2 . Listening to music perhaps is not the most obvious choice of relaxation.     1     The songs with 50 to 80 beats per minute allow the brain to learn and remember new facts more easily. Dr Emma Gray at the British CBT&Counselling Service in London said emotive pop and rock songs can produce a heightened state of excitement. The state is likely to improve creative performance in subjects such as English, Drama and Art. She believes students, who listen to classical music while they study, do better in math exams.     2    

Dr Gray’s research to examine the effect music has on studying found it important to choose the right music for the topic a person is studying. She said students, who listen to classical music with 60 to 70 beats per minute while they study, score on average 12 percent more in their math exams.     3     Dr Gray explained the left side of the brain is used to process information and solve problems.     4     The research found songs like We Can’t Stop by Miley Cyrus or Mirrors by Justin Timberlake develop logical thoughts and help students to learn and recall new facts.

Dr Gray said, “Music has a positive effect on the mind and listening to the right type of music can actually improve studying and learning.     5     Indeed, students who listen to music can actually do better than those who don’t.”

3 . What is heritage? The word can be difficult to define. Heritage is always something that is passed down by families or other groups for many years.    1     It can also be the customs, traditions, and values shared by groups of people. One way to think about heritage is to break it down into three groups. These are the tangible(有形的), the natural, and the intangible.

    2     It can include many human-made objects that hold cultural value. Some examples are national monuments and works of art. Many ancient sites are also part of this group. On a smaller scale, a family home can be part of an individual’s heritage.

Many parts of the natural world are also important to cultural heritage. This can include bodies of water, plant life, landforms and more. One example is the Nile River.    3     Efforts to protect natural heritage are key in many cultures.

The intangible group includes any part of cultural heritage that you can’t feel through touch. Maybe you’ve read about forms of dance, like Flamenco dancing. You might know about the music of Mariachi Bands or holidays like Eid. These are all examples of intangible heritage.     4    

Exploring your own heritage can be fun. It can help you learn about yourself, your family, and your ancestors. But it’s also important to learn about the heritage of others.     5     It can also lead you to find things you may have in common with others!

5 . It won’t sound like a big surprise when I tell you that kindness plays an important role in a person’s wellbeing. It can lead to changes like higher self-esteem(自尊心) and lower blood pressure. Even just witnessing acts of kindness can make us happier.

    1     “From giving away a cup of hot chocolate in a park to giving away a gift in the lab, those performing an act of kindness consistently underestimated how positive their receivers would feel, thinking their act was of less value than receivers perceived it to be,” states a study.

    2     Yet, why is there this difference between what we think someone will feel from an act of kindness versus what they do feel? Why do we underestimate the impact we have on others?

Many of us don’t have a real sense of our value. It’s been estimated that as many as 85 percent of people struggle with low self-esteem.     3     This “voice” tends to shift our focus inward assessing our every move, and having bad effect on our relationships.

Unlike a conscience(良心), this inner critic doesn’t motivate positive behavior.     4     It encourages us to hold back feeding us thoughts like, “Don’t stick your neck out”: “No one wants to hear from you”; and “You’re going to make a fool of yourself.”

One wonderful way to fight against our critical inner voice is through acts of being kind to others.     5     We must also try to see ourselves through the eyes of the people we affect. The degree to which we’re able to do that will help determine our own happiness along with the happiness we light up in others.

6 . Online training is one of the fastest growing parts of the fitness industry. If you’re considering joining the online fitness community, consider these benefits and drawbacks.

One of the most popular reasons for working out following an online video is that it offers ultimate convenience. No need to roll out of bed at 5 a. m. to attend that 6 a. m. boot camp class, which may end up being full when you arrive.    1    And what if you’re on the road? No problem. You can access your workout video through your phone.

    2    Most online fitness programs are much less expensive than similar offline programs—most range in cost from $ 10 to $ 20 per month. Some are even free. For example, the online Les Mills+program offers a free 30-day trial of its 1,500-plus workouts.

