Choosing the Right Resolution (决定)

     Millions of Americans began 2014 with the same resolution they started 2013 with, a goal of losing weight. However, setting weight loss as a goal is a mistake.

To reach our goal of losing weight — the output, we need to control what we eat — the input ( 输入). That is, we tend to care about the output but not to control the input. This is a bad way to construce goals. The alternative is to focus your resolution on the input. Instead of resolving to lose weight, try an actionable resolution: “I'll stop having desert for lunch,” or “I'll walk every day for 20 minutes.” Creating a goal that focuses on a well-specified input will likely be more effective than concentrating on the outcome.

    Recently a new science behind incentives (激励) , including in education, has been discussed. For example, researcher Roland Fryer wanted to see what works best in motivating children to do better in school. In some cases, he gave students incentives based on input, like reading certain books, while in others, the incentives were based on output, like results on exams. His main finding was that incentives increased achievement when based on input but had no effect on output. Fryer's conclusion was that the intensives for inputs might be more effective because do not know how to do better on exam, aside from general rules like “study harder.” Reading certain books, on the other hand, is a well-set task over which they have much more control.

    As long as you have direct control over your goal, you have a much higher chance of success. And it's easier to start again if you fail, because you know exactly what you need to do.

    If you want to cut down on your spending, a good goal would be making morning coffee at home instead of going to a cafe, for example. This is a well-specified action-based goal for which you can measure your success easily. Spending less money isn't a goal because it's too general. Similarly, if you want to spend more time with your family, don't stop with this general wish. Think about an actionable habit that you could adopt and stick to, like a family movie night every Wednesday.

    In the long run, these new goals could become a habit.

    Graph can be a very useful tool for conveying information especially numbers， percentages, and other data . A graph gives the reader a picture to interpret. That can be a lot more pages and pages and pages explaining the data .

    Graphs can seem frightening, but reading a graph is a lot like reading a story. The graph has a title ,a main idea ,and supporting details.You can use your active reading skills to analyze and understand graphs just like any other text .

    Most graphs have a few basic parts: a caption or introduction paragraph, a title , a legend or key, and labeled axes. An active reader looks at each part of the graph before trying to interpret the data. Captions will usually tell you where the data came from (for example, a scientific study of 400 African elephants from 1980 to 2005). Captions usually summarize the author's main point as well. The title is very important. It tells you the main idea of the graph by stating what kind of information is being shown. A legend, also called a key ,is a guide to the symbols and colors used in the graph. Many graphs, including bar graphs and line graphs, have two axes that form a corner, Usually these axes are the left side and the bottom of the graph .Each axis will always have a label. The label tells you what each axis measures.

Bar Graphs

    A bar graph has two axes and uses bars to show amounts. In Graph 1 ,we see that the x-axis shows grades that students earned, and the y-axis shows bow many students earned each grade .You can see that 6 students earned an A because the bar for A stretches up to 6 on the vertical measurement. There is a lot of information we can get from a simple graph like this(See Graph 1).

Line Graphs

    A line graph looks similar to a bar graph ,but instead of Bars, it plots points and connects them with a line .It has the same parts as a bar graph – two labeled axes –and can be read the same way .To read a line graph, it's important to focus on the points of intersection rather than the line segments between the points, This type of graph is most commonly used to show how something changes over time.

    Here is a graph that charts how far a bird flies during the first Five days of its spring migration (See Graph 2).

    The unit of measurement for the x-axis is days. The unit of measurement for the y-axis is kilometers. Thus we can see that ,on the first day, the pipit flew 20 kilometers. The line segment goes up between Day 1 and Day 2,which means that the bird flew farther on Day 2.If the line segment angled dawn, as between Day 4 and Day 5,it would mean that the bird flew fewer  kilometers than the day before. This line graph is a quick, visual way to tell the reader about the bird's migration.

    Pie Graphs

    A typical pie graph looks like a circular pie. The circle is divided into sections, and each section represents a fraction of the data. The graph is commonly used to show percentages; the whole pie represents l00 percent, so each piece is a fraction of the whole.

    A pie graph might include a legend，or it might use icons or labels within each slice. This pie graph shows on month's expense, (See Graph 3 ).

    Food $ 25

    Movies $ 12

    Clothing $ 36

    Savings $ 20

    Books $ 7

    One of the biggest risks a modem student faces is a broken phone or laptop. Jake Hertz and Isaac Roberts are two students who have launched a new business to meet this exact need: Campus Tech Repair.

    Hertz and Roberts started their business half a year ago and they've had amazing success. The first day they had posters up, they received nearly a cloven calls from students. Despite not having backgrounds in business, the two gladly accepted the challenges of starting up such an in-demand service.

    Hertz and Roberts experienced such a high demand because of the lack of any other hardware repair service on campus. The IT Center itself only provided software fixes: Hertz guessed that this was because of the increased responsibilities faced by repair services. Hertz and Roberts did make customers sign a release（解除）of responsibility, yet they also wanted to build a higher level of trust.

    This, Hertz noted, was the only real challenge that they expected to face. Becoming directly sponsored by the school could solve the problem of community trust. Hertz and Roberts have already engaged in conversation with the University toward this end.

    The main selling point of their service is its convenience, as well as the relatively low price. Many students have neither the time nor the means to visit a phone repair service in a store, in addition to the problem of cost. For them, Campus Tech Repair is the desired alternative.

