How to Be Confident

    We are all human and have weaknesses. Even if your physical appearance or social skills aren't what you wish they were, that doesn't have to stop you from being confident. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    *Make a list of special talents you have, or things you do that are good—morally（道德上） or otherwise. It doesn't have to be a specific skill；it can be an approach or an attitude that you hold through life. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Are you very patient with people? Do you always see the humorous side of things? Are you always there for your friends?

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} When you feel strongly about something, speak loudly and clearly and make eye contact with people. People will judge you all the time, and usually they'll misjudge you anyway, so why bother trying to live up to their opinions at all?

    *Take care of yourself. Eat a healthy diet and get enough exercise. Don't abuse your body, don't overload it, and don't deny it any of the things it needs. At the same time, don't obsess(沉迷). {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Those things are only band-aids(权宜之计） and make-up. Confidence comes from within. In order to be confident, you must value yourself and understand that your well-being is important.

    *Improve your posture. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Don't drop your shoulders. Make sure that your back is straight, your shoulders are square, and your chest sticks out slightly (but stay loose, otherwise you'll appear stubborn （固执的）and nervous). Good posture also helps with deep breathing, which helps with feeling calm and relaxed.

注意：每个空格只填一个单词。

    Traveling to all corners of the world gets easier and easier. We live in a global village, but this doesn't mean that we all behave in the same way.

    How should we behave when you meet someone for the first time? An American shakes your hand firmly while looking you straight in the eye. In many part of Asia, there is no physical contact (接触)at all. In Japan, you should bow, and the more respect you want to show, the deeper you should bow. In Thailand, people greet each other by pressing both hands together at the chest. In both countries, eye contact is avoided as a sign of respect.

    Many countries have rules about what you should and shouldn't wear. In Muslim countries, you shouldn't reveal (显露)the body, especially women, who Should wear long blouses and skirts .In Korea, you should take off your shoes when entering a house. Remember to place them neatly together where you came in.

    In Spain, lunch is often the biggest meal of the day, and can last two or three hours. For this reason many people eat a light breakfast and a late dinner. In Mexico, lunch is the time to relax, and many people prefer not to discuss business as they eat .In Britain, it's not unusual to have a business meeting over breakfast.

    In most countries, an exchange of business cards is necessary for all introductions. You should include your company name and your position. If you are going to a country where your language is not widely spoken, you can get the back side of your card printed in the local language. In China, you may present your card with the writing facing the person you are giving it to.

Making Peace with Your Parents

    As a teen, you're going through big changes physically and mentally. Your interests are increasing.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}Here is the challenge: Kids need to explore the world in new ways, and parents need to protect them from the dangers that are all out in that world. These conflicts can easily set off fireworks in otherwise calm houses. Sometimes conflicts can't be avoided. But by paying attention to the building blocks of successful relationships, you can work towards making home a happy and healthy place for you and your parents.

    For example, try to find a time to talk when your parents are not angry, tired, distracted or hungry. A good time to talk is when you're all relaxed. Timing is everything if the conversation begins to turn into an argument, you'd better calmly and coolly ask to stop the conversation for now.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Listen to what your parents are saying, and repeat it back to them. This shows them that you're listening. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Respect is the building block of good communication. People who respect each other and care about each others' feelings can disagree without getting things ugly.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} How do you build trust? Trust comes by actually doing what you say you're going to do. Some teens find that doing fun activities with their parents can improve their relationships. Sometimes we forget that parents are more than rule-maker—they're interesting people who like to watch movies and go shopping—just like their teenagers!

    What do you do if you are trying your best, but your relationship with your parents continues to be rocky?{#blank#}5{#/blank#}You can find supportive adults, such as a teacher or a coach, who can lend an ear. Remember you can only change your own behavior. Your parents are the only ones who can change theirs.

A. You may consider seeking outside help.

B. And then you'll be able to accept what your parents say.

C. You can pick it up again when everyone's more relaxed.

D. Faced with the challenge, children don't know what to do.

E. And your desire to take control of your own life is growing.

F. It also gives them a chance to clear things up if you're not on the same page.

G. You are more likely to get along with your parents and have more independence if your parents believe in you.

    Imagine that you're an actor or actress performing in a play for the first time. You've learned all your lines and you know where to walk on stage. Waiting behind the closed curtain, you can hear the audience whispering. Then your big moment arrives! The curtain goes up, and the crowd falls silent. All you can see is the spotlight shining down on you. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}The inside of your mouth is dry, and your hands are wet.

