My father used to be an amateur wrestler (业余摔跤者) and national champion. He was forced by his father to give up the sport in order to obtain gainful employment, which meant he wouldn't be able to win a medal for our country. Therefore, he made a vow that his unborn son would.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    He was about to give up hope when one day, my younger sister Babita and I beat up two boys accidentally in response to critical comments. My dad found our potential to become wrestlers and began coaching us.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} We were required to do physical training early in the morning and have a short haircuts to avoid lice.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}． We would complain about him all the time. Gradually, I realized that he wanted us to have a good future and not grow up to be ordinary housewives. Motivated, we willingly participated in his coaching.

    With great efforts, he made us competitive wrestlers and I won the junior and senior championships, providing me with a chance to gain training in a National Sports Academy, where pride and pain fulfilled my mind.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} As a result, I found myself losing every match at the international level. After that, I tearfully made peace with papa and turned to him for help. Then he coached me patiently.

    Despite difficulty, I finally became the first Indian female wrestler to qualify for the Olympics, inspiring dozens of Indian women to take to wrestling. Even now, papa's words are still in my mind “Geeta, think about all the girls who are thought to be inferior to boys, girls who are forced to do chores, girls who are married and have children. Not only will you compete with other countries, but also with those who look down upon women!”. I will never forget our father's instruction.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}.

A. But his methods were cruel.

B. I almost gave up what papa had taught me.

C. Disappointingly, my mother gave birth to all girls.

D. My sister and I tried to escape.

E. I will always owe all success to him.

F. At first, my sister and I did not understand our father.

G. However, my mother didn't agree with him.

    Culture Shock

    Culture shock refers to the anxiety and feelings (of surprise, uncertainty, confusion, etc.) felt when people have to operate within a different and unknown cultural or social environment, such as a foreign country.

    Generally speaking, we could say that there are four stages of culture shock. The first stage is called “the honeymoon”. In this stage, you are excited about living in a different place. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    The next stage is “the hostility(敌意)stage”. In this stage, you begin to notice not everything is as good as you originally thought it was. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Moreover, people don't treat you like a guest anymore.

    Then you come to the third stage called “recovery”. In this stage, you start to feel more positive. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} The whole situation starts to become more favorable and you begin to learn to adapt yourself to it.

    The last stage of culture shock is called “adjustment”. In this stage, you have reached a point where you actually feel good. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} The things that originally made you feel uncomfortable or strange are now things that you understand. Now you have adjusted to the new culture and you feel comfortable.

    Not all individuals visiting another country will experience all these four stages. 

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} It also occurs within cultures as individuals move from place to place or from one setting to another (e.g., from high school to college).

A. You feel that friends should help each other to deal with culture shock.

B. And you try to develop comprehension of everything you don't understand.

C. In addition, culture shock is not limited to the overseas visitor.

D. You become tired of many things about the new culture.

E. You have learned enough to understand the new culture.

F. You begin to understand you need to travel a lot.

G. And everything seems to be marvelous and everybody seems to be so nice to you.

    If you are like most international students, you are probably pretty comfortable reading and writing in English. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}Below are some tips to help you to improve your conversational skills.

    Make friends with American students. Many international students end up making friends with a lot of—or only—other international students.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Hanging out with natives not only naturally pushes you to improve your spoken English, but also helps you pick up cultural and social information.

    Learn from American friends. Tell your American friends that you are trying to improve your listening and speaking skills, and would like them to help you. If you pronounce a word incorrectly, or misuse an idiom, you ask them to guide you. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Increase your knowledge. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} If you have been exposed to topics that are likely to be discussed in conversation, you have a much better chance of understanding people when they talk, and of being able to express yourself well.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} If you have to explain something to someone, you have a strong motivation to pronounce everything as well as you can, and find other ways to explain yourself. Finally, this becomes a good habit. Many people have asked me how I learned to speak English fluently, and I owe most of it to my years of being a math teacher in college for years.

A. It is bad for them to do that.

B. You will make progress this way.

C. If possible, become a teacher at your school.

D. It's a win-win opportunity for international students.

E. Keep up with news and watch popular shows and movies.

F. Explaining everything in a different way counts.

G. You may have trouble in listening and speaking in the language, however.

How to Eat slowly to Avoid Overeating

    Eating slowly can help you to better understand your real hunger signals and can help you to recognize reasons for faster eating, such as emotions or simply liking the taste of a food. However, eating slowly is not a decision that you make suddenly.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    ⒈Adjust you mind. Do not even attempt to acquire the habit of eating slowly before you're mentally ready. Relax and use your imagination to create mental images that your brain will remember. As part of this mental process, imagine yourself lean and fit.

