It's always important to use the right tools for any job. Success in school is no different. If you need to vary your time management tool box, consider these less traditional tools. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} .

    Daily Task List

    A daily task list is nothing more than a notepad that you use to list your daily goals. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} . Cross them off as you finish them. At the end of each day, simply carry over any job that you didn't finish to the next day's list. It works wonders!

    Big Well Calendar

    Simply place the big wall calendar in a prominent place near your regular study space. Then come up with a color code for your classes(like green for math and yellow for history). When you have a big due date or a test date, place the appropriate colored sticker on that date. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} , so it works as a constant reminder. This trick is simple, cheap, and so effective!

    Sticky Note Flags

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} , whether you're putting together a big research project or you're simply reading a book. Whenever you need to remember to take a certain object or assignment to school, place a sticky flag on the door knob, bathroom mirror, or the cereal box the night before. It works like an alarm!

    Bedside Notepad

    You can keep a notepad beside your bed to write down any items or tasks you have to remember for the next day. As you settle in for the night, take a few moments to think about the things you need to do tomorrow. Then write them down and tear off the sheet in the morning. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} !

A. Remember to pack it in your schoolbag.

B. Keep your homework and your life in order

C. Two heads are better than one when it comes to projecting due dates

D. You could also use the calendar feature to alert you when projects are due

E. These little paper banners are lifesavers when it comes to getting organized

F. Carry a small pad around and write down every task you need to complete

G. The sticker will be something you can see every time you enter the room.

    Neil Gaiman is an English author of lots of science fiction and fantasy works.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}His argument is that children shouldn't be discouraged from reading what adults may think of as bad books. He is dead right.

    A child in a library is an explorer venturing into a land where he has no map to guide him. This is part of the excitement. Everything is new{#blank#}2{#/blank#}His taste is yet unformed, and it cannot be formed until he has tried a variety of thing.

    Not knowing what books are good or bad, an eager child will try very different things.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}At the age of eleven or twelve, I still read Enid Blyton Stevenson's Kidnapped, was happily terrified by ghost stories and desperately wanted to be Rupert of Hentzau, a most attractive evil character in literature.

    A child reads for enjoyment from all sorts of books. I can't remember when I stopped reading comics like the Wizard and Hotspur, but I'm pretty sure that my reading of them continued even while I was delighted in Sherlock Holmes or in the short stories of HG Wells.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}Never say “Don't read that rubbish” or “You're too young for that”. If he is really too young and the book is beyond him, he'll put it aside. If he doesn't, then he's not too young, even if he misses much that an adult reader would find in it.

    The only useful thing an adult can do is to give a child a book and say, “I think you might enjoy this.” Don't complain if he doesn't like it and turns to something that you think is bad.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Anything he reads may be attractive，too.

B. Everybody has a secret world inside of themselves.

C. For the young reader even a bad book has its own value.

D. Adults should be careful in what they say to a child about his reading.

E. Almost everyone who reads widely as an adult has read wildly as a child.

F. The world always seems brighter when you've just made something that wasn't there before.

G. He is also a productive blogger and the point he gave in one of his blogs surely makes sense.

    Not too long ago, a young man asked me a question: how do you make study more fun? You can improve your study habits and make your process more enjoyable. It's a matter of many things.

    Manage your time

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} All it takes is sitting down with a calendar, and just mapping out everything you need to do and the time you need to do it: projects, tests, part-time work, homework, parties, doctor appointments.

    Set the mood

    First, choose a good study area. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Your spot may be in your dorm/bedroom or the library. If you prefer to lie on your bed or sit in a corner of the library, develop a study routine that will allow you to focus. Clean spaces are said to improve productivity. To help you focus, turn off your phone! And while you're at it, limit your access to the Internet.

    Make it a game

    Are you the competitive type? Try competing against yourself. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Or try joining or starting a study group with fiends and take bets on who can get the most right answers when doing homework.

    Take breaks

    In that hour or two you've scheduled for studying, make sure you also give yourself enough breaks. Set a timer-even a short one, like 25 minutes-and work during that time. When the timer goes off, give yourself a few minutes to relax, drink some water, etc. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Reward yourself Sweet treats and other snacks often come to mind as a “reward”, and that might work for you, but it's also probably not a great idea to eat a bag of potato chips after every 25-minute study session. Rewards can be as simple as allowing yourself to watch some interesting videos. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. And we mean a specific, unique spot.

