Remembering names is an important social skill. Here are some ways to master it.

Recite and repeat in conversation.

    When you hear a person's name, repeat it. Immediately say it to yourself several times without moving your lips. You could also repeat the name in a way that does not sound forced or artificial.

    Ask the other person to recite and repeat.

    You can let other people help you remember their names. After you've been introduced to someone, ask that person to spell the name mad pronounce it correctly for you. Most people will be pleased by the effort you're making to learn their names.

Admit you don't know.

    Admitting that you can't remember someone's name can actually make people relaxed. Most of them will feel sympathy if you say. “I'm working to remember names better. Yours is right on the tip of my tongue. What is it again?”

Use associations.

    Link each person yon meet with one thing you find interesting or unusual. For example，you could make a mental note: “Vicki Cheng—tall, black hair. ” To reinforce your associations, write them on a small card as soon as possible.

Limit the number of new names you learn at one time.

    When meeting a group of people, concentrate on remembering just two or three names. Free yourself from remembering every one. Few of the people in mass introductions expect you to remember their names. Another way is to limit yourself to learning just first names. Last names can come later.

Go early.

    Consider going early to conferences, parties and classes. Sometimes just a few people show upon time. That's fewer names for you to remember. And as more people arrive, you can hear them being introduced to others—an automatic review for you.

How to deal with your homework

    Write it down.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Make a note on your notebook. Always be sure to write down any homework for school so you won't forget anything.

    Create a homework station. Find somewhere comfortable and quiet to work.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} It will take twice as long to get the homework done. Shut off your cell phone, log off (退出) your computer (unless you will need it for your homework) and close the door.

    Do has early as possible. Don't leave homework to die last minute.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} The earlier you start your homework, the sooner you will finish! Do all your homework as early as you can, so you don't have a pile of (一堆) homework the next day.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Think about how long it will take you to complete each homework subject. For example: English-ten minutes, science-ten minutes, math-forty minutes, history-twenty minutes.

    Treat yourself. You can easily get tired by sitting through an hour or two of homework without stopping. Once you finish homework for a subject, take a small break. Just make sure it's quick (no more than 15 minutes). Do not turn on the TV, or you'll never go back and finish your homework.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Use your time wisely.

B. Start as soon as you get home.

C. Start your hardest homework.

D. Never do your homework in front of the TV.

E. You can take a walk or find something to eat.

F. After short breaks, return to finish up the last of your work.

G. Keep a homework notebook where you record all your homework.

    As our family are getting ready for the annual holiday of Thanksgiving, which is probably the most important holiday in the U.S because it's celebrated by people of all faiths. I think back to a cold November day more than twenty years ago. It was a day when my husband and I, married just about three months, got stuck on I -89 in Vermont when our car broke down.

    We had just visited my husband's parents in Vermont, and with a huge turkey they gave us slowly thawing (解冻）in the trunk of our old car, we were heading back to our apartment in Boston to celebrate our first Thanksgiving together. Our car broke down half an hour after we got on the highway. And it was raining. Back to then, not everyone had a cell phone, and in those days if you broke down along a lonely stretch of a highway far from the nearest emergency call box in cold November rain, it wasn't fun.

    Fortutiously for us, a van with a bunch of people coming back from a ski trip stopped andasked if we needed help. They gave us a ride to the nearest gas station, from where we could phone my father-in-law and asked him for help. My father-in-law arranged for :he car to be towed (拖引), and drove us all the way to Boston that day.

    So as we sit down to dinner and think of all the things we can be thankful for tonight, I want to say “thank you” to the strangers on I -89 some twenty years ago for giving a young couple a ride when their car with a frozen turkey in the trunk broke down.

    Never underestimate the difference you can make to the lives of others by one small act of kindness. Step forward, reach out and help. This week, reach to someone that might need a lift.

    I grew up in a house where the TV was seldom turned on and with one wall in my bedroom entirely lined with bookshelves, most of my childhood was spent on books I could get hold of. In fact, I grew up thinking of reading as natural as breathing and books unbelievably powerful in shaping perspectives (观点) by creating worlds we could step into, take part in and live in.

    With this unshakable belief. I, at fourteen, decided to become a writer. Here too, reading became useful. Every with writer starts off knowing that he has something to say, but being unable to find the right ways to say it. He has to find his own voice by reading widely and discovering which parts of the writers he agrees or disagrees with, or agrees with so strongly that it reshapes his own world. He cannot write without loving to read, because only through reading other people's writing can one discover what works, what doesn't and, in the end, together with lots of practice, what voice he has.

    Now I am in college，and have come to realize how important it is to read fiction (文学作品). As a law student, my reading is in fact limited to subject matter — the volume (量) of what I have to read for classes every week means there is little time to read anything else. Such reading made it clearer to me that I live in a very small part in this great place called life. Reading fiction reminds me that there is life beyond my own. It allows me to travel across the high seas and along the Silk Road，all from the comfort of my own armchair, to experience, though secondhand, exciting experiences that I wouldn't necessarily be able to have in my lifetime.

    In many developed countries, people who have high degrees begin to work longer than those who don't. About 65% of American men aged 62－74 with a professional degree are in the workforce (劳动人口), compared with 32% of men who only finish high school. This gap is part of a deepening divide between the well­educated wealthy and the unskilled poor. Rapid technological advance has raised the incomes of the highly skilled while squeezing those of the unskilled. The consequences, for individuals and society, are profound(意义深远的).

    The world is facing an astonishing rise in the number of old people, and they will live longer than ever before. Over the next 20 years the global population of those aged 65 or more will almost double, from 600 million to 1.1 billion. The experience of the 20th century, when greater longevity (长寿) translated into more years in retirement rather than more years at work, has persuaded many observers that this shift (变化) will lead to slower economic growth, while the swelling (渐增的) ranks of pensioners will create government budget problems.

    Policies are partly responsible. Many European governments have abandoned policies that used to encourage people to retire early. Even the better­off must work longer to have a comfortable retirement. But the changing nature of work also plays a big role. Pay has risen sharply for the highly educated, and those people continue to reap (获得) rich rewards into old age because these days the educated elderly are more productive than the preceding (先前的) generation. Technological change may well reinforce (强化) that shift: the skills that complement (补充) computers, from management know­how to creativity, do not necessarily decline with age.

    Education has always been a hot topic. How to educate children can be a sweet but painstaking task for parents, many of whom try to offer their children the best environment. Competition between parents over children's education may start from the kind of animated (动画) series children watch. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} By watching the former, children can learn English at the same time. However, this does not mean those watching foreign shows perform better than those watching Chinese ones. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} They can help children learn traditional Chinese culture and history. Take Journey to the West for example. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    By watching this show, children can learn more about the history of the Tang Dynasty and the development of Buddhist culture in China. Foreign shows can open a window for children to gain a better understanding of the outside world. So, children ought to be encouraged to watch both as long as the content of the show is beneficial.

    This can also be applied to other things beyond animated series. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} However, some parents fail to do this. Their incorrect view can more or less leave an influence on their children. Innocent (天真的) children, influenced by their parents, slowly hold the view that watching foreign shows is better than watching Chinese shows. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Chinese shows have their own advantages.

B. Foreign animated series are always the first choice for parents.

C. Children often follow their parents' advice when choosing animated series.

D. For example, children can be encouraged to read folk tales at home and abroad.

E. Once the view is formed in children's minds, parents' education proves a failure.

F. This show is based on one of the four great classical novels of Chinese literature.

G. For some parents, watching foreign animated shows is better than watching Chinese ones.