Maybe you are an ordinary student. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}This is not necessarily so. Anyone can become a better student if he or she wants to. Here's how:

    Plan your time carefully. When planning your work, you should make a list of things that you have to do. After making this list, you should make a schedule of your time. First arrange your time for eating, sleeping, dressing, etc, then decide a good, regular (有规律的) time for studying. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}A weekly schedule may not solve all your problems, but it will force you realize what is happening to your time.

     Make good use of your time in class. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Listening carefully in class means less work later. Taking notes will help you remember what the teacher says.

    Study regularly. When you get home from school, go over your notes, review the important points that your teacher is going to discuss the next day, read that material.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}  If you do these things regularly, the material will become more meaningful, and you will remember it longer.

    Develop a good attitude towards tests. The purpose of a test is to show what you have learned about a subject. The world won't end if you don't pass a test, so don't be over worried.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} You will probably discover them after you have tried these.

A. This will help you understand the next class.

B. You probably think you will never be a top student.

C. Don't forget to leave enough time for entertainment (娱乐).

D. No one can become a top student unless he or she works hard.

E. There are other methods that might help you with your study.

F. Take advantage of class time to listen to everything the teacher says.

G. Make full use of spare time to take note of what the teacher says in class.

    Taking good notes is a time-saving skill that will help you to become a better student in several ways. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} .Second, your notes are excellent materials to refer to when you are studying for a test. Third, note-taking offers variety to your study time and helps you to hold your interest.

    You will want to take notes during classroom discussions and while reading a textbook or doing research for a report. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} .Whenever or however you take notes, keep in mind that note-taking is a selective process. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} .

    The following methods may work best for you.

    Read the text quickly to find the main facts and ideas in it.

    Carefully read the text and watch for words that can show main points and supporting facts.

    Write your notes in your own words.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} .

    Note any questions or ideas you may have about what was said or written.

    As you take notes, you may want to use your own shorthand(速记). When you do, be sure that you understand your symbols and that you use them all the time. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} .
A. Use words, not complete sentences.
B. There are three practical note-taking methods.
C. You must write your notes on separate paper.
D. Otherwise, you may not be able to read your notes later.
E. You will also want to develop your own method for taking notes.
F. That means you must first decide what is important enough to include in your notes.
G. First, the simple act of writing something down makes it easier for you to understand and remember it.

    Helen Keller once wrote, "The unselfish effort to bring cheer to others will be the beginning of a happier life for ourselves."{#blank#}1{#/blank#} The UN has set December 5 as International Volunteer Day to give recognition to these people.

    Nineteen-year-old Andrew Makhoul was a communications major at the University of Pennsylvania. It was coming up to spring break, but unlike his classmates, Makhoul wasn't planning on spending the break relaxing. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    He traveled to Guatemala. He went to an orphanage(孤儿院)in one of the most violent and poor parts of Guatemala city. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Although he didn't speak much Spanish, he found communication wasn't a problem: "You communicated with love." And what he gave out, he got back: "You could see love when you looked in their eyes."

    Makhoul's first time as a volunteer only lasted a week, but by the end of that week, he knew he'd be back in the future.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}The UN highlighted the case of Palestinian women who are survivors of breast cancer. As part of the UN's Aid and Hope Programme for Patient Care, the women have been volunteering their time to create low-cost breast prosthetics(假体)to be distributed to women for free, among whom Shahd El-Swerki is a brilliant example. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}By the end of her time there, she admired these women who are "not only survivors but also volunteers".

    About 2,400 years ago, Greek philosopher Aristotle said, "The essence(本质)of life is to serve others and do good." Volunteers all around the world are making these words come true, each and every day.

A. These words certainly prove true for the millions of volunteers all over the world

B. Here, we tell two volunteering stories from around the globe.

C. He decided to spend his time doing something useful for people.

D. Volunteers want to do their best to make the world warmer and more beautiful.

E. She worked with the women as part of the programme.

F. Sometimes, volunteers themselves live with huge challenges

G. It depends upon volunteers to stay open. 

How to lead a balanced life

    Many students suffer from stress in their daily lives. They are under stress because their lives are not balanced. They focus too much on studying, worrying about what others think, and not enough on other things.

    You may wonder whether stress is a serious matter. The answer is "Yes". You should be aware that stress is a risk to your health. If you want to live a long and healthy life, you need to begin to guard against stress from a young age. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} They can help to bring balance to your life.

