When I was a little girl, my mom would say, “Half the fun of doing anything is sharing it with others.” {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Friends and mates allow us to enjoy our successes and our joys, comfort us in our hard moments, and provide a mirror for us to learn more about ourselves. I've always looked at friends as the family we choose. They enrich our lives. As Robert Louis Steven once said, “{#blank#}2{#/blank#}”.

    To be a good friend or partner, it's important to be a good listener. Hear what your friend or mate has to say first rather than jump to conclusions or get defensive. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} When they hear their words repeated back to them, it can help them to realize what they said was not exactly what they meant to say.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} You know the old golden rule, “Care for others the way you would like them to care for you.” The support of a friend during a tough time could make the difference between success and failure. Encouragement and confidence are the gifts that can help change a person's life.

    Take care, though, with whom you choose to have close relationship, for they can have a great effect on yourself – respect and life path. As someone once told me “{#blank#}5{#/blank#} They will either take you up or down.”

A. I am afraid so.

B. It is quite true

C. Friendship is the most important factor.

D. Sometimes it is useful to be their mirror.

E. A friend is a present which you give yourself.

F. The attitudes of your friends are like the buttons on a lift.

G. Patience, sympathy and understanding are also important qualities.

Your Teen Is Falling Asleep in Class

    Teens have a busy morning schedule as they need to wake up and get moving very early in order to catch a bus and get to school by the required time. This means teens need to get their rest the night before or they will be too tired to learn anything at school.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}．

    When a teen falls asleep in class, two things happen: he/she misses what is being taught and he/she loses the respect of the teacher. He/She may also receive a consequence (后果) from the school, depending on the classroom discipline (纪律) policy.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}．

    To prevent your teen from being sleepy in class, try these three tips：

    Set a time for “lights out” on school nights. This is never be any later than 10 p.m. and preferably 9 p.m.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Soft music can be on and used to help calm your teen.

    Help your teen develop a night­time routine that involves activities that slow them down for the end of the day.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}Turning off the computer and disconnecting from friends and the excitement of the day an hour before bedtime will also help your teen relax.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} This will reinforce (增强) what it feels like to be rested and capable of achieving what he/she wants.

A. What's worse, they may even fall asleep in class.

B. Taking a bath and reading are two activities that work well.

C. Set a good example and show him/her your love for learning.

D. Point out the positives after your teen has had a good night's rest.

E. “Lights out” means the computer, television, lights and cell phone should be off.

F. All of these things affect your teen's academic success and can be avoided.

G. While your teen keeps his/her goals in line with your expectations, he/she may have his/her own goals.

    Chinese are very generous when it comes to educating their children. Not caring about the money, parents often send their children to the best schools or even abroad to England, the United States and Australia. They also want their children to take extra-course activities where they will either learn a musical instrument or ballet, or other classes which will give them a head start in life.        {#blank#}1{#/blank#}So parents will spend an unreasonable amount of money on education. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}However, what most parents fail to see is that the best early education they can give their children is usually very cheap.

    Parents can see that their children's skills differ. Some children are very skilled in some areas while poor in others. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}The problem is that parents are only educating their children on how to take multiple-choice tests and how to study well, but parents are not teaching them the most important skills that they need to be confident, happy and clever.

    Parents can achieve this by teaching practical skills like cooking, sewing and doing other housework. Teaching a child to cook will improve many of the skills that he will need later in life. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}It is an enjoyable but difficult experience. A good cook always tries to improve his cooking, so he will learn to work hard and gradually finish his job successfully step by step. The result, a well-cooked dinner, will give him much satisfaction and lots of self-confidence.

    Some old machines, such as a broken radio or TV set that you give your child to play with will make him curious and arouse his interest. He will spend hours looking at them, trying to repair them; your child might become an engineer when he grows up.  {#blank#}5{#/blank#}And that is more important.

A. Even poor couples will buy a computer for their son or daughter.

B. The more cost in education, the better the result will be.

C. Cooking requires patience and time.

D. What most parents fail to realize though, is that today's children are badly off for self-respect and self-confidence.

E. The Chinese believe that the more expensive an education is, the better it is.

F. These activities are not only teaching a child to read a book, but rather to think, to use his mind.

G. Thus, the more the children use the computer, the better the result will be.

    Test anxiety can be a real problem if you're so stressed out over a test that you can't get past the nervousness to focus the test questions and do your best work. Feeling ready to meet the challenge can kept test anxiety at a manageable level.

