Beat test stress!

Freakin' over finals? Here are five sweet strategies to help you chill — and rock any exam!

You've worked hard this whole school year, plowing through homework, raising your hand In class, scoring extra credit Now the exam's coming down, and your buds keep saying you're so gonna ace ft Truth is, you're terrified you're gonna blow this one — and your semester grade — to smithereens. Yep, even the most well-prepped student can suffer from exam anxiety. Help is here…

DO A REALITY CHECK

You're probably fooling yourself into feeling jittery by setting sky-high expectations. Yeah, it feels great to rack up a top test grade, but pushing to keep up a streak pours on pounds of pressure.

Ask yourself these questions: 1) Am I overreacting — like, will my whole grade really tank if T do less than stellar? And, 2) Do I honestly believe I lack the smarts and strength to handle this test? Whew! Now that you've regained perspective, your nerves should settle.

REVIEW-DON'T OVERDO

It's perfectly normal to assume you should spend each waking second cramming — going over every note you took, analyzing all the words your teacher ever uttered — in short, obsessing. Let's press pause for a minute. Yes, it's crucial to put in solid review time, but it's equally important not to make yourself sweaty over unnecessary details.

Your final exam will likely focus on key concepts, so max out your energy on the material your teacher has gone over the most. Once you know those things inside and out, rewind to the background stuff, like less important dates, little-known names, reeeeeally short Civil War battles. Then, keep this info stashed away underneath your thinking cap. Just In case.

TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE

Schedule study sessions strategically. One massive marathon will only make you red-alert anxious. Instead, plan two weeks of, say, 30 minutes to an hour a day. That way, you gradually build the knowledge into your brain.

The night before the test? Reinforce the work you've put in by reading through the material one last time. Then slam those books shut and relax — listen to soothing tunes, play with your pooch, take a yummy vanilla bubble bath. Hit the sack early — studies show a good night's sleep helps you remember what you read once the a.m. rolls around.

And what you chow for breakfast the day of finals will help keep you focused. Carbs boost happy brain chemicals, so eat some whole-wheat toast and fruit.

ROCK STEADY

During the test, keep your nerves in check by carefully reading each question. When you feel sure about an answer, give yourself an inner shout-out — think, "Amazing" or "Got it!"

If you find yourself choking on a question, don't trip up — breathe steadily until it comes to you. Completely stumped? Move on, and go back to it later if there's time. Speaking of… Avoid clock-watching. Glance at it once when you're halfway through the test, and again when you're at the last question.

DON'T WILT WHILE YA WAIT

For many girls, taking a test isn't half as scary as waiting to get it back with a grade. What happens now is out of your hands, so throw yourself into decorating the gym for the end-of-school dance. Stay busy, and you might even forget about it until your report card arrives!

The thing is, you're gonna take tons of tests in your lifetime, and you'll handle each and every exam with increased skill and self-assurance. We give you an A+ for choosing to handle the heat this rime with super self-confidence.

By Lisa Mulcahy, Girls' Life, Jul 2007

The Four Freedoms

Norman Rockwell at the opening of the Four Freedoms tour, 27 April 1943 (Photo)

Norman Rockwell tossed in his bed, wondering how he could capture the Four Freedoms on canvas. The artiste Wanted to base a series of pictures on President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's inspiring Four Freedoms speech. When most Of Europe had fallen to Adolf Hitler, the president had called on Americans to help stop tyrants such as the German dictator, and he. had Spoken of the freedoms all people deserve.

Rockwell reread President Roosevelt's Words: "The first is freedom of speech and expression--everywhere in the world. The Second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own Way--everywhere in. the World.. The third is freedom from want every where in the world. The fourth is freedom from fear anywhere in the world."

Eleven months after President Roosevelt gave his speech, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, and the United States joined the fight. Now American soldiers were overseas, embroiled in the battles of World War II, and the war was not going well for the Allies. Rockwell wanted to paint the Four Freedoms and offer them as his contribution to [he war effort. He hoped his pictures would help Americans understand what they were fighting for.

Other artists had been commissioned by the government to paint murals, stamps, and prints of the Four Freedoms. They had created lofty images. That wasn't Rockwell's style. But President Roosevelt's language was so high and noble. How could Norman Rockwell portray those freedoms in concrete terms? "I continued to stew over an idea, Rockwell wrote, I tried this and that. Nothing worked."

While he mulled over the problem of the Four Freedoms, he painted another illustration for a magazine cover, went to a town meeting, and attended a Grange supper. One night he went to bed, still struggling to come up with an idea. "As the minutes ticked by, all empty and dark, I suddenly remembered how Jim Edgerton had stood up in a town meeting and said something that everybody else disagreed with. But they had let him have his say. No one had shouted him down. My gosh, I thought, that's it. There it is. Freedom of Speech. I'll illustrate the Four Freedoms using my Vermont neighbors as models."

Rockwell was so excited that he jumped out of bed and bicycled over to tell his friend and fellow illustrator Mead Schaeffer, even though it was three o'clock in the morning. In the next few days, Rockwell made full-size color sketches of what he intended to do. When he and Schaeffer headed to Washington to offer the sketch ideas to the government.

But the government wasn't interested. Rockwell's and Schaeffer's spirits flagged as they were turned down by one official after another. The war was going badly, and government officials were overworked. The Undersecretary of the War Department told Rockwell; "We'd love to print your Four Freedoms, but we can't.… We just don't have the time to spare to arrange it. I think they'd be a fine contribution. We'd be delighted if someone would publish them."

