It may be difficult to start high school. Thinking about making new friends might make you feel nervous.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}You are going to school with a group of students of your age. Here are several suggestions for you to follow.

    Forget your fear and just talk to someone. It's easier said than done. But try to take a deep breath and find your voice. Don't be afraid to approach (接近) people.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}Sit in the middle of the classroom with as many new friends around you as possible.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Take part in after-class activities that interest you. Try to make friends in the clubs. If you don't join anything, you will be just going to class and then going home. Being in a club makes you more social.

    Stay clean. No one likes a bad smell that could knock someone over. Shower every day, brush your teeth and wash your hair.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Be respectful (尊重的) of people's differences.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}And everyone believes in different things. It is a good thing to have different friends with different opinions because you can each share your own.

    Li Qiang and Li Gang are brothers. But their living habits(习惯) are different. Now let's go to Li Qiang's room. Li Qiang cleans his bedroom every day and puts his things away. Look! There is a computer on the desk. There are two footballs under the bed. A guitar and a kite are on the wall. Some books are on the shelf. So he must be a careful boy. Now let's go to Li Gang's room. The room is not clean. There are some books on the floor. Can we see his clothes on the desk? Oh, yes. We can also see a football and a knife on the desk. Li Gang never does any cleaning. So his room is  in a mess(混乱).

    What do you think of Li Qiang and Li Gang? I think Li Qiang is a good boy. Li Gang must learn from his brother.

    My neighbor is a doctor. He and his wife are some of the1people I have ever met. A few years ago, we started this kind of "favor war" where one of us would do something kind for the other, such as2the driveway or building a shed, and next time the other would3to top it with another favor.

    Yesterday morning, it snowed heavily and I remembered he shoveled (铲) my driveway for me. So I took out my shovel and took care of both our driveways and sidewalks because it was my turn to do a favor4. It took a while but I finished it and got into my car for work.

That night I got a5on my door, it was my neighbor. He immediately shook my hands and thanked me for shoveling his driveway and sidewalk, so that he was able to get to work earlier and6a boy.

    "As soon as I started the car early this morning, a call came through that a young boy in our neighborhood was seriously ill.7, my partner and I were only about 2 minutes away, but the closest ambulance 10 minutes," added he. "A young boy got to live his life because you did me the favor."

    It wasn't too much8to shovel a driveway, but what I did got a young boy to see his family again, go back to school again and live his life again.9favor is too small. Even the smallest favor can make the biggest10. One favor will always be followed by another.

    Why do we play sports? You might say "to get exercise" and you'd be right. To have fun? That's true, too. But there's more. In fact, there are at least five more reasons. According to the report, people who play sports get 1 more than just healthy.

    People who play sports do better in school. You might think that playing sports will 2 all your study time. But a research shows that students who play sports do better in school than 3 who don't. Exercise improves learning and memory, which can help students become more active in class.

    It's 4 that people who play sports learn teamwork and goal setting skills. Sports teach valuable life skills. When you work with coaches, trainers, and teammates to win games and achieve goals, you're learning 5 to be successful. Those skills will serve you well at work and in family life.

    Sports are good for people's health. Besides being healthy and keeping a healthy weight, people who play sports are also less possible to smoke. And 6 in life, people who exercise have fewer chances to have cancer (癌症)or some other illnesses.

    Playing sports improves confidence. People who play sports feel better about themselves. Why? It builds confidence when you know you can practice, improve, and 7 your goals. Sports are also a feel-good activity 8 they help people get in shape, keep a healthy weight, and make new friends.

    Exercise cuts the pressure. Playing sports can make you have less 9 and help you feel a little happier. A person's mood (心情)improves during exercise. Friends can also help improve your mood. And being on a team creates close relationship 10 friends. It's good to know your teammates will support you - both on and off the field!

The other day, my husband called me to the balcony(阳台). "Come, dear, look at that car!" 

"What's up?" I asked, looking down at the square in front of our apartment building. A driver was trying to park between two cars. 

"That must be a woman," my husband said.

"How do you know?"

"I've watched the car move back and forth twenty times. Men can't be so bad at driving!"

"What if the driver is a man?" I asked.

"I bet you 50 yuan that the driver is a woman!"

We stood on the balcony and watched the car. It felt a little silly. Five minutes later, the car was finally parked perfectly, and a man slowly got out.

"Fifty yuan please," I said to my husband as he silently walked away.

My husband is not alone in looking down on female drivers. On weekends, my friend Lily likes traveling around the city by bus. But she always hesitates to get on a bus if the driver is a woman. "I can't trust a female driver," she told me one day. "Women are not born to drive, you know."

"Sorry, but I don't know," I said. I go to work by bus every day, and I never think female drivers are any worse. In fact, they are often more careful than men. Research also shows that female drivers are 8.8 times less likely to cause accidents than male drivers.

There are not many female bus drivers, though. And in the history of Formula One(一级方程式赛车), only 0.26 percent of drivers have been women. Without role models, many girls may think they are not meant to be good drivers. But the ability to drive has nothing to do with gender. Women can drive well, too. It's time to stop making jokes about female drivers.