Make the right choices

    What is life's greatest gift?{#blank#}1{#/blank#}Choice is the ability to select one course of action from a set of alternatives to achieve a goal. What is so great about choice? It transforms us from dumb animals into artists. Each of us becomes another Michelangelo. Choice becomes nothing other than the tool we use to sculpt (雕刻)our life. The tool doesn't come free, however, for the price of choice is responsibility.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}The reward is happiness.

    Life is not still. It is a flow.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}We constantly need to monitor where we are on our journey. We need to ask questions: Am I moving closer to my goals? If not, what corrective measures can I take? What action will I take now to readjust myself to my goals? Choice is power. Choice is at the heart of life. It is the creative power of life.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}And your life becomes more convenient or comfortable because of them. For example, you decide which stores to shop at and which gas station to go to. But the decisions that we make to sculpt our lives are far more important than deciding where to shop. The more we appreciate the difference between minor and major decisions, the greater the probability that we will experience happiness and fulfillment.

    All chess lovers realize that it isn't necessary to win to enjoy the game. The pleasure is in the playing. Life is like a chess game.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. It is free will or choice

B. You have to make choices every day

C. Make the best moves you can under the circumstances

D. But when we accept and carry it out, we get a great return

E. Every choice we make leads us closer to or farther from our goals

F. Life is full of hard choices, and the bigger they are, the harder they get

G. Choose to carry out responsibilities not because you have to, but because you want to

    There are some people who seem to always be surrounded by friends, and there are others who always seem to be standing on the outside, looking in at the crowds of friends. If you are one of the outsiders, it is time to break out of your shell and start making new friends. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    ⒈Be yourself. Nobody likes a phony(虚伪的人). In fact, if you aren't yourself, others won't become friends with you. When the time comes that you feel comfortable enough to act like yourself again, you may not be well received, because you are a totally different person.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    ⒉Use technology. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} For instance, Weibo is a great place to meet new people. It creates experiences and you get to meet like-minded people who share your interests.

    ⒊Start with people you know. Reach out and contact new friends, and reconnect with old friends you haven't seen in a long time. Don't forget about friends of friends. You may connect with some really cool people just by hanging out with your friends and their friends. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} If you stay home, you aren't going to meet people.

    ⒋Keep in touch. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} With the Internet and social media, there is absolutely no need to worry about that these days. Look up old friends and contact them.

A. There are all kinds of online groups that you can join.

B. Knowing others well is very important.

C. Therefore, let people get to know the real you.

D. If you are invited to go out, go.

E. All too often, people lose touch with one another.

F. Here are some tips that will help.

G. You need to trust yourself, whatever happens.

    Shanghai Hengyuanxiang Drama Development Company and Netherlander Worldwide Entertainment signed a deal last November that would see Shimmer (《犹太人在上海》) become the first Chinese musical to have an open-ended run on Broadway in 2019. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Directed by Xu Jun, Shimmer is a musical in both English and Chinese. Shimmer, which tells a story about Jews who fled to Shanghai to escape Nazi persecution (迫害) during World War II, was first shown at the Shanghai Culture Square in 2015. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} The musical's scheduled open-ended run in 2019 will be one of the events to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States. With this play being shown on Broadway, the ties between Chinese people and Americans will be firmly strengthened. And through this drama, the audience can feel the charm of Chinese culture.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} To deal with the problem, many production companies in Shanghai have pointed out that they should keep striving for improvement by creating more Chinese musicals and by creating more audiences. Currently, those who watch Western musicals in China are limited to a small group — people who have received a university education or have had overseas working experiences, white-collar and even gold-collar workers. There are only a handful of people who understand foreign languages and you have to find a way to motivate the public and get them into the theater.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} There has been a handful of successful musical stories in Shanghai. The Chinese editions of Broadway musicals Cats and Mamma Mia, both of which had hundreds of shows across China, are among the top box office hits.

A. What do you think we can do to prevent Chinese musicals from declining in popularity?

B. At that time, the musical was chosen as the opening show for the 17th China Shanghai International Arts Festival.

C. The box office is expected to be twice higher than that of last year, reaching $1 million in total.

D. The small audience size hasn't discouraged local artists from producing outstanding works.

E. The deal is a milestone for Shimmer in its goal to further spread its influence to the world.

F. Despite the huge success of Shimmer, the team is facing a limited market.

    Earth is home to around 7, 000 languages, around half of which are expected to disappear by 2100.

    Languages disappear for many reasons. Sometimes younger generations stop learning a language because parents want children to fit in.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Native American children of the late﹣19th century were required to attend boarding schools where educators forbade them from speaking their native languages.

    The United Nations ranks endangered languages according to their risk level. For example, a "critically endangered" language is one that even grandparents don't speak often. New York's Onondaga language is an example with only 50 speakers left. An "extinct" language has no speakers. It is gone forever. Alaska's Eyak language is one example.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} In the same way, different languages contribute to cultural diversity. Saving these languages benefits our understanding of other cultures. Languages can show how a society looks at the world and what it values. A language may describe something in a way that is funny, too. In Welsh, it rains not cats and dogs, but old wives and walking sticks.

    The Endangered Language Alliance wants to save languages from disappearing.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} However, its efforts are limited. If an endangered language is going to make a real comeback, it'll probably get its start in schools. For nearly 100 years, public schools in Hawaii did not teach the Hawaiian language. Now students can keep learning in Hawaiian from elementary schools to college and beyond.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} At least one did. In 1881, a Jewish linguist named Eliezer Ben﹣Yehuda brought the 3,000-year-old language Hebrew back to life. Today it is one of the official languages of the country of Israel, with more than 4million speakers.

A. The last person who spoke it died in 2008.

B. Why should we save endangered languages.

C. Various animals and plants benefit our environment.

D. With just 5 speakers left, it is absolutely endangered.

E. Can a language with zero native speakers come back to life.

F. Sometimes societies force minorities to give up their language.

G. The non-profit group finds native speakers and records their stories.

    In my teens, I went far from home to study at TWU in America. Due to limited financial resources from my parents, I worked part-time on campus to pay for my bills. I did cleaning every Friday for an American family. If I was lucky enough, I could occasionally babysit a child for extra money. In addition, like most poor people, I had to be careful with every penny I spent, from food and clothing to rent and transportation. Because of a tight grocery budget, I couldn't afford to buy fish, beef or certain other nutritious food. Due to an imbalanced diet, I would easily feel weak and lacking in energy.

    As soon as Dai Mom realized that I was having financial hardship, she lovingly invited me to her home for dinner every Friday and weekend. What's more, whenever it was time to return home, she would always prepare me with some homemade desserts to take home. Her actions greatly changed my life. In particular, there was one event that I would always remember.

    One early evening, while I was walking out of the library, I felt my blood sugar running low. I started to feel dizzy, and my hands began to shake a little. Searching my pocket, I found that I only had a few dollars left. I was dying for a free and tasty dinner. Without a second thought, I quickly headed for Dai Mom's home, rather than go back to my apartment.

    As I got to the door, Dai Mom immediately noticed my extreme tiredness. She seated me at the dinner table, and before long, a plate of food was set in front of me on the table. "My boy, have dinner. Don't make yourself work so hard." she said to me with a nice smile.

    Staring at the meat, vegetables and fish on my plate, I suddenly felt so carefully taken care of that tears started welling up in my eyes, rolling down on my face, and dripping to the food on the plate. I gobbled up all the food with indescribably bitter-sweet feelings.