Were you constantly bored as a child Maybe that helped you to develop your ability to be creative. Boredom can be a good thing for children, according to Dr Teresa Belton, researcher at the University of East Anglia’s School of Education and Lifelong Learning. After interviewing authors, artists and scientists in Britain, she’s reached the conclusion that cultural expectations that children should be constantly active could block the development of their imagination. British actress and writer Meera Syal grew up in a small mining village with few distractions. The researcher said:" Lack of things to do urged her to talk to people she wouldn’t otherwise have engaged with and try activities she wouldn’t, under other circumstances, have experienced, such as talking to elderly neighbors and learning to bake cakes. " Belton added: "Boredom made her write. Meera Syal kept a diary from a young age, filling it with observations, short stories, poems. The researcher didn’t ignore the old saying the devil finds work for idle hands, though. Belton pointed out that young people who don’t have the interior resources to deal with boredom creatively may end up smashing up bus shelters or taking cars out for a joyride. How about watching TV and videos on the computer The researcher believes that nothing replaces standing and staring at things and observing your surroundings. It’s the sort of thing that stimulates the imagination, she said, while the screen " tends to short circuit that process and the development of creative capacity. Dr Belton concluded:" For the sake of creativity, perhaps we need to slow down and stay offline from time to time.A survey of English schoolchildren shows boys and girls are worrying about the way they look. The【R6】______found that over half of male schoolchildren lacked confidence because of their body【R7】______The figure for girls was slightly【R8】______, at 59 percent. Researchers questioned 693 teachers about how their students【R9】______about their bodies. All the children had taken lessons on body image and self-esteem. Teachers said many children were very【R10】______if others said bad things about their appearances. Around 55 percent of teachers reported that girls were extremely sensitive to comment【R11】______their looks; the figure for boys being easily hurt by teasing(取笑)was 27 percent. Teachers gave a number of【R12】______why children as young as four years old were stressing out about their shapes. Over 90 percent of teachers【R13】______the Internet and television. Children see images of" perfect" bodies every day and they feel they have to look that way too. Many children are on diets to make themselves【R14】______to the opposite . One elementary school teacher said :" I work with four to five-year-olds and some say things like, ’ I can’t eat cheese , it will make me【R15】______’ " , A teachers’ spokeswoman warned that children trying to look like "celebrities in the media only lead to misery".A. about B. attractive C. blame D. complete E. discover F. fat G. felt H. for I. higher J. lazy K. questions L. reasons M. shape N. study O. upsetA survey of English schoolchildren shows boys and girls are worrying about the way they look. The【R6】______found that over half of male schoolchildren lacked confidence because of their body【R7】______The figure for girls was slightly【R8】______, at 59 percent. Researchers questioned 693 teachers about how their students【R9】______about their bodies. All the children had taken lessons on body image and self-esteem. Teachers said many children were very【R10】______if others said bad things about their appearances. Around 55 percent of teachers reported that girls were extremely sensitive to comment【R11】______their looks; the figure for boys being easily hurt by teasing(取笑)was 27 percent. Teachers gave a number of【R12】______why children as young as four years old were stressing out about their shapes. Over 90 percent of teachers【R13】______the Internet and television. Children see images of" perfect" bodies every day and they feel they have to look that way too. Many children are on diets to make themselves【R14】______to the opposite . One elementary school teacher said :" I work with four to five-year-olds and some say things like, ’ I can’t eat cheese , it will make me【R15】______’ " , A teachers’ spokeswoman warned that children trying to look like "celebrities in the media only lead to misery".A. about B. attractive C. blame D. complete E. discover F. fat G. felt H. for I. higher J. lazy K. questions L. reasons M. shape N. study O. upsetA survey of English schoolchildren shows boys and girls are worrying about the way they look. The【R6】______found that over half of male schoolchildren lacked confidence because of their body【R7】______The figure for girls was slightly【R8】______, at 59 percent. Researchers questioned 693 teachers about how their students【R9】______about their bodies. All the children had taken lessons on body image and self-esteem. Teachers said many children were very【R10】______if others said bad things about their appearances. Around 55 percent of teachers reported that girls were extremely sensitive to comment【R11】______their looks; the figure for boys being easily hurt by teasing(取笑)was 27 percent. Teachers gave a number of【R12】______why children as young as