Discouraged, Rockwell and his friend Schaeffer returned home, taking a side trip to see the editor of the Saturday Evening Post, Ben Hibbs. Rockwell, had other pictures to sell, and Hibbs often bought Rockwell's illustrations. Hibbs asked Rockwell about his trip to Washington, and when he showed the editor his sketches of the Four Freedoms, Hibbs got excited. "You've got to do them for us.… Drop everything else. Just do the Four Freedoms."

Rockwell and his friend returned to Vermont, and Rockwell set to work. But things didn't go smoothly. Rockwell painted the first freedom, Freedom of Speech, four times. "I practically finished it twice, finding each time when I had just a few days' work left that it wasn't right." He had started by showing an entire town meeting, but there were too many people in the picture. In the end, he focused on a single man speaking in front of his neighbors.

Then came Freedom of Worship. Rockwell's first sketch was of a country barbershop. A Jew sat in the barber chair being shaved by a Protestant while a Catholic priest and a Negro waited their turns, all of them enjoying one another's company. But the picture seemed to offend the friends who stopped by to see it. "Priests don't look like that," Catholics told Rockwell. His Jewish and Negro Friends didn't like the picture either. Rod well discarded that picture, started another, and tossed that one aside. Finally he painted a varied group of people, hands raised in prayer, each worshiping God in his or her own way.

After that, Freedom from Want and Freedom from Fear came easily. He based them on his original color sketches. For Freedom from Want, Rockwell painted his own family's Thanksgiving turkey with a family gathered around it. "One of the few times," he Said, "I've ever eaten the model." For Freedom from Fear, he painted parents tucking their children safely into bed.

Rockwell brought the finished paintings to the editor of the Saturday Evening Post. The Post printed the series, and they were a tremendous hit. Subscribers requested posters, and the government asked if they could use the images. Eventually the paintings were taken on a nationwide tour. Over a million people came to see Rockwell's Four Freedoms. Four million posters of the paintings were printed. The publicity they generated helped sell over $132 million worth of war bonds to help fund the war effort.

Americans loved the paintings, but Norman Rockwell wasn't completely satisfied with them. "I never liked Freedom from Fear or… Freedom from Want. Neither of them has any wallop," he said. He worried that Freedom from Fear was "rather smug," that the painting suggested Americans could put their children to bed without fear while families were being bombed in Europe. And he saw Freedom from Want as a portrayal of overabundance at a time when families in war-torn nations were going hungry. "I think the two I had the most trouble with--Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Worship--have more of an impact, say more, better." The art critics didn't always agree with Rockwell. In fact, some felt that Freedom from Fear and Freedom from Want were the strongest of the four paintings. You can judge for yourself.

But there's no doubt that Rockwell's Four Freedoms made a major contribution to the war effort. As editor Ben Hibbs said, "Those four pictures quickly became the best known and most appreciated paintings of that era. They appeared right at a time when the war was going against us on the battle fronts, and the American people needed the inspirational message which they conveyed so forcefully and so beautifully." The Four Freedoms are some of the best known and best loved paintings in America. And their message is just as strong today as it was when they were painted--Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear for everyone, everywhere in the world.

By Linda Crotta Brennan

Orphaned animals bond at a zoo

Animals at a zoo in Indonesia have formed an unlikely friendship.

A pair of baby orangutans and Sumatran tiger cubs have become best buddies! These animals don't often get along. In fact, orangutans are on a mature Sumatran tiger's menu.

Nia and Irma are orangutan sisters. Cubs Dema and Manis are tiger twins. These pairs formed a bond at the Taman Safari zoo. They currently share a room there. They are under the care of humans because their mothers abandoned them.

Because these animals are natural enemies, experts say the friendship cannot last long.

"When the time comes, they will have to be separated," said veterinarian Retno Sudarwati. "It's sad, but we can't change their natural behavior."

Both the orangutan and the Sumatran tiger live in Indonesia, where they are seriously endangered. Illegal hunting and habitat loss threaten the two species.

Experts estimate that there are fewer than 700 Sumatran tigers left in the wild. The number of orangutans has dropped to fewer than 60,000.

Scholastic News

Wand-erful News

Are muggles ready for more movie magic? Actors Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grim are; they recently signed on to reprise their roles as Harry Potter and Ron Weasley in the final two Harry Potter films. So did Emma Watson, ending speculation that Warner Bros, might need to find another Hermione Granger. The three friends will be back on the big screen July 13, when Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, opens. That's a week before the July 21 release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final book in the hugely popular fantasy series written by J.K. Rowling. Daniel Radcliffe recently talked to Current Events.
Current Events: In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry is sick of being famous. How about you?

Daniel Radcliffe: I don't think of myself as being famous. On the set, you're there to work. It's a very fun job to do, but it's a job, and you do it and that's that. There's a part of me that everyone recognizes, but it's only part of me. I've never been chased down streets by paparazzi.
CE: Like Harry, you're getting older. How well does the character reflect your experience growing up?

DR: I think it's a very accurate portrayal in terms of Harry's confusion and fear of growing up and the challenges he knows it's inevitable he will face. That's what Harry Potter is about for me. It's not magic. It's not good versus evil. It's about a loss of innocence — going from a little kid to a young man.
CE: Speaking of good versus evil, Harry's least favorite teacher is Severus Snape. Whose side do you think Snape is on?

DR: That is the ultimate question. [What] if I say, deep down, he's a really decent chap, [and he turns out to be bad]? I don't want to commit myself.
CE: What's the best thing about filming Harry Potter?

DR: The friends I've made doing this.
CE: And the worst thing?

DR: The worst would be having to film Quidditch [a wizard sport played on broomsticks]. That was a painful experience.

Current Events