3. Why do people start tracing their family histories?
4. What recommendations does the author give to discover your roots?
35
1. Read the article and say in 23 sentences what it is about.
HOW TO BE HAPPY
Dr Richard Carlson is thought to be an internationally famous expert on happiness. Tens of millions of copies of his self-help guides have been sold around the world. These books try to help people deal with the many difficulties of life so that they can become happy and feel strong inside themselves.
Dr Carlson is a qualified psychologist*, also he is naturally optimistic and] has always had a deep interest in the idea of happiness. When he finished his university studies, he began giving lessons on how to be happy to small groups of people. Dr Carlson enjoyed that work but he wanted to try and help more people. He got an opportunity to do this when he began writing articles about happiness for a newspaper. He then had the idea of putting his ideas into book form.
One of the secrets of happiness, Dr Carlson believes, is to approach problems in stages, breaking the problem down into parts that can be solved bit by bit.
"Problems often seem so large that you feel shocked," Richard Carlson says. "It's much better to stop a moment and see things in perspective."
Another advice is to develop a feeling of inner strength. You must consciously try to be positive about things, seeing problems as challenges. When you have a habit of being positive and optimistic, a lot of your problems either become unimportant, or else they disappear altogether.
Dr Carlson also stresses that it is very important for people to take responsibility for their own happiness. When you realize this, it can give you a sense of power. Instead of blaming others we should learn how we ourselves can change to improve the situation. As a result your personal relations will improve and you will feel happier.
Dr Carlson also recommends people to develop a sense of presence. What he means is that we should always be focused on whatever it is that we are doing at any particular time. If you are successful at doing this, others will respect you.
Millions of people have benefited from Dr Carlson's common sense approach to happiness. He manages to make complex issues easier to deal with.
A psychologist
2. Dr Carlson is considered an international expert on happiness. Read aloud the extract which says about it.
3. Why did Dr Carlson start writing books?
4. What advice for being happy does Dr Carlson give?
36
1. Read a part of the interview with Audra Mari, Miss Teen USA, taken by the magazine "Seventeen" and say in 23 sentences what it is about.
BULLYING AGAIN?
Seventeen: What was your experience with bullying* in high school?
Audra Mari: One Sunday, I came home and there was a big picture on the door. It was basically making fun of me because I'm tall. Once the girls prepared a slogan to support a football team. The slogan wishing good luck faced the team, but the back of the slogan read "Go Home Mari". And the whole student section saw it. One time during lunch, I was sitting with all my friends, and a girl came up to me and threw a paper lunch bag at me. She said, "You can eat this for lunch, it is for horses."
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Seventeen: What was going through your head when all of this was happening?
AM: At first, I tried to keep it in and not tell anyone except for my friends because I thought that it'd finish after the first few weeks, but this happened all year. So finally, I told my mum, I told her everything. She talked to the administration, and they brought the girls in and talked to them about it. The girls were punished. So you just have to bring it to the attention of adults.
Seventeen: In spite of all this, you still managed to make it to the Miss Teen USA competition and win it. How did you find the confidence to go for it?
AM: You just have to ignore it and have confidence* in yourself. I was a three-j sport athlete hockey, soccer, and volleyball and I gave them up to do my modeling career.
Seventeen: What's your advice for girls dealing with bullies today?
AM: Stay confident and know that this is not the end of the world that you are not going to be in high school for the rest of your life. There are mean girls wherever you go, but you don't need to be with them when you get older. You're not in a classroom with them; you're not eating lunch with them, so look past it and know that it's going to end. Looking back, I'd say you just need to focus on what you want to achieve and not let people get in your way or upset you Also, tell a trusted adult, tell all your friends, tell anyone you can. If you keep it inside, it's just going to eat you.
to bully ['buh] ,
Confidence
