Why is setting goals important? {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Instead of just letting life happen to you, goals allow you to make your life happen. Successful people imagine how their life should be and set lots of goals.

    By setting goals you are taking control of your life. It's like having a map to show you where you want to go. Think of it this way. There are two drivers. One has a destination in mind which can be found on a map. She can drive straight there surely without any wasted time of wrong turns. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} She starts off at the same time from the same place as the first driver, but she drives aimlessly around, never getting anywhere, just using up gas. Which driver do you want to be?

    Winners in life set goals and follow them through. They decide what they want in life and then get there by making plans and setting goals. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Goals aren't difficult to set and they aren't difficult to reach.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} You are the one who must decide what to achieve and in what direction to aim your life.

    Research tells us that when we write a goal down we are more likely to achieve it. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Like a contract(合同) with yourself, they are harder to neglect or forget. Also when you write your goals in a particular way, you are able to make yourself continuously aware of situations that will bring you nearer to your goal.

    The word "diary" comes from the Latin word "diarium", which means "daily allowance". {#blank#}1{#/blank#} And it is used for business notes, planning activities, keeping track of scheduled appointments, or documenting what has already happened. Some doctors suggest that writing in a diary is a good form of self-study.

    In America, from the 1940s through the 1980s, a diary was thought of mostly as a way to privately express one's deepest thoughts while keeping notations about the day. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Many times, movies would show a teenage girl beginning to write in her diary while she said aloud, "Dear diary……".

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} A diary kept by a young German Jewish girl by the name of Anne Frank provides us with invaluable lessons about history, for she documented her experiences while she hid from the Nazis during their occupation of the Netherlands in World War II. Her diary became one of the world's most widely read books and is the basis for many films.

    Samuel Pepys, who lived during the 17th century, is the earliest diary keeper that is famous today. His diary is also an important documentation of history, for it gives personal insight(洞察力) into London's Great Plague and the Great Fire. His diary is being published on the Internet, and it's interesting to note that there has been a new entry every day since January of 2003. It will continue over the course of several years to come. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}   

    Today's electronic version of the diary, the web log or "blog" has once again stretched the diary to be much more than a personal account of the day's events. There are blogs to document recipes, traveling, movies, independent news, product announcements, photos, and anything else that needs to be recorded over time. Search engines like Technorati.com have been created to keep track of the more than 112 million blogs that are currently public. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} 

A. It refers to a book for writings by date.

B. In its newest form, the diary has become more popular than ever.

C. Reading his diary is fascinating, and it makes his life all the more real to us.

D. People love to write diaries, so whenever they are free, they will write a few lines.

E. Those private reflections may have historical significance long after the author's death.

F. Nowadays, the blog has taken the place of the diary and becomes more and more popular.

G. In those times, and even continuing on today, writing in a diary was like writing to a special friend.

Habits to Be a Highly Effective Student

    Some students are able to get straight A's and at the same time serve as the president of three clubs. However, some students struggle to keep their GPA (Grade-Point Average) above a 3.0{#blank#}1{#/blank#}Although it's true that everyone's IQ is different, good study habits are very important. Here5re several habits you should adopt to get good grades.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} If you haven't had a planner (规划薄), get one. Many people use their computers and smartphones to make a schedule. The problem with that approach is that they are major distractions (分心的事物). Instead, get an old-fashioned paper and pen planner.

    Create a weekly schedule{#blank#}3{#/blank#}Include time that will be spent eating, sleeping and doing anything not related to school work. That way you know exactly how much you can accomplish each day.

    Take frequent, short breaks. Taking a break from studying for 15 minutes every hour will help keep you refreshed{#blank#}4{#/blank#} If you don't take a break, you may find yourself daydreaming or even falling asleep. Take some time for some water, a snack or a quick chat with a friend.

    Take care of yourself. During final exam week, it is common for students to fall behind on sleep and meals. Make sure you get a good night's sleep and have regular meals. Studying while hungry or sleepy is ineffective and will slow you down in the long run. Also try to make time for friends and family{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Keep things organized.

B. Keep away from your computers.

C. Of course, not everyone needs breaks.

D. Our brains are not meant to work for hours nonstop.

E. Having a good support system will help with all the stress.

F. And they seem to spend all of their time in studying.

G. Then under each day, make a list of things to do each hour.

    The rules about how to talk, eat and sit, which are highly limited, are observed in most Western restaurants and homes. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Many Westerners have no idea how to act at the Chinese dinner table. No forks or knives for them to use! The Chinese host makes great, sweeping arm movements that go over large sections of the table, passing over both food and friends alike. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} However, it leaves many foreigners at a loss for what to do.

