Today is a perfect day that can leave you with good memories you may someday share with your friends. Here's how:

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} You can see or do something a million times, but you can only see or do it for the first time once. As a result, first time experiences usually leave a deep mark in our minds for the rest of our lives. So try to experience something different and you'll have more memories!

    Work on something that's great to you. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Life is short. Today is the day to take action.

    Smile and notice what's right. Everything that happens in life is neither good nor bad.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} And no matter how it turns out, it always ends up just the way it should. Either you succeed or you learn something.

    Be true to yourself. The only shoes you can wear are your own. If you aren't being yourself, you aren't truly living. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Make a new friend. People are interesting creatures (生物), and no two people are exactly alike. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Find out what makes them different. They'll likely open your eyes to wonderful ideas. And you never know, they just might change your life.

    Be present.  Be here now. Remember, right now is the only dear moment to you.  Right now is life.  Don't miss it.

A. Learn a new skill.

B. Try something new.

C. It just depends on your opinion.

D. So meet someone new today.

E. And in fact, you're only existing.

F. Pay close attention to what you're doing.

G. Make yourself busy with something meaningful.

    I was ten when I first sat with my grandmother behind the cashier(收银台) in her grocery store. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} I quickly learned the importance of treating customers politely and saying “thank you.”

    At first I was paid in candy. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} I worked every day after school, and during the summer and on weekends and holidays from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. My father helped me set up a bank account. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} 

    By the time I was 12, my grandmother thought I had done such a good job that she promoted me to selling cosmetics(化妆品). I developed the ability to look customers directly in the eye. Even though I was just a kid, women would ask me such things as “What color do you think I should wear?” I took a real interest in their questions and was able to translate what they wanted into makeup(化妆) ideas. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} 

    The job taught me a valuable lesson: to be a successful salesperson, you didn't need to be a rocket scientist—you needed to be a great listener. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Expect they are no longer women buying cosmetics from me; instead, they are kids who tell me which toys they would like to see designed and developed.

A. Later I received 50 cents an hour.

B. Before long, she let me sit there by myself.

C. I ended up selling a record amount of cosmetics.

D. Today I still carry that lesson with me: I listen to customers.

E. My grandma's trust taught me how to handle responsibility（承担责任）.

F. Soon I found myself looking more beautiful than ever before.

G. Watching my money grow was more rewarding/worthy than anything I could have bought.

    If you are like most international students, you are probably pretty comfortable reading and writing in English. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}Below are some tips to help you to improve your conversational skills.

    Make friends with American students. Many international students end up making friends with a lot of—or only—other international students.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Hanging out with natives not only naturally pushes you to improve your spoken English, but also helps you pick up cultural and social information.

    Learn from American friends. Tell your American friends that you are trying to improve your listening and speaking skills, and would like them to help you. If you pronounce a word incorrectly, or misuse an idiom, you ask them to guide you. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Increase your knowledge. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} If you have been exposed to topics that are likely to be discussed in conversation, you have a much better chance of understanding people when they talk, and of being able to express yourself well.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} If you have to explain something to someone, you have a strong motivation to pronounce everything as well as you can, and find other ways to explain yourself. Finally, this becomes a good habit. Many people have asked me how I learned to speak English fluently, and I owe most of it to my years of being a math teacher in college for years.

A. It is bad for them to do that.

B. You will make progress this way.

C. If possible, become a teacher at your school.

D. It's a win-win opportunity for international students.

E. Keep up with news and watch popular shows and movies.

F. Explaining everything in a different way counts.

G. You may have trouble in listening and speaking in the language, however.

Test-taking tips

    Do you sweat, check your pencil, and feel butterflies in your stomach as your teacher hands out the test paper? A lot of people feel anxious when it is time to take a test. Here are some tips for taking tests:

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Your memory recall will be much better if you have had enough rest. In a scientific study, people who got enough sleep before taking a math test did better than those who stayed up all night studying.

    Read the test through first. Once you have the test paper in front of you, read over the entire test, checking out how long it is and all the parts that you are expected to complete.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}If something seems unclear before you start, do not worry: ask the teacher.

    Focus on addressing each question individually. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Instead, answer the best way you can or skip over the question and come back to it after you have answered other questions.

