1 . The youth are like the early spring, the morning sun and the budding(萌芽的) flowers. There’s no denying that youth is the most valuable time of life. During this period of time, habits and interests that will continue for the rest of your life are formed and developed.     1     — so the earlier you cultivate (培养) the youth spirit, the more likely you will achieve success in life.

Be self-reliant and self-motivated. Sure, you might have parents and friends to help you, but ultimately, you must rely on yourself.     2    , which enables you to get through the challenges of life. No one can force you to get good grades or get an excellent job.     3    . Only you can be the author of your own life.

    4    . Train yourself to be strong when times get tough. Anything worth doing isn’t easy. Tell yourself that you can make it whatever obstacles (障碍) stand in your way as long as you won’t give up. After all the trials and errors, you will thank perseverance for guiding you to success.

Work hard. As Albert Einstein once put it, “Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration (汗珠).” Young and talented as you are, without diligence, you can hardly bring out your potentials. As a result, don’t waste time admiring others’ success or daydreaming.     5    .

In conclusion, the prime of youth, the most vibrant and energetic period in life, is also the most fleeting (转瞬即逝的). Let’s capture the spirit of youth and turn our dreams into reality.

2 . How to Appreciate Art

Unlocking the meaning behind a work of art is one of the many joys of viewing and collecting. But how do you appreciate art and actually interpret it?     1    .

Look at the art

    2    , but it’s more than quickly glancing at the art and drawing a conclusion. Before stepping back and taking the artwork in, take a moment to identify the artwork’s basic qualities：

Is it a painting or sculpture?

Is the texture (质感) rough or smooth?

Does it appear chaotic (混乱的) or organized?

All of these are elements the artist chose when designing the artwork, so they need to be considered.

Identify the art and artist

Knowing when or how the artwork was made reveals more information.

Take for example the famous Guernica (1937) by Pablo Picasso, knowing Picasso composed the painting in response to the bombing of the town of Guernica during the Second World War leads to understanding its anti-war ideas. Even if the historical context of an artwork is not apparent, knowing the year of its creation offers an idea as to the broader events taking place at the time.     3    .

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Use what you observed in the first two steps to think about meanings the artwork could have. Many artists have specific meanings behind their art, but also encourage viewers to come up with their own understandings. In this way, there is no “right” answer that must be reached to unlock the painting’s mysteries.

Discover your tastes

Just remember one important fact: You don’t have to look at everything. For instance, if you dislike abstract art, skip the abstract.     5    , so don’t be afraid to stop and observe something outside of your tastes.

The next time you are admiring a work of art, keep these techniques in mind, and its meaning may unfold before your eyes.

3 . How to Improve Your EQ

Emotional quotient (EQ) consists of self- awareness, self-control, self-motivation, empathy, and social skills. These help you manage your stress levels and communicate effectively with people.Here are some helpful tips to increase your EQ.

Pay attention to your body

    1    . Our emotions and bodies are not separate, and they affect each other deeply. You can raise your EQ by learning how to read physical cues that clue you into what emotions you're feeling. This essentially raises your self-awareness.

Learn to manage your emotions

Once you're able to recognize your own emotions, it's important to work on regulating and controlling them.     2    . Or take a pause in the middle of a conflict or argument to avoid any impulsive emotional reactions.

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Self-control is one of the five major components of EQ, and willpower is key to self-control. You can enhance willpower by resisting short-term temptation and satisfaction in order to focus on long-term goals.

Build your empathy

Empathy involves being able to recognize how other people are feeling and share in their emotions.     4    . Developing empathy is sure to increase your EQ and improve your relationships with others.

Put yourself out there socially

Get out of your comfort zone and make an effort to be more social, which can help you practice and improve your social skills. It can be scary to step outside your comfort zone, but increased social connection can have a positive impact on your life.     5    

4 . Self-improvement doesn’t have to be a terrifying task. It can be a fun and exciting adventure that takes you on a journey of discovery and growth. With some simple tricks, you can transform yourself into a better version of you.

First off, remember that self-improvement is a marathon, not a dash.     1     Take it one step at a time, and enjoy the ride. Think of it like climbing a mountain: you take one step after another, admiring the view as you go, until you reach the summit.

Start with small, achievable goals. Whether it’s reading a book a week, going for a daily walk, or learning a new skill, these little milestones will help you stay motivated and feel accomplished.     2    

Don’t be afraid to fail. Failure is part of the learning process. If you stumble or fall short of your goals, don’t beat yourself up.     3     Keep in mind, failure is just a temporary setback — it doesn’t define you.

    4     Share your goals with friends or family, and ask them to hold you accountable. Join a self-improvement group or find someone who can guide and encourage you on your journey. You’ll find that makes the process even more enjoyable.

And finally, don’t forget to celebrate your progress.     5     Whether it’s a small accomplishment or a major milestone, take a moment to appreciate your efforts and feel proud of yourself. You can even create a reward system for yourself — maybe a delicious treat or a fun activity for every goal you achieve.

5 . Working out is such an important part of your overall health.     1     While starting an exercise routine might seem demanding, don’t worry.

Choose your inspiration and set a clear, achievable goal. Having a goal can really help you feel motivated. Take a few minutes to think about why you’re working out and what you want to achieve.     2     Write down your goal and post it somewhere you’ll see it regularly, like your bathroom mirror or on your fridge.

    3     Decide how many days a week you’ll be able to work out. Ideally, you should get at least 30 minutes of exercise per day, 5 days a week. However, if you’re trying to achieve a certain goal, you might want to consider working out for about an hour several days a week.

