People often say you never get a second chance to make a first impression, and that's actually quite true.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}After all, making a good first impression is all about making others feel good when spending time with them. The following tips will help you make a positive impression every time.

● Dress appropriately

{#blank#}2{#/blank#} That meansdressing up or putting on nice, clean, situation-appropriate clothes for social situations. Itisn't difficult and it doesn't have to cost you much, either.

● Be aware of your body language

      Words express very little of what you say. Body language can tell someone a lot about your mood and confidence level{#blank#}3{#/blank#}Eyecontact is an easy way to make others feel comfortable, important and special. Nervous body language can make others uncomfortable and anxious. Try tobe aware of your body language when communicating with others.

● Respect the opinions of others

    Not everyone will have the same opinion with you, and friendly disagreements can be a gateway to a great conversation. Respect other people's right to have their own opinion. Respect the opinions of others even if you disagree with them.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

●{#blank#}5{#/blank#}People love talking about themselves, but generally, you want to becareful of taking over the conversation. By listening carefully to what others are saying, you are not only making them feel important, but you can gather clues you need to keep the conversation going and bridge to new topics.

A．Be a careful listener.

B．Show an interest in every person you meet.

C．Smile especially when first meeting someone.

D．Make sure you look nice whenever you meet someone new.

E．Meeting new people and starting conversations is of tenchallenging.

F．Others will want to be with you and help you make a good impression.

G．Don't force others to believe what you believe or to seethings only as you see them.

    Matthew Youlden speaks nine languages fluently and understands more than a dozen more. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} When I told Matthew how I've been working hard to only pick up a second language, he had the following advice for me.

    Know why you are doing it

    This might sound easy , but if you don't have a good reason to learn a language, you are less likely to stay interested over the long-run. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Wanting to get to know a French person in his or her own language is another matter entirely. No matter what your reason is, once you've decided on a language, it's important to carry out .

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Matthew learned several languages together with his twin brother Michael. They learned their first foreign language, Greek, when they were only eight years old! Even if you can't get a sister or brother to join you on your language adventure, having any kind of partner will push both of you to always try just a little bit harder and stay with it.

    Have fun with it

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}Think of some fun ways to practice your new language: make a radio play with a friend, draw a comic strip, write a poem, or simply talk to whomever you can. If you can't find a way to have fun with the new language, chances are you aren't following step four.

    Act like a child

    We learn by making mistakes. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}But as adults, mistakes become taboo(禁忌). Think how an adult is more likely to say, “I can't”, rather than, “I haven't learned that yet” (I can't swim, I can't drive, I can't speak Spanish). When it comes to learning a language, admitting that you don't know everything is the key to growth and freedom.

A. Find a partner

B. Leave your comfort place

C. We work in the same office in Berlin.

D. As kids, we are expected to make mistakes.

E. You are learning a language to be able to use it.

F. Using your new language in any way is a creative act.

G. Wanting to impress English-speakers with your French is not a very good reason.

    The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam has welcomed home two paintings by the Dutch master, more than 14 years after they were ripped (抢) off the museum's wall in a nighttime theft. Museum director Axel Rueger called their return “one of the most special days in the history of the museum.”

    The paintings were discovered last year by Italian police while they were searching suspected Italian criminals' farmhouse near Naples for evidence of drug dealing. The two paintings were wrapped in cotton sheets. They were stuffed in a box and hidden behind a wall in a toilet when they were found.

    The paintings were considered among the artworks most searched for in the world. After years in darkness, they can now shine again. They are back on display at the museum before being taken to the conservation studio for repair. Fortunately, they suffered remarkably little damage as thieves who had climbed up a ladder and broken a window to get into the museum in 2004 rip them out of their frames.

    “It is not only a surprise that the works have been recovered but it's even more surprising they are in relatively unharmed condition,” Rueger said.

    The museum director was on vacation when the call came last year from Italian authorities who believed they had recovered the paintings. He didn't celebrate right away. He'd had calls like this before.

    “I was hopeful but also a little hesitant. Over these years, we had so many occasions when people phoned us, contacted us, claiming that they knew something about the whereabouts (下落) of the works and each time it was false, the trace went cold,” he said. “So...the way has been till of disappointment.” But museum experts sent to Italy to check the authenticity(真实性) of the works quickly turned Rueger's doubts into delight.

    Rueger said the paintings are now back permanently at the museum, which is home to dozens of works by Van Gogh. “I'm very confident that everything is safe in the museum from now on,” he said.