    Relax. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Of course you cannot get up and move around in the middle of a test, but you can wiggle your fingers and toes, take four or five deep breaths. As we all know, it can be easy to forget things we know well. During a test, if you forget something and start to get nervous, it suddenly becomes much more difficult to remember.

    Finished already? Although most teachers will let you hand your test paper in early, it is usually a good idea to spend any extra time checking over your work. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} On the other hand, if you have 5 minutes until the bell rings and you are still writing, end up whatever you are working on without panic.

A. This will allow you to decide how much time you have for each section

B. Be sure you have studied properly

C. Get enough sleep the night before the test

D. As the teacher hands out the test paper, be sure you know what is expected of you

E. As you take the test, if you do not know an answer, do not worry about it

F. You can also add details that you may not have thought you'd have time for

G. If you are so nervous that you blank out, you might need a mini-break

    Radar is an electronic device that detects planes, ships, coastlines, landmarks, and even storm clouds. The name radar comes from the first letters of the words radio direction and ranging. As the human eye uses light waves to see, radar "sees" with radio waves. Without radar, planes could not land safely in bad weather and ships could not move safely in thick fog. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    In the 1800s it was discovered that radio waves could be reflected from objects. But scientists did not make great advances in radar research until the 1930s, when the world was threatened by war.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} It has been used widely in almost every conflict since then.

    Echoes make it possible for radar to work. When a beam of radio waves is sent out, it strikes on an object and returns an echo. This echo is picked up by radar and recorded on a screen similar to television screen. On the screen an observer sees a flash, or a blip, that shows the direction and distance of the object. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Airport control towers use radar to guide planes in for safe landings. Almost all large ships depend on radar to prevent collisions with icebergs or other ships. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}Weather forecasters "see" the size, direction, and speed of storms on radar screens. Astronomers can even use radar to measure accurately the distance to the moon. Thus, the device has generated major advancements.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}Huge radar antennas have been installed all over the United States. They guard us against possible enemy attacks. We have ballistic—missiles (战略导弹)warning systems that can alert us to attacks when missiles are more than 1,000 miles away. Other radar systems warn us against enemy aircraft and even spying space satellites.

A. Police track speeders in radar-equipped cars.

B. These measurements are now highly accurate.

C. The device can be used in a wide range of fields.

D. It is therefore especially valuable to shippers and travelers.

E. During World War II many countries used radar effectively.

F. Today radar is used by commercial airliners and weather forecasters.

G. Strengthening national defense is one of radar's most important functions.

    The concept of “the body” is closely related to the ideas of “illness” and “health”. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} The main reasons for the differences are genetic, and the fact that people's bodies change as they age. However, a huge range of research indicates that there are social factors too.

    Poorer people are more likely to eat “unhealthy” foods, to smoke cigarettes and to be employed in repetitive, physically difficult work. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} That is to say, the physical shapes of bodies are strongly influenced by social factors.

    These social factors are also closely linked to emotional wellbeing. People with low or no incomes are more likely to have mental health problems. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} For example, certain people with mental health issues may be at risk of becoming homeless, just as a person who is homeless may have an increased risk of illnesses such as depression.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Bodies are young or old, short or tall, big or small, weak or strong. Whether these judgements matter and whether they are positive or negative depends on the cultural and historical contexts. The culture, and media, of different societies promote very different valuations of body shapes. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Currently, in rich societies the idea of slimness is highly valued, but historically this was different. It is easy for people to feel undervalued because of factors they have no power to change, for example, their age and height. Equally, they can feel pressured into making changes to their appearance when there is a choice, which in some cases can lead to an unhealthy interest in weight loss. Therefore, sociologists are suggesting that we should not just view bodies and minds in biological terms, but also in social terms.

A. There are other types of social factors too.

B. All of these factors affect the condition of a person's health.

C. Their housing conditions and neighbourhoods need to be improved.

D. What is considered as attractive or ugly, normal or abnormal varies greatly.

E. All of us exist in “bodies” of different shapes, heights, colours and physical abilities.

F. Social factors in general play an important role in the development of people's body conditions.

G. It is not clear, however, whether the situation of being poor causes mental illness, or whether it is the other way around.