    If you've experienced a moment like this, you know all too well what it means to have stage fright. It's one of the most common types of fear.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}You can experience this kind of fear when playing sports, giving a talk, or even speaking in class.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}The experience differs from person to person, but the same chemical process occurs on each of us. In reaction to anxiety, our bodies produce a chemical that prepares us to either fight or run away quickly. Scientists refer to this as our bodies' “fight for flight” reaction. As a result, we feel the great energy that makes our hands sweat, our hearts race and knees shake.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}Practicing your performance and following some simple tips can help you calm down and manage the feelings caused by anxiety. Firstly, dress comfortably and appropriately. Secondly, before the performance, take deep breaths and stretch to help relax your body. Thirdly, stay away from drinks that contain caffeine(咖啡因).{#blank#}5{#/blank#}Instead, try a banana! Some doctors believe that eating a banana can help calm your heart and the rest of your body. Finally, when you look into a crowd, try to focus on particular people rather than the whole group. These tips have helped many people learn to deal with their fears.

How to Be Good at Sports

    If sports are something that interests you, it stands to reason that you would want to be good at them. Here are some tips that can help you become a good player.

    Set ambitious but realistic goals. If you want to be great at sports, you need to set your aims high.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Instead, you should take a look at what you are, and figure out where you think you would like to be. Give yourself a suitable amount of time to achieve that goal.

    Be patient. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Impatient athletes tend to make poor ones. If you're not patient, you'll try to jump into advanced techniques long before you're ready. You'll feel discouraged when you don't see immediate improvement.

    Join a sports team. Most of the sports teams are free to join. If you go to school, you should go for team tryouts when they're happening. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Accept criticism. When you play sports, you will unavoidably receive criticism, whether from a coach or other players. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Are they angry because you missed a pass, or do they sincerely want to help you improve? In a lot of cases, you can use criticism as motivation to get better.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} A skill become mastered when you're able to do it without thinking. Given enough time and practice, a skill will eventually fall under this category. When in a game, you won't have time to think everything through, so practice until it's all automatic.

A. Skills are often slow to build.

B. This does not mean being unrealistic.

C. You need to take most of it with a grain of salt.

D. Practice until your skills become second nature.

E. You also need to be clear about what you are good at.

F. If you're not in school, you can find a sports club online.

G. An important reason people join sports teams is to make friends.

Not all English is the same

    To many learners of English, it's easy to think that all native speakers have no trouble communicating with one another.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Well, it turns out that being a native English speaker from one country doesn't mean that you're able to perfectly understand a native English speaker from another country, and vice versa (反之亦然)

    Take the UK and the US for example.

    As a Briton, I grew up hearing American accents alongside British ones – on TV shows, movies and in songs.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} and how they would eat “cookies” instead of “biscuits”.  And it took me a while to figure out that the “trunk” (n. 后备箱) of a car is what us Britons call its “boot”.

    The confusion didn't stop at just vocabulary –{#blank#}3{#/blank#} For example, when talking about shopping malls, Americans pronounce it “mawl” instead of “mal”. And for some reason that's hard for Britons to understand, Americans remove the “H” sound from “herb”, pronouncing it “erb”.

    These small differences may not change much in a day-to-day conversation between a Briton and an American.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Recently, for example, an American friend told me that she liked my pants. “You can see them?” I asked, shocked. Pants means “underpants” to most British people, which explains my horror.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} In the US, for example, a “bum” is a homeless person, while the same word in the UK is used to describe one's backside（n.臀部）.

    And, more amusingly, “trump” was only ever really used as a verb in the UK – meaning “to pass gas” – until the US' current president came into the spotlight.

But as long as you can speak one version of English, it's easy enough to understand any other – and any confusion just makes your day more interesting.

A. English is changing as it spreads around the world.

B. After all, English is English, isn't it?

C. I soon noticed how Americans would put “gas” in their cars instead of “petrol” .

D. However, confusion can still happen every now and then.

E. There are different words that mean the difficult thing.

F. Some words can even be offensive (adj.无礼的) without you realizing it.

G. I discovered that many words are even pronounced differently.