1 . Learning to read provides foundation for future learning in all areas of study. And experts say students need to have a working knowledge of 10,000 words. Now, a new vocabulary program claims to greatly speed up a child’s understanding of language.     1     , which uses pictures and short word exercises to improve a student’s performance on tests.

Sofia Fenichell created the system.     2     “We call it the 10,000-word journey. We believe that children can master these words from the age of seven to 17. And they don’t have to cram (临时 死记硬背).     3    . We’ re accelerating their ability to communicate, as well as improving their reading and writing”   she said.

Each word in the Mrs. Wordsmith system of teaching has a child-friendly definition.     4    .

For example, the word shriveled is defined as “ wrinkled, like hippo skin that’s been in the bath too long. ” Underneath the definition is a drawing of a very wet hippopotamus. There are also exercises to help strengthen the student’s understanding.

Fenichell spoke at a recent education technology show in London.     5    . “The teachers are reporting back that the kids love it. They want to do more, they’ re putting it in their writing, and they’re learning more words. It’s so easy to teach them the vocabulary. Little children are using words like： ‘ the brazen(厚颜无耻的)attitude of the British in World War Two’ , and teachers are writing to us and saying they can’t believe how much their writing has improved. ”

Mrs. Wordsmith is now set to expand into schools in other countries, including the United States.

2 . Moving to a new country—or even spending a year abroad—is an exciting experience.     1     Making friends in a new country is one of them. Here are some suggestions.

Network through personal connections. Most people don’t jump at the chance to show a stranger around town, but that changes as soon as you make a personal connection—even a tiny one.     2     Until you do, you’ll never know if your former classmate’s brother’s best friend lives around the corner.

Join a hobby club or a sports team. Committing to (全身心投入) a weekly hobby meetup is a great way to force yourself to socialize. There are always hiking clubs looking for teammates. You don’t have to master the local language to find partners.     3     What you need to do is make an effort to start conversations or sign up for exercise classes.

    4     Feeling lonely isn’t just about not having weekend plans; it can make us feel like we don’t matter to the people around us, Join an organization that helps homeless people or helps out animal shelters. You’ll feel good about yourself and find an immediate sense of connection.

Talk to strangers, When you’re the stranger in town, it’s easy to feel awkward and out of place, The more you push past that, the more you’ll find that almost everyone enjoys meeting new people. Talking about where you come from and what the weather is like is the first step to get to know someone.     5    

3 . We all want to keep fit and stay healthy, but a few things may prevent it: laziness, a busy schedule, and maybe even a limited spend.     1    . You can even make a bit of money on a few of these activities.

Babysit.

If you have your own kids, you’ll probably agree that looking after kids can help keep you fit. If you don’t, you can experience the wonderful world of toddlerhood by volunteering or signing up for a babysitting job. The best ages to babysit are those toddler years (2 through 5). Why?     2    .

Care for your yard.

    3    . Work on your yard all year long and you’ll have more than your heart going — best exercise of all is to push that lawnmower (除草机) around especially if you have a large lawn. Or even better, put in your own waste water system. All that digging should be great for upper body strength and patience.

    4    .

Have you checked your storeroom, basement and kitchen lately? Well, moving small items from their storage areas and turning them into boxes for sale, donation pick-ups or just further storage will get your blood exciting. Even just pushing around a dust cleaner, or sweeping your garage floor should oil your joints (关节).

Use someone else’s sports or exercise equipment (设备).

Have you checked under your bed lately? All around the nation, there is a flood of unused exercise equipment sitting around in garages and hiding in spare rooms and basements.     5    — if not at your own home, they could be sitting somewhere in a friend’s or relative’s home, sadly unused. It may be a good idea to reuse them.

4 . Shared Reading is a unique experience and exposes us to great and varied literature.     1    . Short stories, poems or novel extracts are read aloud within the social atmosphere of a group. Then people joining in shared reading share their thoughts and feelings on the text. Shared reading is especially beneficial to children. Here’re some benefits of shared reading.

Create a positive and supportive reading environment. When children and adults come together to read and explore a text, they develop a sense of community and a shared experience.     2    . Besides, it can help build strong bonds and connections between readers.

    3    . During shared reading sessions, children are exposed to rich and varied words. By hearing fluent reading from adults, children can learn more new words. By sharing thoughts and feelings on the text, children develop a deeper understanding of the text. This approach helps them be active readers and learn more words.

Develop a lifelong love for books. As children observe the pleasure and value their adult counterparts place on reading, they are more likely to develop a lifelong love for books themselves.     4    .

Promote social and emotional growth. During shared reading, children participate in discussions and share their thoughts and opinions. What’s more, they listen to others. As for them, it is of significance.     5    . They gain confidence in their abilities to express their viewpoints and engage in meaningful conversations, skills that are vital for success in various aspects of life.

5 .     1    

Chen Chen is 8 years old. For the Spring Festival this year he was given an iPad as a present and never goes anywhere without it.     2     This is serious for such a young child.

Many children in China are suffering the same problem:     3     Xinhua New Agency went so far as to call the iPad the “No.1 killer of children’s eyesight.”

“There are about 30 shortsighted children coming every day,” said Hu Dali, a doctor at Guiyang Aier Eye Hospital. “Half of those children are suffering from reduced vision because they have played with mobile phones and iPads for too long.”

Experts say children’s version is not yet fully developed and their eyes get tired more easily.     4    

The iPad uses a very bright LED backlight. A user’s pupils (瞳孔) have to keep getting used to the new light levels. If children stare at an iPad screen for a long time, their eyes do not have time to rest.     5    

Experts suggest that users should hold their iPad between 40—60 centimeters away from them. The brightness of the screen should be made comfortable for children. Parents should also stop their children from using an iPad for more than one hour every day.

