I'm a 34-year-old man, married, lived in a nice house, and have a successful career as an educational consultant. But my life was not always so great. I had a learning disability from an early age. I went to a special school where I got plenty of extra help. Still, I suffered the rest of my school days in public schools.

       My life improved remarkably when I discovered art. The art world gave me a chance to express myself without words. I went to a workshop and gradually got good at making things with clay(黏土). Here I learned my first important lesson: disabled as I was in language. I could still be smart and well express myself with clay. And my confidence came along.

I got my next lesson from rock climbing. It was a fun thing but I was scared from the start. I soon noticed it wasn't a talent thing; it was practice. So I did it more. After about five years of climbing, I found myself in Yosemite Valley on a big wall. I learned that if you fall in love with something and do it all the time, you will get better at it.

       Later I decided to apply my previous experience to learning how to read and write. Every day I practiced reading and writing, which I used to avoid as much as possible. After two hard years, I was literate.

       Having gone through the long process with art, rock climbing, and reading and writing, now I've got to a point in my life where I know I am smart enough to dive into an area that is totally unknown, hard, but interesting.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}You probably think you will never be a top student. This is not necessarily so. however. Anyone can become a better student if he or she wants to. Here is how：

    Plan your time carefully. When planning your work, you should make a list of things that you have to do. After making this list. you should make a schedule of your time. First your time for eating, sleeping, dressing, etc. Then decide a good, regular time for studying. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} A weekly schedule may not solve all your problems, but it will force you realize what is happening to your time.

    Find a good place to study. Look around the house for a good study area. Keep this space, which may be a desk or simply a corner of your room, free of eeverything but study materials. No games, radios, or television. When you sit down to study, concentrate on the subject.

    Make good use of your time in class. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Listening carefully in class means less work later. Taking notes will help you remember what the teacher says.

    Study regularly. When you get home from school, go over your notes, review the important points that your teacher is going to discuss the next day, read that material. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} If you do these things regularly, the material will become more meaningful, and you'll remember it longer.

    Develop a good attitude towards tests. The purpose of a test is to show what you have learned about a subject. They help you remember your new knowledge. The world won't end if you don't pass a test,so don, t be over worried.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} You will probably discover many others after you have tried these.

A. There are other methods that might help you with your studying.

B. Don't forget to set aside enough time for entertainment.

C. Take advantage of class time to listen to everything the teacher says.

D. No one can become a top student unless he or she works hard.

E. Maybe you are an average student.

F. Make full use of class time to take notes of what the teacher says in class.

G. This will help you understand the next class.

    Your mobile is now much more than just a communication device - more like a remote control for your life. You still call it a "mobile" from habit, but it is an organizer, entertainment device, payment device and security（安全） center, all developed and manufactured by engineers.

    What we do need is better mobiles and more intelligence. Because it knows your travel timetable it can check for problems on the roads or with the trains, giving you the best route into work. It can control your home, reprogramming the central heating if you need to get up earlier and keeping an eye on your home by connecting your mobile with the home security system. It is your payment system—you can pay for tickets for journeys or buy items in shops by placing the phone near a sensor(感应器). With an understanding of location, the mobile can also provide directions, or even tell you if your friends or family are nearby.

    Usually it will start work even before you wake. It will work with your home entertainment system while you sleep to find programmes that will interest you and download them as a podcast to watch on the train or in other spare moments. It will intelligently work out what to do with incoming phone calls and messages. Because it knows your diary it will also know, for example, to direct voice calls to voicemail when you are in a meeting, perhaps providing a discrete text summary of the caller and the nature of their call.

    With its understanding of almost all aspects of your life; many new services become possible. For example, a “Good Food” meal planning service could send daily suggestions for your evening meal based on learned preferences, previous selections made and the likely contents of your refrigerator.

    Ten years ago the mobile was purely a device for making voice calls. Now it is a camera, MP3 player, and texting device. This is only the start of an evolution that will turn it into our trusted and indispensable companion in life.

