How to find the perfect career

    Too many people are not satisfied with their professional career (事业) and are “stuck” in situations that do not make them happy. Here are some wonderful actions you can take to begin the path to a truly happy career.

Talk to your friends.

    Ask them, “what do you think I am best at”, or “what do you think I enjoy doing most”. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}However, their advice may help you decide what you should do.

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    Read some interesting magazines, books, newspapers or novels. They will give you a constant flow of ideas and keep the mind rich.

Talk to the happiest and most successful people you know.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Be serious with your questions. And see if there is anything you can learn from them. Have these people become your teachers and friends.

Keep a journal（日记）.

    Writing down your ideas is an important practice for your career growth. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}You never know when great ideas will come to your mind!

Develop patience.

    You may want a change in your career right now. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}Anyway, doing the practices mentioned above will bring about the right chance much faster.

    Put a group of strangers in a room together, and they'll probably start a conversation. “Hot today, isn't it?” one might say. “You said it,” another replies.

    Why do we talk so much about the weather? When we meet new people, we don't begin by telling them our life story. We start with small talk, a polite conversation about something like traffic or weather.

    Research suggests that small talk can build new friendships. When we begin conversations with new people, we want to feel comfortable, and so do they. We use small talk to find common interests. Once we have a common interest, a friendship can begin.

    Small talk even helps people get a job. In order to impress at a job interview, you need to bond with the interviewer right away. Proper sma ll talk can make that first impression get you the job.

    So, how can you make small talk lead to a new friendship or job? First off, find common ground. Select something around you that you share with the other person.

    Next, keep the conversation going. Compliment (赞美) the other person to make him or her feel comfortable, and ask questions to show interest.

    Third, keep eye contact. When you loop people in the eye, they feel you appreciate what they are saying. It makes you appear honest and build trust.

Naturally, shy people might not have enough confidence to start up conversations with strangers. Talking to someone you don't know is not the easiest thing to do! Some experts say with more practice, small take does get easier.

    Some people avoid small talk because they dislike discussing things like traffic or weather. For them, they are just too small. However, when you think about it, small talk is anything but small. In fact, it is actually a very big deal!

    It seems that there is never enough time in the day. But,since we all get the same 24 hours,why is it that some people achieve much more than others?{#blank#}1{#/blank#}.

Keep a to-do list.

    You should have a reminder system to tell you when you need to do what.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}Carry a pen andpaper wherever you go and write down the things you need to do, including appointments and deadlines.

Set goals.

    Set yourself specific goals,and make sure that they are realistic. To do this, you first need to examine your present situation and assess（判断）which goals are important to you. Have a secondary route to your goals in case you have to change your plans.

Break down (分解）tasks.

    Break goals down into different parts so that you can accomplish them one step at a time{#blank#}3{#/blank#}Try to complete one task before you go on to the next.

Organize your time.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}A good way to do this is to record everything you do for a week in detail and then examine your record to see how you use or waste your time.

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    Keep your work space tidy so that you can work efficiently - it's hard to work if things you need to find are buried under a pile of paper! Work to schedule (为...安排时间）so that you can meet deadlines in good time - don't leave everything until the last minute.

A Develop a regular work order.

B. Make a detailed plan.

C. The best time to do something is usually NOW.

D. The answer lies in good time management.

E. Don't try to remember everything in your head.

F.Write these steps down, and try to be as detailed as you can when you do this.

G. Identify areas of your life where you are wasting time and try to reduce them.

The Lost Rules of Etiquette

    Etiquette, or good manners, used to be the glue that held society together{#blank#}1{#/blank#}Sadly, these days it has mostly gone by the wayside. This list is several best rules of etiquette that have now disappeared.

