Saying no starts small
“All right then — just one more piece...” Words every girl has said when they are faced with the delicious cheesecake. Of course, many of us know we may eat the whole thing in the end.
It isn’t just girls. Most of us find it hard to say “no” to something attractive. However, scientists now say that willpower is very important to success and a happy life.
Scientists in different countries have been studying the effects of willpower on people’s lives for a long time. The results are similar, according to an article on February 7 in the Guardian, a famous British newspaper.
In one experiment, scientists told young children that they could either have a marshmallow (圆形软糖) now, or two marshmallows in 15 minutes. Waiting obviously needed more willpower. Scientists then continued studying the children as they grew up. They wanted to see if some children always had stronger willpower. They also wanted to see how having stronger willpower affected their lives.
Years later, scientists found that the children who had waited for two marshmallows were all healthier, happier and richer adults. Oppositely, the children who had shown weaker willpower at that young age were more likely to be in low-paid jobs, to be overweight, to have social problems.
But there is hope, Roy F Baumeister, an American social psychology(心理学) professor (教授) told the Guardian. Baumeister says we can train our willpower just like we train our muscles（肌肉）. Even a little practice can strengthen（加强） our overall self-control if we do it regularly.
You could start by making yourself stand up straight, speaking in complete sentences, or using a computer mouse with the other hand. Scientists have found that people who manage to change little habits often perform much better in laboratory willpower tests.
Like muscles, willpower can “get tired”. Don’t try to do too many things at the same time, or when you don’t have enough energy, for example when you are ill. If you already feel tired, you can try to recharge(恢复) your willpower with a good night’s sleep and by eating well.
【小题1】The example of a girl eating cheesecake is used to

Good morning,  boys and girls. Today I'll talk about going online.

We know that there are too many net bars around us. The Internet can make our lives interesting and enjoyable. Many of us like going online very much because we can learn how to use the computer and can get more information from the In­ternet. We can learn English. We can read some good newspapers and magazines. It can make us clever in playing com­puter games. We can send e-mails to our friends quickly. We can chat freely online with our friends. It can help us to get in touch with people from all over the world.

But every coin has two sides. Net bars also bring us a lot of trouble. For example,  some students spend too much time in playing computer games and some stay in the net bars all day and all night. Some girls even get to have boyfriends or some boys get to have girlfriends online. They write too many letters to each other. It takes them too much time to chat online,  so they do worse and worse in their lessons and they don't study well any more. I think we mustn't get online when it is time for us to study. We can do it in summer or winter holidays or at the weekend.

At the same time,  if we have lots of free time,  we can do some out-of-class activities at school. We usually have activ­ities from 4' 50 to 5- 50 in the afternoon. We can play basketball or football on Monday or Thursday afternoon. We can join some interests groups in school,  such as drawing or reading on Tuesday afternoon,  or singing and dancing on Wednesday afternoon. We can go to the English Corner on Friday afternoon. We hope we can spend more time on our subjects or on such activities.

1.Many of us like going online because it can help us_________.

A. learn English and send e-mails            B. get more information

C. play computer games         D. all of the above

2.According to the speaker,  in our spare time we should_________.

A. go online for longer time

B. stay in the classroom doing more exercises

C. go to the English Corner every afternoon

D. do more out-of-class activities at school

3.If you are free on Tuesday afternoon,  what out-of-class activities can you have at school?

A. Playing basketball or football.      B. Singing and dancing.

C. Drawing or reading.         D. Going to the English Corner.

Good morning,  boys and girls. Today I'll talk about going online.

We know that there are too many net bars around us. The Internet can make our lives interesting and enjoyable. Many of us like going online very much because we can learn how to use the computer and can get more information from the In­ternet. We can learn English. We can read some good newspapers and magazines. It can make us clever in playing com­puter games. We can send e-mails to our friends quickly. We can chat freely online with our friends. It can help us to get in touch with people from all over the world.

But every coin has two sides. Net bars also bring us a lot of trouble. For example,  some students spend too much time in playing computer games and some stay in the net bars all day and all night. Some girls even get to have boyfriends or some boys get to have girlfriends online. They write too many letters to each other. It takes them too much time to chat online,  so they do worse and worse in their lessons and they don't study well any more. I think we mustn't get online when it is time for us to study. We can do it in summer or winter holidays or at the weekend.

At the same time,  if we have lots of free time,  we can do some out-of-class activities at school. We usually have activ­ities from 4' 50 to 5- 50 in the afternoon. We can play basketball or football on Monday or Thursday afternoon. We can join some interests groups in school,  such as drawing or reading on Tuesday afternoon,  or singing and dancing on Wednesday afternoon. We can go to the English Corner on Friday afternoon. We hope we can spend more time on our subjects or on such activities.

1.Many of us like going online because it can help us_________.

A. learn English and send e-mails            B. get more information

C. play computer games         D. all of the above

2.According to the speaker,  in our spare time we should_________.

A. go online for longer time

B. stay in the classroom doing more exercises

C. go to the English Corner every afternoon

D. do more out-of-class activities at school

3.If you are free on Tuesday afternoon,  what out-of-class activities can you have at school?

A. Playing basketball or football.      B. Singing and dancing.

C. Drawing or reading.         D. Going to the English Corner.

Studying too much?

Most people work or study from Monday to Friday. The weekend is usually a time of rest. But today’s Chinese teenagers can hardly rest during the weekends.

According to a survey, 24% of the Grade 8 students in Beijing have classes at the weekend．Over 40% of the middle school students have less than eight hours’ sleep each night because of study.

And this doesn’t happen only in Beijing. Ji Chunying is a Grade 9 student in Guangzhou. The 14-year-old girl has to get up at 6:45am on Saturday. Then she has classes all the day. On Sunday, she goes to extra（额外）classes for math and physics. But Ji doesn’t complain. She says her classmates all work very hard．

Finding time to have fun

Zhao Ming, 13, is from Zhanjiang, Guangdong. Zhao’s weekend is less busy. But he still spends Saturday in school. On Sunday, after finishing homework, he plays basketball. “I feel happy because I still have time to do the things I like,” he said．Some students are much luckier. Ding Yi, a Grade 8 student from Laiwu, Shandong, is one of them. During the weekend, Ding usually gets up at 8:00am. Then she spends some time doing homework. After that she is free to go shopping or watch TV. “My teacher said I don't need to push myself too much. Learning well at school is enough,” Ding said．“I feel pretty lucky.”

1．Over 40% of the middle school students have less than eight hours’ sleep each night because of ___________.

  A．playing computer games              B．playing with friends

C．watching TV                       D．busy study

2．How many students are mentioned（提及） in this passage?

  A．2.               B．3.              C．4.              D．5.

3．Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

   A．Some middle school students can enjoy their weekend．

   B．All the students in China are busy studying at the weekend．

   C．Every student in China has to go to extra classes at the weekend．

   D．No student complains about his busy weekend．

4．The passage mainly tells us that _____________.

   A．Students should do more homework at the weekend

   B．All the students in China must have classes at the weekend

   C．Students should have more time to take a rest at the weekend

   D．No student can play with his friends out of classes

5．The above passage may be a _______.

A．story of science   B．school notice     C．short play        D．news report