Learning English is challenging because of the various rules and exceptions to the rules. The best way to learn English is to hear it spoken and repeat the words as you hear them. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}You will learn how to make English a daily part of your life in order to learn to speak it quickly.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Ask a friend to help you write letters of English alphabet on index cards. You should write a letter on each card. Practise the letters by mixing up the cards and saying the letters. You can ask your friend to help you pronounce the letters and quiz you on your knowledge.

    Make your own videos in English. If you have a video camera, you can tape yourself speaking English and practice along with your own video. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Watch your videos daily, and repeat what is being said.

    Get a private tutor. A professional English instructor can give you one-on-one instruction that will help you understand the rules of English. Your instructor can teach you how to write and speak English.  {#blank#}4{#/blank#} You can also inquire at your local community college.

    Watch movies with English subtitles. When watching a movie in your native language, use the English subtitles so you will understand the connection between your language and English.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} You will make mistakes, and that is OK. You need to practice English as much as possible in order to quickly learn to speak the language fluently.

    While it is impossible to live completely free of stress, it is possible to prevent stress as well as reduce its effect when it can't be avoided. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

Try physical activity

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Running, walking, playing tennis, and working in your garden are just some of the activities you might try.

Make time for yourself

    Schedule time for both work and entertainment . Don't forget, play can be just as important to your overall well-being as work. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Go window-shopping or work on a hobby. Allow yourself at least a half hour each day to do something you enjoy.

Take care of yourself

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} If you easily get angry and can't sleep well enough, or if you're not eating properly, it will be more likely that you will fall into stressful situations. If stress repeatedly keeps you from sleeping, you should consult a doctor.

{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    Stress can result from disorganization and a feeling that "there's so much to do, and not enough time". Trying to take care of everything at once can be too much for you and as a result, you may not achieve anything. Instead, make a list of everything you have to do, then do one thing at a time, checking off each task as it is completed. Set out to do the most important task first.

    The key to losing weight is to understand what really interests you. Have you ever been excited about losing a few pounds? {#blank#}1{#/blank#} And to help you keep your weight under control, you need some coping strategies (策略).

Ask questions. When you're researching different dieting products and plans or even talking to a doctor about diets, ask as many questions as you can. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Ask questions like: Do I have to buy special meals? Does the program include a part to help me keep my weight loss?

    Get real. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Don't burden yourself with unrealistic expectations. Remember, large amounts of weight loss are not realistic and are most likely not safe or healthy. Talk with your health care professional to determine a healthy weight goal.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} To keep your weight, you must balance your intake of calories with the energy you burn. Just 30 minutes of fast walking in most days can take about 10 pounds off your weight each year.

    Weigh yourself weekly. It's important to track your weight on any diet or weight loss plan, but don't get on the scale every day. Weighing daily won't show you the big picture. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Stay balanced.

B. Once a week is fine.

C. Stick with your healthy eating plan.

D. Losing one to two pounds a week is a realistic goal.

E. Being well informed will help you choose the best diet for you.

F. Regular weight check-ins will show you your progress over time.

G. If so, you must find a way to turn that excitement into determination.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}You probably think you will never be a top student. This is not necessarily so, however. Anyone can become a better student if he or she wants to. Here's how:

    Plan your time carefully. When planning your work, you should make a list of things that you have to do. After making this list, you should make a schedule of your time. First your time for eating, sleeping, dressing, etc. Then decide a good, regular time for studying. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} A weekly schedule may not solve all your problems, but it will force you realize what is happening to your time.

    Find a good place to study. Look around the house for a good study area. Keep this space, which may be a desk or simply a corner of your room, free of everything but study materials. No games, radios, or television. When you sit down to study, concentrate on the subject.

    Make good use of your time in class. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Listening carefully in class means less work later. Taking notes will help you remember what the teacher says.

    Study regularly.  When you get home from school, go over your notes, review the important points that your teacher is going to discuss the next day, read that material. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}If you do these things regularly, the material will become more meaningful, and you'll remember it longer.

