【推荐2】If you are someone who suffers from exam anxiety (焦虑), know that you aren’t alone. There are things that you can do to try and reduce this.

Simply being aware of what is causing your anxiety can help to lessen exam anxiety. Take some time to think about what could be causing your anxiety.     1    

Most of the time, the key to reducing exam anxiety is preparedness. Make an early start on your revision. Starting six weeks before the examination is recommended.     2     Take enough time to do yourself justice.

Revision is about revisiting things you have previously learned, not teaching yourself a new topic.     3     Let’s say you struggle with English and you have no idea how to begin your revision, then an English teacher would be advisable.

Sometimes you feel very calm during the revision period, but panic (惊慌) sets in the night before.     4     You need to get enough sleep if you want to function properly during your exam. Use relaxation methods like meditation if you start to panic.

Maybe you have been fine the whole time, and you haven’t felt any anxiety.     5     Firstly, make sure that you do everything to keep you physically comfortable. Have you been to the toilet? Are you too hot or too cold? Then take some deep breaths. Remember that most people will be nervous; it’s natural. So just focus on your exam.

【推荐1】After a long day of taking your children around by their hand or in a pushchair, we don’t blame you if you’ve ever thought about keeping them on a leash (栓狗的皮带). You’re not alone , and it’s not a sign that you’re a bad parent.

Daddy blogger Clint Edwards spoke out about the prejudice (偏见) against child leashes by explaining why he put his young daughter on a leash during a recent trip to a farmer’s market. What he said on the Internet immediately received both praise and blame from readers.

“She’s a wild child and this thing has already kept her out of the road and from sticking her hand in an ice-cream machine,” Edwards wrote on his blog. “Sure, I get dirty looks from strangers. But I’m going to do whatever I can to keep her out of danger, even if it means a leash.”

“Parents of truly active and spirited children just get it, no explanation needed,” wrote one reader. Another said, “I used to be pretty judgemental about those things. Then I had kids. Keep on keeping on, man.”

According to the Scary Mommy blog, parents don’t depend on child leashes because of laziness or carelessness. In fact, the real reason behind leashes is one of the things every parent of young children wants you to know. “It’s easy for people to forget that parents aren’t just walking around with their kids all day long – sometimes they actually have to get things done,” Maria Guido wrote. “Sometimes food and other goods have to be bought, a letter has to be mailed, and general life things have to be done at a certain time. Imagine that!”

So the next time you feel sorry for putting your child on a leash, remember that it’s for their safety… and your peace of mind.

【推荐2】The tales and the tone vary, and the story-tellers are “journal influencers”, mostly young women reading their teenage diaries to audiences online. One influencer, Carrie Walker, draws 1. 2 million views for a half hour read online. And sharing secrets presents commercial opportunity: selling notebooks and pens on shopping website. or copies of diaries on auction (拍卖) website.

Sally Bayley of the University of Oxford, author of The Private Life of the Diary, regards sharing diaries on social media as the contrary of diary keeping. saying the journal is an internal territory, inseparable (分不开的) from privacy. Yet diaries have also long been shared. In the 19th century, when keeping a journal rose in popularity, diary-sharing then was “extremely common”. Diaries were read aloud or sent to friends. “That distinction between public and private really doesn’t hold at all, ” says Professor Huff. Some diaries served practical uses, sharing advice on self-improvement, pregnancy or childbirth. British women in a strange land often sent diaries back home. They were creating an extended family through these diaries.

Many journal videos also create a sense of community. They share stories of loneliness of struggles with body image or early romantic trouble. They make fun of the improper expectations of youth and the disappointments of adulthood, with the ear of sympathetic strangers.

The co-existence of secrecy and celebration was perhaps best understood by Anais Nin, a 20th-century French-born American whose diary was an exercise in self-creation. “I’m in my journal, and in my journal only. Nothing shows on the outside. Perhaps I don’t exist except as a fantastic character in this story. ”

And Nin published her journals. Its content won her fame that her fiction had not. Her confessional (忏悔的) texts broke through the thin screen between public and private. The diaries are a masterclass in broadcast secrecy.

“We write to taste life twice.” Nin wrote, “in the moment and in reflection. ” She spent her last years reading her diaries to crowds. Like today's influencers, she knew that reflection tastes much sweeter in company.

