{#blank#}1{#/blank#}We achieve it actively by direct experience, by testing and proving an idea, or by reasoning. We achieve knowledge passively by being told by someone else. Most of the learning that takes place in the classroom and the kind that happens when we watch TV or read newspapers or magazines is passive. Conditioned as we are to passive learning, it's not surprising that we depend on it in our everyday communication with friends and co-workers.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} It makes us tend to accept what we are told even when it is little more than hearsay and rumor.

    Did you ever play the game Rumor? It begins when one person writes down a message but doesn't show it to anyone. Then the person whispers it, word for word, to another person. That person, in turn, whispers it to still another, and so on, through all the people playing the game. The last person writes down the message word for word as he or she hears it. Then the two written statements are compared.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}．

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} The simple fact that people repeat a story in their own words changes the story. Then, too, most people listen imperfectly. And many enjoy adding their own creative touch to a story, trying to improve on it, stamping it with their own personal style. Yet those who hear it think they know.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} A statement of opinion by one writer may be restated as a fact by another, who may in turn be quoted by yet another; and this process may continue, unless it occurs to someone to question the facts on which the original writer based his opinion or to challenge the interpretation he placed upon those facts.

A. Typically, the original message has changed.

B. Finally everybody gets the meaning.

C. Unfortunately, passive learning has a serious problem.

D. Knowledge is passed down from generation to generation.

E. That's what happens in daily life.

F. This process is also found among scholars and authors.

G. We can achieve knowledge either actively or passively.

    Have you used “um…” “like…” “you know…” in your speech? Catch words(口头禅) are unnecessary words used to fill up dead paces while you speak. Speaking too many catch words is like a bad habit that we are unaware of. While most people tend to ignore it in everyday conversation, in a formal speech or an interview, too many catch words can make even the best presentation look bad.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Stop when we are in doubt. Catch words are used more often when a person is unsure about the sentence to use next.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}If you are lost or in doubt over what to say next, just stop speaking, take a long pause, breathe in , figure out what to say and start again.

    Speak consciously and slowly. If the speech is too long and you talk continuously without thinking, then you might also be pushing in a few catch words in between.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}It is best to memorize the tricky parts of the speech, like the introduction and the conclusion where a majority of the catch words are used.

{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Preparing for the speech is very important when trying to remove catch words. Make it a point to pause when there is a comma or give two pauses at the end of the sentence. If certain words in the speech need to be emphasized then underline them and practice them as they need to be said.

    Avoid catch words in conversations. Get a friend or your partner to help you out when rehearsing a conversation.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Although it can be an unpleasant and often embarrassing process, but in the long run it helps in cutting down on catch words.

A. Practise your speech when you can.

B. Remember the saying that silence is golden.

C. Therefore we can find out best friends to guide us well.

D. Anytime you use a catch word, the friend can point it out.

E. So we should learn some ways to avoid speaking such words.

F. Structure the speech well to include as much information as is needed.

G. The mind is so busy trying to figure out what to say that there is a strong urge to speak such words.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}Friendships between Americans can be close and real, yet disappear soon if situations change. Neither side feels hurt by this. Both may exchange Christmas greetings for a year or two, perhaps a few letters for a while — then no more.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}. This can be quite difficult for us Chinese to understand, because friendships between us develop more slowly but then may become lifelong feelings, extending (延伸) sometimes deeply into both families.

    Americans are ready to receive us foreigners at their homes, share their holidays, and their home life. They will enjoy welcoming us and be pleased if we accept their hospitality (好客) easily.

    There is another difficult point for us Chinese to understand.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} This is usually the opposite of the practice in our country where we may be generous (慷慨)with our time. Sometimes, we, as hosts, will appear at airports even in the middle of the night to meet a friend.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}. The Americans, however, express their welcome usually at homes, but truly cannot manage the time to do a great deal with a visitor outside their daily routine. They will probably expect us to get ourselves from the airport to our own hotel by bus. And they expect that we will phone them from there.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}. We will find ourselves treated hospitably(好客).

    For the Americans, it is often considered more friendly to invite a friend to their homes than to go to restaurants, except for business matters. So accept their hospitality at home!

A.Americans don't show their politeness if it requires a great deal of time.

B.Friendships between Americans usually extend deeply into their families.

C.Americans always show their warmth even if they are very busy.

D.Once we arrive at their homes, the welcome will be full, warm and real.

E.We may take days off to act as guides to our foreign friends.

F.If the same two people meet again by chance, even years later, they pick up the friendship.

G.America is a mobile society.

