1 . You might have heard of the expression “a guilty pleasure”—maybe it’s the chocolate bar you buy on the way home from work, or the new clothes that you don’t really need.     1     . Perhaps we don’t feel we deserved it, or we don’t think it was a responsible way to spend our money. But should we feel like this? Do we really have to feel guilty about treating ourselves?

Perhaps not. Psychologists have suggested that buying things for yourself can make you feel better as it provides an opportunity to take control of your situation.    2     . It may be that as well as lifting your mood, when you buy a treat, you might just be looking after yourself.

Of course, there are also examples of people turning to destructive behaviour when faced with stressful circumstances. People might spend money that they don’t have or turn to dangerous addictions. Psychologist Leon Seltzer considers the difference between self-indulgence and self-nurturing.    3     , while self-nurturing is taking responsible decisions to satisfy our needs and take care of ourselves in ways that don’t have a significant impact.

    4    . So, many universities publish guides with advice for coping with exam stress. Reflecting the difference between self-indulgence and self-nurture, they recommend rewarding yourself for your efforts, doing things that you enjoy and are good at so that you can feel accomplishment.    5     . Thus, perhaps, as long as we make responsible decisions, we shouldn’t feel guilty about our guilty pleasures.

4 . How Using A Mood Tracker App Could Help Your Mental Health

You track your nutrition and your workouts, but why wouldn’t you track your mood?    1    They can be used by everyone, from those dealing with mental health conditions such as depression or mood anxiety to those who just want to keep an eye on their stress levels.

    2    .

Many of them allow you to record factors that may be affecting your mental health, such as sleep, nutrition, and exercise. You can also see how changes are affecting your mental health. Mood trackers can also keep you honest about your self-reporting bias.

How Does a Mood Tracker App Work?

Firstly, research shows that mood tracker apps can help people better identify their moods and in turn, understand them. Awareness of one’s mood has been linked to better mental health outcome.    3    By recording the data that someone can refer back to during an appointment, apps can also help people feel more empowered rather than be a passive consumer.

Who Should Use Them?

Generally speaking, a mood tracker app can be helpful to most people.    4    Research shows at the mood tracker apps that are the most helpful in reducing symptoms are the ones that provide education on things like cognitive behavioral therapy techniques and tools, rather than ones that only record symptoms.

Mood tracker apps are one of the most popular categories or smartphones app stores, so you have no lack of choices with a simple search for mood tracker.    5    

Are you a “glass-half-empty” or a “glass-half-full” type of person? A study showed that optimists (乐观主义者) are more likely to live longer than those who have a(n)     1     (愁眉苦脸) in life. The theory goes that optimists may find it easier to control their emotions. Here are some people’s opinions about how to stay positive.

Vicki Siska has been through some stressful times but has managed to remain optimistic. “Music    2     (使我高兴起来), a sense of humour keeps me seeing the bright side of things, and I have good friends who love and care for me,” she said.

Humour also helped Pippa Kennedy stay positive. She watched a TV show named Dad’s Army to help her get through a bad     3     (心情). “I also think being grateful for what you have and lots of chocolate help,” she added.

Sue Oakley Dunn says she remains positive and healthy because she does “what makes my soul sing”. She has plenty of hobbies to do for     4     (娱乐). “It works for me,” says Sue.

As well as the benefits of friendship and laughter, Robyn Black, who does yoga and has better access to    5     (医疗保健), recommends that staying fit and healthy is quite     6     (必不可少的).

6 . A lot of people think that a confident person is someone who is completely free of worry. That appears to make _________, because it would seem that confidence and worry are the complete opposite of each other. _________ it’s not the truth at all. _________ people are not people who never _________ worry. They are people who feel worry but are able to _________ it.

So how can you _________ anxiety? Firstly, we need to accept that worry serves a purpose. It is not a _________ emotion. It only becomes a _________ when it stops us from acting. Every time you feel worry, _________ yourself that it is a __________ response. Analyze the situation and if it seems OK, you can go ahead.