    In my childhood home, dinner was enjoyed with low voices, and the topics that we could discuss were very limited. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} If I had to leave the table to use the toilet, I had to excuse myself without mentioning what it was that I was going to do. “May I be excused, please? I need to wash my hands.” I would say. My mother would say, “Sure.” My father would often play a joke on me by saying, “{#blank#}4{#/blank#}”

    As for eating, we did it quietly. No eating noises were allowed. Everything must be done as quietly as possible. If any sound was created by eating food or drinking, it would be considered as bad manners!

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}He is to sit up straight with the recessive hand (usually the left) in one's lap holding a napkin while the dominant hand (usually the right) holds the fork or spoon. The only time one is allowed to have both hands on the table is when he is using a knife to cut something.

A. The scene is fantastic.

B. Your hands don't look dirty!

C. How one sits at the table is also prescribed.

D. Can't you think up a better excuse than that?

E. In general they were all strictly forbidden topics.

F. They're completely different from what we find here in China.

G. We were not allowed to talk about anything that made listeners uncomfortable.

    I stood at the edge of the cliff. The wind stung my eyes, cutting into my skin. Dark-feathered birds circled the air, swooping (俯冲) low over the ocean every now and then to catch their dinner. Hundreds of feet below, the deep ocean beat against the rough sandy shore. I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with excitement — and at the same time, fear.

    Behind me, I heard the rest of the crew start to mutter. I was here for the shooting of a movie as I was one of the lead actors in the film Dangerous Things, and this scene was right in the middle of the climax (故事的高潮). It was vital that this went right.

The director had talked to me about getting a stunt double (替身演员), but I'd persuaded him that I could handle the dive. I'd taken a diving course a few years ago, and I'd been taking swimming lessons since I was five years old. I had been pretty confident that I could do this — up till now.

    Someone called out, “Ceria, you don't have to do this! Are you sure you want to dive?” It was one of the producers, Callie Evans. I knew I couldn't turn back now. I couldn't bear to see the disappointed look on the director's face when he was told that I couldn't do it.

    At that moment, all my fears and worries broke free. The expectation of adventure and victory seemed to move all the hesitation. I swooped downwards. The air on either side of me cut into my extended arms. I knew that this wonderful feeling of flight would only last a few seconds, yet time seemed to slow down so I could hear the thrilled whoops of my crew and a round of applause that seemed to echo in my pounding ears.

    A 2014 study found that readers of a short mystery story on a Kindle were significantly worse at remembering the order of events than those who read the same story in paperback.

    The brain reads by constructing a mental representation of the text based on the placement of the page in the book and the word on the page. The tactile (触觉的) experience of a book aids this process, from the thickness of the pages in your hands as you progress through the story to the placement of a word on the page.

    Surveys about the use of e-readers suggests that this affects a reader's sense of control. The inability to turn back to previous pages or control the text physically, either through making written notes or bending pages, limits one's sensory experience and thus reduces long-term memory of the text.

    Before the Internet, the brain read in a linear (线状的) fashion, taking advantage of sensory details to remember where key information was in the book by layout.

    As we increasingly read on screens, our reading habits have adapted to skim a text rather than really absorb its meaning. A 2006 study found that people read on screens in a "F" pattern, reading the entire top line but then only scanning through the text along the left side of the page. This sort of nonlinear reading reduces comprehension and actually makes it more difficult to focus the next time you sit down with a longer piece of text.

    Tufts University neuroscientist Maryanne Wolf worries that "the superficial way we read during the day is affecting us when we have to read with more in-depth processing." Individuals are increasingly finding it difficult to sit down and involve themselves deeply in a novel. As a result, some researchers and literature-lovers have started a "slow reading" movement, as a way to counteract their difficulty making it through a book.

    Slow-reading advocates recommend at least 30 to 45 minutes of daily reading away from the distractions of modern technology. By doing so, the brain can reengage with linear reading. The benefits of making slow reading a regular habit are numerous, reducing stress and improving your ability to concentrate.

    Reading an old-fashioned novel is also linked to improving sleep. When many of us spend our days in front of screens, it can be hard to signal to our body that it's time to sleep. By reading a paper book about an hour before bed, your brain enters a new zone, distinct from that enacted by reading on an e-reader.