【推荐1】Ways to Develop Self-discipline

Five years ago, I was the heaviest I’ve weighed in my life. When I would run, I’d immediately get tired. The worst part is that I had no motivation to get healthier—until I threw my back out.     1     When I went to physical therapy (治疗), the young woman helping me pointed to my stomach and said, “we need to awaken these muscles.” From that point on, I knew I had to change. I had to think about how to develop self-discipline with eating and working out.

    2    But I eventually lost 30 pounds and have maintained a consistent workout schedule for the past five years. Of course, self-discipline is bigger than just physical health. Having discipline helps us grow, makes us reliable, and strengthens our moral framework. Here’s how to develop self-discipline.

Set clear end goals.     3     If we don’t set clear goals, we’ll float around like feathers in the breeze. If you want to be disciplined, set clear and measurable goals. Then display those goals where you’ll see them every day.

Do the small things. We all want big change quickly. It doesn’t happen that way, though. Self-discipline starts by performing small activities consistently. The small things add up to big results.     4     Every small act of faithfulness makes your self-discipline stronger.

Keep record of your progress. It’s pointless to have goals if you aren’t measuring whether or not you are moving toward them. When I don’t track my progress, I stop doing things I need to do and become lazy. It’s easy to lack discipline when you lose focus on where you’re going.    5    

A．It did take a lot of work.

B．I decided to take regular exercise.

C．Keeping track helps you stay on point.

D．We have to keep in mind where we want to go.

E．Occasionally, you may get results without effort.

F．I had shooting pains down my legs whenever I got up.

G．It may take time to see those returns, but stick with it.

【推荐3】When you’re put on the spot, it can feel like a sink-or-swim situation, which can be tense, stressful and pressurizing, especially when you deliver a public speaking.     1    

Adjust your use of language

When we feel ourselves to be on a stage, we sometimes use words that are cold, formal, and passive. We do this because we’re anxious and seek to establish authority. Let’s say you’re a doctor, and you’ re standing in front of a group of your peers. You might find yourself making statements like, “It is significant that doctors help solve this problem.”     2     When you say, “We must solve this problem,” you are speaking more simply and persuasively. The word “we” is more easygoing. When you use language like this, you get closer to actually solving the problem simply by directly pointing out that it is all of yours to solve.

Pose more questions

Questions are two-way interactions.     3     No longer are you alone “onstage” in front of your audience — you’re engaging in a dialogue. Even when you’ re making a statement, you can think of it as an answer to an unasked question. That in itself can give the encounter a conversational feel and lower the pressure you might experience. The technique makes the presentations more connected and conversational, allowing you to feel more relaxed. Just ask questions the audience might have and answering them.

Beware of the memorisation trap

    4     But memorisation also can come back to haunt us. Giving our communication the feel of a formal, over-rehearsed presentation, it can make us nervous as we struggle to remember a great deal that we’d thought of in advance of the actual conversation. Instead of rushing to memorise, try writing out what you’d like to say and then turning that into a short, bullet-pointed outline. Doing so allows you to think through the material in detail while giving you a brief structure that’s easier to keep in mind.     5    

A．You will become more connected with your peers.

B．Writing down what we might want to say can help.

C．You and others around you enter into a back-and-forth.

D．Here are three ways that you can improve your delivery.

E．Conversations are more casual and familiar than performances.

F．Language like this creates distance between yourself and others.

G．Using that structure, you can more confidently fill in the gaps as you go.

【推荐1】Diet containing lots of salt can contribute to increased levels of stress, a new study shows. Scientists found in studies of mice that a high-salt diet increased the levels of a stress hormone by 75 per cent. Experts hope the findings will encourage a review of public health policy around salt consumption, aiming at manufacturers reducing the amount of salt in processed food.

The recommended salt intake for adults is less than six grams a day but most people regularly eat about nine grams. This can contribute to higher blood pressure, which increases the risks of heart attacks, strokes and dementia.

While effects on the heart and circulatory(循环) system have been ascertained, little was known about the impact of a high-salt diet on a person’s behaviour. To study this, experts from the University of Edinburgh used mice, who ordinarily have a low-salt diet, and gave them high-salt food to reflect the typical intake of humans.

They found that not only did resting stress hormone levels increase, but the mice’s hormone response to environmental stress was double that of mice that had a normal diet. Salt intake increased the activity of genes that produce the proteins in the brain which control how the body responds to stress.

Experts say further studies are already underway to understand if a high-salt intake leads to other behavioural changes such as anxiety and aggression. Matthew Bailey, professor of Renal Physiology at the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Cardiovascular Science, said: “We are what we eat and understanding how high-salt food changes our mental health is an important step to improving wellbeing. We know that eating too much salt damages our heart, blood vessels(血管) and kidneys. This study now tells us that high salt in our food also changes the way our brain handles stress.”

1. What are the findings expected to bring about eventually?

A．Manufacturers adding less salt to processed food.

B．People debating the policy on public health.

C．Decreased levels of stress hormones.

D．Reduced amount of processed food.

2. What does the underlined word “ascertained” in paragraph 3 probably mean?

A．Ignored.	B．Restored.
C．Reduced.	D．Confirmed.

3. Which of the following may be a subject of further research?

A．What policy on salt should be.

B．How a high-salt intake affects blood pressure.

C．How much salt intake is appropriate.

D．Whether a high-salt intake causes anxiety.

4. What may be a suitable little for the text?

A．Most people regularly take in too much salt.

B．Mental health is important to improving well being.

C．Diet containing much salt increases levels of stress.

D．Less than six grams of salt a day is recommended.

【推荐2】When my dad was first diagnosed with cancer and had radiation, I pushed my folks to start eating more fresh produce and preferably organics. My mom really improved her cooking from the roasted slice of pork and frozen-veggies dinners that I had fallen in love with. Dad said he had never eaten so well.

My dad had been an IBM guy, who often said, “People never change,” but he became skilled in overall treatments and began to take well-informed control of his own course of action. I wasn't thinking too much of his changes, but he had survived cancer for over 10 years, constantly learning, running his charity golf events, doing a bit of travel, and always looking pleasant and smiling.

My dad and I decorated a farmhouse in 2012, and I started taking care of the orchard, shaping rows for crops and a herb garden, and learning to care for four red hens. Bringing farm-fresh food to my folks was a way I could contribute to dad's health as well as his enjoyment of life, take a little work off my mom's hands, and sit and chat about something other than cancer.

The idea for this business came from what we learned about the role of food in health. My dad’s doctor told him that eating fresh produce could help resist cancer. Dad helped me set up the farm and worked till just a few days before he passed. But all of what I do here is based on experience, research, and strong values.

We learned more than I ever wanted to know. But the goals of this farm developed as we learned, and here we have it: Produce with a purpose—fresh produce, grown for disease-fighting and preventive health value, delivered with easy but crazy—delicious recipes as well as support, encouragement, overall thinking and even a bit of humor.

1. What was the author's favorite food in the past?

A．Organic food.	B．Fresh vegetables.
C．Barbecued meat.	D．Fast-food meal.

2. What did the author think of his dad?

A．He was a stubborn senior.	B．He was crazy about adventures.
C．He was indifferent to his disease.	D．He was positive about challenges.

3. What inspired the author and his dad to start the farm?

A．The pressure of his mother.	B．The suggestions of a doctor.
C．The deadly cancer of his dad.	D．The great harvest on the farm.

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．A farm with a purpose.	B．A dream of my family.
C．The cancer of my father.	D．The value of fresh produce.