The Winner's Guide to Success

    Do you know what makes people successful? To find out the answers, an American scholar recently visited some of the most successful people in America. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

Be responsible for yourself.

    Sometimes you may want to blame others for your failure to get ahead. In fact, when you say someone or something outside of yourself is stopping you from making success, you are giving away your own power. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

Write a plan.

    It is very difficult trying to get what you want without a good plan. It is just like trying to drive through strange roads to a city far away. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Without this “map”, you may waste your time, money and also your energy; while with the “map” you'll enjoy the “trip” and get what you want in the shortest possible time.

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    Nothing great is easy to get. So you must be ready to work hard — even harder than you have ever done. If you are not willing to pay the price, you won't get anything valuable.

Never give up.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} When you are doing something, you must tell yourself again and again: Giving up is worse than failure because failure can be the mother of success, but giving up means the death of hope.

    Everyone wants to be self-confident, but maybe we just don't know how to be. Here are some tips on how you can feel more confident about yourself.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Everyone has shortcomings. When you have found your shortcomings, work to overcome them. If you are a shy person, take part in social activities, such as parties, and speak to at least one or two people there.

    Second, try to spend more time with positive people. Successful and confident people have their own ways of settling problems.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Third, set goals for yourself. With each goal you achieve, your self-confidence will increase.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}We are afraid that we might lose. Stop thinking like that and give yourself a chance.

    Fourth, start each day with a sense of opportunity.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}Think positively about yourself.

    Actually everyone has his or her own way of becoming confident.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}Friends might have useful suggestions, too. In short, as long as you try new things, you are sure to become more confident.

A. Pay attention and learn from them.

B. You should talk with your friends.

C. First, don't think about your weak points.

D. It's not always right to ask friends for help.

E. Sometimes we might be afraid of trying new things.

F. Start your day by reading something encouraging.

G. First, you should know what your weak points are.

    It could happen anywhere at any time.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Most people, at one time or another, have been on the receiving end of a random act of kindness. In a sometimes cold world where people can be so focused on what they're doing, a random act of kindness can make all the difference.

    They can be relatively insignificant. Hannah Bailey from London, for example, told the Metro newspaper about how she was given her fruit and vegetable shopping for free. The seller did her a kindness when it emerged she didn't have any change to pay.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    The city of Naples has long had a tradition called' caffè sospeso'. When buying coffee, a person who has recently been lucky would purchase two cups but only drink one, leaving the second one anonymously(匿名), out of the goodness of their heart, for a poor person to claim for free.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    However, in some cases, these little acts can be a matter of life and death. Take, for example, the unnamed commuter, who in June 2018 fell off a station platform onto an electric railway track in Toronto, Canada. A quick-thinking, hut even now unknown, bystander selflessly leapt down to pull him to safety.

    So, why do it? {#blank#}4{#/blank#} The people never meet again. According to UK charity The Mental Health Foundation, acts like these can “give our lives new purpose, show us other perspectives on our own problems and even make us feel content.”

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Hold open a door for someone, deliver a compliment—even give up your seat on a bus. Help someone who is in need. It takes all kinds. It needn't be anything huge. One day, whether you need it or not, someone might help you in your hour of need.

A. So give it a try.

B. Be brave to face challenges.

C. Often, the acts aren't paid back.

D. She was happy about it all day.

E. She was in low spirits the whole day.

F. This tradition is now more common worldwide.

G. It's often unexpected, but almost never unappreciated.

    In the late afternoon, 15-year-old Saanya Hasan Ali can often be found in her comfortable family room. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} She is cutting, drawing, gluing and folding, surrounded by a colorful chaos of paper, rubber stamps, buttons, and ribbons (带). "I just love arts and crafts (手工艺)," says Saanya. During the past six years, Saanya has raised $26,000 through the sale of her cards to help children and families in need.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} "My mother received an e-mail from Pennies for Education and Health (PEH) organization. They were raising money for children in India to be able to go to school," explains Saanya, who was nine years old at the time. Her mother, Salma, offered to donate $75 in Saanya's name. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Saanya made cards to sell at a family wedding that summer. To her own surprise, she earned $600, enough to send eight children to school for the year. "I kept on making cards, and the following summer I was able to help support the kids for another year,"" explains Saanya. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}Saanya acknowledges that her project has helped her to see the world through different eyes. "Now that I am in high school, I would also like to inspire other kids to do their own projects. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Making cards is my small effort," she says. "If everyone does their small part, it can grow into something beyond your expectations."

Tips for cooking on a tight schedule

    From my experience, there are three main reasons why people don't cook more often: ability money and time.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Money is a topic I'll save for another day. So today I want to give you some wisdom about how to make the most of the time you spend in the kitchen. Here are three tips for great cooking on a tight schedule:

    ⒈Think ahead. The moments when I think cooking is a pain are when I'm already hungry and here is nothing ready to eat. So think ahead of the coming week. When will you have time to cook? Do

you have the right material(材料) ready?{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    ⒉Make your time worth it. When you do find time to cook a meal, make the most of it and save yourself time later on. Are you making one loaf of bread? {#blank#}3{#/blank#}It takes around the same amount of time to make more of something. So save yourself the effort for a future meal.

    ⒊{#blank#}4{#/blank#} This may surprise you, but one of the best tools for making cooking worth your time is experimentation(实验). It gives you the chance to come up with new ideas and recipes(食谱) that can work well with your appetite and schedule. The more you learn and the more you try, the more ability you have to take control of your food and your schedule.

    Hopefully that gives you a good start. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}And don't let a busy schedule discourage you from making some great changes in the way you eat and live!

A. Try new things.

B. Make three or four instead.

C. Ability is easily improved.

D. Understand your food better.

E. Cooking is a burden for many people.

F. A little time planning ahead can save a lot of work later on.

G. Let cooking and living simply be a joy rather than a burden.

One of the healthiest Foods on the planet

    There is probably no flower more hated, or misunderstood, than the bright yellow dandelion (蒲公英). {#blank#}1{#/blank#} In an effort to have the perfect green grass lawn, people try their best to kill all dandelions with chemical products. Or they dig them out at the roots—only to see them grow right back.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} They are a great source of vitamin K and also are a good source of vitamins A and C. They also have vitamin E, folate and small amounts of other B vitamins. Also, they provide lots of iron, calcium, magnesium and potassium.

    Besides nutrition, another great thing about dandelions is that you can eat every part of them—from the bottom of the roots to the top of the flower. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Do not eat ones that have been treated with dangerous chemicals or are growing near high traffic areas.

    Dandelions are said to provide several possible health benefits such as helping in digestion and improving some skin conditions. They may also reduce inflammation (炎症).

    Children in many parts of the world have had the simple pleasure of blowing the soft, white dandelion tops. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} In fact, there is a game children play with dandelions that have gone to seed. Pick the white top, make a wish, close your eyes and blow! If you blow all of the seeds off in one breath, your wish will come true! {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Well, that is what many children believe.

B. They watch the seeds float easily in the air.

C. At least the seeds have traveled far and wide.

D. Just make sure to take care when picking wild dandelions.

E. You can let more of this nutritious food source continue to grow.

F. Dandelions are actually one of the most nutritious foods in the world.

G. In the United States, they are considered "weeds", the name for any unwanted plant.