You can use these skills to create calm in your busy schedule.
Go walking. Walking is perfect and you can do it well anywhere. Simply walking and taking in the view is stress reducing. 2. It makes room for new ideas to take root. Appreciate nature. When we think of nature we think of getting out into the open air, and that’s great if you can. 3. Actually , nature is everywhere. Find a park or a small patch (小块地) of great green, or just stick your head out of the window! You have many ways to appreciate nature.
Listen to music. Many people listen to music to calm themselves down. Music actually lifts us out of ourselves. Discover what music works for you. 4..
Do some activities. Certain activities like yoga and tai chi need quiet focus. 5. They are good for the body, mind and spirit. Classes are a good place to begin, but once you learn the skills, you can practice anywhere: home, school or even on the road.
Try out some of these ways and you’ll soon be practicing “moments of calm”.
A. But what if you are in the city?
B. Notice the animals around you.
C. They are perfect for active calming.
D. Music is a way to express the way that they are feeling.
E. It’s a time to get stressful thoughts out of your head.
F. With enjoyable music even work can be “music to your ears”.
G. You don’t have to find a mountain to sit on, or empty your mind of all thoughts for hours.
Parents can cut the chances of their children getting fat simply by keeping them longer at table. Just three minutes extra at a family mealtime could help prevent child obesity. Research found that among poor families, the extra minutes at mealtimes made great improvement of a normal weight for the youth. The factors are likely to be communication and the importance of a scheduled mealtime.
Dr Barbara Fiese said, “Children, whose families have a 20-minute meal over four times a week, weigh less than kids who leave the table after 15 to 17 minutes. Over time, those extra minutes per meal add up and become really powerful.”
The researchers studied 200 family mealtimes, testing the effects of factors and mealtime behavior of families with children in primary school. They found that families, who said that shared mealtimes were an important part of family life and had special meaning for them, were less likely to have an obese child. Similarly, families, who talked more together and interacted more positively during the meal, were more likely to have healthy-weight children.
Teaching low-income families how to make the most of family mealtimes was a wise idea. Dr Fiese said, “This is something we can target and teach.” She added, “It’s also important to recognize the increasing differences of families and their sometimes complex living arrangements that may challenge their abilities to plan ahead and arrange a single time to communicate with each other.”
Families in poorer US neighborhoods faced a lot of problems, including poor access to healthy food. But even so, regular high quality family mealtimes made a difference to the children’s weight. Dr Fiese said, “Three to four extra minutes per meal will make a healthy weight more possible.”
1.According to the passage, to have a healthy-weight child, parents should ________.
A. limit the food for each meal B. increase their eating time
C. shorten the mealtime D. make them eat healthy food
2.How much time is reasonable for one meal according to the passage?
A. About 15 minutes. B. About 17 minutes.
C. About 20 minutes. D. About 30 minutes.
3.Why does a longer mealtime make a difference to a normal weight?
A. Because people can have a good rest as they eat meals.
B. Because people can have time to choose what they like.
C. Because people can use mealtimes to do other things.
D. Because people can communicate more in the scheduled time.
4.What does Dr Fiese suggest to us?
A. Parents should not communicate during mealtime.
B. It’s better to add three to four extra minutes to one meal.
C. Four meals a day will make a difference to the children’s weight.
D. Twenty extra minutes per meal make a healthy weight.
For thousands of years, people thought of glass as something beautiful to look at. Only in large glass windows. Glass bottles and jars that hold food and drink allow us to see the contents. Glass is used to make eyeglasses, microscopes, telescopes, and many other extremely useful and necessary things.
Until the Second World War, most of the glass used for optical (光学的) instruments was imported from Europe. However, during the war Americans could not get European glass, and they were forced to make their own. Therefore, new kinds of glass were developed that had been previously unknown. These new effects were achieved by mixing other chemical elements with the sand. Some of the new glass is very strong and can resist many kinds of shocks. Legend (传说) has it that a kind of very hard glass was invented by a Roman who showed his discovery to the Emperor. When the Emperor saw the glass he feared that it would become more valuable than gold and sliver, making his treasure worthless. Therefore, he had the glass-maker killed, and the secret was not discovered again for hundreds of years.
In the present century, safety glass was invented for use in modem cars and planes. Safety glass is made by placing a layer of plastic between two layers of plate glass. When the outside layer of glass is broken, the pieces do not scatter (散开) and injure people. Some glass of the type is strong enough to resist bullets (子弹).
Although nowadays plastics have replaced glass under conditions where glass might be easily broken, there are new uses being developed, for the greatest advantage of glass is that its component (组成的) parts are inexpensive and can be found all over the world.
1.As time goes by glass________.
A. is seen as more than decoration (装饰).
B. is used to make things look pleasant
C. is regarded as transparent (透明的).
D. is widely used to replace steel in making containers
2.Why did Americans make their own glass during the Second World War?
A. They were able to make a new kind of glass.
B. The glass made in Europe was out of date.
C. They refused to use the European glass.
D. The war blocked the way of glass import.
3.Why does the author tell us the legend?
