How to Make Friends

    Friendship is a very important human relationship and everyone needs good friends.  Good friendship has many benefits.  It offers companionship, improves self-worth and promotes good health.  There are times in our lives such as when we have recently moved into a new town, or changed our jobs or schools.  Such changes often leaves us without a friend {#blank#}1{#/blank#} But for many of us the process is difficult and requires courage.  Below are some helpful suggestions on how to make and keep friends.

    1).Associate with others.

    The first step to making friends is associating with other people.  You can go to public places to meet new people.  Besides, you will need to make yourself known by becoming an active member of such places.

    Start a conversation

    Starting a conversation is the second most important step in making new friends.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} You can always start the conversation.  Being able to make small talk is a very useful skill in relating with other people.

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    Choosing friends with common interests is important in building friendship as these interests would always bring you and your friend together, Hanging out will always be a pleasant experience.

    Let it grow.

    It is a good thing to stay in touch.  However, try not to press your new friend with calls, messages or visits as this would likely wear him or her out and finally you may lose your friend.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} The best friendships are the ones that grow naturally.

    Enjoy your friendship

    The best way to enjoy your friendship is to allow your friends to be themselves.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Try not to change them from who they are to what you want them to be.  Become the kind of friend you will want your friend to be to you.

How to Know Yourself Better

    Most of us believe that we know ourselves better than anyone in this world. But a lot of people are still strangers to themselves. Why?{#blank#}1{#/blank#}For a person to have a well-lived life, it is important that he know himself good. If you are one of those who are striving to know yourself better, these steps will guide you.

    Take a moment to write down things that you know "very good" about yourself - your interests, likes, dislikes, preferences, hobbies, strengths, weaknesses, hopes, fears, dreams, etc.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}By creating a list of your personal attributes that you are familiar with, you are keeping yourself in touch with yourself.

    Take personality and psychological tests. This is another way to know yourself better. The Internet has a rich source of free online personality and psychological assessments and tests.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Know yourself better by understanding people's perceptions about you.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}Sometimes, you think you know yourself enough, but other people who see you from their point of view can offer you some insights how you act and get understood by others. Be careful, however, to balance both perceptions to come up with an objective view of yourself.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}It's a lifetime process. Everyday you will be given new insights about yourself. Writing a journal will help you keep track of these new discoveries. Maintaining that hunger to know yourself better will make you more self-aware, opening up new opportunities to enrich your life.

A. Keep on learning who you are.

B. Remember that you are a worthy person.

C. By answering them, you will understand yourself better.

D. The better you know yourself, the easier it will be to love yourself.

E. Reflect on these qualities and find out how they impact your overall life.

F. Pay attention to what your family, friends, coworkers, etc. observe and say about you.

G. Not everyone is courageous enough to travel the path within to achieve a better self-understanding.

How to Make Friends

    It can be difficult to make friends living in a big city, especially when you don't know many people. However, over years of experience and studying social skills, I have discovered that it's possible to make friends without even trying. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    ⒈Be seen without trying to get attention.

    You don't have to say anything interesting to get people's attention, {#blank#}2{#/blank#} This can be done anywhere you go, such as the supermarket or your yoga studio.

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    There's an interesting phenomenon that occurs when you listen to other people. They will keep talking. Just keep giving them good eye contact and show with your body language that you care. Listening is an instant way to build trust and likeability.

    ⒊Think about what you can give to the other people.

    We often think about what we can get from others when we try to make friends. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Try offering a piece of helpful advice or invite someone you just met to grab coffee or lunch with you the following week.

    ⒋Always have some good stories to tell other people.

    When you have at least a few stories to share with others, you'll never run out of things to talk about. Try to be honest to share your stories with others. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    ⒌Smile like there's no tomorrow.

    It may not be natural for some of us to smile, but a smile is one of the most attractive things that someone can display when they're meeting new people.

