Blind imitation is self-destruction. To those who do not recognize their own unique worth, imitation appears attractive; to those who know their strength, imitation is unacceptable.

    In the early stages of skill or character development, imitation is helpful. When I first learned to cook, I used recipes and turned out some tasty dishes. But soon I grew bored. Why follow someone else's way of cooking when I could create my own? Imitating role models is like using training wheels on a child's bicycle; they help you get going, but once you find your own balance, you fly faster and farther without relying on them.

    In daily life, imitation can hurt us if we subconsciously (下意识地）hold poor role models. If, as a child, you observed people whose lives were bad, you may have accepted their fear and pain as normal and gone on to follow what they did. If you do not make strong choices for yourself, you will get the results of the weak choices of others.

    In the field of entertainment, our culture praises and admires celebrities. Those stars look great on screen. But when they step off screen, their personal lives may be disastrous. If you are going to follow someone, focus on their talent, not their bad character or unacceptable behaviors.

    Blessed is the person willing to act on their sudden desire to create something unique. Think of the movies, books, teachers, and friends that have affected you most deeply. They touched you because their creations were motivated by inspiration not desperation. The world is changed not by those who do what has been done before them, but by those who do what has been done inside them. Creative people have an endless resource of ideas. The problem a creator faces is not running out of material; it is what to do with the material knocking at the door of imagination.

Study your role models, accept the gifts they have given, and leave behind what does not serve you. Then you can say, "I stand on the shoulders of my ancestors' tragedies and declare victory, and know that they are cheering me on."

    Stress(压力) is a popular cause of major diseases affecting people worldwide. It is so common that people have begun to search for the best and easiest ways to reduce stress. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

Exercise for a better life.

    Regular runners say that there is no better feeling than the one you get when you finish your daily run. Exercising is a good way for you to remove stress from your life. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} And it can also lift your mood. An additional benefit of exercising is that it keeps you fit and healthy!

Organize it.

    Keeping your workplace and home organized is also a way for you to avoid stressful situations. Working in a messy(凌乱的) area keeps your brain thinking on several different things at the same time.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

Manage your time wisely.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Sticking to(坚持) your schedule gives you focus and a goal to work on. It also helps you avoid missing out on deadlines which are a great source of stress. Managing your time wisely means managing your stress.

    In a word, we shouldn't let stress stop us living a normal and healthy life. Stress will naturally appear due to the modern way of life. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Don't let stress get the better of you and make you lead an unhappy life.

A. Avoid stressed people.

B. Know what causes your stress.

C. Plan your day ahead and stick to it.

D. Here are some ways to say goodbye to stress.

E. Regular exercise gives you time to think things.

F. And it gets hard to focus on (思想集中) just one thing.

G. But just like fire, if we control stress it can't hurt us.

    What is a big dream? {#blank#}1{#/blank#} or, is a big dream something that provides only entertainment? Children dream big dreams, but there are three barriers(障碍) to realizing dreams. They often kill them before they ever have a chance to grow.

The Self

    Immediately following the birth of a big dream, a negative self-talk takes over and gives all the reasons why it can't happen. This inside voice is the ego (自我). It is there for protecting and should be listened to. Sometimes it is right, but more often it is wrong. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    That's why only a handful of people make their dream come true.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Family and friends are a lot like the ego. They want to protect those they love, so they will often list all the reasons why the big dreams won't come true. Sometimes, family and friends destroy dreams of those they love most, out of their own fear of being left behind.

The World

    If one gets past the first two barriers, one has to face the world. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} In the past, big dreamers were locked up and sometimes even killed when they were shown to the world. Fortunately, in most of the world today, big dreamers just get laughed at.

    The way to realize a big dream is with confidence and action. When children have confidence and then take action, they will be ready to accept any failure. The truth is that every great dreamer whose dreams have never seen the light of success knows failure well. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. How Big Dreams Die

B. Family and Friends

C. They simply fail until they succeed.

D. Does a big dream show one's future?

E. Most people are influenced by the inside voice.

F. It is the last and the most terrible barrier.

G. And their big dream is to be a rock star or a famous artist.

    Are you embarrassed to recite in class because you might give the wrong answer? Are you ashamed to share your ideas in a group？If you find yourself being shy about a lot of things, you need to understand that being shy is a very big obstacle(障碍) to one's success.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    First of all, you need to discover and understand the causes of your shyness.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} One of the biggest reasons why people are shy is that they were branded as a shy person. Because you heard it over and over, you believed it and thought it is true. If this is the cause, you need to stop this in your mind.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    One way to stop your shyness in your mind is to focus less on your weakness.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}We all have our own unique strength. So if speaking in front of many people isn't your strength, that's okay. Maybe the strength you're given is in writing. And if you think there still a lot for you to improve on your strengths and talents, that's okay too.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. All you need to do is spending time training yourself to be a master in your strengths.

B. You need to dig deep and get to the roots of your shyness.

C. Then try to replace it with positive things in your life.

D. When you doubt yourself, others will doubt you.

E. The good thing is that you can overcome it.

F. Stay fearless in everything you will have to do.

G. Instead, focus more on your strength.

    “Smombies” are very real and a growing cause for concern. Tired of having to constantly warn both locals and tourists to pay more attention to their surroundings to avoid serious accidents, authorities of a small German town have come up with a more positive solution — embedding (嵌入) traffic lights in the pavement to make them visible to people constantly looking down at their phones while walking.

    The seemingly ridiculous safety measure was put in place. Authorities in Augsburg decided to act, installing ground level traffic lights at two tram (有轨电车) stops last Tuesday. The lights flash red every time a tram is approaching, or when the regular traffic light turns red. “We realized that the normal traffic light isn't in the line of sight of many pedestrians these days,” said Tobias Hermes, a city administration official. “So we decided to have an additional set of lights — the more we have, the more people are likely to notice them.”

    Some Augsburg residents appear to be quite happy with the idea. “I think it makes sense,” said Jack Smith, “One always sees young people these days running over red lights. This makes it more obvious that you need to stop.” Others, however, found the need for ground traffic lights disturbing and even frightening. “I find it scary that smart phone users are so engrossed that they need to install lights in the ground so that they notice the tram coming,” one person told the local paper.

    But do this kind of pavement-embedded lights actually work? Well, if one interviewed teenager is to be believed, not really, “To be honest I didn't even notice it,” he said, “Maybe it'd be useful at night, but yeah, I didn't realize it was there until just now.”

    The word “smombie” — a mashup of the words smart phone and zombie — was born in Germany. It was voted “youth word of the year” in 2017, but the serious consequences of this behaviour are no laughing matter.

    An old farmer lived on a farm with his young grandson. Each morning Grandpa was up early to read his holy. His grandson wanted to be just like him and tried to imitate him in every way he could.

    One day the grandson asked, "Grandpa! I try to read holy（圣书） just like you but I don't understand it, What good does reading the holy do?"

    The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and replied, "Take this coal basket down to the river and bring me back a basket of water." The boy did as he was told, but all the water leaked out (漏出) before he got back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, "You'll have to move a little faster next time," and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again. This time the boy ran faster, but again the same took place. He told his grandfather that it was impossible to carry water with a basket.

    The old man said, "You're just not trying hard enough," So the boy again dipped the basket into the river and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather the basket was again empty, he said, "See Grandpa, it's useless!", "So you think it is useless?" The old man said, "Look at the basket."

    The boy looked at the basket and for the first time realized that the basket was different. It had been changed from a dirty old coal basket into a clean one inside and outside.

    "You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, you will be changed, inside and out. That is the work of Krishna in our lives."