Things I Wish I'd Known in High School

    Sometimes high school seems like a necessary evil. Now at the end of my college journey, I know that there are still more things I could have done to make my high school experience more beneficial.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}Take a class that scares you during high school. The experience will definitely prepare you for future academic challenges.

    Don't worry about your grades too much. Getting a B is not the end of the world.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}I started college with all A's since seventh grade, and it was hard to deal with not being able to repeat that. I stayed away from taking some harder courses I might have done well in because I was afraid of doing poorly. Now, I can fully accept that if I try my best in at least one harder class and get a B+, that is still something to be proud of.

    Find your own de-stressing routine. Another essential skill to begin building in high school is how to manage work and stress. Maybe you deal with stress by going for a run, or watching a silly movie. Talk with a friend for a while or play with your dog.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Spend your summers wisely. Don't take on a full-time job the first summer you decide to work.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}Do find something to do that will make the ten weeks worthwhile. Look for programs that take you to interesting places, or a job that will give you insight into something you might be interested in.

    Finally, remember to have fun. Your life does not depend on high school.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}You will have plenty of time to work hard in college and beyond. Be prepared, but don't stress out too much about it. If you can make your high school experience fun, you will have no problem doing the same for your life in college and beyond.

A. In fact, it's kind of a good thing.

B. Take full advantage of your brain.

C. You do have to be active about making friends.

D. Do your best, but leave time for fun with friends.

E. Forty hours a week will be a huge shock and you'll have plenty of time for that in the future.

F. Find out what relaxes you, and you will feel less stressed.

G. They will be improved if you make great efforts.

    Although most games have winners and losers, the goal of sports is not to win every game. The real goals include getting exercise, having fun, and learning important social skills, like sportsmanship.

    Good sportsmanship is all about respect. Good sports (具有运动家品格的人) respect the other players on their team. They respect he players on opposing teams. They respect coaches, and they also respect the referees or other officials involved in their games.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}they yell at their teammates and they talk back to coaches or referees.

    Kids usually learn sportsmanship - good and bad - from the adults in their lives.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}If parents and coaches show disrespect to other fans, referees, or each other, kids will likely act the same way on the field.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Some of them are very basic and easy to do, like shaking hands with other players before a game. Other examples may take a little more courage, such as acknowledging a great play made by the opposing team.

Learning good sportsmanship is important because it helps you develop an attitude of graciousness (礼貌) and respect that will carry over into all the other areas of your life.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Being a good sport in the classroom will eventually lead to being a good sport in the workplace.

    So be a good sport in whatever you do!{#blank#}5{#/blank#} When others see you acting in a way that makes it clear that winning isn't the most important thing, you can move on to focusing on the important things, like having fun, getting exercise, and improving your skills!

A. Good sportsmanship can be shown in many ways.

B. On the contrary, bad sportsmanship is all about disrespect.

C. The example you set can be a powerful teaching tool for others.

D. Players ‘parents and coaches set examples that kids tend to follow.

E. We can be good sports by encouraging others but not laughing at them.

F. Starting as a good sport earlier will help you be a good sport as you get old.

G. If you're a good sport on the field, you'll also likely be a good sport in the classroom

How to become a professional athlete?

    Everyone wants to be a superstar athlete. However, there is a lot of competition to make it. So if you want to be a professional athlete, you have to know all the tricks of the trade to rise up above the rest.

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    To play your sport better than anyone else, you have to practice your skills with lots of repetition. For example, you have to shoot 100 free throws every day for basketball.

    Make steady improvements

    If you are a baseball pitcher (投手) and your fastball is stuck at about 60 miles per hour, change it up! Try to walk your first step a little bit longer, bring in your elbow a little bit tighter, or try to reach higher when you're following through{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

Quality coaches

    Have you ever noticed that a lot of kids with parents who are professional athletes will often become professional athletes in the same sport? They have access to a professional athlete's tips and tricks{#blank#}3{#/blank#} You should try to find coaches or professional athletes that are willing to answer your questions.

Diet of champions

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} If you can change your diet to a healthy one, you're going to be stronger.

    Friends and enemies

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} By having great teammates or competitors, it pushes you to try harder and that always results in getting better.

A. Practice makes perfect

B. Better late than never

C. The big secret to advancing your skills above anyone else is to improve.

D.The biggest thing that most kids often ignore is their diet.

E.Surrounding yourself with quality teammates and competitors is the best way to get better.

F. These little improvements are things that will help you advance your skills.

G.But don't get discouraged if you don't have parents who were professional athletes.

