I'm a 34-year-old man, married, lived in a nice house, and have a successful career as an educational consultant. But my life was not always so great. I had a learning disability from an early age. I went to a special school where I got plenty of extra help. Still, I suffered the rest of my school days in public schools.

       My life improved remarkably when I discovered art. The art world gave me a chance to express myself without words. I went to a workshop and gradually got good at making things with clay(黏土). Here I learned my first important lesson: disabled as I was in language. I could still be smart and well express myself with clay. And my confidence came along.

I got my next lesson from rock climbing. It was a fun thing but I was scared from the start. I soon noticed it wasn't a talent thing; it was practice. So I did it more. After about five years of climbing, I found myself in Yosemite Valley on a big wall. I learned that if you fall in love with something and do it all the time, you will get better at it.

       Later I decided to apply my previous experience to learning how to read and write. Every day I practiced reading and writing, which I used to avoid as much as possible. After two hard years, I was literate.

       Having gone through the long process with art, rock climbing, and reading and writing, now I've got to a point in my life where I know I am smart enough to dive into an area that is totally unknown, hard, but interesting.

    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!

注意：每个空格只填一个单词。

    Many people believe that classical music is not relevant music is not relevant to young people today . However, this issue (问题) frequently causes heated debate.

    Some people say that classical music is associated only with old people .For example, if you look at the audience at a classical concert , the majority is over the age of fifty.

    Others say it is more popular than we first imagine . Many young people listen to classical music without realising .It is often used in films and advertisements. For example.a famous piece of classical music was used as the theme music for the 1990 World Cup . Not many people could have given its name , but millions enjoyed it .

    Also,some people point out that young people produce new music based on classical ideas: for example, it is said that rap(说唱)music was invented by a classical musician in 1912, but it is now used by young people in pop music.

    However, young people point to the fact that classical music has been outstripped(超越) by technology. To play a classical instrument, such as a violin, you need to study hard and practise for hours. Nowadays, you don't need to get aching arms from practising. A teenager can write and make music using a computer program in the comfort of their own bedroom.

    A final point to in mind is that the term "classical music" is used to refer to a great variety of music, from jazz to pieces  for large orchestras(管弦乐队).This makes it even more difficult to say whether classical music is relevant to young people.

    So, it may be only a minority of young people who play classical instruments , but when it comes to enjoying classical music, it depends on the piece of music. It may be more relevant to young people in the modern world than they realise!

Brainstorming for Ideas

    Try blind writing. When trying to get past a writing block or a brainstorming lag, take at least ten minutes to sit down and write. Force yourself to write for the full ten minutes, no matter what comes of it. The act of putting pen to paper will stimulate the part of your mind that generates ideas.

    Make a mind map. Mind mapping is a brainstorming strategy that allows you to map out different tangents of thought to stimulate new ideas. Get a piece of paper, poster board, or whiteboard and write your goal in the center. Write subtopics and related thoughts around the goal, and continue branching out from them to develop your train of thought. For example, a mind map about the environmental goal “Going Green” could branch into subtopics such as “Reducing Waste”, “Eco-travel”, and “Global Warming”.

    Attempt “rolestorming”. For a fresh perspective on a topic，attempt “rolestorming”. Picture yourself as someone else (e.g. a parent, friend, colleague, or partner) and imagine how you would approach a scenario as them. You can extend this brainstorming technique to famous people or historical figures (e.g. Albert Einstein, Bill Gates).

    Try meditation. To open your mind to new ideas, try meditation. Find a peaceful place to sit quietly and focus on the question at hand (e.g. “How can I promote my new business on my limited budget?”). Bring a pen and paper to jot down ideas, and meditate for about 30 minutes, or until a good idea comes to you. To avoid worrying about the time, set an alarm on your phone to signal the 30 minute mark.

    Remove limitations. Remove the limitations that may be hindering your brainstorming progress by approaching the subject as if there were no obstacles. While this process may not yield feasible solutions right away, it will open your mind to possibilities you would not look at otherwise. For instance, when planning a surprise party, you might overlook certain venues because of financial constraints, such as an expensive French restaurant that your friend would love to try. By allowing your mind to go there during brainstorming, you might get the idea to simulate the restaurant and meal for a house party.

    Discuss things in a group. Group brainstorming sessions can allow you to develop your thoughts by feeding off of the ideas of others. If you are working on a group project or collaboration, schedule brainstorming time in a quiet location with no disturbance. If you are working on your own project, ask friends or colleagues if you can bounce ideas off of them and get their input.

    “Urgent action required”, “Do you still want to hear from us?”, “We've updated our privacy policy”, “Should we stop sending you updates? If not, act now!”

    Many of us will have received emails like this during the past few weeks. Triggering this flood of emails is something called GDPR that comes into effect in just under two weeks' time. Often the emails warn that if you don't respond, you will be removed from the company's database, which raises a lot of questions. What action, if any, do you need to take? Could it affect you financially?

    GDPR, which stands for General Data Protection Regulation, has been described as the biggest overhaul（彻底检查）of online privacy since the birth of the internet. It is designed to give all EU citizens the right to know what data is stored on them and to have it deleted, plus protect them from privacy breaches（破坏）. It comes into effect on 25 May.

    The new rules encourage the requirement for explicit and informed consent before data is processed. As a result, companies and organizations around the world are contacting users to check they are happy to carry on receiving their emails.

    However, many of us seem to be going down with “GDPR fatigue（厌倦）”: one article last week claimed that the “reconfirmation rate” - the proportion of people saying they want to continue receiving a company's emails - at UK micro-businesses was averaging just 10%, which meant “they could lose 90% of their subscribers - the life-blood for their business”. So it's no wonder some firms have adopted policies such as offering to enter people into a prize draw in return for them going in and updating their communication preferences.

    The average adult is said to have about 100 “data relationships” — companies and organizations that hold our personal data. Meanwhile, the reason why the company that occasionally emails you newsletters is now asking for your consent is perhaps because you never explicitly gave it permission to send you stuff. Maybe you only get its emails because you went to an event it organized ages ago or you once downloaded something from its website. Under the new regime, that almost certainly wouldn't count as explicit and informed consent, hence it's getting in touch now.

    The bottom line is that if it is a company or organization that you want to continue hearing from, you should probably click the button or log in to ensure you keep getting its emails. If it doesn't hear from you, it may decide to take you off its database.

    I have some gray hairs. Do l dare to count them? Just the fact that I have enough to count scares me, and turns getting old into a reality. I'm certainly getting older. We all are. But why does it have to happen so quickly?

    We just celebrated my birthday. I say "celebrated" because we had cake and ice cream. For my kids, any excuse for ice cream and cake is a celebration. I'm not sure if to me it was a thing to celebrate, though. I like the special attention that birthday bring, but I don't wait for them 364 days of the year like my children do. For them, another number means more privileges and more things that they get to do. For an adult, another number means fewer things. that you can do, like "I can't run as fast as I used to…etc. "

    I went with my children to the old-age home near my apartment building. We walked inside the door. The contrast between my preschoolers full of energy and the old women siting in the wheelchair by the door made me lost in thought. Not so long ago, I was a bouncing preschool like my children. Not so long ago, there women were the mothers of small children. Fifty years ago, they were me, and in fifty years, I could be them. The visit, like my birthday, served as a reality check. "Life is so short and it goes by so quickly. Enjoy the moment that you are in, because you will never get it back, "I told myself.

    This is also what I want to leave behind to my children. I decide to try to start just by not complaining. In any difficult situation, I will try to find the good things about it, no matter how small the good things might be.