The Winner's Guide to Success

    Do you know what makes people successful? To find out the answers, an American reporter recently visited some of the most successful people around the world.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

Be responsible for yourself

    Sometimes you may want to blame others for your failure to get ahead. In fact, when you say someone or something outside of yourself is stopping you from making success, you're giving away your own power.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

Write a plan.

    It's very difficult to try to get what you want without a good plan. It's just like trying to drive through strange roads to a city far away.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Without this “map”, you may waste your time, money and also your energy; while with the “map”, you will enjoy the “trip” and get what you want in the shortest possible time.

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Nothing great is easy to get. So you must be ready to work hard—even harder than you have ever done. If you are not willing to pay the price, you won't get anything valuable.

Never give up.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}When you are doing something, you must tell yourself again and again: Giving up is worse than failure because failure can be the mother of success, but giving up means the death of hope.

A. A good plan is like a map to you.

B. It seems to us that everyone knows this, but it is easier said than done.

C. Some people achieve success much later in life because they don't work hard earlier.

D. You're saying, "You have more control over my life than I do."

E. Someone else's opinions of you don't have to become your reality.

F. Be willing to pay the price.

G. Here are some keys to success that they give.

    Celebrate!

    Piñatas(彩罐)

    In Mexico, children often get piñatas on their birthday. Their parents put chocolates and other sweets inside the piñata and hang it on a tree. Then the children hit the piñata with a stick. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

Noodles

    In China, people often celebrate birthdays by eating with family or friends, and the last dish of the meal is always noodles. The noodles are long and thin. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} You can't cut them. In Chinese culture, long noodles mean you will have a long life.

Business birthdays

    A business birthday shows that a company is successful. Many businesses in the USA celebrate important birthdays, like 10, 50 or 150 years. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}sometimes they make TV advertisements. It is a good chance to advertise the business.

Name days

    As well as a birthday, many people in Southern Europe also celebrate their name day. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} people have big parties and open their houses to anybody who wants to come. People bring small gifts, often flowers or a box of sweets.

Islamic New Year

    In Muslim countries across the world, people celebrate Eid(开斋节). Eid means festival or celebration. During Eid, people visit family and friends, as well as people who are sick or in hospital. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Children receive toys, too. Children often wear special traditional clothes during the Eid celebrations.

A. You have to eat them in one piece.

B. They go out for a meal to celebrate.

C. Companies hold parties and send cards.

D. They give presents, such as sweets and food.

E. It breaks and the sweets fall out on to the ground.

F. This is one of the two important festivals in this country.

G. In Greece, name days are more important than birthdays.

    Recently researchers went through some survey information about the health and habits of men and women in Scotland, {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (hope) to determine how much exercise is needed to keep the Scots {#blank#}2{#/blank#} feeling depressed. The answer: a mere 20 minutes a week of any physical exercise, whether sports, walking, gardening {#blank#}3{#/blank#} even housecleaning. The researchers found that more exercise brought more mental-health benefits. But their overall conclusion was that being active for 20 minutes a week {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (be) enough, if your goal is mental health.

    How much exercise is enough? This is a question difficult to answer, {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (part) because the amount of exercise needed depends on the benefits you hope to gain. Twenty minutes a week of housecleaning or other {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (activity) may, according to the Scottish study, increase your satisfaction, but it certainly won't do much for your physical fitness and is unlikely {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (reduce) your risks for diseases. It also won't help much with weight loss.

    Interestingly, they did not find that exercise beyond a certain point would bring additional health benefits. According to the report, “It {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (estimate) that people who are physically active for about seven hours a week have a 40 percent {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (low) risk of dying early than those {#blank#}10{#/blank#} are active for less than 30 minutes a week.”

    Reducing class size has traditionally been seen as an important way to improve a student's educational experience. Many often believe that smaller classes would permit teachers to give more personal attention to their students.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}.

    But one recent study suggests there's not much research-based evidence to support this idea. The research was collected by a team from Denmark's Danish Center for Social Science Research.

The study notes that one of the main problems with reducing class size is that it can have very high costs. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. Financial limitations make it very difficult for many schools to reduce the number of students in the classroom.

    The new study began by examining 127 studies on classroom size. Its goal was to examine the major research studies already completed on the subject. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. In the end, the research centered on 10 main studies with possible sampling (采样)problems.

    The researchers concluded that there's some evidence to suggest that reducing class size may lead to some improvement in a student's reading achievement. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. They found just a 53-percent chance that a randomly selected test score from a student from a small class would be higher than the selected score of a student from a larger class. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. This led the researchers to conclude that there would be no benefit at all to math students in a smaller class size.

A. But they said the effect is very small

B. For mathematics achievement, the result was 49 percent

C. This can theoretically lead to improved academic results for students

D. Many public opinion studies have shown teachers favor smaller class sizes

E. The effects of larger class size can stay long after the students complete their education

F. Increasing class size is one of the most common ways school systems control education spending

G. They especially centered on those trying to measure if smaller class size led to greater academic success

    We usually don't mind when people call us by positive nicknames. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} But when people call us by cruel nicknames, it can be difficult to get them to stop. So what should you do?

    Ask your friends to stop. Maybe you tripped (绊倒) over your feet a few times, and your friends started calling you klutz, thinking that you don't really mind. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Leave a nicknames behind. Sometimes, life gives us a chance to start fresh. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} If you're moving from elementary school to middle school, let your friends know that: A new year has begun and you don't want to go by your old nickname.

    I ignore those who call you by a nickname. If the kids calling you by a bad nickname aren't your friends, you should do your best to ignore them. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} It may be hard to pretend that it doesn't hurt, but if you get angry or obviously upset, it will just encourage them to use the nickname all the time.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Remember that if you have a bad nickname now  you probably won't be stuck with it. Just look at Elvis Presley! When he first started singing on stage, he wiggled (摆动) his hips so much that cruel critics and the audience nicknamed him Elvis The Pelvis. He never stopped wiggling. People soon found it impossible to ignore his talent and began to call him The King of Rock & Roll.

A. If it does bother you, tell them.

B. Believe that things will change.

C. If the kids refuse to stop, talk to your teacher.

D. It feels good when these nicknames are repeated.

E. Although words can be hurtful, they can't change who you really are.

F. The chance can be a good time to get rid of a nickname that you don't like.

G. If you act like they aren't hurting you, they'll eventually get bored and stop.

    A good book can be satisfying. If reading is a habit you'd like to get into, there are some ways to develop it.

    Realize that reading is enjoyable if you have a good book. If you have a difficult book and you are forcing yourself through it, it will seem like a task. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Set time. You should have some time during every day when you'll read for at least 5 to 10 minutes. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}For example, make it a habit to read during breakfast and lunch and even dinner if you eat alone.

    Always carry a book. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} When I leave the house, I always make sure to have my car keys and one book at hand. The book stays with me in the car, and I take it into the office and to appointments and pretty much everywhere I go.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Find a place in your home where you can sit in a comfortable chair. Don't lie down unless you're going to sleep. There should be television or computer near the chair, and no music or no noisy family members/roommates. If you don't have a place like this, create one.

    Reduce television/the Internet. If you really want to read more, try cutting back on time on TV or the Internet. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Still, every minute you reduce of the Internet/TV, you could use for reading. This could create hours of book reading time.

A. Wherever you go, take a book with you.

B. Go to bookstores.

C. Have some good tea or coffee while you read.

D. Find a quiet place.

E. This may be difficult for some people.

F. If this happens, give up the book and find another one that you'll really love.

G. It means you will read no matter how busy you are