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.

    A few years ago, a company called Space Marketing came up with a plan to send a mile–long advertisement into space. To advertising agencies (机构), it would have been “a dream come true”. However, advertising standards agencies finally decided not to allow Space Marketing to go ahead with their plans and they were forced to give them up.

    Space may indeed be the final place for advertisers, because on Earth we are already surrounded by advertising wherever we are and whatever we are doing. Apart from the obvious adverts that we see every day on TV, and in newspapers and magazines, there is a whole 'other world' of advertising messages for our attention. There are ads that we see on the side of the bus we catch to work, for example. And what about the logos (商标) we see on the clothing of the people we walk past in the streets?

    Most of the time, we are probably not even aware of (意识到的) these less obvious advertising methods, but that doesn't mean that they don't work. Take 'product placement', for example. You are in a cinema, watching the latest Hollywood movie. Look carefully at the make of car your favorite actor is driving. And what about his watch? Can you see what brand it is? Chances are, you can, and the company that owns the brand is likely to have paid thousands for it to appear in the film.

    So, whether Space Marketing finally succeeds in sending ads into space or not is perhaps less important than it might seem. This would not change a thing. Our everyday lives are already strongly influenced by advertising whether we realize it or not.

    After returning from her round trip, the angry woman stood outside the ticket office of the station. “The railway owes me 12 pounds，” she said to Harry Jenks, the young man working at the office. “You sold me a ticket for May 22nd, but there was no ship from Jersey that night. So my daughter and I had to stay in a hotel. It cost me 12 pounds.”

    Harry was worried. He remembered selling the woman a return ticket. “Come into the office, Madam，” he said politely. “I'll just check the Jersey timetable for May 22nd.”

    The woman and her little girl followed him inside. She was quite right, as Harry soon discovered. There was no sailing on May 22nd. How could he have made such a careless mistake? He shouldn't have sold her a ticket for that day. Wondering what to do, he smiled at the child. “You look sunburnt.” he said to her. “Did you have a nice holiday in Jersey？”

    “Yes,” she answered, shyly. “The beach was lovely. And I can swim too!”

    “That's fine,” said Harry. “My little girl can't swim a bit yet. Of course，she's only three ...”

    “I'm four，” the child said proudly. “I'll be four and a half.”

    Harry turned to the mother. “I remember your ticket, Madam.” he said. “But you didn't get one for your daughter, did you？”

    “Er, well ...” the woman looked at the child. “I mean .., she hasn't started school yet. She's only four.”

    “A four­-year­-old child must have a ticket, Madam. A child's return ticket from Jersey costs .., let me see ... 13.50 pounds. The law is the law, but since the mistake is mine ...”

    The woman stood up, took the child's hand and left the office.

    Is it wrong—either grammatically or in terms of style—to mix the simple past tense with the past perfect in one sentence? To give an example, the following seems a bit heavy and awkward to me: "There had been a time when she had been happier.' I prefer: 'There had been a time when she was happier.' Any thoughts?

—ALEX

I think the second version is the correct one—it's shorter and clearer. Rather than focusing on tenses, focus on the clean, short sentence. If something seems heavy and awkward to you, the writer—then it probably is. Always short sentences.

—DIANA

    I have constructed texts for a range of children's picture books all based on working profession: bus driver, postman, footballer, cleaner, teacher, policeman to list a few. I've listed about thirty professions so far. I thought of titling them as Mr Bus Driver, Mr Postman and so on. Would I be infringing (侵权) the Mr Men titles if I did or should I think of something else?

—RAJIV

    The Mr Men stories are based on characteristics, not on jobs—Mr Lazy, Mr Noisy, etc—so they bear no relation to your projects. However, you will come under fire from gender equality supporters—every job you list could equally be done by a woman. No teacher and few parents would find work useful if it implies that all professions are open only to men. I advise you to look at modern children's books in a library or bookshop.

—DIANA

At the beginning of the century there was a big farm called Hollywood Ranch. It was near Los Angeles in California. A few years later Hollywood was one of the famous places in the world. From the 1910s to the 1950s Hollywood was the film center of the world. Every family knew the names of its film stars — Charlie Chaplin, Grela Garbo, Bergman and hundreds more.

The reason why people went to Hollywood to make films was the sun. At first people made films in New York on the east coast of the United States. But then they heard about Los Angeles where there are 350 days of sun every year. As they made all the films by sunlight, the west coast was a much better place to work. Also near Hollywood you can find mountains and sea and desert. They did not have to travel far to make any kind of film.

When TV became popular, Hollywood started making films for television. Then in the 1970s they discovered people still went to the cinema to see big expensive films. After twenty years they are still making films in Hollywood and people watch them all over the world.

Everyone has a phone in their pocket nowadays, but how often do we really use them for their original purpose-to make a call? Telephone culture is disappearing. What brought us to this moment, and what are its effects?

"No one picks up the phone anymore," wrote Alex C. Madrigal on The Atlantic. The reflex of answering-centu20^th—telephonic culture—is gone."

The shift is of course due in large part to more communication options: Texting with photos, videos, emojis, reaction gifs, links and even voice messages can be a more attractive option.

Texting is light and fun, not nearly as demanding of your attention as a phone call. It can also be done with multiple people at the same time. Social media, email and video calls have also eaten away at traditional phone calls.

In recent years, another reason has caused people to ignore phone calls completely: robocalls. Robocalls are automate messages from organizations verifying your phone number or telemarketers trying to sell something. Americans received 22.8 billion robocalls halfway through 2020, equaling an annual rate of 45.6 billion, slightly below 2018 numbers, according to YouMail, a robocall protection service and blocking app.

As telephone culture disappears, what is the loss of a singular family phone doing to the family unit? Early landline phones unified family members, whereas mobile phones isolate them.

"The shared family phone served as an anchor for home," said Luke Fernandez, a Weber State University computer-science professor and co-author of Bored, Lonely, Angry, Stupid: Feelings About Technology, From the Telegraph to Twitter. "With smartphones we have gained mobility and privacy. But the value of the home has been diminished, as has its ability to guide and monitor family behavior and perhaps connect families more closely," Fernandez said.

Of course, as technology progresses, lives always change for better or for worse. With the loss of telephone culture, families will need to find other ways to unite.