    Be prepared. Some students think that going to class is all it takes to so well on tests. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} You will find your test anxiety eases when you start to study more regularly. The reason is that the more you know the material, the more confident you'll feel. Having confidence going into a test means you expect to do well.

    Watch what you're thinking. If expecting to do well in a text can help you relax, what about if you expect you won't do well? {#blank#}2{#/blank#} They can contribute to your anxiety. If you find yourself having these thoughts, replace them with positive ones. Not unrealistic positive message, of course, but ones practical and true.

    Accept mistakes. Another thing you can do is to learn to keep mistakes in view-especially if you are a perfectionist or you tend to be hard on yourself. Everyone makes mistakes, and you may have heard teachers refer to mistakes as learning opportunities. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} If sitting for a test gets you so stressed out that your mind goes blank and causes you to miss answers that you know, then your level of test anxiety probably needs some attention. Your teacher or your school guidance counselor（顾问）can be good people to talk to.

    Take care of yourself. For some people, this might mean learning a simple breathing exercise. Practice breathing exercise regularly when you feel stressed. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Then you can calm yourself down and get centered.

A. Ask for help.

B. Learn to praise yourself.

C. This helps your body receive a signal to relax.

D. But good study habits and skills are more important.

E. So it's time to regard small failures as valuable experiences.

F. Then you will become more interested in asking questions.

G. You may send yourself some negative messages about the test.

Helpful ways to deal with a know-it-all friend

    Sometimes having a friend who thinks she knows everything and always offers her unsolicited(主动提供的) advice can really make one upset. But with some ways to deal with know-it-all, you can easily cope with that friend. Also a know-it-all friend often acts as if she were the best. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Try to understand. There may be a reason why your know-it-all friend does so. Maybe she has low self-esteem(自尊),or she's not happy in her life. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}This tip is very important, especially if the know-it-all is your best friend

    Give her a little attention. Giving a little attention is one of the best ways to deal with a know-it-all friend. Show some enthusiasm about what the know-it-all says to give her enough attention, {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Or this can lead to her giving more unsolicited advice {#blank#}4{#/blank#}Often the know-it-all friend can say some not-so-nice things, and these things are usually about you. Instead of thinking that something is not okay with you, never take her comments and advice personally. If you do so, you may really begin to become unnecessarily anxious.

    Have a talk with her. If you're sick and tired of all those unsolicited advice, come right out with it. Speak politely and don't insult(辱骂)her. Try to find a good time to talk to her. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}Tell your know-it-all friend how it makes you feel and maybe she will respond well

A. Feel free to ignore her all the time.

B. Don't take her comments personally.

C. However, make sure you don't overdo it.

D. Try not to go to those places where you think she'll be.

E. If you have such a friend, here are a few tips on coping with her.

F. Try to understand her and understand why she acts the way that she does.

G. You need to know what you're going to say and be sure to use only kind words.

    Did you make financial decisions last New Year's Eve? Did they fall by the wayside? If so, you are not alone.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}.

    Make a smart budget

    Did you plan to make a budget and fail to do so? This is a perfect time to start, as you are heading into the new year. You may be able to stop yourself from overspending if you realize how overextended you are. If you've taken no other financial steps this year, start by setting a realistic budget.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}.

    Control your spending

    Even if you had a budget, were you able to stick to it?{#blank#}3{#/blank#}. Use it as a psychological advantage－you have less to spend so you need to shop harder for bargains and research prices. Impulse buying (即兴购买) will be less likely to attract you and your spending should be more focused as a result.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}.

    You had a savings goal, didn't you? If you didn't have a specific goal, it may be why your savings effort failed. Set a smaller savings goal now, and use that to build a larger savings goal for the upcoming year. Make sure that you equate（使等同）your savings with a specific goal.

    Reduce your debt

    Debt reduction is an important goal, especially in the case of high-interest debt such as credit cards. It's easy to get into an unrecoverable increase of debt if you have no plan to keep debt in check. It is a longer-term goal, but one you need to start right away.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}. That may be a tall task, which is all the more reason to start immediately.

A. Increase your savings

B. Have a clear goal for your debt

C. You will go on with your new decisions

D. Most other financial improvements will follow

E. Start small by setting a spending budget for your shopping

F. But this year, you can make some progress on your financial goals

G. Attack the debt with the highest interest rate, and control your spending