In all our lives we must make choices. You make choices from the time you get out of bed in the morning until you go to sleep at night. What time to get up? What to wear? What to eat? You also make more significant choices when you graduate from high school.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} College? Technical training?

    No matter the size of the decision, the common thread in all of them is that they involve an opportunity cost. Opportunity cost is your next best alternative – your second choice. For example, it's a Saturday night, and you are trying to decide between going to the movies, hanging out at friend's house or going to the football game.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}What is your second choice? If it is the football game, then that is your opportunity cost.

    Opportunity cost is important. When you make a certain choice, it forces you to think more critically about all of the abandoned choices. By recognizing opportunity cost, you can decide whether your decision is worth it.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}As a high school senior, you face several options, including going to college, going to technical school, or going to the work force. If you choose college the opportunity cost is losing what could have been purchased or saved with the money spent on tuition (学费), housing, books, etc. for four years.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}You would also lose four years' worth of income and experience that you could have earned if you had gone straight to work.

    However, it is still the case that college graduates earn more than high school graduates.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}But, like all decisions, it is one that should be arrived at only after looking at the costs — including the opportunity cost — and considering the follow-up question: is it worth it?

A. Will you go straight to work?

B. What causes opportunity cost?

C. But that's not the end of the costs.

D. Suppose you decide to go to the movies.

E. If you give up college, what do you lose?

F. A perfect example is the decision to go to college.

G. For many students, going on to college is a wise decision.

How to Make the World a Better Place

    When you think about people who have made the world a better place, you probably think of famous scientists or great leaders. That is not all the truth. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} An act of kindness can bring a smile to a person's face even if only for a moment.

    Give away your money. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}For example, if you want to help hungry children, you can try to find an international organization that provides food for those in poor areas. Every cent you give away will mean a lot.

    Help a stranger. Your small actions can brighten the day of others. Hold the door for someone whose hands are full. Help the blind cross the street. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}The key is expecting nothing in return for your acts of kindness.

    Care about those you know. Show the people close to you how much you care about them. Tell them they mean a lot to you. Make a beautiful gift for a friend. Take your husband to his favorite fun place if he has had a hard week. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Be grateful to others. Have you had good service in a restaurant? Thank the waiter Do you have very good neighbor who is always there when you need her? Tell her how much you appreciate her being in your life.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}If a friend needs skills in a certain area, offer your advice. Perhaps she is struggling to set up computer, and you know how to do that. Offer whatever ability you have, but always remember to be polite.

A. Share your knowledge.

B. Keep walking forward.

C. Small steps, not big ones.

D. Give your seat on the bus to an old man.

E. Choose charity that has meaning for you.

F. Tell your children how much they mean to you.

G. Ordinary people like you and me can also help a lot.

    A new urban sport, parkour, is hitting the streets. It has evolved from obstacle course training into a fitness option for young people. In parkour, the outside world is the gym! {#blank#}1{#/blank#} The goal of parkour is a direct route from one place to another. You meet an obstacle, you overcome it.

    Mark Toorock, who teaches the techniques of parkour at his fitness gym, says that parkour is a method to train the body and mind using obstacles as the medium. He says that this new sport is demanding and takes years to master. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    But Toorock, who used to be a martial arts expert, says that everyone can benefit from learning the basic skills involved in parkour like running, jumping and crawling (爬行). These are the things that humans used to have to do all the time. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} The original idea of parkour was to return to running and jumping as basic elements in moving from one place to another.

    Georges Hebert, a French navy officer, was so impressed by the effortless athleticism of African tribes that he devised a training method based on running, climbing, jumping, balancing and throwing. The word parkour comes from parcours de combatant, the French term for a military obstacle course. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Dr Kenneth Kao explains that the sport of parkour is not extreme – it is the environment which is extreme and dangerous. Being outside, jumping off railings and flipping over park benches can be quite frightening, so parkour courses in gyms concentrate on practicing all the individual moves to make everything easier. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} However, that is not real parkour because it's indoors with a fixed obstacle. The goal for everyone is to go outdoors.

A. Gyms provide thick floor matting (垫子) for rolling and rubberized boxes for jumping over.

B. The bridges, buildings and railings (栏杆) of each and every city are the equipment.

C. Every action in parkour is natural, so everyone must have the ability to move in this way.

D. Parkour was introduced into china in recent years and has gained popularity.

E. But today, due to modern transport, these basic skills are no longer used on a regular basis.

F. The French word for people who participate in the sport is traceurs or traceuses.

G. Beginners should realize that they won't be jumping over buildings any time soon!

    We know that choosing a college major can be very hard. But have no fear! Your choice of major will not lock you into a specific career for the rest of your life. Here's what you need to know about college majors before you commit.

