“When I grow up， I want to be...”

    Almost all of us have thought about，or been asked to think about，our future careers. Our answers may differ greatly. Even now your aspirations(志向，抱负)may have changed from when you were in primary school.

    However，it seems that career choices aren't only based on personal taste. In a survey carried out by Teens， doctors，lawyers，and bankers were some of most popular careers that people said they hoped to follow. This is similar to a survey carried out in the UK in May 2016 by job website—Co.uk，in which medicine was the top choice among UK teenagers aged between 13 and 17.

    Medicine and law are two of the oldest and best known professions. Their prestige (威望) may come from the fact that doctors and lawyers are much­respected members of society，and they make good money. What's more， these professions are often seen as a sign of upward social class.

    It is equally unsurprising that banking is now one of the most common career choices. Youngsters worldwide think of banking and see the money rolling in. Wealth is increasingly becoming one of the most important indicators(标志) of a successful career.

    However，not every child has the makings of doctor， lawyer， or banker. They are those who see achievement and happiness in other areas. As the Teens' survey discovered，a variety of unconventional(非传统的) jobs—coffee shop owner，waiter at a fast food restaurant—are among teenagers' career choices. They can be equally interesting and rewarding jobs.

    With every choice comes responsibility and challenge，and all career paths require specific education and training，you have to learn to balance optimism(乐观主义)and confidence with being realistic about your particular talents and skills.

    It is quite reasonable to blame traffic jams, the cost of gas and the great speed of modern life, but manners on the road are becoming horrible. Everybody knows that the nicest man would become fierce tigers behind the wheel. It is all right to have a tiger in a cage, but to have one in the driver's seat is another matter.

    Road politeness is not only good manners, but good sense. It takes the most cool-hearted drivers great patience to give up the desire to beat back when forced to face rude driving. On the other hand, a little politeness goes a long way towards reducing the possibility of quarrelling and fighting. A friendly nod or a wave, or thanks in answer to an act of politeness helps to create an atmosphere of good will and becomes so necessary in modern traffic conditions. But such behaviors of politeness are by no means enough. Many drivers nowadays don't even seem able to recognize politeness when they see it.

    However, misplaced politeness can also be dangerous. Typical example is the driver who waves to a child crossing the street at a wrong place into the path of oncoming cars that may not be able to stop in time. The same goes for encouraging old ladies to cross the road wherever and whenever they want to.

    An experienced driver, whose manners are faultless, told me it would help if drivers learnt to correctly join in traffic stream without causing total jams that give rise to unpleasant feelings. Unfortunately, modern drivers can't even learn to drive, let alone master the roadmanship(驾车技能). Years ago, experts warned us that the fast increase of the car ownership would demand more give-and-take from all road users. It is high time that all of us took this message to heart.

    It is common and usual to see people freak out when they face challenges in their life. We all pass in different life problems and challenges. No one is free of life problems. Only a dead man faces no problem. As long as you are alive, challenges are everywhere.

    How do you face problems and challenges in your life? Problems and challenges are the building blocks of your personality. They make you who you are. Besides, whether what happened in your life builds or destructs you depends on how you look at it. If you take your problems as troubles, they will be troubles and may cause destruction. If you take them as constructive tools, you are going to be built up on them.

    Problems are everywhere. No one can avoid them. And they are good too. They open up a different look and opportunity if you are willing to see. When you face troubles, do not frustrate or freak out. Just cool yourself to think in a different direction. Think in a positive way. Every problem has its own good as well as bad sides. Focus on the good one. Look at the bright side.  Besides, there is always a good person, perhaps your mom or dad, or one of your friends, right beside you who can turn everything into your best if you are willing to turn to them. No matter what happens, they will be there to help you. Trust them and they will never let you down. All you need to know is that you are loved wherever you are.

    Deisha walked up and down as she waited backstage. This would be her most important piano performance yet. At ten years old, she was the youngest performer in the recital (音乐演奏会). She had practiced playing her song more than 30 times that week. When she closed her eyes at night the music played over and over again in her head.

    Now that the day had arrived. Deisha was not sure she was ready. She smoothed her hair and picked a piece of lint (绒毛) from the new dress that her mother had bought for her. She noticed that her hands were shaking. How could she play the notes of the song if her hands were shaking? She tried to concentrate on steadying (稳住) them, but they play only shook more.

    Deisha's piano teacher, Ms Neal, walked up to speak to her. "I have something for you." she said, putting a smooth black stone into Deisha's hand. "It's a special stone. There's no other one like it in the world. You've practiced so much: you don't need anything else."

    The stage lights reflected off the rock. "Thank you," Deisha said.

    When Deisha's name was called, she rubbed the stone, stepped onto the stage, and played better than ever.

    After her performance, she noticed that Ms Neal had a whole bag of black stones. "Why did you say this one was so special?" she asked. The teacher responded, "Because, like your talent, it belongs only to you."

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 !

A mix of anxiety rising in my chest and a voice at the back of my mind shouting ‘what's wrong with me?'-it's how I've felt about rejection my whole life.

 The earliest rejection I can remember was on my first day of school. I started the term late due to illness and the teacher asked the class who would play with me at break. The silence was deafening. Now, a bit of online dating sees us rejected by half the town before we've even started our day. There's not a break at work. Is there a worse feeling than hitting the final slide on your presentation, boldly asking 'any questions?' and looking around the room to see everyone on their phones?

We need to build resilience. For me, this has come in two stages. First, I spent time listening to the voice of fear that saw each rejection as proof that there was something wrong with me. When I analysed it, I could see it was rarely about me. Perhaps the guy I was talking to was too busy to reply. It was likely that the magazine I'd sent a passage to already had an article on that topic. Now, I assume it's about me 20 per cent of the time-and I can live with that.

 The other thing I do is practice rejecting. Because I hate rejection, I shy away from being the rejector, which means I either please people or avoid tricky situations. Instead, I've come up with a few lines for when I want to say no: 'That sounds great but it's not for me; thank you for asking but I decline; it was lovely but I think we should leave it there.' It's never pleasant to reject a person but there is a kind way to do it. With resilience and clarity, we can see the plus sides of rejection: it frees us up to do something else, be with someone else and be happier. We can't complain about that.