Opening the Door

    In days gone by, a gentleman would always open doors for ladies{#blank#}2{#/blank#}This has now almost entirely disappeared-- and it is pot entirely the fault of the men. I have seen women laugh at men for opening a door for them. They seem to be confusing manners with chauvinism(大男子主义)．

Writing Thank-You Notes

    In days gone by, whenever a person received a gift, they would write a thank-you note as soon as possible{#blank#}3{#/blank#}Parents would sit children down after a birthday or Christmas and coach them in their first thank-you note. It is a shame that gift giving has now become a virtual obligation and the idea of a thank-you note would be laughed at.
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         We seem to have completely lost the concept of correct timing when it comes to parties these days{#blank#}5{#/blank#} After all, a party normally has a guest of honor-this is usually the oldest woman present. It was considered extremely rude in the past to leave a party before the guest of honor-and once the guest of honor left, it was a signal to all that they should begin their own preparations to leave.

A. Arriving on Time.

B. Leaving at the Right Time.

C. People leave with various excuses.

D. It enabled people to get on well with each other.

E. This rule was true even if the giver was a relative.

F. It could be the lady they were driving, or a stranger.

G. We've thrown away the concept of a guest of honor at will.

    Why do some people feel obliged to do the craziest things, while most of us are happy to sit on the sofa and watch their exploits on TV? Robin Styles ponders(考虑)this question.

    Generally, we love to watch someone's bravery and drama--a single person against the wilds of nature, testing their endurance beyond belief. And our pleasure is greater because we live a comfortable and increasingly risk-free life, where the greatest test of endurance is getting to work through the rush hour. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}However, there are countless ways to test the limits of your endurance, if you should wish to do so, by attempting something unpleasant, uncomfortable or just plain dangerous.

    American Lynne Cox swims in sub-zero temperatures through the planet's most dangerous oceans wearing only a swimsuit--for fun! According to Lynne, there is always something driving her on. At age 9, when she was swimming in an outdoor pool one day, a violent storm blew up, but she refused to get out of the pool. Something make her carry on. Then she realized that, as the water got colder and rougher, she was actually getting faster and warmer, and she was really enjoying it. At age 14, she broke her first endurance record. Years later, experts discovered that Lynne has a totally even layer of body fat, like a seal. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    The famous British explorer, Sir Ranulph Fiennes, has led many major expeditions (远征) in the extreme cold, including walking right round the Arctic Circle. He has also led expeditions in the extreme heat, and discovered the Lost City of Ubar in the Omani desert. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Sir Fiennes has said, "If I am getting sick, I find a very powerful way of conquering it is to know that my father would have definitely done it."

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}There is probably no such thing as a "normal" adventurer. Unsurprisingly, risk-takers tend to be single-minded and unusually determined people who hate the stability and routine that most people prefer. They tend to take risks for the "fun" of it. The excitement becomes addictive, and they want more and more of it. Ordinary life seems boring in comparison.

A. She is perfectly made for doing what she does, it seems.

B. Adventurers are clearly different from the rest of us.

C What she did was really beyond our imagination.

D. It seems that many adventurers spend their lives trying to live up to the image of a parent.

E. And most of us would prefer it to remain that way.

F. Many adventurers have amazed the world with their extraordinary skills.

    Before there was the written word, there was the language of dance. Dance expresses love and hate, joy and sorrow, life and death, and everything else in between.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}We dance from Florida to Alaska, from north to south and sea to sea. We dance at weddings, birthdays, office parties and just to fill the time.

    “I adore dancing,” says Lester Bridges, the owner of a dance studio in Iowa. “I can't imagine doing anything else with my life.” Bridges runs dance classes for all ages. “Teaching dance is wonderful. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}It's great to watch them. For many of them, it's a way of meeting people and having a social life.”

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}“I can tell you about one young couple,” says Bridges. “They're learning to do traditional dances. They arrive at the class in low spirits and they leave with a smile. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}”

    So, do we dance in order to make ourselves feel better, calmer, healthier? Andrea Hillier says, “Dance, like the pattern of a beating heart, is life. Even after all these years, I want to get better and better.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} I find it hard to stop! Dancing reminds me I'm alive.”

A. So why do we dance?

B. Dance in the U.S. is everywhere.

C. If you like dancing outdoors, come to America.

D. My older students say it makes them feel young.

E. I keep practicing even when I'm extremely tired.

F. Dancing seems to change their feeling completely.

G. They stayed up all night long singing and dancing.