    Hertz is optimistic about the future of the business. The two partners dream of expanding the range of their operation to include more students and be able to meet all hardware needs. They've even received requests to repair Playstations（—种游戏机）, in addition to their specialties of computer and smartphone repair. They believe that with the support of the University, they could become a necessary part of campus services.

    Riding School:

    You can start horse-riding at any age. Choose private or group lessons any weekday between 9 a.m. and 8:30 p.m. (3:30 p.m. on Saturdays). There are 10 kilometers of tracks and paths for leisurely rides across farmland and open country. You will need a riding hat.

    Opening Hours: Monday through Friday: 9:00 a.m. ~ 8:30p.m.

    Phone: (412) 396-6754 Fax: (412) 396-6752

    Sailing Club:

    Our Young Sailor's Course leads to the Stage Sailing qualification. You'll learn how to sail safely and the course also covers sailing theory and first aid. Have fun with other course members afterwards in the clubroom. There are 10 weekly two-hour lessons (Tuesdays 6 p.m.~ 8 p.m.)

Opening Hours: Tuesdays: 6:00 p.m.~ 8:00 p.m

    Phone :( 412)396-6644 Fax: (412) 396-6644

    Diving Centre:

    Our experienced instructors offer one-month courses in deep-sea diving for beginners. There are two evening lessons a week, in which you learn to breathe underwater and use the equipment safely. You only need a swimming costume and towel. Reduced rates for couples.

    Opening Hours: Monday and Friday: 6:30p.m. ~ 8:30p.m

    Phone: (412)396-6312 Fax: (412) 396-6706

    Medical Center:

    The staff of the Medical Center aim to provide convenient and comprehensive medical care to students and staff of the university. The center is well equipped and the staff here are trained to deal with a broad range of medical problems. Both female and male doctors as well as nursing staff are available for consultation. Also, all kinds of medicines are sold here and are cheaper for students than other drugstores.

    Opening Hours: 24 hours from Monday to Sunday

    Phone: (412)396-6649  Fax: (412) 396-6648

    Watersports club:

    We use a two-kilometer length of river for speedboat racing, and water-skiing. A beginners' course consists of ten 20-minute lessons. You will learn to handle boats safely and confidently but must be able to swim. The club is in a convenient central position and is open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with lessons all through the day.

    Opening Hours: Monday through Friday: 9:00a.m. ~ 4:00p.m

    Phone: (412)396-6899 Fax: (412) 396-6890

    Our tolerating ability is indeed way beyond our imagination. But not until the very critical moment will we realize our potential tolerating ability.

    There was a woman in the countryside who got married at the age of 18 and had to escape with her two daughters and a son wherever she could at the age of 26 due to the Japanese army's invasion, Many people could not bear the suffering of being a fugitive (逃亡者)and wanted to commit suicide. Knowing that, she would come to those people and soothed them by saying, "Don't do that silly thing. There are no such setbacks that we could not overcome. The Japanese armies are bound to be driven away one day!”

    Finally, she insisted until the day when all the Japanese armies were kicked out of China. However, her son died of disease without sufficient medicine and nutrition in those days of hardships. Her husband, after knowing the death of his son, lay in bed for two days without eating and drinking anything. She teared to her husband and said, "We have a tough destiny, but however tough our lives will be, we should persist in our efforts."

    After she gave birth to the second son, her husband died of edema (水肿), which almost, blew her away. But eventually, she recovered and embraced the three young children, saying, "My sweet hearts, don, feel scared. You still have me, your dear mum!”

    It took her painstaking efforts to raise her children up and, the life of her family was getting better and better. Two daughters were married and so was her son finally. She said to everyone she met," Look! What I said is absolutely right. There are no such setbacks that we could not overcome! My life is so happy now!”

    She lived until 86. Before she went to Heaven, she said to her children, You all should live to your best. There are no such setbacks that we could not overcome!”

What do a picturesque sunrise, a nice cup of coffee, and holiday celebrations have in common? {#blank#}1{#/blank#}Being open about your feelings can be rewarding. Here are some reasons for sharing your feelings with others.

Expressing your feelings connects you with others. When it comes to relationships with your family and significant others knowing how to express your feelings is the key to creating intimacy (亲密关系). {#blank#}2{#/blank#}However, it is that sincere revelation(透露) that enables you to bond with your loved ones.

{#blank#}3{#/blank#}In a study, after participants expressed their emotions, brain images showed a decrease in the brain activity in the amygdala, the part of the brain associated with feelings, indicating a calming effect on the brain. The researchers concluded that talking through emotions decreases the strength of these emotions.

Sharing your feelings boosts health. According to The New York Times, holding everything inside and not expressing your emotions can be harmful. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}But choosing to appropriately share them benefits you mentally and physically. By doing so, you can normalize your speaking about emotions and emotional needs. This can help not just you, but also others.

Speaking about your emotions enables you to get help.When you put what's in your mind into words, you are making that experience or emotion real, instead of ignoring it. That's a way of recognizing yourself. Moreover, talking about your feelings allows your loved ones to help you. They are naturally concerned about your well-being. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

All in all, accept your feelings, even negative ones and learn to manage them. Practice sharing your feelings on a regular basis, and you will benefit a lot.

A. Opening up keeps emotional intensity down.

B. Sharing your emotions improves brain function.

C. Telling others about the depths of your feelings can be scary.

D. If so, you'd better avoid judging yourself and other people.

E. These are all wonderful experiences that you can share with loved ones.

F. By letting them know what you're experiencing, you can get their support.

G. That may cause increased stress levels and risk of developing related diseases.