Make Up Your Mind to Succeed

    Kind-hearted parents have unknowingly left their children defenseless against failure. The generation born between 1980 and 2001 grew up playing sports where scores and performance were played down because “everyone's a winner.” And their report cards sounded more positive  than ever before. As a result, Stanford University professor Carol Dweck, PhD, calls them “the overpraised generation.”

    Dweck has been studying how people deal with failure for 40 years. Her research has led her to find out two clearly different mind-sets that have a great effect on how we react to it. Here's how they work:

    A fixed mind-set is grounded in the belief that talent is genetic – you're a born artist, point guard, or numbers person. The fixed mind-set believes it's sure to succeed without much effort and regards failure as personal shame. When things get difficult, it's quick to blame, lie, and even stay away from future difficulties.

    On the other hand, a growth mind-set believes that no talent is entirely heaven-sent and that effort and learning make everything possible. Because the ego (自尊) isn't on the line as much, the growth mind-set sees failure as a chance rather than shame. When faced with a difficulty, it's quick to rethink, change and try again. In fact, it enjoys this experience.

    We are all born with growth mind-sets. (Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to live in the world.) But parents, teachers, and instructors often push us into fixed mind-sets by encouraging certain actions and misdirecting praise. Dweck's book, Mind-set: The New Psychology of Success, and online instructional program explain this in depth. But she says there are many little things you can start doing today to make sure that your children, grandchildren and even you are never defeated by failure.

    It's a white Christmas in the United States today, with snow falling from Seattle to Maine.

    Northeast

    Biting winds with snow swept the Northeast.

    Earlier, up to 15 inches of snow fell during a snow storm in Maine, while up to one foot fell in New Hampshire. Winds reached 76 mph on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, while up to 61 mph winds tore through Long Island, New York. Falling snow collected on the runways at Boston's Logan International Airport, causing temporary flight delays.

    The wind was so severe in Pennsylvania and New Jersey that the annual (重演) of George Washington and his soldiers'crossing the Delaware River was canceled, the Washington Crossing Historic Park told ABC News.

    Midwest

    Heavy lake effect snow fell in western Michigan.

    The National Weather Service has issued a wind-chill warning and advisory (公告) from Montana to Michigan. Bitter cold air in the Midwest produced wind chills Monday morning as low as minus 48 degrees in North Dakota and minus 47 in northern Minnesota.

    As this bitter cold made its way east overnight, it was expected to move over relatively mild Great Lakes, producing intense lake-effect snow bands capabie of producing 2 to 4 inches of snow in an hour.

    West Coast

    That storm system moved overnight through the Rockies, bringing more snow and the threat of avalanches(雪崩). The National Weather Service has issued an avalanche warning for the Wasatch Range Mountains outside Salt Lake City.

    Studying abroad will shape you in various ways. You will learn things you never would have if you had stayed home. When you are young and unattached, you should travel. Besides, you just might save a large sum of money. College is expensive in the United States. It's cheap or free in other countries even for foreigners, so why not get out of here and come back smarter?

    More and more American students are currently studying at German colleges. That number has increased 20% over the last three years. Living costs are about $7,000 a year, which is even lower than in other European countries. Germany encourages international students. They create a multicultural landscape that benefits German students as well. According to a new report, Germany is home to six of the world's 100 best universities. These schools offer around 900 degrees completely in English and many German students speak the language.

    You could be part of Finland's excellent education system. The Finns charge no tuition and offer a number of courses purely in English. They would be happy for you to add flavor to their school scene. Cost of living there is high. Be prepared for frosty winters that far north, but you will get that sweet midnight sun in the summer.

    Many other European nations offer cheap or free college for foreign students, but if South America is more your thing, try Brazil. Most of the education will take place in Portuguese, so if that is in your plan you can study near beautiful beaches and jungles. The University of Sao Paulo and the State University of Campinas are both highly ranked internationally. Your money will go a long way there, too.

    Many of the lessons you will learn will be outside the classroom. Living on the economy in a foreign country will keep you on your toes. You will learn new customs, how to bargain, stay safe, budget and become more flexible with people. There is no better way to learn a language than by immersing yourself in it. At first, it will be the toughest thing you have ever done. Eventually, it will become second nature.

    People have different ways of dealing with a common cold. Some take over-the- counter(非处方的) medicines such as aspirin while others try popular home remedies(治疗)like herbal tea or chicken soup. Yet here is the tough truth about the common cold: nothing really cures it.

