Boosting your emotional intelligence quotient, or EQ, involves identifying and managing your own emotions, as well as evaluating and controlling the way in which you react to those of others. 【小题1】 It can also improve your relationships with loved ones and your social interactions. Here are some tips you can use to start improving your EQ.

● Identify your emotions.

Identifying your emotions takes practice and is an important foundational step in building emotional intelligence. Regularly recognizing and naming your emotions throughout the day is a good way to develop your EQ. 【小题2】 You could even go a step further, and try to determine how the presence of certain emotions affects your behavior and productivity.

● Consider your response.

【小题3】 Taking responsibility for the way you behave towards others and, possibly even more importantly, how you treat yourself, is a crucial aspect of emotional intelligence.

● 【小题4】

Empathy is a cornerstone of EQ. It is defined as the ability to identify and share the thoughts, feelings or emotional state of another person. A little empathy goes a long way. It is important to demonstrate empathy towards people other than just those with whom you find it easy to get along.

● Listen actively.

Engage in the moment and acknowledge what other people are saying. 【小题5】 Active listening involves asking open-ended questions such as ‘When?’ ‘How?’ ‘Do you mean...?’ or ‘Could you tell me a bit more about that?’. Active listening also calls for avoiding questions that would get only a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ response.

Developing your emotional intelligence can not only help you reduce your stress, but also leave you with more time to connect with, and continuously improve your relationships with, those around you.

As the cooler days of autumn arrive in the northern part of the world, people are clearing out old plants and planning new gardens for next year. 【小题1】

If the plants have gotten larger than their original containers during their time outside, you can replant them into larger ones. 【小题2】 And replant them with fresh potting soil, and then water.

You can always divide plants like spider plants and flamingo flowers into two or more individual plants. Look for plants with root systems that clump together. They divide more easily.

If you are having trouble removing the plants from their containers, or pots, check to see if the roots have come through the drainage(排水) holes at the bottom of the pot.【小题3】

【小题4】Firstly, shake off any extra soil carefully. Secondly, find the connection between the root system and the plant’s top growth and pull apart the roots gently. Or you could cut through them with a sharp knife. Lastly, place each new plant in its container. Be sure to use fresh soil mix. Water the plants well until new plants form.

All houseplants that spent time outside should be moved to a shady area for a week before going inside for the winter season. 【小题5】 Continue to water regularly during this time.

After a week, look for insects on the plant, especially under the leaves. If you are still worried about insects, you can spray the plants with Neem oil mixed with water. And complete the move inside before temperatures drop below 12.7 degrees Celsius.

What about your emotions? How do they help you to understand what you are reading?

In Jane Yolan's Owl Moon,a girl explores with her father on a snowy night. She longs for this special night.And she's amazed when she sees an owl.Have you felt longing before? Amazement? Well, if you have, it helps you have a sense of agreement. When we can put ourselves inside a story we can understand it better. Our brain tells us,"Oh, this girl's experience is a bit like mine."And boom! We can relate to her.But this skill is not born in us.So young kids have to learn it.

Pictures and images help young readers to understand and recognize feelings.Readers feel joy when seeing the smiling faces of friends.They feel fear when turning the page to find a scary monster. They are just pictures,but the feelings are real. This skill, to understand the thinking and feeling of others, is what researchers call "theory of mind".

For example, think about the faces of people and animals in stories. The Big Bad Wolf's scary teeth. The 'o' shape of a surprised character's mouth. Or big, wide eyes like the girl in Owl Moon. By noticing the faces,readers can start to figure out what it feels like to be that character.And that helps to figure out how people feel and think in real life.

But most young readers don't go into deep,scary woods.And some may not go to the beach or play basketball.In the book Yo!Yes?two kids meet and play ball. The kids start the story on opposite pages.But as the story goes on,they get closer until they are together.Some young readers might not play basketball, but they can read the clues on the page to figure out how the kids are feeling.And some readers might not like the game,but they can feel excited for the characters because of how the characters look and move.