1 . The first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is check my phone. I’m checking emails and looking at Twitter all before I’ve even gotten out of bed. And I’ll keep doing that throughout the entire day, until I go back to bed for the night.

If, like me, you feel unbalanced by how much time you’re spending online, a strategy called digital minimalism (简约主义) may help.     1    .

Set some basic boundaries

Try deleting social media apps from your phone to create natural barriers to accessing them. If that’s not enough, you can use screen timers or app blockers to make it even tougher to log back on.     2    . And that could also change how you communicate with other people.

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One study found that sleeping without phones improves sleep, relationships, focus and health and increases happiness and quality of life. So, sleeping without a phone is good for you, and charging your phone somewhere else could help you experience that benefit.

Recognize your emotions

Ask yourself how you feel when you’re logged in:     4    ? Are you energetic? Do particular apps arouse certain emotions? When you’re online, write down how you feel and see what patterns you have. From there you can decide what to keep, what to get rid of.

Take up your hobbies

You might notice you have a lot more time on your hands if you start practicing digital minimalism and using the Internet less. Make a list of activities you enjoy and people you like hanging out with.     5    , you can try one of those hobbies or call a loved one instead.

The goal with digital minimalism isn’t to figure out how to live without social media or the Internet. It’s to be more aware of when and how you use it.

4 . Popular people are admired and loved by their peers (同龄人).     1     Popular people have plenty of friends and usually have a high social status in their peer group. Here are some general tips that will help you become a more likable and popular person.

Avoid offering help in exchange for approval (认可). Trying to be helpful will have the opposite effect.     2     Popular people help others because they have a useful skill, not because they want to win someone else’s friendship.

Be the glue in your social circle. When you have plans to meet a group of friends for a social outing, make a habit of inviting someone who hasn’t met everyone in the group yet. If you re hanging out with a friend and run into another friend, remember to introduce them to each other.     3    

Practice positivity. People who often complain about life and are more pessimistic have fewer friends. Therefore, it’s important to have a positive attitude and avoid constant complaining.     4     It can be a key step in making close friends. But if you talk about your problems over and over again, your friends might not enjoy hanging out with you.

    5     Many people make the mistake of avoiding social relationships at their school or workplace. They think these places are for work or studying, not socializing. But most of us spend a lot of time at work or college. If you refuse to socialize with people you see almost every day, you’ll miss out on some valuable relationships.

5 . How to Deal with Academic Failure

Experiencing failure in academic settings is inevitable in your journey to study. However, once you get through it, you can bounce back from almost any academic failure.

Adopt the proper mindset

The proper mentality plays a big part in dealing with academic failure.     1    , focus on how you will feel when you have mastered the areas that give you trouble. Stop thinking of yourself as a failure, and regard yourself as a person with a fixable problem. The problem is an opportunity, because how a person responds to a problem is what creates success or failure.

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Consider the troubles of chaotic personal relationships and stress. They are the most common external factor making students' academic performance suffer.    3    . Activities including sports, partying, or arts are social distractions that are also a common source of academic struggle. Disorganization is a huge factor. Making an inventory of upcoming assignments work as well.

Bounce back

    4    . Were your grades good and then suddenly fall, slowly decline, or are they changeable? If they slowly declined, this probably indicates a lack of proficiency in a foundational skill set. If your grades suddenly fall, then that can be indicative of the sudden presence of a troublesome external factor, like moving to a new school.

Once you have determined that, you need to develop a plan of action. Try to study at the same times and same places each day, so it becomes a routine. Enlist someone to help you stay accountable to your plan of action.    5    .

6 . An apology tells someone that we’re sorry for the hurt we caused — even if we didn’t do it on purpose. It’s a way of saying we’re aware of what we did and we’ll try to do better in future.

    1    . Sometimes we hurt people’s feelings without wanting to. Sometimes, we do it on purpose and feel bad later on. So we apologize.

Apologies are one of the tools that we use to get along better with other people. Saying that you’re sorry is more than just words.     2    . Apologizing shows you can understand the other person’s feelings as if they were your own. What’s more, after apologizing, you might feel a little better. The other person probably will, too.     3    , you can feel good because you are trying to make things right again.

Everyone needs to apologize when they do something wrong. For example, if someone is irritated because of something you did, you need to apologize. If you say something that hurts someone, even if you don’t mean it, then you should apologize.     4    .

When someone apologizes to you, you may welcome it and be ready to forgive.     5    . If a person keeps hurting you and apologizing without making an effort to change, you might not want to hang out with that person anymore. However, it’s always good to accept an apology.

7 . Since the old times, art has always been with us. Art has always been very important to people. It shows our feelings, ideas, and what we see around us. From the first simple cave drawings to the latest computer art, the way art has changed is a very interesting part of human history.