A. However, that thinking needs to be changed.

B. All you have to do is place yourself in environments where people will see you.

C. Don't ever stop thinking about how you can add value to yourself.

D. There are just a few strategies that you have to use on a consistent basis.

E. Try to be involved in conversation.

F. Use the power of listening.

G. For example, you can share a story about a struggle or challenge.

    The new school year is coming and you have to go back to school. This marks the end of much freedom during the winter time. Adjusting your sleep habits to once again fit your school schedules may seem like a burden.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Even if you have not yet get a detailed schedule of classes, you should at least find out the start time of your first class. You should get the rest of the information as soon as possible in order to decide how to adjust your schedule and sleep habits. By finding out when you starts, you will know when to wake up or when you will have some spare time.

    Begin the sleep adjustment for your school schedule as early as possible.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} But if you feel you will need some extra time to adjust, start earlier. Set your alarm clock to decide when you should wake up and when you should go to bed. When the alarm sounds for sleep, end whatever activities you are involved in and go to bed.

    Tire yourself out. If you have got used to going to sleep very late, it will be helpful to tire yourself out.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} This may be a good time to add some exercise to your routine that will enable you to be worn out at bedtime.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} These may differ from person to person, but they usually prevent you from completing your goal of going to sleep on schedule. These include bright lights or the flickering light of a computer. Ensure that your bed and the temperature of your room are comfortable and that you have comfortable pillows and blankets.

A. Relax before you go to bed.

B. Review and revise your schedule.

C. Starting a few days early will be enough.

D. However, it will actually help you become more adaptable.

E. It is difficult to be comfortable and to sleep on a full stomach.

F. Remove distractions to ensure that you are able to sleep comfortably.

G. Your body will be less likely to be restless at bedtime if you are actually exhausted.

    Chinese culture values family bonds very much. Family members don't just gather during the holidays. In fact they often live under one roof all year round. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Families in the East and West are very different from each other.

    In most East Asian cultures, extended families are common. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} According to the Atlantic, 90 percent of children in Shanghai and 70 percent of children in Beijing were cared for by their grandparents. Chinese people believe that "a grandparent is a treasure to their family".

    In many Western countries, most families are nuclear families (小家庭). These are solely made up of children and their parents.

    Additionally, the duties parents have toward their children can also differ.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    It's normal for parents to pay for their children's college, help them find a job, or buy them an apartment. Chinese adults also follow their parents' opinions when making major life decisions, more often than not.

    In most Western countries, however, kids usually move out of the house after they turn 18.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Also, if they choose to keep living with their parents after becoming an adult, it can be seen by some as a failure on their part.

    While the East cares more about close family bonds, the West values privacy and independence. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Families will always be a source of love, warmth, and care for people around the world.

A. These families have three or even four generations living together

B. Nuclear families are the most common type in China.

C. In China, many parents look after their children all the way into adulthood.

D. Different cultures have different family values.

E. But in the end, home is best 一 east or west.

F. Many young people going to college often need to take out loans and work part-time jobs in order to pay for tuition and rent.

G. Both Easterners and Westerners value quality family time.

Every animal sleeps, but the reason for this has remained foggy. When lab rats are not allowed to sleep, they die within a month. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

One idea is that sleep helps us strengthen new memories. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} We know that, while awake, fresh memories are recorded by reinforcing (加强) connections between brain cells, but the memory processes that take place while we sleep have been unclear.

Support is growing for a theory that sleep evolved so that connections between neurons(神经元) in the brain can be weakened overnight, making room for fresh memories to form the next day. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

Now we have the most direct evidence yet that he is right. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}The synapses in the mice taken at the end of a period of sleep were 18 per cent smaller than those taken before sleep, showing that the connections between neurons weaken while sleeping.

If Tononi's theory is right, it would explain why, when we miss a night's, we find it harder the next day to concentrate and learn new information — our brains may have smaller room for new experiences.

Their research also suggests how we may build lasting memories over time even though the synapses become thinner. The team discovered that some synapses seem to be protected and stayed the same size. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}"You keep what matters," Tononi says.

A. We should also try to sleep well the night before.

B. It's as if the brain is preserving its most important memories.

C. Similarly, when people go for a few days without sleeping, they get sick.

D. The processes take place to stop our brains becoming loaded with memories.

E. That's why students do better in tests if they get a chance to sleep after learning.

F. "Sleep is the price we pay for learning," says Giulio Tononi, who developed the idea.

G. Tononi's team measured the size of these connections, or synapses, in the brains of 12 mice.