    Develop a good attitude towards tests. The purpose of a test is to show what you have learned about a subject. They help you remember your new knowledge. The world won't end if you don't pass a test, so don't be over worried.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} You will probably discover many others after you have tried these.

A. There are other methods that might help you with your studying.

B. Don't forget to set aside enough time for entertainment.

C. Take advantage of class time to listen to everything the teacher says.

D. No one can become a top student unless he or she works hard.

E. Maybe you are an average student.

F. Make full use of class time to take notes of what the teacher says in class.

G. This will help you understand the next class.

    Years ago, the American writer Kurt Vonnegut often said there was one story that would always make a million dollars: "Cinderella"(《灰姑娘》).

    "Cinderella" made more like $70 million in ticket sales when it opened last weekend. But the movie got a mixed reaction. David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter praised the movie and said, "Anyone will find something to enjoy in it." Steven Rea of The Philadelphia Inquirer called the movie "a winning re-do." Richard Corliss of Time magazine wrote that "Disney finally got Cinderella right." Other people were not as happy with the movie. Sara Stewart of the New York Post wrote, "This Cinderella is all dressed up with nowhere very interesting to go."

    Although different people think differently towards the movie, what is clear, however, is the movie's business success. It is not only popular in the theaters but also in sale. And Disney has widened its usual market for "Cinderella" products.

    There are products connected to the Disney movie targeted(面向) not only at little girls, but women, too. For example, the famous shoe designer Jimmy Choo worked with Disney to create "Cinderella's shoes." You can buy them for about $5,000. At that price, you would not want to lose one at the party, even if that is the way you get your prince(王子).

    The makeup(化装品) company MAC quickly sold all its products connected to "Cinderella." HSN is a popular website selling clothing and objects for the home. The marketer is now also selling "Cinderella" products.

    So, is there anything left for the children, those people we think of as the traditional audience for the age-old tale? Yes, you can find toys and other children's products at the American store JC Penney. Of course, you can also visit a Disney store.

    Time talks. It speaks more plainly than words. Time communicates in many ways.

    Consider the different parts of the day, for example. The time of the day when something is done can give a special meaning to the event. It is not customary to telephone someone every early in the morning. If you telephone him early in the day, the time of the call shows that the matter is very important and requires immediate attention. If someone receives a call during sleeping hours, he assumes it is a matter of life or death. The time chosen for the call communicates its importance.

    In social life, time plays a very important part. In the United States, guests tend to feel they are not highly regarded if the invitation to a dinner party is extended only three or four days before the party date. But this is not true in all countries. In other areas of the world, it may be considered foolish to make an appointment too far in advance because plans which are made for a date more than a week away tend to be forgotten.

    The meaning of time differs in different parts of the world. Thus, misunderstandings often arise between people from cultures that treat time differently. Promptness(准时) is valued highly in American life, for example. If people are not prompt, they may be regarded as impolite or not fully responsible. In the U.S., no one would think of keeping a business partner waiting for an hour; it would be too impolite. A person who is five minutes late is expected to make a short apology.

    This way of treating time is quite different from that of several other cultures. This helps to explain the unfortunate experience of a certain agriculturist from the United States, assigned to duty in another country. After a long delay, the agriculturist was finally agreed an appointment with the Minister of Agriculture. Arriving a little before the appointed hour, the agriculturist waited. The hour came and passed. At this point he suggested to the secretary that perhaps the minister did not know he was waiting in the outer office. This gave him the feeling of having done something to solve the problem, but he had not. Twenty minutes passed, then thirty, then forty-five. To an American, that is the beginning of the "insult period". No matter what is said in apology, there is little that can remove the damage done by an hour's wait in an outer office. Yet in the country where this story took place, a forty-five-minute waiting period was not unusual.

    In the West, particularly in the United States, people tend to think of time as something fixed in nature. As a rule, Americans think of time as a road stretching into the future, along which one progresses. The road has many sections, which are to be kept separate— "one thing at a time". People who cannot plan events are not highly regarded. Thus, an American may feel angry when he has made an appointment with someone and then finds a lot of other things happening at the same time.

    Since time has such different meanings in different cultures, communication is often difficult. We will understand each other a little better if we can keep this fact in mind.