Online training also has broad offerings. When you head online, you have instructors from around the globe, all ready and willing to help you master your favorite moves.    3    Just because there isn’t a Krav Maga class in your area doesn’t mean you can’t go online to find one led by qualified instructors.

All these are undoubtedly positive-online training provides fitness resources to general consumers wherever they are, without requiring access to a gym or fitness studio.    4    

Very few online fitness programs enable the instructor to see you, check your form, and offer corrections based on your performance.    5    This is particularly concerning for beginners, as they’re more likely to do incorrectly. Besides, if you struggle with self-motivation and prefer a social workout environment, online fitness may not be for you.

7 . Communication Tips

Here are some suggestions about making your talk with your parents turn out for the best.

Be honest.

If you’re always honest, your parents will be likely to believe what you say. If you sometimes hide the truth, parents will have a harder time to believe what you tell them.    1    

Be brave and start talking.

It’s easy to say “Hi, Mum” or “Dad, can you pass the potatoes?”     2       Let’s face it. You will feel embarrassed (尴尬的)when talking about something personal, but your parents know you quite well. They were your age once, too! So don’t let a little embarrassment stop you. It’s OK to go ahead and share what’s on your mind.

    3    

If you have a disagreement, can you consider things from your parents’ points of view? If you can, telling your parents you understand their views and feelings helps them be willing to understand yours, too.

Try not to argue.

Using a friendly and respectful tone makes your parents more likely to listen to you and take what you say seriously.     4    

What if it doesn’t work? If you still can’t talk to your parents, seek other adults’ help.    5     Then follow all the tips above to make you communicate with that person well.

9 . Volunteering is a great benefit to the community. Many nonprofit organizations couldn’t survive without volunteers. However, you may not realize how much it also benefits your career.

●Volunteer in different areas.

You may be likely to just volunteer at one place, and that can be fine.    1    Doing so can help you explore what you’d like to do later in life if you’re younger or even choose a different career if you’re a little bit older.

●Use it to build skills.

Volunteering is the perfect opportunity to build your own skill set.    2    You’re basically working a job, and through that job, you gain experience that you can pass on to your work life.

●Network while you volunteer.

Another way to help work on your career is to use volunteering to help network. Really, you don’t have to go out of your way to network.    3    All networking is making a connection with other people that you and they can rely on later, and volunteering can help you do that.

●    4    

Studies have shown that people who volunteer are more likely to be hired than people who don’t volunteer. In fact, you have about a 25 percent higher chance of being hired if you volunteer than if you don’t. If you don’t have a high school diploma (毕业文凭), that number increases to a 50 percent higher chance.

●Put your volunteer experience on your college application.

If you’re still in high school, volunteering looks great on a college application. It shows leadership, initiative (主动性), and commitment, all things colleges love.    5    

10 . Young Alison Teal never rode in a pushchair or played on a swing on the playground.       1     She saw the view from atop a peak in Peru at just two months old on her mom’s back. They traveled the globe staying not at five-star hotels but in a six-foot-wide tent. From mountaintops to jungles, they immersed (沉浸) themselves in local nature and culture.

Between journeys they would return home to quiet part of the Big Island of Hawaii. Her front yard was the ocean, and her friends were dolphins.       2     Alison would dive into the water and release a sea leaf. A dolphin would catch it on its nose and throw it to the next player. Over the years, the dolphins grew to trust Alison.       3     She let them take the lead in their interactions. After studying at the University of California, Berkeley and then graduating from a film school, Alison continued her world travels. Her adventurous experience and survival skills landed her a spot on the reality show Naked and Afraid, in which she and a co-constant had to live on a deserted island for 21 days. Alison’s deep knowledge of how to live in a wildness saved the pair.       4     “After that, I couldn’t ignore our plastic problem,” says Alison. “I decided to protect our greatest resource, the ocean.”

Along with sharing her mission with her Instagram followers, the conservationist gave a TED talk on her discover.       5     Besides, she helped ban plastic bags in California. Her book, Alison’s Adventures: Your Passport to the World, is filled with travel tales and environment lessons. Alison believes all of us can make changes to protect the Earth.