How to be a friend of yourself?

We often pay attention to developing relationships with others. However, we forget the basic step: being friends of ourselves. How can we have good relationships with others if we don't even have good relationships with ourselves?{#blank#}1{#/blank#}.

First, forgive(原谅) yourself. It's true that you are not perfect, and neither is everybody else. It's normal for everyone to make mistakes.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}.

Second, accept things you can't change. There are many things you cannot change, such as your background and past.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}If you face the things you can't change, just smile and move on.

Third, focus on(聚焦于) your achievements. You can try making a list of your achievements, which do not have to be big things. There are a lot of small but important achievements in our life.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

Last but not least, stop comparing yourself with others. You are unique.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Your success is not determined(决定) by other people. Instead, it is determined by your own life purpose.

    There are some skills for students to listen to the teachers in class, which means you're going to have to practice them. Just as you would have to practice basketball to be a better player, you also have to practice listening. How to listen in school? {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    One of the things you'll need to do is to make sure that your mind doesn't wander(漫游). It's easy to start thinking about other things, especially when you are not interested in the subject. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

   Next, listen for the main ideas. If you want to catch every little piece of information, you'll feel tired and bored. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Not only does this show respect to the teacher, it also helps prevent your mind from wandering. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}Or it could just be someone talking to their neighbors who shouldn't be, it can even be some birds outside the classroom window, or a group of kids who are talking loudly as they pass the door to your room.

    Finally, you need to take notes because you will not remember everything the teacher said. You'll have to take down the notes so that you can study it after class. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    Listening isn't always easy, but if you follow these simple steps, you'll be much more successful in your classes.

    The 21st century discoveries about the human brain and its functioning have showed the surprising fact that human abilities are not fixed at birth. In other words, what you are able to do with your life is not fixed when you are born. It is not all in the genes (基 因 ). It is not just nature: nurture (教育, 培育) plays an important part in the moulding (塑造) of what a person is, and what he/she can be.

    Brain plasticity (可塑性) or neuroplasticity (神经可塑性) refers to the amazing ability of the human brain to modify (修改) its structure and functions according to the changes within the body and/or in the outer environment.

    In his book „The Brain that Changes Itself‟ psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Norman Doidge, M.D., offers an introduction to the great scientists strongly supporting neuroplasticity and the people whose lives they've changed. The book describes real life stories of stroke( 中 风 ) patients learning to speak again, and the amazing story of a woman born with half a brain that restructured itself to work as a whole. It is a book that changes the way we think about our brain, its nature, and its potential (潜能).

    The genes we receive from our parents are finite (有限的), no doubt about that. However, our brain's ability to develop is infinite. New brain cells are being born all the time, and to keep them alive and growing, we have to stimulate (刺激) them.

    Here lies the promise of neuroplasticity in the moulding of children into adults who are capable of realizing their potential. For, genius is nothing but a human being who has realized his /her inborn potential! What Mozart, Einstein and da Vinci had was inborn potential plus (和，外加) the right environment.

    All geniuses started life in exactly the same way. They had parents who supported the development of their individual gifts and talents. They had the right environment and stimuli (刺激， 刺激物) that led to the best development of themselves.

    You can think about your child's gifts as the merging (融合的) colours of a rainbow. The possibilities are endless. All children are born with three natural abilities that provide them with the potential to think like a genius: the abilities to think, to learn and to develop their own individual way of thinking and learning.

    Can your child be a genius? Yes, he/she can be, if you give him/her the right environment, the right stimuli and the right guidance.

Have you ever wondered what an American high school is really like? This article will describe a typical (典型的) high school and its students.

A typical American high school has several large buildings and enough space for about 1,500 students. Every student is given a locker. When students first arrive at school, they go straight to their lockers to put away or get their textbooks and to hang up their outdoor clothes. As American textbooks are expensive, students would rather loan (租借) than buy them. Students must pay back if they lost any of them.

American students have different types of school transport. They usually take a yellow school bus or walk to school if they live close enough. Sometimes their parents drive them to school.

When they turn 16 years of age, most take a free driving class at school for one term. If students' exam passing grades in the class and also pass their state driver's exam, they can begin driving themselves to school.

Each day, students take six or seven classes. They must take science, math, English and social studies. They can choose art, homemaking, fashion design and other classes. In some schools students are required to take one or more of the following special classes: health education, physical education or foreign language studies. Students move to different classrooms for each subject. This is because cache teacher has their own classroom. There is a five-minute break between classes, to give the students the time to hurry to their next class.

The regular school day usually ends early in the afternoon. After school more than half of the students take part in after-school activities. These activities include sports, specially football, basketball, baseball and soccer or clubs, such as yearbook, speech, school newspaper, photograph or student government.

Title: {#blank#}1{#/blank#} in an American High School

    Good study habits are important for all students. When you have good study habits, you will learn faster and find you have a good memory.

    Do you usually study in the living room？This is not a good place for study because it's really too noisy. You need to study in a quiet place, such as your bedroom. A quiet place will help you learn better.

    Before you begin to study, do not forget to clean your desk. It helps you study well, too. Light is important, too. You will feel tired easily if there is not enough light.

    Of all the good study habits you can develop, asking questions is the key. Just ask. No one knows everything, but we can always learn from each other by asking questions.

    When do you work best？Are you an early bird, a night owl (猫头鹰), or something in between ?Find your most productive work time, and then plan to study at this time.

Tony lives in a big house, and his family is rich (富有的). He has a bad 1 . He always wastes (浪费) food. For example, he 2 eats half of an apple and throws away (扔掉) the other half. His mother always 3 him not to do that, but he doesn't 4 his mother. He thinks his father has a lot of money, so it's not a big deal. "My mother is too strict 5 me," he says. He doesn't like exercising, 6 . His home is not far from school, but he never walks 7 rides a bike to school. He asks his mother to take him to school in the 8 . He says to his mother. "We have a car, so 9 do I need to ride a bike or walk to school? Walking 10 me tired."

One day, in a geography class, his teacher 11 some pictures of Africa to Tony and his classmates. Many 12 have no food to eat there. They are thin because of hunger (饥饿). Their teacher asks them to 13 money and do something to help them. Tony feels 14 for what he did before. He knows what his mother did is to help 15 develop (养成) good habits.