    What is a major?

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Beyond general college requirements, you'll also take a group of courses in a subject of your choosing such as Chemistry, Literature, or Political Science.

    How important is my major?

    The major you choose will neither predict nor guarantee your future. Many graduates find jobs that have nothing to do with what they studied in college. If you intend to earn a professional degree after college, you will probably need certain courses. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    When do I declare a major?

    This varies widely across schools and programs. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Others require that you declare upon a major by the time that you set foot inside your first class.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Definitely. One of the most exciting aspects of college life is that it introduces you to new subjects and arouses new passions. However, keep this in mind, every major has necessary coursework. If you change your major late in the game, it may take more than the traditional four years to earn a degree.

    What are minors and double majors?

    If one field of study doesn't satisfy your intellectual appetite, consider a minor. A minor is similar to a major in that it's an area of academic concentration, {#blank#}5{#/blank#} A double major provides you with an understanding of two academic fields. It allows you to become familiar with two sets of values and views while it also requires you to fulfill two sets of requirements.

A. Can I change my mind?

B. Is my major time-consuming?

C. It's your specialized area of study in college.

D. Most students find one major is more than enough.

E. Some schools may give you one year or more to decide.

F. But many future doctors major in non-science related fields.

G. The only difference is that it doesn't require as many classes.

    The most universal facial expression is the smile --its function is to show happiness and put people at ease. A smile says, "I like you. You make me happy."

    That's why dogs make such a hit. They are so glad to see us that they almost jump out of their skins. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}.

    A baby's smile has the same effect. Have you ever been in a doctor's, waiting room and looked around at all the sad faces waiting impatiently to be seen? There were six or seven patients waiting when a young woman came in with a nine-month-old baby. She sat down next to a gentleman who was more than a little impatient about the long wait for service. The baby just looked up at him with that great big smile that is so characteristic of babies,{#blank#}2{#/blank#}. Soon he struck up a conversation with the woman about her baby and his grand-children and then the entire reception room joined in, and the boredom and tension were changed into a pleasant and enjoyable experience {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. Telephone companies throughout the US have a program called "phone power" which is offered to employees who use the telephone for selling their services or products. In this program they suggest that you smile when talking on the phone. Your "smile" comes through in your voice.

    You don't feel like smiling? {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. If you are alone, force yourself to whistle or hum a tune or sing. Act as if you were already happy, and that will tend to make you happy.

    Your smile is a messenger of your goodwill.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}.To someone who has seen a dozen people frown or turn their faces away, your smile is like the sun breaking through the clouds Especially when someone is under pressure from his bosses, his customers, his teachers or parents or children, a smile can help him realize that all is not hopeless that there is joy in the world.

A. He smiled back at the baby

B. Your smile brightens the lives of all who see it

C. Smile gets much easier with practice

D. So, naturally, we are glad to see them

E. Well, force yourself to smile

F. We should give others a real smile, a smile that comes from within

G. The effect of a smile is powerful, even when it is unseen

Dear Boris,

{#blank#}1{#/blank#}After I had spent a week with my English family, I slowly began to understand their English a little better. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}Students in my group are from different cities of Britain and their dialects are different too! Some of their accents are quite strong and they also have their own words and expressions. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Before I came to England I had thought that fish and chips were eaten every day. That's quite wrong! I get rather annoyed now when I hear all the foolish words about typical English food. I had expected to see "London fog". Do you remember our texts about it? We had no idea that most of this "thick fog" disappeared many years ago when people stopped using coal in their homes. But the idea to speak about weather was very helpful. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}On the other hand, habits are different. People tell me what is typical British here in London is not always typical in Wales or Scotland. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}But what is ordinary for all British is that they follow traditions(传统). Probably Britain has more living signs of its past than many other countries. And people have always been proud of having ancient (古老的) buildings in capitals, big cities and the countryside. I will tell you more about Britain in my other letters. Love from Britain.

A. The weather in London is really changeable.

B. I have difficulty in understanding my classmates.

C. Thanks for your nice letter.

D. The family I live with are friendly.

E. It's very different from what I learned at school.

F. Local habits and traditions are not the same as what we knew.

G. But it's not the language that's different and surprising.