Push yourself to work hard. The trick is to do it safely and in a controlled manner. If you ran 2 miles yesterday and felt worn out later, don’t try to run 5 miles today. Instead, find a level of effort that leaves you feeling like you got in a good workout.     4    

Work as much of your body as you can. The more parts of your body receive exercise, the more you’ll notice exercises’ positive effects on your weight, mood, stress levels, sleeping patterns, and overall sense of well-being.     5     But some options are better than others. Lifting free weights, for example, works more muscle groups than using targeted weightlifting machines.

6 . By clicking the thumbs up, posting a comment, or sharing a post, people are validating (认可) each other at an increasing rate. This, as well as the need for in-person validation, can create anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem and make it addictive to hear praise, acceptance, and acknowledgment in all aspects of life.

To break free from external validation, it’s key to learn to be aware when you are seeking it.     1     Here are some meaningful steps to begin that journey.

    2     Getting off social media is a great place to start. This reduces the comparison to others or the anxiety and stress about how your picture, post, or comment is being seen and received by others.

Be mindful. Look carefully at what you are doing.     3     These are self-validations that help you build up your acknowledgment of your own abilities, talents, and skills.

Do not ask for validation.     4     If you do receive validation (encouragement or acknowledgment) recognize the praise and acknowledge it, then stop. Do not continue to ask others or seek out others for validation.

Keep in mind that validation is not a bad thing in your life; it is positive without doubt.     5    

7 . If your friends are happy, it turns out that you’re more likely to be happy too. If your friends are overweight, that too ups the likelihood that you’ll pack on pounds.     1    

The researchers analyzed the running activity of more than a million individuals worldwide who used an exercise tracking device for five years. They used weather patterns as a way to randomly examine different parts of that global network. On average, fine days would encourage people to run more, rainy or cold days less.

Since different cities have different weather patterns, this natural experiment allowed them to ask: Did a rainy day in New York affect running in San Diego? If the weather in New York caused changes in the running behavior in San Diego, it could possibly happen through peer influences of the friends.    2     The behavior of one city’s runners could indeed affect the behavior of runners in another socially connected city.

    3     Women tended to be influenced more by the female runners in their networks. And less active runners tended to influence more active runners to run more, but not so much the other way around.    4    “We have to start thinking about consumers and citizens as networked consumers and citizens. Since they are easily influenced by and influence their social network in very strong and dynamic ways, it will change the way a particular intervention succeeds or fails.” Sinan Aral, the leading researcher said.

Or, let’s put it this way. Next time, the doctors recommend people to do more exercise.    5    

8 . Having a sense of humor can make your entire life much more enjoyable.     1    . But for others, we might have to work a little to unlock it. If you want some tips to improve your sense of humor, try these out:

Learn some simple jokes

In the beginning, you don’t have to be creative. Just go out and do some research! The internet is full of great resources for jokes. Try searching for stuff that you like. You will find millions of things to make you laugh.     2    .

See the funny side of almost everything

If you really want to develop your humor, try to take something ordinary and make a joke out of it.     3    . Looking at them with a different perspective is a very valuable life skill and will come in handy when learning to be a jokester (爱开玩笑的人).

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Knowing your audience is a key point to making them laugh. You can go overboard with your humor and end up offending an audience that doesn’t want to hear it. So try to read and judge how others are reacting to your humor. If they have been quiet for a long time or seems offended, you’d better switch to a different topic that can relate better to them.

Keep practicing

Comedy is something where it all comes down to delivery and timing. If your delivery and timing are not correct, even the most hilarious (滑稽的) jokes can fall flat. So how to improve that? By practice.     5    . Just go ahead and practice telling the jokes. Find out the best delivery and timing which makes laugh and you would be good to go.

9 . How to keep your house clean

Before you start deep cleaning, do some basic tidying up. Remember the saying, “    1    .” When everything is where it should be, it saves a lot of time.

You just need an all-purpose cleaner, a disinfectant (消毒剂) and a window cleaner.     2    . The disinfectant will attack germs (细菌) in places like inside the toilet or the kitchen. And the window cleaner can make sure there are no marks left on the windows.

    3    . For example, in your bedroom, clean the lights before removing the sheets on the bed. If not, all the dust may fall onto the mattress (床垫) directly. Besides, make sure to dry clean before you wet clean. If you start straight with your wet cleaner, you'll end up getting all that sticky dirt on your rags (抹布) and having to change rags more often.     4    .

Try to set a timetable for daily, weekly, and monthly cleaning. Daily cleaning might include picking things up, cleaning kitchen and doing those dishes. Weekly cleaning might include cleaning the bathroom, washing sheets and towels. Monthly cleaning might include cleaning both the inside and outside of all your glass windows.

10 . From canned tomatoes to frozen pizzas, processed foods have become a regular part of our diet. We’ve gained time and energy as a result of processed foods.     1     Here are the reasons why we should avoid processed foods.

    2     A 2018 study found that ultra-processed (超加工的) foods are linked to an increased risk of cancer. The American Cancer Society reports that at least 18% of cancers are related to excess (过量的) body weight, physician activity, and poor nutrition, which could potentially be prevented by avoiding processed foods.

Processed foods are designed to make you overeat.     3     It has also been found that some processed foods can lead to greater brain activity, which can affect eating behavior.

Processed foods often contain artificial ingredients. If you’re looking at the label on a box of your favorite junk food, there are probably a bunch of ingredients that you can barely pronounce.     4       These ingredients may have a negative effect on your health.

Many processed foods are high in carbohydrates (碳水化合物) and low in nutrients and fiber. Not all carbohydrates are bad, but processed foods are often packed with refined carbohydrates. They can cause your blood sugar to increase very quickly. On top of that, processed foods are typically much lower in nutrients and the fiber is often removed.     5