    So why do people sometimes believe that their remedies work? According to James Taylor, professor at the University of Washington, colds usually go away on their own in about a week, improving a little each day after symptoms peak, so it's easy to believe it's medicine rather than time that deserves the credit, USA Today reported.

    It still seems hard to believe that we can deal with more serious diseases yet are powerless against something so common as a cold. Recently, scientists came closer to figuring out why. To understand it, you first need to know how antiviral(抗病毒的) drugs work. They attack the virus by attaching to and changing the surface structures of the virus. To do that, the drug must fit and lock into the virus like the right piece of a jigsaw(拼图), which means scientists have to identify the virus and build a 3-D model to study its surface before they can design an antiviral drug that is effective enough.

    The two cold viruses that scientists had long known about were rhinovirus(鼻病毒) A and B. But they didn't find out about the existence of a third virus, rhinovirus C, until 2006. All three of them contribute to the common cold, but drugs that work well against rhinovirus A and B have little effect when used against C.

    "This explains most of the previous failures of drug trials against rhinovirus," study leader Professor Ann Palmenberg at University of Wisconsin-Madison, US, told Science Daily.

    Now, more than 10 years after the discovery of rhinovirus C, scientists have finally built a highly-detailed 3-D model of the virus, showing that the surface of the virus is, as expected, different from that of other cold viruses.

    With the model in hand, hopefully a real cure for a common cold is on its way. Soon, we may no longer have to waste our money on medicines that don't really work.

    Do you want to do some volunteer work while exploring Africa? Then join in our 21-Day Flagship Program. Step onto the flat, sandy land of Ghana, and you'll immediately hear the laughter of children everywhere. This laughter will be the constant of your trip and a steady source of energy while you volunteer among one of Africa s kind communities.

    Community Service

    Volunteer in primary schools, working with children of different ages to help improve their English skills, tutor those who might be falling behind and contribute to each school's needs, including making improvements to the facilities. Split your time between teaching and campus refurbishment (翻修) projects to serve every aspect of the school, and learn all about education in Ghana.

    Hands-on Learning

    Participate in workshops such as batik cloth dyeing (蜡染), drumming, dancing and crash courses in the native language, Ewe or Krobo. You'll be given a Ghanaian name by the local chief of your village, and visit a seamstress (女裁缝) to have custom clothing made out of colorful fabrics you purchase. On the 21-Day Flagship Program, you'll hear about the nation's history as a center of the slave trade, and visit Fort Prinzenstein to truly understand the weight of this topic.

    Adventure

    You'll also experience the natural surroundings of Ghana with a beautiful waterfall hike: On your 21-Day Flagship Program, go on a two-night trip where you'll get to visit a monkey shelter.

    Lodging

    Global Leadership Adventures (GLA) operates two Home Bases for the 21-day program. Both are located outside of the capital city of Accra in rural village settings. Accommodations are basic, but clean and safe. Students sleep in rooms with roommates, and have access to shared bathrooms with cold-water showers.

    Dates

    June 26-July 16, 2019

    July 9-July 29, 2019

    July 20-August9, 2019

    Duration: 21 days

    Tuition: $5,399

    Community Service Hours: 60

    For more information, please call 1-858-771-0645 or send an email to info@experiencegla.com.

When you are online, you can be anyone or anything. You can create your own image and a new personality. These digital identities are known as avatars(化身).

The first simple 2D avatars appeared in role-playing computer games in the 1980s. Yet, very few people knew that future avatars would have such a wide variety of forms and uses. By the late 1990s, they had been used in web chats.

When people started creating their own avatars, they discovered that they were going to have the power to create new identities that did not look or act like their real selves at all. They could dress their avatars in fancy clothes, or they could try being someone of the opposite sex. When Internet users realized that their avatars would be seen by many people, not just their friends, they started having more than one avatar. Avatars let you express yourself and they give you lots of room for creativity.

Of course, the avatar you choose says a lot about your personality. If your blog avatar is a picture of a cute cat, your message is "like relaxing and having fun". Well-known cartoon characters or laughing monkeys say "I'm a really funny person". Most people create avatars that have similar features to their personalities and that look more or less like them and act like them. However, people obviously make their avatars look better than they do in real life.

Nowadays, avatars are everywhere and very useful. In most web chats, people choose an avatar from a selection of ready-made images or create their own images. You can also use avatars that move around and talk when you type in your message. 

Despite the advantages of avatars, the use of avatars has also caused a few concerns. Some users worry that they are spending so much time in virtual worlds that they are becoming afraid of meeting people in the real world. The use of several avatars can also be a risk, as people can use avatars to cheat others online.