1 . We often reach a point in our life when we should be ready for change that will help us unlock our self-improvement power. However, there’s always something staring at us right under our nose but we don’t see it. The only time we think of unlocking our self-improvement power is when everything gets worst.

When do we realize that we need to change diets? When none of our shirts and jeans would fit us. When do we stop eating candies and chocolates? When all of our teeth have fallen off. When do we realize that we need to stop smoking? When our lungs have gone bad. We see the warning signs and signals when things get rough and difficult.

The only time most of us ever learn about unlocking our self-improvement power is when the whole world is falling apart. We think and feel this way because it is not easy to change, but change becomes more painful when we ignore(忽视) it, Change will happen, like it or hate it. At one point or another. we are all going to finally unlock our self-improvement power not because the world says so. But because we realize it’s for our own good.

Happy people don’t just accept change; they embrace it. Unlocking our self-improvement power means unlocking ourselves out of the box of thought that is just the way we are. It is such a poor excuse for people who fear change.

Jane always tells everyone that she doesn’t have the courage to be around groups of people. She heard her family tell the same things about her to other people. Over the years, that is what Jane has believed. Every time a great crowd come, she steps back and locks herself up in a room. Jane not only believes in her story, but lives it!

Self-improvement may not be everybody’s favorite word, but if we look at things in a different way, we might have greater chances of enjoying the whole process instead of counting the days until we are fully improved. Three sessions in a week at the gym would result in a healthier life. Reading books every day would build up knowledge. And only when we are enjoying the whole process of unlocking our self-improvement power will we realize that we’re beginning to take things light and become happy.

4 . Here is some advice to help you become good at a foreign language.

The most important factor（要素）is how much time you spend with the language. The more time you spend, the faster you will learn. This doesn't mean sitting in class looking out of the windows, nor listening to other students who don’t speak well. This means spending time on what you are learning-and enjoying it.

Listen wherever you are. Read what you are listening to. Listen to and read things that you like, things that you can mostly understand, or even partly understand. If you keep listening and reading, you will get used to the language. One hour of listening or reading is more effective（有效的）than many hours of class time.

Buildup your vocabulary you’ll need lots. Learn these words and phrases through your listening and reading. Read online, use online dictionaries, and make your own vocabulary lists for review. Soon you will see your new words and phrases elsewhere. Gradually（逐渐地）, you will be able to use them.

Choose passages that you are interesting to you, that you want to listen to and read. Find the words and phrases that you need to understand your listening and reading. Discover the language by yourself, like a child growing up. Take when you feel like it.

Do not worry about what you can’t remember, or can’t yet understand, or can’t yet say. You are listening and improving. The language will gradually become clearer in your brain, but this will happen at a time that you cannot control.

6 . Have you heard of Bed ZED which was built in 2002? It’s a new eco-friendly village（生态村）in the south of London. Bed ZED has done a great job of providing its villagers with a high level living while getting them to pay more attention to protecting the environment.

People in Bed ZED have done many things. They recycle their paper, plastic, glass and other daily things. They build many houses whose windows face south in order to get as much sunlight as possible. The rainwater is collected for use in the toilets. Also, the people there travel to work in shared cars or use public transportation（交通工具）if they work far away

Now, you may think it’s not easy to live such a life, but let me tell you. It’s not! It’s a way of life. We just have to say no to what is bad for the environment, and begin working on ideas to protect it. Life would be much more pleasant if villages like Bed ZED existed（存在）all over the world!

Thinking green is sometimes the most difficult thing to do, but not impossible! Bed ZED is an example of a growing number of buildings that are designed to be “net zero”, meaning they produce as much energy as they use.

7 . There are many ways to help improve your health like eating healthy food, talking exercise and getting medical help. But the easiest and cheapest way to improve your health is just to sleep eight hours or more every night.

The problem with sleep is that more and more people in the world are not sleeping enough. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over half the people in the world may be sleep-deprived (睡眠不足). Having less sleep not only makes people feel tired but also causes accidents. In the United States alone, sleepy drivers cause at least 100,00 traffic accidents a year. Also sleep problems can cause medical problems such as high blood pressure (血压).

Why are so many people sleep-deprived? Part of the reasons may be cultural. In the American culture, people put a higher value on work than on sleep. In fact, people who sleep a lot are usually seen as “lazy”. Also, you can sometimes hear some people say proudly that they only sleep four or five hours a night. It seems that the less you sleep, the more work you’ll do.

How do we teach these people to learn the value of sleep? Perhaps they may listen to the advice of Dr. James Maas, an expert in sleep. He says, “Sleep is like a credit (信用) card. When you sleep less, you are only borrowing time. You always have to pay it back.”

For those who value work more than sleep, they should listen to what a famous person once said, “Don’t think you will be doing less work because you sleep during the night. That is a foolish idea which is held by people who have no imagination. You will be able to do more.”

8 . Many of us eat to satisfy our need for delicious food. But because of the NCP (新型冠状病毒肺炎), many Chinese people are changing their eating habits.

Because of busy work, ordering simple and quick meals online is common for many young people in China. Zhang Yuan, a 30-year-old woman from Dalian, was one of them. She usually ate in the office and seldom cooked at home. But during the NCP outbreak, staying at home for a long time has changed her eating habit. Now, she can cook for herself. “Cooking by myself sometimes needs more time, but it helps me have a healthy diet,” Zhang told China Daily.

Instead of eating at fast food chains (连锁店) or restaurants, cooking at home has become a new trend. “Some people even regard sharing food videos on their WeChat as a special way to say hello to each other when face-to-face dinner is not possible,” noted China Daily.

In addition to cooking at home, many people also eat separately and change the habit of using serving chopsticks and spoons.

In China, eating together has been a kind of habit for centuries. For Chinese people, eating one’s own dish would be considered rude. They usually share several dishes and sometimes share utensils (餐具) to show their respect and closeness. Though it seems polite, it’s really risky (有风险的). According to World Health Organization, foodbome (食物传播的) diseases are quite common, and saliva (唾液) is one of the most common ways for them to spread. So many cities in China, including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, have already called on people to order separate meals.

Though these habits formed the pandemic (大流行), they are good for people’s health and safety. So we should keep them from now on.