The Peer Education Project
The Peer Education Project is a school-based programme that aims to give young people the skills and knowledge they need to safeguard their mental health, and that of their peers （同龄人）. By training older pupils to deliver mental health lessons to younger students, we intend to include the programme in the school course as a key source of support to young people experiencing mental health problem.
Why is peer education helpful?
• Young people always turn a deaf ear to adults and are more willing to listen to their schoolmates.
• Young people may feel more comfortable asking questions of their fellows.
• Peer-delivered programmes can provide accessible role-models and advisers.
• The Peer Education Project uses existing social networks to exercise influence and maintain the influence beyond the classroom.
What does the project teach?
• It introduces mental health as something that we all have, like physical health.
• It encourages students to think about ways to stay well, how to seek help and support friends.
• It introduces some common wrong opinions about mental health, and deals with the discrimination （歧视） against people with mental problems.
Our new PEP platform
The PEP platform is designed to be a one-stop shop for The Peer Education Project. Register now to access the resources you will need to introduce mental health into your school course.
Contact us
We are currently working to bring the project to more schools. Call or email us if you'd like to take part, or to find out more about what's involved.
A few years ago, I stood in a small classroom just outside of New York City, watching a high schooler named Serena Stevenson answer math questions. An instructor read out numbers- 74, 470, 70, 809, 98, 402- and Stevenson added them in her head. For each question, she closed her eyes, and then the fingers of her right hand began to move. She answered most of the problems correctly.
The key to her success was an ancient technology called the abacus （算盘）. Stevenson used a practice called "mental abacus", imagining the abacus in her mind and then using her fingers to work through the problems.
From watching Stevenson, I knew that gaining skill at the abacus was more than a matter of counting beads （珠子）, so I decided to sign up for an abacus course with my two daughters to see if we could also improve our math skills. I was one of the many who had some math doubts and I felt a touch of fear. My typical solution was avoidance, and if I had to calculate something like a percentage change, I would go online.
Then after a few abacus classes and a good amount of practice, math seemed a little less frightening. I didn't become Euclid, the founder of geometry （几何学） . But the practice brought my numerical fears down. This is a time-tested power of the abacus. Confidence grows easily in the device, and abacus students are less likely to be nervous about an upcoming math test, according to one study. Part of the reason, it seems, is that practice and outcomes appear to move in step.
My kids gained much as well. My youngest daughter could work out those math problems that once her, while my older child brought her abacus to school to show it to her classmates and teacher. These were just small successes for them, but that was how they finally developed confidence.
The time to form a new habit depends on the person, the habit itself, the environment, and the motivation. Generally speaking, 60 days is good enough for getting a new habit formed, but some habits could take twice as long. Some habits will never be formed no matter how much time passes. Even a habit that takes months or years to form can still be broken eventually.
Becoming an early riser was really challenging. I struggled with this habit for years to manage to form it. I do break this habit now and then, usually by choice to experience something different for a while. In the past 90 days, I have stayed in bed past 5 am perhaps only two or three times. It takes me less than a week to be back with it. Remembering the benefits surely helps.
In my 20s I was too impatient with many habits. If I couldn't get something working in a few weeks, I'd often drop it and try something else. Now that I'm in my late 40s, I have learned to think in a more practical way. I know that even if it takes many months or years to form a new habit, I am sure the habit could bring advantages for many years. It doesn't take me too long to think of carrying out the new habit, I just get it started. When you think about a habit that you have stuck to for many years, who cares if it took a few weeks or six months to form it?
Don't worry so much about how long it takes to form a habit. Instead, consider which habits could improve the quality of your life so that they are worthy of six months to get them formed. When a habit forms at last, it feels uncomfortable not to do it, and your day doesn't feel complete without it.
Whether it's a tricky maths problem or an unexpected bill, life is full of stressful experiences. Now researchers have found that humans produce a different odour （气气味） when under pressure and dogs can sniff it out.
While previous studies have suggested dogs might pick up on human emotions, possibly through smell, questions remained over whether they could detect （察觉）stress and if this could be done through scent.
Writing in the journal Plos One, Clara Wilson, a PhD student at Queens University Belfast and the fiurst author of the research, and her colleagues report how they first constructed a stand bearing three containers, each topped by a lid with holes. The researchers were able to train four dogs to point out the container that was holding a particular breath and sweat sample taken at a different time of day, even when the lineup included unused gauze（纱布）.
With the team confident that the dogs understood the approach, they turned to breath and sweat samples from 36 people who had been asked to count backwards from 9, 000 in units of 17. The participants reported feeling stressed by the task and for the 27 who carried it out in the lab, their blood pressure and heart rate rose.
The dogs were taught to pick out samples taken just after the task from a lineup that included two containers holding unused gauze. The researchers then tested whether the dogs could do the same when the lineup included not only unused gauze but samples taken from the same participant just before the task, when they were more relaxed. Each set of samples was shown to a single dog in 20 trials. The results show that the dogs chose the "stressed" sample in 675 out of the 720 trials.
"It was pretty amazing to see them be so confident in telling me 'nope, these two things definitely smell different', " said Wilson. While it was unclear what chemicals the dogs were picking up on, the study shows humans produce a different odour when stressed. Wilson said it was possible that even untrained pet dogs might detect changes in odour when a human became stressed.
