The vast majority of people can buy pretty much anything they need. Not anything they want, necessarily, but anything they need to achieve a satisfactory degree of creature comfort: clothing, water, shoes and food.

    During my childhood, a Michael Pollan book would have been the prize of my year, were I to find it waiting under my Christmas tree or open it upon my birthday. I also used to be thrilled at receiving necessary things, like simple socks or gloves, as present. Nowadays I have too many gloves. I purchase leather gloves online that appear to be a good deal or just because I like their look.

    Prosperity (富足) is a good thing, right? Yes, of course. But for me, I find that the greater ease with which such a generous gift is purchased, the less significance it has when given. This is why I try harder at gifts.

    My first line of dealing with this problem is simply understanding the effect of a little time spent. Even writing out a thoughtful or funny card goes a lot further than a “cute top” purchased from a popular shopping website.

    Need help? Go to your printer. There's paper in there. Fold one sheet in half and draw a heart on the front. Open it up and fill the card with a poem or a few words of your own. Not only is it obvious that you took the time to select your words and write them down, but now you force the reader to stop for a short time and consider what you were trying to accomplish with them. The effort made by the two of you is the gift.

    No matter how you decide to spend a little more time on your giving, the point is just quite simply that you do. You don't have to give a person a handmade paper boat to get a reaction. But you won't be sorry if you do.

    Far from the land of Antarctica (南极洲), a huge shelf of ice meets the ocean. At the underside of the shelf there lives a small fish, the Antarctic cod.

    For forty years scientists have been curious about that fish. How does it live where most fish would freeze to death? It must have some secret. The Antarctic is not a comfortable place to work and research has been slow. Now it seems we have an answer.

    Research was begun by cutting holes in the ice and catching the fish. Scientists studied the fish's blood and measured its freezing point.

The fish were taken from seawater that had a temperature of -1.88℃ and many tiny pieces of ice floating in it. The blood of the fish did not begin to freeze until its temperature was lowered to

-2.05℃. That small difference is enough for the fish to live at the freezing temperature of the ice-salt mixture.

    The scientists' next research job was clear: Find out what in the fish's blood kept it from freezing. Their search led to some really strange thing made up of a protein (蛋白质) never before seen in the blood of a fish. When it was removed, the blood froze at seawater temperature. When it was put back, the blood again had its antifreeze quality and a lowered freezing point.

    Study showed that it is an unusual kind of protein. It has many small sugar molecules（分子）held in special positions within each big protein molecule. Because of its sugar content, it is called a glycoprotein. So it has come to be called the antifreeze fish glycoprotein, or AFGP.

    The ability to stay positive is one of the most important skills for us. Why is this? The reason is that we will spend most of our lives setting and trying to achieve goals. Everyone has dreams. Everyone wants to know deep down inside that they were put here to do something great. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} The second you set a goal, difficulties will begin to appear to stand in your way. Most people let these challenges rob them of the life they really want.

    If you want to achieve greatness, if you want to experience the best life possible, then be prepared to get knocked down over and over. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} This explains why there are so many people who have stopped trying to reach their dreams.

    So how do you remain positive regardless of what type of challenge you are facing? It all comes down to how you choose to respond to any situation as well as what you decide to focus on. No matter how bad your situation is, you can always find something good in it.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    If you keep focusing on how bad you have it, how are things supposed to get any better? {#blank#}4{#/blank#}Of course it is. If this is true, why even bother thinking positively? That is because if you do, you have a chance to make things better. If you don't, things will usually get a lot worse.

    Realize that challenges are a part of life.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} It's what makes reaching a goal worth it. If you were able to get everything you wanted without even trying, the victory wouldn't taste as sweet.

A.Everyone will have to go through them.

B.Staying positive can be beneficial in many ways.

C.Staying positive during situations like this is not easy.

D.You can do things like reading positive books or listening to positive songs.

E.Is it possible to be positive and still have your circumstances get even worse?

F.However, the problem is that life is tough.

G.So what you can do is start focusing on what is good.

    My mother is a diligent and kind woman. She is very busy from morning till night. As a teacher, she works hard.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Both my brother and I love her dearly as she loves us.