four years old were stressing out about their shapes. Over 90 percent of teachers【R13】______the Internet and television. Children see images of" perfect" bodies every day and they feel they have to look that way too. Many children are on diets to make themselves【R14】______to the opposite . One elementary school teacher said :" I work with four to five-year-olds and some say things like, ’ I can’t eat cheese , it will make me【R15】______’ " , A teachers’ spokeswoman warned that children trying to look like "celebrities in the media only lead to misery".A. about B. attractive C. blame D. complete E. discover F. fat G. felt H. for I. higher J. lazy K. questions L. reasons M. shape N. study O. upsetA survey of English schoolchildren shows boys and girls are worrying about the way they look. The【R6】______found that over half of male schoolchildren lacked confidence because of their body【R7】______The figure for girls was slightly【R8】______, at 59 percent. Researchers questioned 693 teachers about how their students【R9】______about their bodies. All the children had taken lessons on body image and self-esteem. Teachers said many children were very【R10】______if others said bad things about their appearances. Around 55 percent of teachers reported that girls were extremely sensitive to comment【R11】______their looks; the figure for boys being easily hurt by teasing(取笑)was 27 percent. Teachers gave a number of【R12】______why children as young as four years old were stressing out about their shapes. Over 90 percent of teachers【R13】______the Internet and television. Children see images of" perfect" bodies every day and they feel they have to look that way too. Many children are on diets to make themselves【R14】______to the opposite . One elementary school teacher said :" I work with four to five-year-olds and some say things like, ’ I can’t eat cheese , it will make me【R15】______’ " , A teachers’ spokeswoman warned that children trying to look like "celebrities in the media only lead to misery".A. about B. attractive C. blame D. complete E. discover F. fat G. felt H. for I. higher J. lazy K. questions L. reasons M. shape N. study O. upsetDuring her junior year of high school, Candice Backus’s teacher handed her a sheet and instructed the 17-year-old to map out her future financial life. Backus pretended to buy a car, rent an apartment, and apply for a credit card. Then, she and her classmates played the "stock market , " investing the hypothetical(假设的)earnings from their hypothetical jobs in the market in the fateful fall of 2008. "Our pretend investments crashed , "Backus says, still horrified. " We felt what actual shareholders were feeling. " That pain of earning and losing money is a feeling that public school increasingly want to teach. Forty states now offer some types of financial instruction at the elementary or high-school level, including lessons in balancing checkbooks(支票本)and buying stock in math and social-studies classes. The interest in personal-finance classes has risen since 2007 when bank failures became a regular occurrence. Rather than teach investment strategies, these courses offer a basic approach to handling money: Don’t spent what you don’t have. Put part of your monthly salary into a saving account, and invest in the stock market for the long-term rather than short-term gains. For Backus, this means dividing her earnings from her part-time job at a fast-food restaurant into separate envelopes for paying bills, spending, and saving. " Money is so hard to make but so easy to spend, "she says one weekday after school. After Backus finished her financial classes, she opened up a savings account at her local bank and started to think more about how she and her family would pay for college. "She just has a better understanding of money and how it affects the world ," says her mother, Darleen. All of this talk of money can make Backus worry, she says, but luckily, she feels prepared to face it.A survey of English schoolchildren shows boys and girls are worrying about the way they look. The【R6】______found that over half of male schoolchildren lacked confidence because of their body【R7】______The figure for girls was slightly【R8】______, at 59 percent. Researchers questioned 693 teachers about how their students【R9】______about their bodies. All the children had taken lessons on body image and self-esteem. Teachers said many children were very【R10】______if others said bad things about their appearances. Around 55 percent of teachers reported that girls were extremely sensitive to comment【R11】______their looks; the figure for boys being easily hurt by teasing(取笑)was 27 percent. Teachers gave a number of【R12】______why children as young as four years old were stressing out about their shapes. Over 90 percent of teachers【R13】______the Internet and television. Children see images of" perfect" bodies every day and they feel they have to look that way too. Many children are on diets to make themselves【R14】______to the opposite . One elementary school teacher said :" I work with four to five-year-olds and some say things like, ’ I can’t eat cheese , it will make me【R15】______’ " , A teachers’ spokeswoman warned that children trying to look like "celebrities in the media only lead to misery".A. about B. attractive C. blame D. complete E. discover F. fat G. felt H. for I. higher J. lazy K. questions L. reasons M. shape N. study O. upsetNow put on sunscreen(防晒霜)Some sunscreens pr sunburn but not other types of skin damage. Make sure yours offers a broad range of protection. 