【推荐3】Adderall is the most popular among the “study drugs” on American campuses. Around 30 per cent of American students have taken “study drugs” at least once, and the higher-ranking the university, the more common it is.

Relatively speaking, prescriptions (处方) come cheap on campus. One Harvard undergraduate had initially turned up to the campus health center with depression. The psychiatrist (精神科医生) gave him a quick questionnaire, decided he had ADHD (多动症) and gave him Adderall, which he now uses almost daily. Another Harvard student, having suffered a spots-related head injury, approached a campus psychiatrist and was prescribed 20 mg of Adderall. Within weeks, he was taking as much as 200 mg a day (ten times the standard dose). He soon dropped out of school. After that, it was drink, hard drugs and yet more Adderall. Having gone through rehab (戒瘾康复), he’s now back at Harvard — five years older than his peers — and determined to get his degree.

One thing you can do after getting a prescription is “sell it to your friends who haven’t been so well trained in the theatre to get themselves a diagnosis”, an Ivy League undergraduate explains. “You make some money and have more fun and everyone benefits.” Many students think Adderall helps them focus, still and finish their work. Demand is always highest around finals, which is why it’s sensible to get orders early.

Psychiatrist Dr. Allen Frances, who helped shape the American Psychiatric Association’s definition of ADHD in the 1990s, says that while Adderall can be helpful in certain circumstances, with many patients,the clinically appropriate thing to tell them is “there’s not a lot wrong with you, just get on with your life”.

【推荐2】“We are what we eat”—or so the saying goes. From high-calorie meals to low-fat lunches, much of our health depends on what we eat. We know about the benefits of eating properly for our physical well-being, but food and cooking it is proving to be good for our mental well-being as well.

Some people are now advocating the therapeutic (治疗的）value of cooking food. It’s not just about the end result but the experience someone goes through.

TV chef and author Nadiya Hussain agrees that cooking is great for helping our mind. She loves to bake and became the champion of the TV show, The Great British Bake Off. She says that “Baking’s always been about therapy... It’s never really been about the cake.” And she thinks that baking is an important tool for our socialisation and mental health.

Certainly, creating some delicious food has helped some of us get through the recent lockdown; it’s helped take our mind off things and given us something to do. People have said that kneading dough (面团) to make bread, for example, has given them a sense of calm and control. Research has shown that doing creative tasks, like cooking, makes us feel happier.

Nicole Farmer, who studies how food impacts our biology, behavior and mental health, told BBC online that “cooking represents the shared human experience of food, and nurturing people through food, so I think that’s where it integrates opportunity into immediate positive emotions”.

Of course, cooking can be a very sociable activity and sharing the end result, a rewarding experience. Hopefully, as we start to mix with friends and family again, we can enjoy the benefits once more and put us all in the right frame of mind.

【推荐3】There’s a child-like joy that comes with ordering something online — whether it be clothes or kitchen facilities. We sit refreshing the postal service to see when our items will arrive, and we become overly excited, hopeful and anxious.

Ryan Howes, a clinical psychologist from Pasadena California, has interpreted this phenomenon as “anticipatory pleasure”. “A lot of people believe that placing that order and waiting for it does feel good. This is why people look forward to dinner reservations, hair appointments and yes, receiving packages,” he says.

But it’s not the purchase itself that brings about this happiness. Experts say there’s something about the anticipation of waiting that is exciting for those in need of change in their lives. “It can be helpful to anticipate good things in the future, ’’says Ryan Howes. “Waiting for a parcel can serve as a temporary distraction (分心) from the dullness of your life because it gives you something new to wake up to and get excited about.”

However, anticipatory pleasure isn’t always a good thing. While waiting, many are worried about their items arriving on time, appearing broken, or simply not living up to expectations. Even when our package finally arrives, you’ll find that initial excitement has probably waned. Howes cautions that comfort shopping is only a temporary fix. It’s just a distraction from bigger problems, but it hasn’t done anything to change the bigger problems. It only helps you escape from them temporarily.

“Many people often seek external solutions, such as luxury purchases or alcohol, as a way of feeling better quickly. However, a healthier long-term curing mechanism is to look inward and appreciate your life with gratitude. Real pleasure comes from taking action rather than wait passively.” Howes says.

So the next time you feel the urge to order and track something online, chew over it.