【推荐2】Have you ever noticed that lessons tend to repeat themselves? Does it seem as if you married or dated the same person several times in different bodies with different names? Have you run into the same type of boss over and over again? If you don't deal well with authority figures at home, then you will have an opportunity to deal with them out in the world. You will continually draw into your life people who need to enforce authority, and you will struggle with them until you learn the lesson of obedience(服从).

You will continually attract the same lesson into your life. You will also draw to you teachers to teach you that lesson until you get it right. You may try to avoid the situation, but they will eventually catch up with you. The only way you can free yourself of difficult patterns and issues you tend to repeat is by shifting your perspective so that you can recognize the patterns and learn the lessons that they offer. To face these challenges means you need to accept the fact that something within you keeps drawing you to the same kind of person or issue, though that situation or relationship may be very painful.

The challenge, therefore, is to identify and release the patterns that you are repeating. This is no easy task, since it means you have to change, and change is not always easy. Staying just as you are may not help you advance spiritually, but it certainly is comfortable in its familiarity.

Rising to the challenge of identifying and releasing your patterns forces you to admit that the way you have been doing things isn’t working. The good news is that by identifying and releasing the pattern, you actually learn how to change. In order to facilitate your process of change, you will need to learn the lessons of willingness and patience. Once you master these, you will most likely find the challenge of identifying and releasing your patterns far less intimidating.

1. The words “lessons tend to repeat themselves” (Para. l) probably mean that ______.

A．you tend to marry and date the same person

B．there are the same authority figures home and abroad

C．you tend to run into the same problems in your life

D．there are many difficult patterns and issues in your life

2. You could stop attracting the same lesson into your life when you ______.

A．try your best to avoid those situations

B．recognize the patterns and learn the lessons that they offer

C．get the courage to face those challenges

D．change your attitudes toward life

3. The author’s attitude towards the idea of staying just as you are is ________.

A．intimidating

B．disapproving

C．supportive

D．cautious

4. The author thinks that willingness and patience______.

A．make your change become easier

B．help you to identify your old patterns

C．challenge you with difficult patterns

D．arouse your inner desire to change

【推荐3】Self-worth is defined as the level of importance you place on yourself.     1     Everything we think about, all the emotions we feel, and even the way we act is a product of self-worth. Here are some ways to boost your self-worth.

Make a list of your talents or skills. Everyone has something good to offer. Humans possess and can learn mind-blowing (令人兴奋的) abilities. What can you offer?     2     List all of these. When you identify your abilities, you suppress (抑制) your weaknesses and give voice to your strengths.

Pardon yourself.     3     Learn from all your past mistakes. If you keep feeling guilty or ashamed, you will never have a healthy sense of self-worth.

Take risks. The only reason you haven’t done something great for yourself is that you are still wondering whether you should do it. Never be afraid to take risks to become a better version of yourself.     4    

    5     Healthy habits can be as (感染性的) as negative ones. Surround yourself with the change you wane. Be with people who have overcome the doubts they had about themselves and, like you, are also on a journey to recognizing self-worth.

A．Try to become a healthy person.

B．Stop doubting your abilities and just go.

C．Surround yourself with healthy people.

D．What are those cool things you do effortlessly?

E．You have to forgive yourself for your shortcomings.

F．Many people’s sense of self-worth is rooted in their achievements.

G．It is an essential part of humans and controls how we see ourselves.

【推荐2】Short Naps Have Major Benefits for Your Mind

For a time, research was both for and against napping. Many studies showed mood and cognition benefits from midday rest,     1     That left some experts hesitant to offer advice on naps. More recent research, though, has clarified that different types of naps have different effects. A number of scientists now think the sweet spot is about 20 to 30 minutes.

Short naps do indeed have cognitive benefits, especially significant improvements in certain kinds of memory and information-processing speed.     2     No one talks about mood enough, but, tired people tend to be angry people.

    3     Even a short, 10-minute nap will refresh a person. If someone does a little longer, the cognitive benefits last a little bit longer as well, and that’s why half an hour, give or take a bit, has emerged as a good nap span.

Cognitive benefits do show up after naps that extend past 30 minutes, and those benefits last longer.     4     Even though the unevenness can pass relatively quickly and not everyone gets it, many people find it unpleasant.

Longer naps are also associated with some health problems. Those who napped for more than 30 minutes at a time were 23 percent more likely to be obese than those who didn’t nap at all. They were also more likely to have a combination of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and other health issues.     5    

A．and that makes it easier to wake up.

B．It doesn’t take much sleep to see these improvements.

C．A nap also simply makes many people feel better.

D．But it is probably a disease that causes the extra napping.

E．yet others found links to poor health, especially in older adults.

F．In addition, long naps reduce the body’s ability to lose fat on a diet.

G．But longer naps let a person increase uneven feeling on waking.

【推荐3】Many people, including doctors, parents, teachers, and others, are concerned about the health risks of cigarette smoking. According to the latest statistics, active smoking kills 400,000 smokers in the United States each year, and secondhand smoke kills 53,000 nonsmokers in the United States each year. Equally disturbing is the fact that 80% of smokers have their first cigarette before they are 18 years old.

Before trying to solve the health problems related to cigarette smoking, an important question to ask is why people start smoking to begin with. Some factors involved in beginning to smoke are environmental. For example, family history influences whether or not a child becomes a smoker.

When parents smoke, they model smoking behaviour, and children often copy what they see their parents do. Many people, especially young people, have their first cigarette because of peer pressure. They want to be accepted in their social group, and if smoking is part of the group's activities, young people will begin to smoke in order to be accepted into the group.

Personal factors also affect whether a person will begin to smoke. People with tendencies toward risk-taking behaviour are more likely to start smoking than people who tend not to take risks. Outgoing people are also more likely to become smokers than shy people are. People also take up smoking to release stress, or to help themselves lose weight. Finally, people, especially young people, begin to smoke because they believe smoking makes them appear mature, self-confident, and independent.

When we understand the reasons why people become smokers, we can help smokers become nonsmokers again. We can also help nonsmokers remain lifetime nonsmokers.

1. If one wants to quit smoking, what should he do first?

A．To ask parents and teachers for help.

B．To figure out why people start smoking.

C．To find a comfortable environment.

D．To strengthen the resolve to stop smoking.

2. According to the text, which is not the reason for starting smoking?

A．Parents’ influence.	B．Peer pressure.
C．Personality.	D．Addiction.

3. Which of the following statement is not true?

A．More people die from active smoking than passive smoking.

B．Most of smokers start smoking before 18 years old.

C．One can be easily accepted by a social group if he smokes.

D．Outgoing people has a stronger tendency to become smokers than shy people.

4. Where will you probably read the passage?

A．Health magazine.	B．Research report.
C．Fiction story.	D．Newspaper.