6 . How to keep a good friendship

It’s not easy for everyone to make friends. Once you have friends, it takes contributions and work on both sides to keep the friendship going. In order to keep a good friendship, you will have to take time to develop your friendship.

Work at keeping a two-way street with your friends. If only one person is attempting to be a good friend, the friendship isn’t going to work. It has to be a partnership where both contribute equally.     1     If you only take and never give, the friendship will fall apart.

    2     Don’t stand by and watch your friend make mistakes. If you think your friends is making a mistake, express your concerns. Be honest about how you feel, but be careful not to criticize your friend.

Try to avoid fighting and arguing. Naturally there will be times when you disagree with each other, but don’t blow things out of proportion(小题大做).     3     Most situations people argue over aren’t worth ending a good friendship.

Never date each other’s boyfriend or girlfriend. This is something that can tear a friendship apart. Friends should have enough love and respect for each other not to do things to hurt each other.     4    

Be there for each other through good times and bad times.     5     Give each other room to grow, and give the friendship room to grow.

7 . For some people charm (吸引力) is a natural gift, but for others being charming is a skill that they need to acquire in order to survive. If you want to charm someone, here are some ways on how to do it.

1.     1     In order to charm someone, you must learn some facts about that person. Determine what his likes and dislikes are. Then try to find the person’s soft spots. In this way, you can easily avoid the things that he doesn’t like and put an effort to show that you are interested in the things he likes.     2    

2.     3     Eye contact is one of the best ways to connect to a person. It helps you create an image that you are confident with yourself and show that you are interested in him. By establishing eye contact with the person you want to charm, you are actually starting a conversation with him.

3. Show respect. By showing respect, you are expressing sincerity to that person. Learn how to politely introduce yourself. You don’t want to create an impression that you are overconfident. A handshake may be the most common way to do it. However, other traditions involve other forms of introductory gestures.     4    

4. Always smile. Smiling is one of the basic ways to charm a person. By smiling a lot, you are creating a positive image for the person you wish to charm. Smiling is also a way of showing that person how glad you are to meet him. Remember to show a sincere and honest smile.     5     Faking a smile can make the person you want to charm think that you are not really interested in meeting him.

8 . Feed your mind

We have known about the link between what we eat and our physical health for a long time.     1    

The Mental Health Foundation produced a report called “Feeding Minds”. The report states that the brain is a physical part of our body that needs the correct food to work properly, just like the heart. The food should contain carbohydrates (碳水化合物), vitamins and fish oil.

There is also research that shows how a good diet can improve the behavior of children and their concentration. Daniel Brown is the head teacher of Barnet School.     2    

With regard to serious mental illnesses Jacka and Sanchez-Villegas say that eating fruit, vegetables and fish helps to prevent depression.     3     Some research also reveals that a healthy diet can prevent Alzheimer’s (a serious mental health problem for the elderly).

However, many medical professionals feel that the research by Jacka and Sanchez-Villegas is too early.     4     Dr John Powell, psychologist (心理学家), thinks that although many of his patients with depression have a poor diet, that is probably not the reason for their illness.

The research recommends that people eat particular food for particular mental health issues. To improve your memory, eat salmon and nuts. To improve your concentration, eat vegetables.     5     If depression is a problem, eat brown rice.

Overall, it seems clear that we need to eat healthy food for our mind. Although we do not fully understand the link between the two, we suggest that we choose this as an important topic for publicity.

9 . How to Deal with FOMO in Your Life

FOMO, or “fear of missing out,” is becoming increasingly common and can cause significant stress in your life. It applies to anything from a party to a promotion at work and affects just about anyone. It always involves a sense of helplessness that you are missing out on something big.

    1     However, while it has been around for centuries, it has only been studied during the past few decades, beginning with a 1996 research paper by Dr. Dan Herman.

With social media becoming popular, FOMO has become more obvious. As more research on FOMO is conducted, we are getting a clearer picture of how it affects us.     2     Aside from feelings of unhappiness, fear of missing out can lead to greater involvement in unhealthy behaviors. For example, the same study in Computers and Human Behavior found that FOMO was linked to distracted driving, which in some cases could be deadly.

Moreover, one study found that the fear of missing out was linked to a greater smartphone and social media usage.     3     They create a platform where things, events, and even happiness seem to be in competition, which may lead you to wonder what you are lacking. Greater engagement with social media can make us feel worse about ourselves and our lives, not better.

    4     Feelings of loneliness are our brain’s way of telling us that we want to connect with others and increase our sense of belonging. Unfortunately, social media engagement is not the way to accomplish this—you might be running from one bad situation right into an even worse one.

Rather than trying to connect more with people on social media, why not arrange to meet up with someone in person? Making plans with a good friend, or doing anything social that gets you out with friends can be a nice change of pace.     5    

10 .     1     Sometimes you can find a job easily, by walking into a local store and looking at its notice board(布告栏). Local stores often have areas for people to put small signs telling the services that they need or they can provide.     2    

Another popular tool for finding a job is the Internet. For example, people around the world can use the Craigslist Web site to buy things, meet people or find a job.     3    

Another useful way to find a job is through a university.     4     Many college students like this way better.

At times, some experts(专业人士) can also help people find a job. Susan Miller has her own company called California Job Services in Los Angeles. She says her company helps people find a job by first helping them understand their strengths, goals and interests.     5     So with her help, many people have succeeded in finding a good job.