You may feel comfortable with some people. You spend an hour with them and feel as if you have known them half a life. These people have something in common. And once we know what it is, we can try to do it ourselves.

    How is it done?{#blank#}1{#/blank#}If you follow the skills, you'll make friends with people quickly.

    First of all, good talkers ask questions.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}One well-known businesswoman says, “At business lunches, I always ask people what they did that morning. It's a common question, but it will get things going.” From there you can move on to some other questions. And how he answers will let you know how far you can go.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}This point seems clear, but it isn't. Your question should have a point and help to tell what sort of person you are talking to. And to find out, you really have to listen carefully and attentively.

    Real listening at least means some things.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}If someone sticks to one topic, it means he's really interested in it. Real listening also means not just listening to words, but to tones (语气) of voice. If the voice sounds boring, then, it's time for you to change the subject.

    Finally, good talkers know well when to say good-bye. Remember to give him a handshake and say, “I've really enjoyed meeting you.”{#blank#}5{#/blank#}Let people know what you feel, and they may walk away feeling as if they've known you half their life.

A．Almost anyone will answer a question.

B．Here are several skills that good talkers have.

C．If you want to see that person again, don't keep it a secret.

D．First, it means not to change the subject of the conversation.

E．Second, once good talkers have asked questions, they listen to the answers.

    A famous scientist made some great inventions. A newspaper reporter asked him why he thought he was able to be so much more creative than other persons. What made him so successful and different from others?

He said it all came from an experience with his mother when he was about two years old.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} when he lost his control on the bottle and it fell, pouring the milk all over the kitchen floor — a sea of milk!

    His mother didn't shout at him，instead, she said, "Robert, what a great and wonderful mess you have made!{#blank#}2{#/blank#}. Well, something bad had happened. Would you like to get down and play in the milk for a few minutes before we clean it up?"

    Indeed, he did. After a few minutes, his mother said, "You know, Robert, whenever you make a mess like this, you have to clean it up{#blank#}3{#/blank#}? We could use a sponge(海绵）or a towel. Which I do you prefer?" He chose the sponge and together they cleaned up the spilled(溅出的) milk.

His mother then said, "You know, what we have here is a failed experiment in how to carry a big milk bottle with two small hands.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} and see if you can find a way to carry it without dropping it." In the end, the little boy learned how to carry the bottle without dropping it. What a wonderful lesson!

{#blank#}1{#/blank#}It's a program from Korea. Five star-daddies will take care of their kids without their mothers. They will go to lots of different places without moms. How do the daddies solve all the problems?

{#blank#}2{#/blank#}It's a musical program from Holland. Famous singers, such as Jay Chou and Na Ying are the stars' tutors(导师). The Host of it is famous as “the best tongue” for his fast speaking speed in China.

{#blank#}3{#/blank#}It is a program for sharing talents, coming from one of Britain's most popular talent show competitions. Anyone at any age with any kinds of high talent can be on TV for “The winner of the Talent”.

{#blank#}4{#/blank#}It is a movie channel of CCTV. You can enjoy all kinds of great movies around the world on this channel.

{#blank#}5{#/blank#}Different kinds of English programs are on this channel of CCTV all day. Do you want to improve your English? Watch the program on this channel.

B

    After you get back home from a trip, one of the most pleasant things is sharing your stories with people. And that's what we'd like you to do. Our magazine's “True Stories” section is for your strange experiences, heart-warming tales and funny stories on your trip. So if you have good stories, please write to us!

    If your story is chosen as the best one, you will win the nine-day trip across North America, including a seven-night trip along the California coast. For more information, please call 800-227-2826, or e-mail us at TrueStories@hotmail.com.

    Besides, you need to remember a few things if you want to write a story:

    Keep the story brief (简短的) and lively (within 250 words).

    Please send your story as the body of your e-mail, not as an attachment (附件).

    Most of the stories we print have photos, so send pictures, but try not to go crazy. Send only the best one(s).

    Please send your photos as an attachment, not embedded in (把……嵌入) the body of your e-mail.

    We don't mind if you or your friends are in the pictures, as long as you tell us who or what is in the photos.

    We need to be able to get in touch with you, so tell us your phone number and home address.

    There is an old Spanish saying which goes, “Tomorrow is often the busiest day of the week.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}I would say, too many. We have to go for them now!

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}Nobody likes to talk about death, but everybody is going to die at one point. None of us knows the hour, or the day. Therefore, today is all we have. Don^'t go to your tomb with unrealized dreams. Make the decision to go after every dream, big or small right now.

You will be much happier if you go for it. Imagine how happy you will be if you^'re living the life you always dreamed about.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}Take control of your own happiness. Don't keep your dreams waiting. Go after them today!

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}When I was nine, I found an ad for selling greeting cards in a children's magazine. I asked my mother to let me send for the cards. Two weeks later when the cards arrived, I rushed from the house. Three hours later, returned home with no card but a lot of money. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Take me for example.

B. Tomorrow is not promised.

C. How many times have we put off our dreams until tomorrow?

D. A salesperson was born.

E. The only thing that is stopping you is yourself.

    Mr Jones was ninety, so it was difficult for him to remember things. But he still liked travelling very much, so he and his wife went to Spain for a holiday every year. (One summer when they were there, they went to visit some friends. One of them had two daughters.

    One afternoon Mr Jones was talking with one of the girls in the garden after lunch. "You and your sister were badly ill when my wife and I were here last year, weren't you?" He said to her.

    "Yes, we were," answered the girl. "We were badly ill." The old man said nothing for a moment, because he was thinking. Then at last he said, "Oh, yes, I remember now! One of you died. Which one of you was it, you or your sister?"

    The girl answered, "It was me."

    "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," said the old man.

    Mr Jones was too {#blank#}1{#/blank#} to remember things. He and his wife went to Spain to {#blank#}2{#/blank#} a holiday. When they were in Spain, they {#blank#}3{#/blank#}some of their friends. One afternoon when Mr Jones was {#blank#}4{#/blank#}with one of his friend's daughters, he remembered that the girl and her sister were badly ill last year. But he couldn't remember who died. The girl played a {#blank#}5{#/blank#}on him and told him that she died last year.