It is not always easy to keep a conversation going in English. You might not be sure about what to say. Or maybe you are afraid that your pronunciation is not good. So how can we continue a conversation in English?
Listen and follow up
First, remember the importance of listening. Listen to the other person attentively, so that you can ask a follow-up question. For example, let's say the other person tells you, "I just got back from a trip to Canada. " Where did you go in Canada? What was your favorite place there? How was the food there?
Avoid simple "yes" or "no" questions
If you want to keep a conversation going, it's a good idea to ask questions that cannot be answered with a simple "yes" or "no". If the other person asks you a "yes" or "no" question, try to give a longer answer to help keep the conversation going.
For example, a friend might ask, "Hey, have you seen the new Star Wars movie?" You could just answer, "No, I haven't. " You could answer："No, but I plan to see it soon. How about you?"
Do not worry about your pronunciation. If your pronunciation is a little different, the other person will still understand your message if you try speaking slowly and clearly. When you are traveling in an English-speaking country and have some free time, be brave and speak in English with someone who does not look too busy.
A. Or, you could say more.
B. Be brave and practice often.
C. You can try the following ways.
D. Then you may make a new friend.
E. Why did you choose the destination?
F. Correct your pronunciation if possible.
G. You can continue with a question using where, what, why, or how.
In December, 2009, 46-year-old Phil Belfiore was teaching his students how to write a pastiche （模仿作品） of Robert Frost's poem. He liked the 1 he had written for them, so he 2 it on his answering machine（电话答录机）. That brought an unusual 3 to him.
When Phil returned from New Year vacation, he listened to 4 . One gentleman said he was sorry for dialing wrongly. He added he heartily5 the poem. Phil laughed and thought nothing more about it. 6 , the phone rang days later. Phil recognized the voice. "He7 for bothering me, but he wanted to hear the poem again, " recalls Phil. The caller is John, 73 years old. It turned out that his brother's number was8 to Phil's；thus the wrong call happened. "I told him to call back anytime. "
That was 11 years ago. They've talked regularly ever since. John 9 most calls. Phil will ring if a long time has passed and he has any 10 to worry. "We always 11 each other when there's been a storm or a sports event, " Phil says. Gradually, their conversations grew more 12 . "We talk about health, finances, and whatever else comes up. "
They planned twice to visit the other, but circumstances13 their plans. They haven't gone to a game or had a coffee together. Neither14 the "haven't", as picking up the phone is enough. "My best friend is someone I've not yet15 , " says John.
The music from an upcoming musical by musician Li Dun and composer San Bao, Flying Apsaras （飞天）, was performedthe first time in Shanghai on September 5. The concert included 14 songswere created by writer Guan Shan and composer San Bao for the musical.
（inspire） by the cultural treasures of the Dunhuang murals（壁画）, the musical tells a story about a guardian who watches over the murals and a scholar who travels over a long（distant） to Dunhuang.
A religious（宗教的） and cultural crossroads on the Silk Road, Dunhuang hasnumber of caves that house a vast collection of murals describing religious stories and life scenes. Li Dun said he（move） to tears during his first visit to the caves in Dunhuang by these（extreme） fine paintings. He hoped to tell a story about theastonish） beauty of Dunhuang to the world in the form of a musical.
According to Li Dun, the title Flying Apsaras came from the flying dosaras in the Dunhuang murals. These female spirits dance in the sky, （give）people a dreamlike impression. Painted from the Jin Dynasty（265-420）to the end of the Yuan Dynasty （1279-1368）, the ancient treasures（be） also a symbol of Chinese culture.
写作要求：词数为100左右（开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数）；可适当增加细节, 以使行文连贯。
参考词汇：the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine诺贝尔生理学或医学奖 artemisinin青蒿素
malaria疟疾
Good morning, everyone!
Thank you for listening.
Once upon a time in a village, there lived a small boy named Varun, who lost his mother when he was 10 years old. Varun's father loved his son very much and worked very hard every day on the farm to meet the need of his son. And because of his hard-work, Varun got an opportunity for higher education. Since Varun was intelligent, he studied very well and got placed in one of the best companies in the Town after graduation.
Varun had to take his father along with him because his father was old and sick. Varun's father who was very self-dependent did not want to rely on his son. But . his relatives convinced him to go along with his son and stay with him.
After a few days, Varun's father who was already ill got sicker day by day. Varun took care of his father and served all the things that were necessary for him. But Varun started thinking his own life, which made him unhappy and stressed. He started ignoring his father.
In one evening when Varun came back home, he said to his father that he wanted to take him for an outing. Varun's father felt so happy that he immediately got up from his bed. And he was very excited to spend some precious time with his son. But actually Varun had already made up his mind to take his father for a long walk and leave him on the way. While walking, Varun's father picked up all the wooden sticks（棍状物, 条状物） and kept them aside on the road, leaving a gap （间隔, 差距） and keeping the sticks one after another on the road.
注意：
续写词数应为150左右；
Seeing his father doing this, Varun was very confused.
Then Varun realized that his father knew everything.
