Do you remember the last time you read a book or a magazine? 【小题1】? If you’re one of those who don’t have a habit of reading regularly, you might be really out. Here are some benefits of reading.

1. Stress Reduction

No matter how much pressure you have at work or in daily life, it all just slips away when you lose yourself in a great story. 【小题2】.

2. Knowledge

3. 【小题4】

The more you read, the more words you gain exposure to. As a result, this will gradually enlarge your everyday vocabulary. Then you might become more knowledgeable and well-spoken, which can increase your self-confidence and even help you get promotions more quickly.

4. Better Writing Skills

Exposure to well-written works has a great effect on your own writing. In other words, writing styles of other authors will influence your own work. 【小题5】.

Now that reading has so many benefits, step away from your computer and go hunting for something new to read!

   Everyone needs a break, and vacations are not meant for serious study. 【小题1】 The Spring Festival is coming up so this is the perfect time to discuss some great English language literature to take on a long train journey.

Before getting into the recommendation, you need to determine your English reading comprehension level. If you’re at the beginner level, there are two options: reading a children’s book or reading a book that you’ve read in Chinese translation. 【小题2】 If you’re at the intermediate level, popular books like pop fiction, mysteries and thrillers are good options. For advanced readers, classic works of literature or modern prize winners (Nobel, Pulitzer) are good options.

【小题3】 When I pick up a book I like, even though the first few chapters are really hard to get through, I would try to get accustomed to the language the author uses. Generally, after the first few chapters, things get a lot easier, especially if I get involved in the story.

Another great way to keep yourself motivated is to find a friend who’s interested in reading the same book. You can make goals that you both want to achieve. 【小题4】

Some quick recommendations: Harry Potter, start with the first book and go on from there; the Narnia series; anything by US writer Michael Crichton; and if you like horror, US writer Stephen King is always unusual and fun. 【小题5】 Happy reading!

   Our most commonly held code for success is broken. Conventional wisdom（普遍看法）holds that if we work hard we will be more successful，and if we are more successful，then we’ll be happy. If we can just find that great job，win that next promotion，lose those five pounds，happiness will follow. But recent discoveries in the field of positive psychology have shown that this code is actually backward：Happiness fuels success，not the other way around. When we are positive，our brains become more engaged，creative，motivated，energetic，and productive at work. These discoveries have been repeatedly proved by rigid research in psychology and neuroscience（神经科学），management studies，and the bottom lines of organizations around the globe.

In The Happiness Advantage，Shawn Achor，who spent over a decade living，researching，and lecturing at Harvard University，draws on his own research—including one of the largest studies of happiness and potential at Harvard and others at companies like UBS to fix this broken code. Using stories and case studies from his work with CEOs of Fortune 500 in 42 countries，Achor explains how we can reprogram our brains to become more positive in order to gain a competitive ability at work.

Based on seven practical，actionable principles that have been tried and tested everywhere from classrooms to boardrooms，stretching from Argentina to Zimbabwe，he shows us how we can capitalize on The Happiness Advantage to improve our performance and maximize our potential.

A must-read for everyone trying to stand out in a world of increasing workloads and stress，The Happiness Advantage isn’t only about how to become happier at work. It’s about how to get the benefits of a happier and more positive mode of thinking to achieve the extraordinary in our work and in our lives.

   For some people, the warmest memories from childhood come from being read a great story. 【小题1】 It develops children’s language skills and increases their ability to succeed in school and, later, work.

Experts say parents should read books that are not too long and on the right age level so that children will not lose interest. They say parents should also point to and talk about pictures in books for infants (幼儿). 【小题2】

Elizabeth Lyttleton has three daughters. They are at age ten, eight and two. 【小题3】 She says, "I watch my two-year-old, who is now getting a big language explosion. So much of it comes from the books that she reads. With my eight-year-old, it’s now the broadening horizons (眼界). The oldest now truly reads for pleasure and can get lost in young adult books. "

【小题4】 The company Scholastic is a major publisher of children’s books. Every two years, Scholastic publishes a report on American reading attitudes and habits. The 2015 report says only 31 percent of children in the U. S. read a book for fun almost every day. Four years ago that number was more than double.

Scholastic also suggests some ways to develop a love of reading in a child. 【小题5】 Another way to develop a reading habit in children is to read to them. The Scholastic report also suggests permitting children to choose their own books. Of all the 6 - to 17-year-olds in the Scholastic study, more than 90% said their favorite books are the ones they choose for themselves.