【推荐1】How to Make a Chinese Hot Pot

Eating a Chinese hot pot is a very common experience. People gather around the pot, dipping their food, waiting for it to cook, mixing their own seasonings（调味品）and enjoying each other’s company. Below are some easy steps to make a Chinese hot pot at home.

Firstly, prepare a large pot of soup.    1    ; thus, just feel free to make your own. A simple soup can be made by boiling water with the addition of meat bones or fish heads and a mixture of herbs, seasonings and vegetables.

Then, cut a variety of meats and fish into thin slices.     2    . Choose any food that you enjoy. Some common choices for Chinese hot pot include thin pieces of beef, pork, lamb and so on. You can make your hot pot using the more traditional method of using the meats and seafood that are local to you. Meanwhile, select, wash and prepare some vegetables.     3    . Mushrooms of all kinds are also common to Chinese hot pot preparations.

    4    . At home, a single hot pot would work well up to 4-8 people depending on the size of the pot. Make sure everyone is sitting in a circle and has easy access to everything on the table. Prepare a separate small dish for each guest to mix their seasonings.     5    !

【推荐2】Most of us don't have millions of dollars to go door- to-door to persuade people to care about climate change. But most of us do have parents.    1    Because if we can't convince the people who love us more than anything in the world to take action on climate， who can we convince?

It might be a hard conversation. If you do accept this challenge, here are a few suggestions     2    If you've ever used any poisonous terms, please get rid of them from your vocabulary. Otherwise, you 're making everything worse.

Share a couple of informative articles on the topic. Bill McKibben's article in Rolling Stone is great and very readable.    3    The most important thing for them to understand is that on our current path we may no longer have a climate that allows for stable，secure societies within the lifetimes of today s children.

Once these unpleasant facts are laid out, making it clear that you aren't blaming them for this. Your parents likely made their decisions with a strong sense of morality and social responsibility, and could only make those decisions based on the information they had at the time.    4    But now that you have provided the new information, talk about how it warns them, and all of us，to behave in new ways.

Encourage them to buy environmentally- friendly goods and services as much as possible. Talk to them about trying to avoid using non-renewable resources and make it clear that this will not be enough.    5    

【推荐1】Life is full of surprises and events that sometimes change one’s daily routine. Some of them might be good and pleasant.     1     The unexpected events may cause you anxiety and stress. So you need to find some ways to be less affected by them.

    2     Even if you live the same kind of life, doing the same things day after day, there could be unexpected events. So you need to realize that such events can’t be avoided and you need to be prepared for them. In this way, you’ll find it easier to deal with whatever happens in your life.

Have a positive attitude. Not all unexpected events are bad.     3     For example, even getting fired for work could finally turn out well, as you might find a more satisfying job.

Always focus on the present moment, learning from it and making use of new changes that come your way. In other words, make the most of the present moment, instead of thinking about what you lost, or how bad the situation is.     4    

Introduce small changes into your life.     5     You can try eating a different breakfast or drink tea in the morning instead of coffee, or do things that you usually do, but in a different way.

【推荐3】We’ve all been there—you’ve sent a message and it’s marked “read”, but you haven’t heard anything back. What’s the deal? While being left on read (已读不回) can be confusing, it’s also pretty common.     1     Here are a few tips.

Expect the best. Remind yourself that the person is probably just busy. Ask yourself if you actually know their schedule. There could be some time commitments you aren’t aware of. Here are a few other reasons for a delayed response.     2     They put their phone away to focus on work or school. They accidentally forgot to reply. Maybe they thought about what they wanted to say but didn’t actually text it.

Resist the temptation (诱惑) to double-text.     3     If you send a lot of follow-up texts, it’ll be hard for them to keep up and they might get stressed. Leave them with just one text to catch up on—the other person will probably appreciate your patience.

Read over your previous messages. See if there are any confusing texts that you need to clarify. It’s okay if you review your message again and notice that it might have been a little unclear—it happens!    4    

    5     Keep it out of sight and get some peace of mind. Don’t let it upset or confuse you. If you get your mind off any notifications, you’ll be able to brainstorm new ways to spend your time.

【推荐1】Teamwork Doubles the Strength

Admittedly, teamwork is literally important for any class or team to achieve its goals and objectives. Let me give three reasons why it is advantageous.

As individuals, we possess diverse talents, strengths, weaknesses and experiences. A team is just like a tapestry (织锦) that weaves what each of us possesses, resulting in an end product that is diverse yet homogenous (同种类的). As team members exchange thoughts and experiences, there can be more efficiency and effectiveness at problem-solving. This pooling of talents can also lead to greater innovation and success.     1    . It won the Premier League in 2016, to the utter disbelief of many soccer fans. Leicester City, previously regarded as the underdog of the League, displayed extremely impressive teamwork, which led to its unbelievable victory in soccer history.

Next, teamwork means members share the workload. When work is distributed and each of us in a team specializes in specific tasks, the stress on each of us is reduced and the completion of tasks before deadline is ensured:     2    .

    3    . Team members learn from more experienced members who may offer deeper insights and perspectives. Newer members may also contribute new ideas. Besides encouraging the sharing of knowledge and experiences, teamwork also develops soft skills like communication and interpersonal skills.     4    .

Some may think that working in isolation (单独) is more efficient since more time is taken when cooperating with others. For more talented individuals, working alone means being the star of a project.     5    . But, the loss of synergy (协同作用) that only team effort can generate may also prevent the team from reaching its full potential.