    ⒉{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Eating slowly isn't just about slowing down the chewing; it also about slowing down your food choices. As you show out the processed food, replace it with healthy, unprocessed or much less processed choices.

    ⒊Always relax before you start eating. Take a few deep breaths through the nose and not through the mouth. As you do so, hold your breath briefly and exhale(呼气) slowly by the mouth. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}In this way, you start to remove any risk of comfort eating.

    ⒋Drink a glass of water or eat a small bowl of soup before your main dish. This will help you sense of fullness. Be aware that not everyone advocates drinking during a meal though, as some people believe that this can remove the nutrients from your meal. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    ⒌Spend at least 20 minutes on your meal . {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Eat your last portion really slowly, if you are still hungry after 20 minutes, it means you are eating too fast !

A．Put the fork down after putting food in your mouth.

B．Get rid of the stress before you start eating.

C．Rather, it's a habit that you'll need to acquire with practice.

D．However, specialists believe water actually aids in digestion.

E. Remove as many processed foods from your plate or food storage as possible.

F. Have a wall clock in plain view from the table to adjust your eating speed.

G. It is wise to speak to your doctor about this, if it's still the case for you.

    Most people will agree that it is good to read, but not all reading is equal. Here are some tips for productive reading.

    ⒈Take notes.

    Even if you never refer to your notes again, the process of taking notes helps you sort out something important and will help you remember it. You can choose between computers or paper for your notes. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. On the other hand, many people feel they recall information better when they write it by hand.

    ⒉{#blank#}2{#/blank#}.

    If you are like me, once you commit to reading a book, it is very hard to give up until you've finished it. Given the number of books that are available and our limited life, it just doesn't make sense to read a book that you aren't getting anything from.

    ⒊Variety is good.

    While you don't want to give up on a book that you are benefiting from, it is important to give yourself variety. You can pick up a book at random or intentionally looking for something different from what you normally read. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}.

    ⒋Review what you've read.

    If you want to remember what you read, take the time to review. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. When you finish a book, spend 15 minutes examining your notes in 2 to 4 days. Then 2 to 4 weeks after that and then 2 to 4 months after that. This will strengthen the knowledge in your mind.

    ⒌Discuss what you read with others.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. If you can talk with people in person, that is ideal, but don t overlook the power of the Internet in connecting people with similar interests but different geography.

A. Don't be afraid to give up

B. Make full use of reading time

C. It's hard to get more out of your normal reading

D. This can be very valuable in giving you a different opinion

E. And you，d better go over things at ever increasing time intervals

F. Using computers will make it easy to find your notes later by search

G. The best way to get more from your reading is to discuss it with others

    Much meaning can be conveyed clearly in our eyes, so it is often said that eyes can speak.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} On a bus you may look at a stranger, but not for too long. And if he senses that you are staring at him, he may feel uncomfortable.

    The same is true in our dailylife. If you are stared at for more than necessary, you will look at yourself up and down to see if there is anything wrong with you.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Eyes do speak, right?

    Looking too long at someone may seem to be rude and aggressive. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} If a man stares at a woman for more than 10 seconds and refuses to look away from her, his intentions are obvious. He wishes to attract her attention, and let her know that he is admiring her.

    However, when two persons are engaged in a conversation, the speaker will only look into the listener's eyes from time to time to make sure that the listener does pay attention to what the former is speaking. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} If a speaker looks at you continuously when speaking as if he's trying to control you, you will feel awkward. A poor liar usually exposes himself by looking too long at the victim. He wrongly believes that looking straight in the eye is a sign of honest communication. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    Actually, eye contact should be made based on a specific relationship and situation.

A. On the contrary, it will give him away.

B. Do you have such a kind of experience?

C. That's what normal eye contact is all about.

D. Actually, continuous eye contact is limited to lovers only.

E. After all, everybody likes to be stared at for quite a long time.

F. But things are different when it comes to staring at the opposite sex.

G. If nothing goes wrong, you will feel annoyed at being stared at that way