B. it's important to realize and make peace with the fact that studying isn't always going to be “fun”.

C. You can learn how to learn more effectively.

D. Then set another timer and dive back into your studying.

E. Or you can set goals, and then buy yourself something fun when you meet them.

F. Time management may be the secret weapon to succeeding at everything!

G. See if you can improve your reading speed to get yourself under a certain number of pages in five minutes.

    Getting your children to study can be a little like getting them to eat their vegetables.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Make a study time and have it at the same time every day. This will help your kids to learn to schedule their day and will give them a sense of control over how they spend their time. Allow them to study in blocks of time, such as for half an hour with a five­ minute break in the middle. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Ideal(理想的) study times are after dinner or right after school before dinner.

    Never allow your children to study in front of the television, as that will encourage passive activity. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}You'll also need to help your kids find the right place to study. After you've set up a good study time for little learners, set up a good place where they can get those creative juices flowing.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Make sure there is a table or a desk and a comfortable chair.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} This includes helping them out with their homework sometimes and being there for them with the answers to any questions. The input you give your children during study periods will help form a bond and help make studying enjoyable.

A. Pick a place where your children can study properly.

B. Hold them to the schedule they create for themselves.

C. Finally, spend time with your kids when they're studying.

D. Keep the atmosphere light and offer lots of encouragement, too.

E. Instead, use TV as a treat or a reward when the homework is completed.

F. Try to stop this bad habit by offering some sort of reward.

G. One of the best ways to form good study habits for your kids is to design a schedule that they keep to.

    The world is a colorful landscape of different languages, skin colors, and different cultures. It's important to have a good understanding of different cultures in order to become a well-rounded person{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    One way is to read hooks written by authors from a particular culture. Reading works by authors who have a close relationship with a particular culture allows people to gain an authentic glimpse into the food, music, language, religion, and way of a life of a particular group of people.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Another way to learn about different cultures is to try to learn a foreign language. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}A person can choose a language she has always wanted to learn and locate learning programs to help her master the language. Besides, one can enroll in a foreign language class in order to learn in a more formal setting. One can also try to visit areas of the city to establish social connection with native speakers of the language.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}Seek out restaurants that feature authentic food from a variety of countries. Food is an important part of different cultures and allows people to gain deep understanding into a particular cultural group's way of life.

    Communicating with people from other countries through email or snail mail is another useful way to become familiar with different cultures. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}Various websites offer pen pal services, offering to connect individuals with pen friends around the world.

A. Stories based on a local culture expose one to a different culture.

B. Trying authentic food from a specific cultural group is also a great idea.

C. There are several ways to become knowledgeable about different cultures.

D. A variety of language-learning books, software, and audio programs is available,

E. The Internet has made it possible to communicate with others from different countries.

F. Making contact with native speakers of the language allows one to gain firsthand knowledge.

G. One way to develop this appreciation is to try to team about other cultures around the world.

Voluntourism

    Volunteering to help people in need combined with travelling to faraway places is a new trend in the travel industry. It is called voluntourism. People travel to other countries, learn languages and gain new experiences. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Recent statistics show that in the past few years voluntourism has been one of the fastest-growing areas of tourism. More than 1.6 million people around the world are volunteers in other countries. They help build schools, assist in hospitals and do farming work in developing countries. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} They keep in touch with their host families after they return home, and many return to visit.

    There are many reasons why people want to engage in voluntourism. When people choose to join a voluntourism program, they are joining a global network of volunteers who are living and working with diverse cultures on projects that have a positive effect. The volunteers come from all over the world, and they will share the passion for giving back and the desire to broaden horizons. Some students also see it as a gap year after school, while others simply want to take time out from a job and do something else. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} However, many voluntourists do not see volunteering as what it is. They think it is a cheap way of travelling and don't really want to get involved in hard work.

    While voluntourism has been around for over a century, modern volunteering started with the Peace Corps, a program that the US government started in the 1960s. From then on, voluntourism has become more and more popular. Many organizations start similar projects. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} And they have hundreds of different types of programs for people to choose from in more than 30 developing countries. The programs run year round and each volunteer chooses when they want to start and the duration they would like to stay for.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} They say that if people really want to help those in need, there are many opportunities in their own community to do this. On the other side, volunteers are often not skilled enough for the tasks that they do. Travel experts point out that in some cases voluntourists are often taken advantage of by the organization that sets up the trips.

A. Not everyone sees voluntourism in a positive way.

B. Some of them establish lasting bonds with people there.

C. And there are those who are bored and merely seek adventure.

D. Most voluntourism organizations employ people from similar fields.

E. They find it is the best way to get the best of the world.

F. By participating in voluntourism, they are contributing to local economy.

G. They offer voluntourism trips to suit people's interest, experience level or age.