A. To prove the Roman was the first inventor of hard glass.
B. To give some information about hard glass.
C. To support the Americans were as clever as the Romans.
D. To provide a historical event concerned with hard glass.
4.Why are new uses of glass being developed?
A. Because glass is not as safe as plastics.
B. Because glass is not as strong and durable as plastics.
C. Because glass is cheap and easily found.
D. Because glass is more and more widely used.
We moved to Elmont in 1956. I was 4 years old. Elmont was a wonderful place to grow up. There were lots of kids, great schools and we had a big yard. My father, Nicholas Denaro, believed that grass was not just to look at, but that children were meant to play on it. We played games and badminton there. A white fence separated our backyard from a small wood. My friends and I jumped the fence and entered the woods.
My father had the most amazing hand. He could fix anything. He gave those amazing hands to his son, my younger brother, Frank, who also became handy around the house. But my father saved his green fingers for me. He grew flowers, tomatoes, strawberries and figs（无花果） and he shared his love of gardening with me.
Fourteen years ago, I went to a local nursery and bought a fig tree for Dad for Father’s Day. My mother, Bridget Denaro, called it the best gift I could have given him. He planted it exactly in the middle of the front yard.
He loved that tree and enjoyed delicious figs every year, except just after Sandy hit in 2012. He was so disappointed when cold weather just after the super storm froze all the remaining figs.
In 2015, my father died of aspirating pneumonia(呼吸性肺炎) at 97. We sold our family home of 61 years last year. We left behind Dad’s tree, full of figs waiting to ripen. We considered taking it with us, but decided that his Father’s Day fig tree belonged to Elmont. The new owner generously allowed me to take some branches so that I could have a precious reminder of my much-loved father and the Elmont home.
1.What can we learn about the author from the first paragraph?
A. She grew up in a city. B. She liked climbing trees.
C. She had a happy childhood. D. She was naughty and stubborn.
2.What did Father teach the author?
A. How to garden well. B. How to play games.
C. How to color fingers. D. How to fix everything.
3.Why did Father fail to enjoy figs in 2012?
A. He was ill in hospital. B. The cold hit the fig tree.
C. The tree didn’t bear figs. D. He moved to another city.
4.What is the author’s purpose in writing the text?
A. To show her love of figs. B. To share her childhood.
C. To remember her father. D. To introduce her experience.
Have you ever lost your car on a parking lot? You don’t have a clue where your car is after shopping. Then you start walking around clicking on your car keys so the alarm goes off. It can be annoying, especially on a hot sunny day.
No, you needn’t install (安装) an expensive GPS system to keep track of your car. That’s too expensive. You would need to pay a monthly fee to use it.
But is there a way to track your vehicle without spending a fortune? Yes, now there is! A California-based company has created a tiny device that works with your smartphone, which could be exactly what you’re looking for!
What is it?
It’s called TrackR. It is a state-of-the-art tracking device the size of a coin. It’s changing the way we keep track of the important things in our lives.
How does it work?
It’s easy! Install the free TrackR app on your smartphone, connect the app to your device and you’re ready to go! Simply attach TrackR to whatever you want to keep an eye on. The entire process of setting it up only takes 5 minutes or less.
You can attach it to your keys, briefcase, wallet, your latest tech gadgets and anything else you don’t want to lose. Then use the TrackR app to locate your missing item in seconds.
If you forget where you have parked your car, pull out your smartphone and open the TrackR app. Tap on the “find device” button on the screen and the app will tell you the exact spot of the last known location of the TrackR.
What else can I do with TrackR?
The device is small and unnoticeable enough that you can attach it to your pet. Put it on their collar, and the issue of searching for them when they run away to nearby places will be over! You’ll never waste a minute searching the whole house for it.
TrackR even comes with a double-sided glue (胶水) so you can stick it to your laptop or under your bike seat. Track down and punish the thieves who steal your expensive things!
How much does it cost?
You’re probably thinking that this device is very expensive. False! TrackR only costs $29! That’s a small price to pay for peace of mind, isn’t it?
Where can I buy one?
You can buy it directly from the company’s website by clicking here https: //buy. thetrackr. co/gu/special- offers/15/.
1.From the passage, we learn that TrackR can ________.
A. take good care of your pets at home
B. help you locate your important things
C. work better after you pay monthly fee
D. track your wallet through GPS system
2.This passage is mainly developed by ________.
A. providing statistics B. giving examples
C. answering questions D. making comparisons
3.Where is this passage most likely taken from?
A. A research report. B. A website.
C. A personal blog. D. A journal.
假定你是李明，你所在的武术社正在招收新队员，请给你的留学生朋友 Eric 写封邮件邀请他加入，内容包括：
1. 练武术的好处；
2. 武术社的活动；
3. 报名方式截止日期。
注意：1. 词数 100 左右。2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
参考词汇：武术 martial arts
Dear Eric,
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Yours，
Li Ming
