You and your friend need to pass the upcoming exam to avoid summer classes. After a week of studying. you feel confident, but your grades are much lower than expected. You're upset, but your friend seems unfazed. How can you stay positive and control your emotions?
Psychologists use the Process Model to identify intervention points in the emotion formation process, which includes entering a situation, focusing on and evaluating it, and experiencing an emotional response. Each step offers a chance to change your emotions.
Imagine you're invited to a party where your ex-darling will come. You could avoid the party, you could come to the party but avoid your ex-darling, or shift your attention by playing games with friends. If these do not succeed, you can temper your emotional response through sustainable methods like walking, deep breathing, or talking to a friend.
Practicing these strategies helps. Noticing and reflecting on your emotions is key. Learning to accept all emotions can make it easier for you to adjust to them. However, should you always strive to be happy? It depends. No emotion is naturally good or bad; they are either helpful or unhelpful based on the situation. Feeling and expressing sadness can help you comfort a friend whose relatives have died, while forcing a smile to get through a minor annoyance is reasonable.
In the end, everyone must find their own balance. Chasing happiness can cause negative feelings like guilt and frustration. Instead, try accepting your emotions and using techniques to foster hope for the future.
(Adapted from Ted talks)

The origin of the term "OK" is often traced back to the early 19th century, specifically the 1830s, (39) _____ it emerged as part of a trend for humorous abbreviations in the United States. It is thought to stand for "all correct," a misspelling of "all correct" that (40) _____ popularity through Boston newspapers and quickly caught on. This trend reflected the period's fascination with clever wordplay. However, (41) _____ different origins have been proposed. One prominent theory ties "OK" to Martin Van Buren's 1840 presidential campaign, where his supporters created the "OK Club," referencing his nickname "Old Kinderhook" from his birthplace in Kinderhook, New York. (42) _____ some researchers also propose that "OK" might have earlier roots in various languages, such as the Choctaw word "okeh," meaning "it's so," or similar phrases in West African languages brought by enslaved individuals. While the precise origin of "OK" remains somewhat unclear, its journey from a playful (43) _____ trend to a globally recognized term of agreement is certainly true.
(Adapted from https://www.eltexampreparation.com)

Pete Watson looks like the biggest, sweetest teddy bear you ever saw. It is only when he opens his mouth that you notice the missing front teeth. Watson i s a three-time world champion wrestler turned author. He was adored by fans because he was different: while other wrestlers were supreme athletes, he was just a hulk who knew how to take a hit. You could throw as many chairs as you liked at Pete Watson, you could smack him repeatedly, but he wouldn’t go down.
After two autobiographies and a series of children’s stories, he has just written a brilliant first novel: a word of immense power and subtlety, likely to gain a wide readership. At its simplest, it is about a boy and his dad getting together after a lifetime apart, though there is more to it than that. Was he inspired by anyone he knew? The father, he says, is based on guys he met on the road, wrestlers, friends of his, who appeared to be leading exciting lives, but deep down were pretty miserable.
Watson does not come from traditional wrestling stock. He grew up in Long Island, New York. His father was an athletic director with a PhD, his mother a physical education teacher with two master’s degrees - one in literature, the other in Russian history. He was a big boy, bullied for his size. One day his neighbour had a go at him, and for the first time Watson realised he could use his weight and size instead of feeling awkward about it. It was a turning point.
At college, he did a degree in communication studies. Meanwhile, he was learning the ropes of professional wrestling. Did his parents try to dissuade him? ‘No. They were just really insistent that I finished college. I am pretty sure they thought I’d get hurt and quit wrestling.’ But he didn’t.
Nowadays, his time is dedicated to family and books - his next novel is about boy wrestlers living on the same block, and he is also writing more children’s stories. He does not think this life is so different from wrestling. ‘Wrestling is all about characters,’ he says. ‘So when my fans hear I’ve written a novel, I don’t get the sense that they feel I’ve abandoned them.’
(Adapted from FCE Exam Essentials)