How to improve your studies—scientifically

Our brain can possibly memorize 2. 5 petabytes（千兆）of information. In order to use some of that surprising capacity（能力）a little more effectively when you learn, here are some tips that are based on widely-accepted research by learning experts.

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    Some enjoy watching videos over reading books, others study with friends, and some like sitting in silence among a million books. Everybody is different.

Hard things first

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} , so do the things that are difficult first. Once you are done with the hard things, you will feel better for the rest of the day, and probably more motivated to get other things done.

    Space（分隔开）your studies

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} . Facts or vocabularies, for example, are best learned if you review them the first time one to two days after the study, and then again after one week, and after one month.

    Instant self-test

    After your study, finish up with a quick quiz. Immediate recall in the form of a test or a short summary on what you've just learned can increase retention（记忆力）by as much as 30%. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}, that extra effort creates deeper traces（痕迹）in your memory.

    Don't force it

    Motivation is like hunger. You cannot force yourself to be motivated, just like you can't tell someone else to be hungry. So, if you are not hungry right now, don't worry. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}.

A. Take fun seriously

B. Find your own style

C. Take a break, and do something else

D. Good memory can grow your brain's potential

E. Because it's much harder for your brain to remember than to read

F. Like most people you have the strongest willpower in the morning.

C. to remember things for a longer time, repeat the material after taking several breaks

A Few Active Listening Guidelines

    Listening is arguably the most important element of interpersonal communication. Our ability to listen well impacts the quality of all of our relationships, and not just at home with our family and friends—it can also affect our relationships and interactions on the job, as well as the effectiveness and quality of our work.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Instead, it is a skill that must be cultivated and practiced. Active listening means the difference between simply hearing, and listening with the intent to truly understand. It is a subtle but important distinction.

    ⒈Give focused attention.

    Try to minimize external (外部的) distractions. Turn down the noise, and put down or step away from what you're doing if possible. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Don't watch the clock, fidget (坐立不安) or go over your to-do list for later.

    ⒉{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Direct eye contact shows your attention and intention to listen. This doesn't mean stare, though. Be reasonable, but try not to let your eyes wander to whatever is going on around you.

    ⒊Reflect back.

    Restate, but don't repeat word for word. Paraphrase what you think the other part is saying with responses such as: "What I'm hearing is…" or "Let me see if I'm following you... "{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    ⒋Respond appropriately.

    Be open and honest in your responses. Share your thoughts, insights and feelings in a clear, but respectful and considerate manner even if you disagree.

    Active listening is a model for good communication. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} It takes practice to develop active listening skills, and it's a habit that has to be reinforced(加强). Remind yourself that the goal of conversation is not merely to trade words, but to truly understand what the other party is saying and to be understood in turn.

A. Maintain eye contact.

B. Instead, focus on what is being said.

C. You do not have to agree on everything.

D. Also, set aside other internal thinking and dialogue.

E. Listening is not something that comes naturally or easily for most of us.

F. Reflecting what you've heard signals that you're attempting to understand fully.

G. Remember that listening is not just to gather information and share ideas, but also to gain perspective and understanding.

I have worked for a local charity for many years. I volunteered there as one of the youth group leaders. The job sometimes was tiring. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} And one of our favorite activities is called "ARK night" — A couple of times a year, on a Sunday night, all kids in the charity went into our community to perform kind acts for others.

{#blank#}2{#/blank#} One group typically goes downtown and hands out sandwiches, water and bread. Another group makes posters and goes to local police and fire stations to say "Thank you". Our group often visits nursing homes and hospitals.

One time, the group I was leading left post-it notes (便利贴) with positive messages on the cars in a hospital's parking lot. The hope was that someone who was sad after visiting a patient would be cheered up by our notes. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} I made the kids write positive messages on the notes. Then we went out to put those notes on cars.

After the kids left their notes on the cars, one girl said, "We didn't see one single person tonight. How will we know our notes made a difference?" I replied, "{#blank#}4{#/blank#}" But actually I wondered about it, too. Would the notes cheer anyone up? But I had to take those kids back before 9:00 pm.

Later I got the answer. On Monday morning I found a post online by a woman. She described her bad luck over the weekend. "But then," she added, "this morning I found the nicest little note on my car. It made my day." She included a photo of the note. It was one of our notes! {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Let's stay here and find out.

B. We'll just have to trust that they did.

C. The drivers were surprised by our special notes.

D. But I loved working with those little volunteers.

E. I smiled and couldn't wait to tell the kids the good news.

F. We had spent the first part of the evening preparing notes.

G. The kids are divided into small groups, with each group having a different task.