Keeping Safe in your House During a Fire

Though you may not think you’ll ever fall victim to a house fire, it’s better to be prepared to avoid panicking. To increase your chances of survival, just follow these steps.

1.React as soon as you hear your smoke alarm goes off. On hearing your smoke detector or alarm going off and seeing a fire, exit your home as safely as possible.   【小题1】

2.Safely exit through doors. If you don’t see smoke at the door, open it slowly and pass through it after making sure the door feels cool. If there is a fire preventing you from exiting the room, close the door.

3.Protect yourself from smoke inhalation（吸入）. Get low to the floor and crouch or crawl on your hands and knees to avoid the smoke. 【小题2】 Cover your nose and mouth if you have to walk by or through a heavily smoke-filled room.

4.【小题3】 If your clothes catch fire, immediately stop what you’re doing, drop flat to the ground, and roll around until you put the fire out.

5.Prevent the smoke if you can’t get out. 【小题4】 Close your door and cover all vents（通风口）and cracks（缝隙）around it with cloth or tape to keep the smoke out.

6.Call for help from a second story window. 【小题5】 You can take a sheet or something else—white preferably—and hang it out of the window to signify that you need help when the first res-ponders get there.

The tendency to engage in negative self-evaluation affects almost everyone. Listening to your loud inner voice is a habit. But there’s a good reason to work on silencing self-criticism, which has been found to worsen depression, anxiety, disordered eating and etc. 【小题1】 We asked experts to share their favorite ways to overcome critical self-talk.

1. Investigate the origins.

The first step to stop self-criticism is understanding where the thoughts originated, says Tiffany Green, a psychotherapist in Chicago. When her clients say negative things about themselves, she often asks them, “Where did this come from? Who was the first person you heard say this about you?” The response tends to be revealing: maybe their mom called them lazy, or their grandmother told them they needed to lose weight. 【小题2】

2. Set up a self-criticism jar.

Every time you catch yourself engaging in a critical thought, throw a coin or piece of paper into a jar. The goal in the beginning is to fill the jar with lots of coins, 【小题3】 Over the next three to six months, however, you should notice that you’re adding to it less frequently. Having a visual way to monitor your progress can be motivating and rewarding, Green says.

3. 【小题4】

One of Turow’s self-talk strategies is called “spot the success.” Every night before you go to bed, write down 10 things you did that day that benefited you, or somebody else. “No item is too small. You helped your friend, you got up early, you took exercise regularly,” she notes. “It generates this sense in your brain, like, ‘I am doing these good things.’”

4. Look for the gentle lessons.

Self-criticism can sometimes contain important information and even prove helpful, Turow says. You might, for instance, be hard on yourself for not keeping in good touch with your friends. That’s valuable information. If you’re upset with yourself for not making it to the gym, that could signal a desire for a healthier lifestyle. Turow advises noticing the criticism gently, and then learning from it. 【小题5】 Instead of “You’re not good at keeping in touch.” try “This is really important to me. I wonder how I can make it happen more often.”

“There is nothing noble (高尚的) in being superior (优秀的) to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.” —— Ernest Hemingway

As Hemingway says, self-improvement is a noble process. 【小题1】 Much of who we are is determined by how we relate with others around us. When we seek to improve ourselves, we can also make our relationships with others better.

【小题2】 If you have a good self-image, then others are likely to relate to you in a positive way. When people see a self-controlled and confident individual, they are likely to be affected in a positive way. And this can result in a more optimistic and constructive relationship.

Only when you have accepted who you are can you grow. If you continuously fight against yourself, you won’t have the emotional energy you need to better yourself. If you wish to get on with people better, then you may start by accepting yourself. 【小题3】

If you are on a personal path that is going upwards, then you are likely to find a friend or partner who is also seeking to better themselves and their circumstances. 【小题4】

Focusing on your good qualities and attempting to protect and improve these characteristics will help you become a better person. 【小题5】 When you stop damaging who you are, you are likely to avoid ruining relationships and this can lead to longer and more meaningful connections with others.