Your home can be a dangerous place, but by making it safer you can prevent accidents. The kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom are where most accidents happen. These can include falls, fires, poisoning, cuts, hot water burns, and electric shocks.

People may slip when the floor is wet, so make sure the floor is kept dry.

Always cut away from your body when you use a knife.

Follow instructions for all electrical appliances.

Unplug all appliances after use.

•Never smoke in bed.

•Keep a lamp near the bed.

•Have a telephone near the bed, especially when you’re feeling ill.

•Don’t run electrical wires under carpets.

•Don’t plug in an electrical appliance or use one while standing in water.

•Don’t use a hairdryer near a bath containing water.

•Keep the bathroom floor dry.

•Make sure that your hot water heater is set at a low temperature.

Fires can cause terrible damage to your home and terrible injuries to people. If there is a fire, your first priority is getting everyone out of the house safely, and then calling for help. Never go back into a burning building to save your things.

•Buy clothes, curtains, and toys that do not burn easily.

•Use heaters very carefully, as they can set objects on fire.

•Place them away from furniture.

•When cooking, do not let oil touch the fire or other sources of heat.

•Check electrical wires a number of times each year to make sure they are in good condition.

•Switch off your gas and electricity when you will be away from home for a long time.

•Make sure your home is equipped with fire extinguishers.

Homes are not always safe places for young children.Being curious, they may stick their fingers or objects into dangerous places and end up suffering from electric shocks or getting burnt. In addition, they may try to eat or drink anything they can find, whether it is food or not. For these reasons, it is important to make your home safe if you have young children about.

•Keep matches out of the reach of children.

•Store all cleaning materials in a locked cupboard.

•Never leave a small child alone in the bath.

•Put covers over electrical outlets.

•Keep all medicines out of the reach of children.

The elderly present special challenges, as they may have trouble moving about and can be seriously hurt in falls. If you have an elderly person in your home, you may need to take some extra measures to make your home safer.

•Make sure that passages within the home are kept clear.

•Put non-slip bath mats in and next to the bath and shower.

•Put handrails along passage walls and in the bathroom.

【推荐1】I was sitting at my kitchen table the other day with a pen, notebook, calculator and a pile of bills. I was doing my monthly budget. There were bills for electric water, rent, insurance, the car payment, the phone bill, and the cable bill. Plus money needed to be set aside for food, gas, clothes and hopefully a little left over to save for those unexpected bills that always seemed to show up. When I was done, I shook my head, closed my eyes and thought of a time long ago when I would regularly get treasures.

When I was a boy, we lived across the road from Camp Caesar. It held week long camps all through the summer and my grandma who I lovingly called “Nanny” worked in her big kitchen. I remember slipping there getting a smile, a hug, a kiss and a hot roll from Nanny. Then she would always take deep in her pockets and pull out a treasure, a shiny quarter. She would give it to me and I would run down the hill to either get an ice cold can of coke from the pop machine or I would head to the camp’s swimming pool where I could buy a warm cup of cherry coke for 15 cents and a tiny 10 cent bag of chips from a stand. I took my time because it was always a big decision. It was nice too feeling so rich for a few minutes.

Looking back now I can see that the real treasure was not the quarter at all. It was the love with which Nanny gave it to me. I would have still visited her at work every day if I had never gotten a single quarter. It was her smile, hugs, and kisses that were priceless in my heart then and now.

The old saying is true, “With your work you can make a living, but it is with your love that you make a life.” You can always welcome love into your heart, soul and mind. And you can always share your love with others. It is that one treasure that lasts forever.

【推荐2】There are countless articles online that will give you advice on how to deal with homesickness. Here are some of my favorite tips that have helped me.

    1    

Learn to cook with your friends or find new places to eat. Eating with friends makes things so much better. It’s a way to bond and an excuse to get closer. You even get rewarded for it.

Call home—but not every minute of every day.

I saw so many online sources express it in this way, “Talk to your parents—but not too much. Call home—but not too often.”     2     However, it’s a problem when you’re talking to them so much that it’s stopping you from having real experiences in this new place.

Explore.

    3     It took me a while to do this because I focused so much on my studies, but it’s really important. To me, being homesick was a sign that I needed to organize my time better. So I could take a break and go for a walk.

Find a way to deal with your emotions.

I got a guitar during my sophomore (大学二年级) year of university because that’s what I like doing when I’m by myself. I keep a journal because it makes me feel better and productive if I need time by myself but I don’t want to feel lonely.

An outlet(发泄方式) for your emotions can take any shape or form. Whatever it is, it’s important that you find a way to deal with your emotions. Don’t avoid them, but try to understand them.     4     If you focus too much on the negatives, you might forget to see the positives.

Talk to someone.

There is nothing wrong with finding someone to talk to about how you’re feeling.     5     Or it may mean talking to a counselor(顾问) if that’s what you think you need.

There is nothing wrong with being homesick. It’s normal. It’s part of the experience. We all feel things differently, but everything you learn while you are abroad will help you grow.

【推荐3】Gifts are more than just an economic exchange of goods. They signal things about the giver, receiver and their relationship. It’s a sort of language that lets us communicate without words. Use the following little tricks to make gift-giving perfect.

Aesthetics (美学) of a gift shouldn’t be ignored and neither should presentation be. All the time and energy you spend picking the perfect thing for your receiver will fall short if you do. A gift should delight. It should be unique and easy on the eyes. So receivers often prefer appearance over function. This is why gift stores are filled with such gifts. These items are often low in their usefulness yet they make most gifts.

The price isn’t necessarily a priority. Even costly items can be considered as cheap sometimes. It’s better to pick an item from the top of an inexpensive sort than one at the bottom of an expensive sort. Even if you’re paying the same for both choices, the former will be received well.

A gift that feels heavier tends to be considered as of higher quality. Giving someone a hardcover book is better than giving them a paperback as a gift. You may also package it in a relatively heavy box. Anyway, pick items that aren’t too light.

Don’t present your gift without the wrapping (包装). It shows effort and devotion. Presentation expresses special thought on behalf of the giver. When they receive a gift, receivers process the exchange and analyze the giver in terms of thoughtfulness, which is communicated through gift presentation. If you want your receiver to think of you as thoughtful, make sure you wrap it in a good wrapping paper. Bad presentation can ruin a great gift. So it matters making a present more attractive to your receiver.