Apart from psychological(心理的) illness，we are all largely responsible for our own emotional health. What we say to ourselves over and over for days，weeks，months，and sometimes years，has a great effect on how we see ourselves. This also contributes to many mental health disorders.

Many of us have problems with negative thoughts playing on the channel of our minds，but if you’re buried in them and believe them，they could be wearing your sense of self­esteem (自尊)．Here are a few beliefs that indicate you may need to switch the channel：I’m not good enough？/I don’t deserve...？/No one likes me？/I’m a failure?

Negative thoughts remind you of your bad feelings and they bring your focus on your failures，and they get you nowhere.

What can you do？Here are some suggestions：

Switch the channel when negative thoughts appear. Self­talk is not so obvious that we often don’t notice its effect on our mood and belief systems. Key things to notice are “if only” or “what if” statements：the former keeps you caught in the past with regret，while the latter keeps you fearful of the future. There is nothing you can do about the past，and the future isn’t here yet，so stay in the present moment.

Recognize that actions always follow beliefs. You’ll find yourself behaving in ways that are consistent (和……一致的) to your beliefs. So，start believing the best about yourself：act as if you believe that you’re a valuable and worthy person.

Develop positive self­talk rather than negative self­talk. Instead of always looking down upon yourself in your head，think of some things you actually like about yourself. What are your strengths？What are you good at？Instead of saying “I’m a loser”，try saying，“I am capable./I’m good at.../I accept myself the way I am.”

Thinking poorly about ourselves gets us nowhere and is extremely self­limiting. Decide today to turn off the negative self­talk channel in your mind and develop your true potential.

(1) From the first two paragraphs we can learn that________.
A. lots of people have no sense of self­esteem B. focusing on negative thoughts may have bad effect on people C. negative thoughts will strengthen our sense of self­esteem D. few people have negative thoughts and mental problems
(2) The underlined word “wearing” in Paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to________.
A. strengthening B. protecting C. weakening D. replacing
(3) What do the suggestions in the text tell us?
A. Our beliefs always come after actions. B. Positive self­talk does good to our mental health. C. Looking down upon ourselves is a sign of modesty. D. “What if” keeps you stuck in the past with regret.
(4) The text encourages us to________.
A. get rid of negative thoughts B. get anywhere we like C. think highly of others D. turn off the self­talk channel
(5) This text is most likely to appear in________.
A. a recreation guide B. a medical journal C. a science textbook D. a travel brochure