Making friends is a skill. Like most skills, you can improve it if you are patient. If you want to meet people and make friends, you must be willing to take action. You must first go where there are people. You won't make friends staying home {#blank#}1{#/blank#}.

    Joining a club or a group, talking to those who like the same things as you do is much {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. Or join someone in some activity.

    Many people are {#blank#}3{#/blank#} when talking to new people. After all, meeting strangers means seeing the unknown. And it's human nature to feel a bit unpleasant about the unknown. Most of fears about {#blank#}4{#/blank#} with new people come from doubts  about ourselves. We imagine other people are judging us—finding us too tall or too short, too this or too that. But don't forget that they must be feeling the {#blank#}5{#/blank#}way. Try to accept yourself as you are, and try to make others feel at home. You'll all feel more {#blank#}6{#/blank#}.

    Try to be brave even if you don't feel that way when you {#blank#}7{#/blank#} a room full of strangers. Walk tall and straight, look directly at other people and smile.

    If you see someone you'd like to speak to, say something. Don't wait for the other person to start a {#blank#}8{#/blank#}.

    Just meeting someone new does not mean that you'll make friends with that person. Friendship is based on mutual (相互的) likings and "give and take". It takes time and effort (精力)for us to {#blank#}9{#/blank#} friendship. And there are things that stop a new friendship from {#blank#}10{#/blank#}.

    One day, Confucius (孔子) led his students to the State of Chu. When crossing through a large forest, they saw an old man{#blank#}1{#/blank#} (stand) under a tree, catching cicadas (蝉) with a bamboo stick. Confucius said, “You are very good at {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(catch) cicadas. You must have some special skills.”

    “That's right!” the old man answered. “The cicada is a clever little insect. If they hear the noise of the leaves in the wind, they {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(fly) away. Therefore, people who want to catch cicadas{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(train) their hands to hold a bamboo stick without shaking. If you can place three pellets (弹珠) on top of the bamboo stick without falling off, you might be able to catch cicadas; when five pellets{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(place) on top without falling off, catching cicadas is as easy as {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (pick) a ball up from the ground.”

    He then added, “But that is not enough. People must be good at hiding themselves. Right now, I{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(stand) under a tree like half of a tree stump ( 树 桩 ). Last of all, one must be attentive ( 专 心 的 ). When I am catching cicadas, I only see their wings. No matter what {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(happen), nothing will disturb me.

    Hearing this, Confucius{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(turn) to his students and said, “No matter what you do, you can only succeed if you love what you're doing and pay enough attention to it. This is what this old man {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(teach) us.”

    Building an app is a big project. If you want to build the next great smart phone app alone, you need a plan. First, think about {#blank#}1{#/blank#} to build. Will your app be a game? Will it be for business? Then make a schedule for building {#blank#}2{#/blank#} app. You need plenty of time for researching and getting enough information {#blank#}3{#/blank#} you can build your app.

    Now you're ready {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (start) the app. Building an app is like a puzzle with many different parts, you can build it yourself or find a friend to help you. There are many websites and {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (video) which can teach you to build one. Some websites provide app developers {#blank#}6{#/blank#} "building blocks". As you build one, you pick blocks from the websites and put {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (they) in your app.

    After you build your app, you need to check it {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (careful). Look for bugs. Most apps have several problems to fix. Show your app to people and ask their opinions. Make sure everything {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (work) before letting people download it. There are so many tools that can help you build apps. Having the right tools will make the work much {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (easy). Now almost anyone can make a new app.