It can be difficult to meet new people and make friends, especially when you move to a new city or find yourself out of your comfort zone. How will you deal with the situation? {#blank#}1{#/blank#}There are several ways that you can meet people that you might not have considered in the past. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}You probably have several acquaintances that you see on a daily basis or a weekly basis. If you get along well with certain people, you can see if this acquaintance would like to go out and do something socially with you. If you have common interests, you might suggest that the two of you do something together that involves your interest.

    Make an effort to accept invitations. Sometimes people that you know may be having a barbecue or other type of social gathering. Try to ensure that you are able to attend and then show up at the appointed time. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} If you meet people that you click with, you can make a plan to see them again in the future or you can invite your friends to your own event and ask them to extend the invitation to the friends that were at their gathering too.

    Go out, even when you don't feel like it. It turns out that when people invite someone to join them for dinner or a movie or something else, they really want to hang out with you. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} {#blank#}5{#/blank#}But once you have used the same methods a few times you will know exactly what works and what does not. Don't give up, everyone is different and it just takes time to get to know people.

A. Expand on current relationships.

B. Trying to make new friends can be annoying at first.

C. Do you work with people that you get along well with?

D. But don't call them several times a day or even several times per week.

E. Be more social and you'll make your life more exciting and fulfilled.

F. If you tend to say “no” often, people will eventually stop asking you to go with them.

G. These types of gatherings often lead to meeting different people who are friends of friends.

    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(选择性的) 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. Otherwise (否则), you may not be able to read your notes later.

B. There are three practical note-taking methods.

C. First, the simple act of writing something down makes it easier for you to understand and remember it.

D. Use words, not complete sentences.

E. That means you must first decide what is important enough to include in your notes.

F. You will also want to develop your own method for taking notes.

G. You must write your notes on separate paper.

    After a long day at work, coming home is a breath of fresh air. Home is a comfortable place to sit back and relax. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}Below are a number of things we can do to create a healthy home environment that will help to ease the workday stress and promote our physical and mental health.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}It may seem like a tiring thing to clean but there is a reason for doing so. We can remove dust by cleaning the house. Leaving layers of dust everywhere means that there is a build-up of dust. And where do these layers of dust go? Into our lungs.

    Making sure the rooms are full of sunlight is also important. We may not realize it but sunlight is an important part of our growth. We all know that sunlight promotes better working conditions. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Think about using a Parans system where sunlight does not reach. This technology gathers the sunlight by using solar panels(板). It can send out sunlight wherever we are.

    It is also a good idea to add more plants in our house. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}They also give off oxygen, which can lower stress and improve our moods.

    Along the lines of being green, it can also be vital to think about what things we are bringing into the house. Try to avoid specific plastics that are harmful to health. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}They may contain poisonous chemicals that can be breathed in, or simply absorbed through the skin.

A. However, is it as healthy as it can be?

B. Is our home as comfortable as it used to be?

C. The same thing applies to certain carpets and paint.

D. Going green will help to remove toxins(毒素) in the air.

E. Besides, it can reduce both stress and high blood pressure.

F. Cleaning the house regularly is the first thing we should do.

G. It is acknowledged that a greener lifestyle is linked to better health.

    Do you remember those times when your mother told you to avoid talking to strangers? But now you're not a child any more. In fact, there are advantages of talking to strangers.

    1: You can meet a really great person.

    Talking to a stranger is a good habit because you never know whom you may meet. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} You can also meet someone who'll give you a chance to get your dream job.

    2: {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    You have some opinions about different subjects and you know your friends' and relatives' points of view about them too. But there are millions of other people who think differently and can give you unpredictable yet smart ideas that'll broaden your horizons.

    3: You can improve your social skills.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Asking appropriate questions and attentive listening are two skills that many of us don't have. You can better these skills when talking to a stranger.

    4: You will feel a boost of confidence.

    If you belong to that shy type of people, talking to a stranger may seem to be a real challenge for you. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}You can overcome your fear of being judged by others by talking to strangers and become more confident.

    5: You can cheer someone up.

    The thing you will definitely like about talking to strangers is that you can make someone's day better. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Compliment people and they will think something pleasant about you. Having a sweet short dialogue is one of those perfect chances to make people cheerful.

A. Smile and people will smile in return.

B. It can expand your world view.

C. Why not speak to someone until your turn comes?

D. I'm also extremely shy but I realize it's not an issue at all.

E. You can meet a person who'll become your best friend in future.

F. It may show you the solutions you didn't know about.

G. Whatever social skills you have, you can make them better when talking to strangers.

    The first men and women came to Britain over two and a half million years ago. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} But the British Isles only became islands separated from the rest of Europe about 8, 500 years ago, when melting ice formed the English Channel!

    3,000 years after Britain became an island, new tribes who came by boat from the mainland introduced farming.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}Many of these man-made hills can still be seen.

    Later on, people learned to build stone monuments. The most amazing is Stonehenge, a circle of huge stones begun about 4,500 years ago. Stonehenge is the world's most famous prehistoric monument. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    3,000 years ago the climate in Britain became colder and wetter than before. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} A bit later iron started to be used for tools and weapons instead of bronze. Knowledge of ironworking may have been brought by the Celts, a new wave of immigrants who started to arrive from southern Europe in about 500 BC.

    What we know about the first people in Britain has been worked out by archaeologists from the remains they left behind them. Pytheas, a Greek, was the first person who could read and write to come to Britain. His visit was in about 330 BC, over 2, 000 years after Stonehenge was begun. Unfortunately, what Pytheas wrote has been lost, so we don't have any written record of Britain until the Romans came. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. That was almost 300 years after he did!

B. As a result, people had to move down from high ground.

C. Because of the climate change, much of the ice has melted.

D. Many archaeologists believe that Britain was once covered by ice.

E. These tribes built earthworks for protection and as tombs for their dead bodies.

F. They were hunters and gatherers of food, who used stone tools and weapons.

G. We don't know what it was used for, though many different suggestions have been made.

    Before visiting Stonehenge I didn't know much about it. I remember seeing photos in my textbooks and being interested in the large stone structure. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    My visit to Stonehenge made me understand more about it. Stonehenge is an important piece of prehistory that is just outside London, England, in Wiltshire. It is in the middle of a field. My arrival at Stonehenge was by car. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} When arriving at the museum you will not see the stones. They are about a mile away from the main museum building that you enter upon arrival. The museum exhibits(展览品) describing Stonehenge history are in this building as well. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Then you will have a background on the history of the stones.

Then you will take a bus. The bus will drop you off outside the stones where you will take the path around the stones. The path is for tourists to view and walk through. Visiting the stones is quite a magical experience as you are viewing a piece of history that is over 5, 000 years old. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} It's hard to believe that the stones were brought from Wales —hundreds of miles away. It's interesting to imagine what the stones were used for. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} And the structure that is kept now is only a piece of the original(最初的) structure.

A. I suggest going through it first

B. Tickets are also a necessity for your visit

C. As time has passed many stones have fallen

D. This was probably the easiest way to get there

E. Then you can board the bus back to the main building

F. Once you start viewing the stones you realize how big they are

G. What is more interesting about Stonehenge is how it was built.