    My mother has been teaching math at a middle school in my hometown. She goes to work early in the morning and does not return home until late in the afternoon. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} She treats them with patience and teaches them well. For her excellent quality and very good teaching results, she has been elected as a model teacher several times.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Every day, when she comes back home from work, she sets about doing housework, sweeping the living room and bedrooms or cleaning the furniture, and putting everything in good order. She seems to be busy all the time. As she has been very busy working every day, she looks older than her age. But she looks as cheerful and happy as ever. Mother never buys expensive dresses for herself, but she often buys some inexpensive but high quality clothes for us.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}She just eats a plain meal outside when she is too busy to cook herself. She lives a busy yet simple life, without any complaints.

    Often she says to us, “Work while you work, and play while you play. That is the way to be happy and gay. If you do not work, you will become lazy and be of no use to society”. What a piece of good advice this is! {#blank#}5{#/blank#}This advice of hers will always serve as a guide to my behavior. My mother is great indeed, and I always feel proud of her.

A. She enjoys listening to classical music.

B. As a mother, she takes good care of us and gives us every comfort.

C. She loves her students and cares for them.

D. She never goes to expensive restaurants to enjoy meals.

E. My mother is hard-working and never wastes money.

F. I never forget it and always bear it in my mind.

G. Can you tell us something about your mother?

    As a senior year student, you may have so many pressures coming from so many directions that you can't figure out what to do first.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    When you have many things to do and a lot of demands on your time, you can lose sight of what's important. One of the best ways to see the big picture - what you want out of life - is to lay out your goals.

    Pressure Points and How to Deal With Them

    Confused or overwhelmed - talk to someone you trust.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}. They may help you find solutions to your problems and worries.

    Being too hard on yourself - ease up, take a break and do something you enjoy. Daydream, read a book, go out with friends — anything that helps you relax.

    Problems, problems, problems — recognize your limits. It's too stressful to try to deal with all your problems at once.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}.

    Goal-Setting Tips

    It's important to remember that goals belong to you — not to your parents, your teachers, or your friends. After you've set your goals, identify the skills you have to achieve those goals.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}. Try the library, your guidance adviser and teachers, and other people who could help you.

    Goals exist to serve you. If your goal is something you no longer want, change it. Identify the barriers to getting your goals.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}. Don't get depressed by a big, long-term goal — see what steps you can take to achieve it and set those steps down as short-term, "do-able" goals.

A. Too much to do

B. Balancing goals in life

C. Consider ways to overcome them

D. Discuss your concerns with a friend, parent or teacher

E. Choose what's most urgent and set aside the rest until later

F. As long as you know what skill is important and what isn't

G. If you're not sure what skills you'll need, do some research

    Going back to school can be an anxious time for many students. But one institution in Texas is doing its part to make sure middle schoolers are returning refreshed and inspired to learn.

    Through a process called the "bathroom inspiration project," teachers and administrators at Warren Middle School, spent their summer beautifying the school's restrooms by painting motivational murals (壁画) on each of the stalls (小隔间).Forming messages like "Your mistakes don't define you" and "Scatter (撒播) kindness," the brightly colored words are exactly what a young student needs to see when having a rough day-or any school day for that matter. And now that classes are officially in session, people are already noticing a positive impact.

    Since posting photos of upgrades to the school in July, Principal Joshua Garcia says that the alterations have aroused a great response.

    "Students have been talking about the murals from the moment the pictures had been posted. Some even took the time to find a reason to come up to the campus to see the murals," he says. "I think what makes this small little action so valuable is that it has set the tone for our campus."

    And not only is that important to students, parents, and fellow staff, but it is also vital for the school's new principal, who is trying to gain the trust of the community during a time in which trust is so necessary for schools.

    "Being new to the campus, I think the parents were able to see how much I value their children and have their best interest at heart," Garcia continues. "I have had many parents tell me how they can just feel a difference in the campus climate and how much they are enjoying seeing their children wanting to come here. These murals have put trust back in the campus and its teachers, and by doing so we are able to build a culture in which our students want to be here and learn."