When you start a new school, go to a party or try to know a person, you often need to break the ice in order to start a friendly conversation. Breaking the ice means saying or doing something to stop feeling shy or uncomfortable around someone you don't know well. Almost everyone feels uncomfortable or shy when people meet for the first time. If you feel like this, the following ① tips can help you out.

Smile ② Whenyou smile, people think you're friendly and easy to talk to. They are also very likely to smile back and help you feel more comfortable about starting a conversation.

Be positive  Everybody likes being around happy people. Always look on the bright side of life and see everything positively（积极地）.

Be a good listener.   Don't control the conversation and don't just talk about yourself. ③ 仔细听别人讲，并且问一些关于他们自己的问题。They'll think you're worth talking to.

Be easy-going  ④ Some people may be so shy that they can't break the ice. Don't avoid being around new people just because you feel uncomfortable. If you face a situation again and again, you'll get used to it.

    Every day, I go to school (A)by school bus. My favourite subjects are Maths, Art    (B)   Science. I like my school    (C)    the teachers are all very friendly. My dream is (D)当工程师.

    I like (E)many sports. I (F)擅长swimming and playing basketball. (G)These are my favourite hobbies.

    It was a summer afternoon in the countryside. Wan Bo, a university student, was painting while his classmate Tang Qi was making a wooden box by the river. A little riding on a rocking horse caught their eye by chance. It brought them back to their childhood, warm and happy.

    "Why not try to make one by ourselves?" said Wan Bo. "You are good at making things and I am interested in painting."

    "Actions speak louder than words," Tang Qi said. Then, the two young men began to collect some information about it. During those days, watching videos about caring(雕刻) and shaping wood into horse shapes on the Internet became an important part of their life.

    Several months later, a wooden rocking horse appeared. They felt so excited that they put the picture of it on the Internet right away. To their surprise, it attracted lots of people's attention and some even hoped to order one.

    The two young men thought it might be a good chance. They sent some forms to the customers to make a survey. According to the result, they made each customer a special rocking horse. These horses were quite different from those produced in other factories, and they soon became popular among the customers.

    In the first year of their new hobby, Wan and Tang made thirteen rocking horses. Sometimes, they also repaired rocking horses for people. They made the old ones look new again. Wan and Tang helped those people bring back many happy memories.

    Their hobby has now become a successful and busy business.

    Flowers have habits or ways of doing things, just as people have. Would you like to hear about some of these?

    There is one habit that almost all flowers have. They turn to the light. If plants are kept in a room, the flowers turn to the window. Some flowers shut up at night. It seems that they go to sleep. They open again in the morning. Tulips（郁金香）do this.

    One morning Lingling was looking at some tulips. When one of them opened, a bee flew out. He stayed too late last night, and so was shut up in the flower. He might be hard at work all day getting honey. He stopped to rest in the tulip, and was shut in when it closed. He had a fine bed that night. Lingling wondered if he slept any better than he would have slept in the hive（蜂巢）!

    Some people succeed, while others may not. This is because some people have certain qualities, which others do not.

    The first thing you must remember is that in order to succeed, you must be optimistic (乐观的). If you do not expect to win, you will not try as hard as those who do expect to win. You also need to have a clear aim and a reason for doing something because motivation (动力) is a key to achieving success.

    Another quality that helps people succeed is creativity-thinking about things in a different way and wondering how others would do the same thing. Think about some successful people you know.

    Reading is another quality to success, as it will help you learn about how other people have achieved success. If you want to learn how to set up a successful business, you should read books about people like Bill Gates and Jerry Yang, who have achieved amazing success in their areas of business. Practicing is also important if you want to succeed because practice makes perfect.

    If you feel confident about what you do, this confidence will make other people believe in you as well.