    The kids in this village wear dirty, ragged clothes. They sleep beside cows and sheep in huts made of sticks and mud. They have no school. Yet they all can chant the English alphabet, and some can make words.

    The key to their success: 20 tablet computers(平板电脑) dropped off in their Ethiopian village in February by a U.S. group called One Laptop Per Child.

    The goal is to find out whether kids using today's new technology can teach themselves to read in places where no schools or teachers exist. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers analyzing the project data say they're already amazed. “What I think has already happened is that the kids have already learned more than they would have in one year of kindergarten,” said Matt Keller, who runs the Ethiopia program.

    The fastest learner—and the first to turn on one of the tablets—is 8-year-old Kelbesa Negusse. The device's camera was disabled to save memory, yet within weeks Kelbesa had figured out its workings and made the camera work. He called himself a lion, a marker of accompli shment in Ethiopia.

    With his tablet, Kelbasa rearranged the letters HSROE into one of the many English animal names he knows. Then he spelled words on his own. “Seven months ago he didn't know any English. That's unbelievable,” said Keller.

    The project aims to get kids to a stage called “deep reading,” where they can read to learn. It won't be in Amharic, Ethiopia's first language, but in English, which is widely seen as the ticket to higher paying jobs.

    Learning how to face silence in conversation is an important skill, especially when working across cultures.

    In international negotiations, experienced negotiator (谈判者) stay silent and impassive on purpose because that will make others feel uncomfortable and possibly make compromises without having to do anything. Americans especially can't stand silence, so they often are the first to break the silence and sometimes might be at a disadvantage in negotiations.

    So, what's the best response? Set your jaw and wait it out. Don't offer a compromise just because they are not speaking. If you have to say something, ask a direct question, such as "What's your initial reaction to that offer?" Once a silence is getting into 45 seconds you could say, "Let's come back to that in a minute and go on with the next part of our negotiation."

    In presentations, silence can be far more effective than dramatic passion (热情). Before starting, look at the audience and be silent for a moment because that says, "I'm in control. I know what I'm doing. I'm confident."

    A classic example was when Apple co-founder Steve Jobs launched the first iPhone. He introduced with many pauses so that you didn't miss his key points. Because silence makes us nervous, our natural reaction is that we'd better pay attention, there's something going on here.

    Equally, when giving a speech to staff or trainees, pauses count-especially if there are negatives. If you keep talking you're spoon feeding. Give people a moment of silence to get beyond the emotional response and to start thinking consciously and processing.

    Silence can be an inward-focused thoughtful activity or an outward stillness where you give yourself the time to watch and think and listen to the world around you. Having observed the use of silence in Finland and also among the Blackfeet Nation, a North American Indian tribe in northern Montana in the US, we can see benefits far beyond wheeling and dealing.

    Silence can be a very powerful point for understanding ourselves, understanding others, for developing better common understanding and more productive outcomes and that applies to business, politics, education, law, medicine, every area of human life.

Lizzie's diary from Antarctica (南极洲)

Day 3: Tuesday   December 2

    We planned to go to Rothera that morning. We'd be staying there for the next two weeks. Because Antarctica is the windiest place on earth, sometimes you can't fly at all.

    We had a nervous wait over breakfast to find out if we'd be leaving that day. People have to stay in Stanley for weeks while the pilots wait for good weather.

    It turned clear at 9:30 and we took off at 10:30 on a little red plane called a Dash-7. But even when we were in the air, there was still a chance we wouldn't be able to fly the whole day.

Day 4: Wednesday   December 3

    After waking up in the Antarctic for the first time today I can understand why everybody who comes here falls in love with the place. It is really beautiful.

    We're staying at Rothera Survey base with mountains of ice all around. It is about minus 2⁰C today, which for me is very cold, but the regulars(常客) here are often seen walking around in T-shirts !

Day 5: Thursday   December 4

    I woke up to another beautiful sunny day here in the Antarctic. I'm told it's a bit colder today, about minus 5⁰C, but it's not very windy so it feels warmer. Those of us who are new to the base have to do a special training course before we're allowed to go off base to other stations or to go snowboarding over the nearby hill.

Day 7:  Saturday   December 6

    Not a cloud in the sky and it's warm enough to sit outside (in a jacket).

    The most amazing thing about this place is how the scenery (风景) changes every day.

    At first I thought I was going mad. I'd step outside in the morning and think, "I'm sure that big mountain of ice wasn't there yesterday." It's because the sea ice is always moving—slowly thankfully !