The second thing you can do is to look at what __________ worry. Like many negative emotions, worry comes from worried thoughts. If you are faced with a job interview, and you may think, “There are plenty of __________ people than me going for the job”, or “I’m bad at job interviews”. With the thoughts, of course you are going to feel worried!

But the thing is, if you __________these thoughts, there are plenty of things __________ behind those statements. Even if there are plenty of better persons than you going for the job, are they better in all __________? Does the job always go to the “better” candidate? (候选人) If you can attack and destroy all the false logic around those statements, you will automatically (自动地) feel less anxious.

7 . Cheerfulness is a powerful way to deal with a world that will always be tough and unjust in one way or another. It is a sign of strength in the face of difficulties. Different from fear, joy, or anger, cheerfulness isn’t something that overcomes you.     1     As such, you can include it into your life once you make the right mental switch. Here are four ways to do so.

◎Acknowledge the difficulties.

Cheerfulness is an honest emotion because you’re not hiding from reality.     2     Instead, it’s extremely important to be honest with yourself about the problems you’re facing. Only by first acknowledging that things are tough will you be able to find ways to cope.

◎Don’t focus on the negative.

Whether in your personal life or in society, it’s easy to focus on what’s going wrong. But whatever you focus on, it grows. If you decide to focus on what’s going wrong, those problems will grow in your mind until they consume you.     3    

◎Be grateful for what you have.

    4     Usually, they’re the things we take for granted until they’re no longer there, such as good health, a loving family, or even something as simple as a beautiful sunrise. Being grateful will shift your perspective and make it easier to see the silver linings of your problems.

◎    5    

No cheerfulness without laughter. So you can watch comedies, browse memes, or joke around with friends. Laughter strengthens your immune system, boosts your mood, makes you feel less pain, and protects you from stress. Laughter is cathartic (精神宣泄的) and infectious. Laugh and brighten the room.

Many people think that money brings happiness. However, according to Professor Michael Argyle, this is not true. In Britain, we are     1     (rich) but unhappier than fifty years   ago. The USA is the richest country in the world but Americans are not the happiest people in the world.

Professor Argyle has found that very poor people and very rich people are unhappier than those in between. For example, very poor people in     2    developing world live in overcrowded houses without any running water and     3    no electricity. However, there are many millionaires (百万富翁) with     4     (person) problems. A lot of young people     5    get rich very quickly are at risk.

Because of this, a few young millionaires are changing their life styles. Richard Cross, a multi-millionaire computer analyst ( 分 析 师 ) from California is an example. His house     6     (show) no signs of his wealth. There is a small garden   and there only two   cars     7     (park) outside the house. “I want my kids     8     (live) a normal life,” says Richard.

So what can make     9     (we) happy? According to Professor Argyle, you should have one close relationship and some close     10     (friend). You should do a little sport and have a lot of contact (联系) with other people. Other people make you happy, not money!

10 . Negative emotions have a bad reputation: they’re often seen as dangerous or destructive.     1     But research reveals that negative emotions are useful for people and important for a successful and satisfying life.

In a recent study, we tested this idea for the case of anger. We designed a series of experiments with more than 1, 000 participants. We found that people who got mad first were more successful than the other participants.     2     When the goals were not challenging, getting angry did not improve outcomes.

    3     Here the story becomes more complicated. The findings do not mean that everyone should get angry in order to achieve their goals. But anger clearly can be useful in overcoming obstacles. Let us say, anger at a crashing computer could motivate someone to take it to a repair shop. But it could also motivate them to smash the computer on the floor.     4     Yet only one is truly beneficial. This complication in using our negative emotions contributes to their bad reputation. Fortunately, there is a lot of research on how to improve responses to negative emotions like anger. No doubt the best response is not to focus on what’s happening but to respond to achieve the desired outcome.

Negative emotions aren’t bad. They are incredibly important indicators that significant events are taking place.     5