    Be positive.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}You should always look on the bright side of life, and imagine that you will have a happy and successful future.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Force yourself to take a break from your studies and worries about exams. You can do this by taking a walk, reading a book, going to a concert or seeing a film.You can also just sit in a quiet place and be silent for a moment.

    Take up a hobby.

    Learn to paint, take up skating, or start playing a musical instrument. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Take care of your body.

    Stress is your body's enemy. Taking regular exercise, eating a healthy diet and getting enough sleep are all the things that can help you.

    Laugh.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}Seeing a funny film or telling jokes with friends will often make you happy when you are low.

A.Learn to relax.

B.Take some medicine for stress.

C.Here are some ways to deal with stress.

D.Work hard at your lessons before exams.

E.Sometimes laughter is the best medicine for stress.

F.One way to cancel out stress is through positive thinking.

G.When you are busy with a hobby, you leave all your worries behind.

    Many scientists believe our love of sugar may actually an addiction. When we eat or drink sugary foods, the sugar enters our blood and affects parts of our brain that make us feel good. Then the good feeling goes away, leaving us wanting more. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} In this way, it is in fact an addictive drug, one that doctors recommend we all cut down on.

    "It seems like every time I study an illness and trace a path to the first cause, I find my way back to sugar," says scientist Richard Johnson. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}Why? "Sugar, we believe, is one of the culprits, if not the major culprit," says Johnson,

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Early humans often had very little food, so our bodies learned to be very efficient in storing sugar as fat. In this way, we had energy stored for when there was no food. But today, most people have more than enough. So the very thing that once saved us may now be killing us.

    So what is the solution? {#blank#}4{#/blank#} The trouble is, in today's world, it's extremely difficult to avoid. From breakfast cereals to after-dinner desserts, our foods are increasingly filled with it. Some manufacturers even use sugar to replace taste in foods that are advertised as low in fat.

    But there are those who are fighting back against sugar. Many schools are replacing sugary desserts with healthier options like fruit. Other schools are growing their own food in gardens, or building facilities like walking tracks so students and others in the community can exercise. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. All tasty foods do this, but sugar has a particularly strong effect.

B. So many people have a sweet tooth.

C. One-third of adults worldwide have high blood pressure, and up to 347 million have diabetes.

D. The battle has not yet been lost.

E. But the temptation seems hard to resist.

F. Our bodies are designed to survive on very little sugar.

G. It's obvious that we need to eat less sugar.

Reversal—change your perspective and solve your problem

It's often your definition of a problem that limits you in finding a suitable solution. Creative solutions require a change of perspective. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

The reversal technique is a creative thinking technique that is based on the thought that to change your perspective, you sometimes need to change the order of the words in your problem definition.

How you change the order of the words doesn't matter much, as long as the key words are reversed. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Your challenge is "How do we make sure that fewer people take cars to their work?". Swapping the key words, you could rephrase this challenge as "How do we make sure that fewer cars take people to their work?" In this case, the first statement will make you think of alternative means of transportation, like trains or bikes, while the second statement will probably make you think of solutions like carpooling—fewer cars for the same number of people.

Not every problem statement is suitable for a reversal. Sometimes using this technique requires you to first rephrase the question altogether. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}For instance, the question "how might we sell more washing machines?" is not easily reversed—there is no key word to swap with "washing machines". Yet, when you rephrase the question to "How might we sell more washing machines to young parents?" you can easily change it to "How might we sell more young parents to washing machines? {#blank#}4{#/blank#} You could interpret this last sentence as "the washing machine pays the young parents to try it out". Then, you could start communicating to potential buyers how much they will save each year when they choose your energy efficient washing machine.

As this example shows, some reversals will require a very flexible way of thinking. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} However, thinking about the tiny amount of time it will "cost" you to try out a reversal, you have very little to lose and, potentially, lots to gain.

A. The second problem statement is much more logical.

B. Often it helps to add one more key word to the sentence.

C. Rephrasing your challenge is to change the problem statement.

D. A great way to do this is by "reversing" your problem statement.

E. For instance, imagine you are responsible for limiting the traffic jam in your area.

F. Admittedly, it is a very unusual challenge, but it might just stimulate a creative thought.

G. Not everyone will be able to move from an unreasonable statement to a useful solution.