    Sticking to your body's natural sleep-wake cycle is one of the most important strategies for achieving good sleep. If you keep a regular sleep schedule, you will feel much more refreshed and energized than if you sleep the same number of hours at different times. This holds true even if you change your sleep schedule by only an hour or two.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Try the following ways to help you stick to your body clock, and you will have a better sleep.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Keeping a regular sleep-wake schedule helps set your body's internal clock and improve the quality of your sleep. Start by setting realistic bedtime that will work with your lifestyle.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} If you're getting enough sleep, you should wake up naturally without an alarm. If you need an alarm clock to wake up on time, you may need to set earlier bedtime.

    Avoid sleeping in — even on weekends or nights you've stayed up late.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} If you need to make up for late night, choose a daytime nap rather than sleeping in. This way allows you to pay off your sleep debt with disturbing your natural sleep-wake rhythm.

    Be smart about napping. As mentioned above, napping is a good way to recharge and make up for lost sleep hours. But if you tend to have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep throughout the night, napping can make things worse.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Besides, limiting them to 15 to 20 minutes in the early afternoon is a good idea.

A. Never sleep after dinner.

B. Consistency is vitally important.

C. Try to go to sleep and get up at the same time every day.

D. Don't turn to sleeping pills every time you can't sleep quickly.

E. If sleeplessness is a problem for you，consider ridding naps altogether.

F. Choose a time when you normally feel tired, so that you will fall fast asleep.

G. The more your weekend / weekday sleep schedules differ, the worse the jet lag-like symptoms you will experience.

How to Rent Your House

    Before handing the keys to your house over to a complete stranger for care, there are decisions you need to make. In fact, the decisions you make now, before searching for a tenant (房客), will make the biggest impact on the success of your rental. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

What Condition Do You Want Your House in?

    There is no end to the amount of improving you can do to your house before renting it out. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} When is good enough, good enough?

    A house should be clean, empty (unless you are offering it “furnished”, which is uncommon) and free from any major repairs at the time the tenant moves in.

    Remember, the home does not need to be as fancy as you would want it to be. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Tenants will generally never take as good care of your house as you do―so don't spend too much time or money making unnecessary upgrades that will only be ignored or broken.

    Should You Use a Property Manager?

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} If you have the time, abilities, and energy to manage yourself―you can save a good deal of money by doing so. However, if you try to manage without the ability―it could end up costing you much more than what a property manager might charge.

    How Much Can You Rent Your House for?

    Luckily, discovering what the monthly rent will bear for your house is not difficult. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} In business, market research means to get out there and find out what others in your industry are charging; learning how much to charge for rent is no different. Your house will generally rent for about the same amount as other properties that are of similar location, size and condition.

A. The problem becomes learning when to stop.

B. No one wants to be a landlord with those problems.

C. The following are some questions to answer before you rent out you house.

D. Have a professional carpet cleaner clean the carpets before showing the property.

E. Look around at other rentals in your area and try to see what the typical quality is.

F. The best way to determine how much your house will rent for is to simply do market research.

G. The decision about whether to manage yourself or hire a property manager cannot be made by anyone other than you.

{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    It takes faith to live by principles, especially when you see people close to you get ahead in life by lying, cheating, indulging, manipulating, and serving only themselves. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Take the principle of honesty. If you're a big liar, you may be able to get by for a while, even for a few years. But you'd be hard-pressed to find a liar who achieved success over the long haul. As Cecil B. DeMille observed about his classic movie The Ten Commandments, "It is impossible for us to break the law." {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Unlike all the other centers we've looked at, principles will never fail you. They will never talk behind your back. They don't get up and move. They don't suffer career-ending injuries. They don't play favorites based on skin color, gender, wealth, or body features. A principle-centered life is simply the most stable, immovable, unshakable foundation you can build upon, and we all need one of those.

To grasp why principles always work, just imagine living a life based on their opposites —a life of dishonesty, loafing, indulgence, ingratitude, selfishness, and hate. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Ironically, putting principles first is the key to doing better in all the other centers. If you live the principles of service, respect, and love, for instance, you're likely to pick up more friends and be a more stable boyfriend or girlfriend. Putting principles first is also the key to becoming a person of character.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}In whatever situation you find yourself, ask, "What is the principle in play here?" For every problem, search for the principle that will solve it.

    If you're feeling worn out and beaten up by life, perhaps you should try the principle of balance. If you find no one trusts you, the principle of honesty might just be the cure you need.

A. Decide today to make principles your life-center, or paradigm.

B. What you don't see, however, is that breaking principles always catch up to them in the end.

C. Everybody has his principle

D. Principles Never Fail.

E. I can't imagine any good thing coming out of that.

F. We can only break ourselves against the law.

G. Law is inseparable from our life.