【R1】______Anything higher than SPF 50+ can tempt you to stay in the sun too long. Even if you don’t burn, your skin may be damaged. Stick to SPFs between 15 and 50+. Pick a product based on your own skin color, time outside, shade and cloud cover. News about vitamin A. Eating vitamin A—rich vegetables is good for you, but spreading vitamin A on your skin may not be. Government data shows that cancers develop sooner on skin coated with creams with vitamin A.【R2】______. Pick a good sunscreen. EWG’s sunscreen database rates the safety and effect of about 1, 400 SPF-rated products, including about 750 sunscreens for beaches and sports use. We give high ratings to brands that provide broad-range, long-lasting protection with ingredients that pose fewer health concerns when absorbed by the body. 【R3】______Cream, because sprays cloud the air with tiny particles that may not be safe to breathe. Reapply cream often. Sunscreen chemicals sometimes degrade in the sun, wash off or rub off on towels and clothing. 【R4】______The FAD treats powdered sunscreens as unapproved new drugs and may take enforcement action against companies that sell them-except for small businesses, which can sell powders until December 2013. 【R5】______Wear sunscreen. In 2009, nearly twice as many American men died from skin cancers as women. Surveys show that 34 percent of men wear sunscreens, compared to 78 percent of women. Got your vitamin D Many people don’t get enough vitamin D, a hormone manufactured by the skin in the presence of sunlight. Your doctor can test your level and recommend supplements if you are low in this vital nutrient.A. No powder!B. Avoid midday sun.C. Message for men;D. Cream or sprayE. Don’t fall for high SPF labels.F. Take special precautions with infants and children.G. Avoid any sun product whose label says vitamin A.How would you feel if the letter you penned carefully and posted to your favorite star ended up in therecycling bin That’s where unopened fan mail sent to singer Taylor Swift was found. Swift’s management said it was an accident, but dealing with piles of letters is a burden for most public figures. According to the BBC reporter Jon Kelly, at the height of his fame, Johnny Depp was said to receive up to 10,000 letters a week. Some celebrities don’t want letters. In 2008, Beatles drummer Ringo Starr announced openly that he would throw them out because he was too busy. Others do attempt to get through it themselves. Robert Pattinson, star of the Twilight films, claims that he reads" tones and tones" of letters from fans. Many artists, however, outsource(外包)the tasks of opening, reading and replying. Sylvia Taylor, 58, has run a service in California that does just that since 1987. She and her staff deal with up to 20,000 items of mail a month on behalf of 26 celebrities. Most letters are simply declarations of affection and admiration, she says. A few ask for money. A small number contain threats which require her to contact the celebrity’s security team and thepolice. The biggest problem for Taylor is working out how to deal with the correspondence. Presents such as soft toys are sent to local hospitals, and the letters: most of them just get recycled. Typically, correspondence is acknowledged by a photo with a printed " autograph(亲笔签名)". For some, this is enough, according to Lynn Zubernis, an expert at West Chester University. She says that the relationship between fans and celebrity may exist only in the mind of the former but it comes from a deeply-rooted human need for community.It is a blow for the Ugly Bettys and Plain Janes—research shows that good looks lead to better pay. A study of 4,000 young men and women found that beauty boosted pay cheeks more than intelce. Those judged to be the more attractive earned up to 10 percent more than their less attractive friends and colleagues. Applied to the average salary of ￡25,______,000 a year, the"plainness penalty(处罚)"would make a difference of ￡ 2,500 a year—or around ￡ 50 a week. It is unclear what is behind the phenomenon but it may be that beauty creates confidence. The self-confident may appear to be doing better than they are and will not hesitate about asking for a pay rise. Researcher Jason Fletcher, of Yale University in the U. S. , rated the attractiveness of the 4,000 men and women. Just over half were judged average, while 7 percent were felt to be very attractive and 8 percent were judged unattractive or very unattractive. The volunteers also sat an IQ test and reported their salary. It became clear that pay scales were far from fair. For instance, a 14-point increase on the IQ score was associated with a 3 to 6 percent increase in wage. But being of above-average looks increased pay by 5 to 10 percent . For a plain person to be paid the same as a very attractive one , they would have to be 40 percent brighter, the journal Economics Letters reports. Dr Fletcher said:"The results do show that people’s looks have an impact on their wages and it can be very important. "
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