    A lot of kids and adults say they get nervous during social situations. Maybe it's speaking up in class or making a phone call or just trying something new. You might feel butterflies in your stomach, or your heart may beat faster or you get suddenly sweaty. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} And if fear of being embarrassed or making a mistake is getting in your way, there are some things you can try on your own to help.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Experts agree that avoiding situations that make us anxious can actually make things worse in the long run. Getting out of something you didn't want to do might make you feel better in the moment, but you will still feel anxious the next time you're asked to do it.

    Push yourself.

    While leaving your comfort zone isn't easy, it can be very good for you. That's because anxiety tends to go away when you start doing the things that make you anxious.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}You might find you have the skills to handle it. And next time you're in that situation you might feel less self-conscious.

    Practice a lot.

    As an experiment, try doing something that makes you nervous.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Whatever you do, you'll find that it gets easier over time. That's because by practicing the things that make you nervous you are actually improving your ability to easily handle them.

    Relax yourself.

    Instead of trying to relax by watching television or visiting a website, try a deep relaxation practice that has a physical effect on the mind.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Don't avoid something.

B. Being nervous is uncommon.

C. Pay no attention to your original thoughts.

D. Those things are your body's reaction to fear.

E. Start with little things like answering questions in class.

F. So try to face your anxiety and fear and see what happens.

G. For example, doing things like yoga can also help you stay calm.

    It's important that parents talk with their kids. But some kids hardly talk to their parents. How can parents get their kids to talk to them more? Here is how I do it.

    From the time my boys were little, we had strict rules about screen time in the car. We did not watch movies unless we were going to be in the car for more than an hour. Now that they are older, we have the same rule about earphones, let alone phones.

    I have watched about 11 billion YouTube videos featuring everything from stupid kid stunts (特技) to stupid professional stunts and sports highlights. These are not interesting to me but they are interesting to my kids, so I watched them all. I also try to find funny things in the news to use as conversation starters.

    Listening is the key to more talking, right? But sometimes kids just need to talk instead of having a two-way exchange. Or there are other kids in s the car who have somehow forgotten that the driver is an actual mom, and they talk about some serious news. I just listen to them quietly. Make note of things to circle back to if necessary. Just let the words flow when what they really need is your listening.

    My kids love stories about the older days. They want stories about me falling in the dining hall, getting in trouble at school or crashing my car, but not the, “I walked 10 miles to school in the snow”. Luckily I have plenty of examples and provide just enough information to cause questions for more details.

注意：每个空格只填一个单词。

    Why should mankind explore space? Why should money, time and effort be spent exploring and researching something with so few apparent benefits? Why should resources be spent on space instead of on conditions and people on Earth? These are questions that, understandably, are very often asked.

    Perhaps the best answer lies in our genetic makeup as human beings. What drove our ancestors to move from the trees into the plains, and on into all possible areas and environments? With the wide spread of a species, human beings can get high chance of survival. Perhaps the best reason for exploring space is this genetic tendency to expand wherever possible.

    Nearly every successful civilization has explored, because by doing so, any dangers in surrounding areas can be identified and prepared for. Without knowledge, we may be completely destroyed by the danger. With knowledge, we can lessen its effects.

    Exploration also allows minerals and other potential resources to be found. Even if we have no need of them right now, they will perhaps be useful later. Resources may be more than physical possessions. Knowledge or techniques have been acquired through exploration. The techniques may have medical applications which can improve the length or quality of our lives. We have already benefited from other spinoffs including improvements in earthquake prediction, in satellites for weather forecasting and in communications systems. Even nonstick pans and mirrored sunglasses are byproducts of technological developments in the space.

    While many resources are spent on what seems a small return, the exploration of space allows creative, brave and intelligent members of our species to focus on what may serve to save us. While space may hold many wonders and explanations of how the universe was formed or how it works, it also holds dangers. The danger exists, but knowledge can help human beings to survive. Without the ability to reach out across space, the chance to save ourselves might not exist.

    While Earth is the only planet known to support life, surely the adaptive ability of humans would allow us to live on other planets. It is true that the lifestyle would be different, but human life and cultures have adapted in the past and surely could in the future.