    1     This was a time when art was really amazing. Artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo made art that went beyond what was done before. They made beautiful things that also showed a new way of looking at the human body, how things look from different angles, and how light works.

But art is more than just pretty. Art isn’t just about looking nice.     2     In history, artists have used their art to ask questions about how society works, and to show they don’t agree with things. For instance, in times of significant social movements, art on walls and posters became a way for people to show they wanted changes.

Art can make us think and inspire us to do different things. In the 1900s, artists started making abstract art.     3     Artists like Picasso and Wassily Kandinsky used shapes and colors in new ways to make us feel emotions and think about ideas without showing real things.

How art grows also shows how technology gets better over time.     4     Digital art can be anything made with a computer or shown online. It has changed what we think art is. It also lets more people see and make art because you just need a computer to do it.

Art serves as a universal medium for the exchange of ideas, transcending (超越) language and cultural barriers. It allows for a form of communication that is accessible to all. It is away of sharing ideas with everyone.     5    

8 . The community is the basic unit where we share space and resources with others. A harmonious and orderly community not only enhances the quality of life for its residents but also promotes stability and development in society. Therefore, community residents should understand and fulfill their responsibilities and duties to ensure a harmonious and beautiful community environment.

The cleanliness of the community environment directly affects the health and quality of life of its residents. Residents should avoid littering, actively participate in community cleaning activities, and regularly clean their own doorsteps and surroundings. Additionally, properly sorting waste and participating in recycling are essential duties for every resident.

    2    . Every resident should observe public order and not disturb the peace of the community. This includes controlling noise from household activities, avoiding loud noises at night or on rest days, and following traffic rules by not parking illegally or speeding within the community. Moreover, residents should treasure public facilities and not damage plants or trees, collectively maintaining the community’s beauty and functionality.

Actively participating in community management is;an important responsibility for residents. This includes voting for community leaders, participating in community meetings, and offering suggestions and feedback on the management and activities of the community. Residents can also join volunteer organizations, take part in community safety patrols, and organize cultural events.     3    .

Good neighborly relations are the foundation of a harmonious community.     4    . Each should be willing to help, and provide extra care and assistance to the elderly, children, and disabled individuals. When facing neighborhood disputes (纠纷), residents should approach the situation with understanding and tolerance and resolve issues through communication and negotiation.

Community safety affects everyone’s interests. Residents should increase their safety awareness and report suspicious behavior and safety hazards (安全隐患) promptly.     5    . Using them, residents can protect themselves and assist others in emergencies.

9 . Many people love to listen to music while driving. Thanks to the world’s musical roads, drivers now don’t need to turn the radio on.     1    

A musical road can create music when a car tires go over grooves (凹槽) on the road. To produce beautiful music, drivers must pass over the grooves at a certain speed. Signs often tell drivers the right speed.

    2    . Since the mid-1990, musical rads have appeared in many different countries.     3    . To warn drivers to the incoming music, all the roads are marked by colored musical notes that are painted on these roads. Drivers can decide whether to go over the grooves or not because they are set on the side of the road.

In Hungary, there is a musical road in honor of one of the country’s most popular musical performers — Laszlo Bodi. Bodi was the lead singer for the band Republic.     4    . Sadly, Bodi passed away in 2013. But people still remember him as there’s a road where drivers can hear 30 seconds of the Republic song “Road 67”.

    5    . In Indonesia, a road plays the first six notes of “Happy Birthday”. The fifth note is a little out of tune, though. This “mistake” keeps drivers awake and aware, and it has reduced the number of traffic accidents. Such is the power of music and musical roads.

10 . We all want to know what happiness means and try to find ways to help make our life better. Happiness — you know it when you see it, but it’s hard to define. You might call it a sense of well-being, optimism or meaningfulness in life, although those could also be treated separately.     1     we know that we want it, and that is just somehow good.

We also know that we don’t always have control over our happiness. Research suggests that genetics may play a big role in our level of happiness, so some of us may start out at a disadvantage. On top of that, environmental factors can bring down mood and dry up our thirst for living.     2    . Many studies have found a connection between psychological and physical well-being.

A 2022 review of more than 200 studies found a connection between positive psychological features, such as happiness, optimism and life satisfaction, and a lowered risk of heart disease.

    3    . If you have a good sense of well-being, it’s easier to maintain good habits: exercising, eating a balanced diet and getting enough sleep.

    4    , and they do not provide hard evidence of cause and effect. But some researchers believe that positive mental states do have a direct effect on the body, perhaps by reducing damaging physical processes. For instance, they found that optimism is associated with lower levels of inflammation (炎症).

If what you mean by happiness is specifically “enjoyment of life”, there’s newer evidence to support that, too. A study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal found that people aged 60 and over who said they enjoyed life less were more likely to develop disability over an 8-year period.     5    . This study does not prove that physical problems are caused by less enjoyment of life, but suggests a relationship.