Some people make you feel comfortable when they are around. You spend an hour with them and feel as if you have known them half your life. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} .

    Here are several skills that good talkers have. If you follow the skills, they'll help you put people at their ease, and make friends with them 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 other matters—sometimes to really personal questions. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} . Second, once good talkers have asked questions, they listen to the answers .This point seems clear, but it isn't. Your questions 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.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} . If someone sticks to one topic, you can take it as a fact that he's really interested in it. Real listening also means not just listening to words, but to tones of voice. If the voice sounds dull, then, it's time for you to change the subject.

    Finally, good talkers know well how to deal with the occasion of parting. If you're saying goodbye, you may give him a firm 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. Real listening at least means some things.

B. You can become a popular person.

C. Almost anyone, no matter how shy he is, will answer a question.

D. And how he answers will let you know how far you can go.

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

F. It's polite to listen to others with a smile.

G. These people have something in common.

    The American literature is from the Romanticism to the Realism.

    The American Romanticism began from the end of 18th century to the outbreak of the Civil War, which is also called the American Renaissance. The period is as well as the time of American Westward Expansion. During the period, there were lots of workforces crowding to the cities, which promoted the industry.  The people found that they need their-own literature to record their experiences. So the Romanticism flourished(繁荣）.

    The Romanticism in American literature focuses on imagination and emotional factors. The American writers paid more attentions to the free expression of feelings and the characters' inner world. During the romantic period, there were many writers: Philip Freneau, William Cullen Bryant and so on.

    The Realism in American literature was from 1865 to 1914, and it takes on the American spirit, especially in American stories. The Realism against the Romanticism, advocates the people to come down to the earth and get rid of daydreams.

    During the 50 years from the Civil War to the WWI, the America had experienced a great change on many aspects, such as the politics, economy, culture and religion. It had changed the nature and the idea of the American society. The writers of new age didn't agree with the Romanticism of the old age.They were interested in real life and wanted to explain everything relating to the real life, which is to claim the objective reality, to get rid of idealism and Romanticism.

    There were 3 main writers at that time: William Peanoweils, Henry James and Mark Twain. Their writings represented the American native customs with their deep rural styles, which uncovered the people's inner life.

Creative Writing Summer School

2-15 August 2015

Study at one of the world's leading universities

About the Creative Writing Summer School

    This programme is for those wishing to develop their existing creative writing skills, either for eventual professional use, or out of personal interest.Workshop courses take place twice a day.In a series of plenary(全体出席的)lectures (each morning, and on some evenings), novelists, poets and writers of creative non-fiction discuss their own work and the art of writing.Plenary lectures are designed to expand students' understanding of their own creative options.Students will expected to complete daily writing tasks outside classroom hours; the resulting work will form the primary focus of the workshops.

What will I be studying?

    Workshop courses focus on practical writing skills and critical reflection; there are specialist options in fiction; creative non-fiction and poetry, and writing for stage and screen, as well as a more broadly-based writing course.

Who can apply?

    The programme is open to university students, literature teachers, professionals and those with other life experience; gap-year students preparing for university may also apply (students must be accompanied by a parent/ guardian if under 18 when the programme starts).Participants must also meet the language requirements specific to this programme and will be asked to provide a 300-400 word piece explaining their reasons for applying.

Who will be teaching me?

    Courses are taught by a combination of published writers associated with the School of Continuing Education, Peking University and by guest subject specialists from beyond the university.

Where will I stay?

    Participants can stay in the School of Continuing Education, Peking University, close to the teaching sites and city Coventry.

How do I apply?

    You can download an application form or apply online.

    Find out more: www.sce.pku.edu.cn

    A MENTORING (导师制) program is giving life changing opportunities to Banbury youth.

    Young Inspirations was founded two years ago to provide mentoring sessions for students and unemployed young adults aged 11 to 21.

    Alex Goldberg, the program's founder, said; "We set up Young Inspirations because we wanted to give young people experiences which will potentially be life changing and broaden their outlook.

    "We try to create work experience opportunities that will really make a difference to our youth. For example, we've secured internships (实习) with world-famous firms such as Honda.

    "At a time of funding cutbacks where schools are finding it more and more difficult to offer this kind of mentoring, it is extremely important that these opportunities are available both to help youth with their school work and grades and to give them opportunities which may help shape their futures. " Kieran Hepburn, 14, is one of a group of Banbury youth who has benefited from the program so far. In October the Banbury School pupil was accompanied by Young Inspirations staff to Paris where he was an observer at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) International Youth Forum (论坛).

    The event was held for young people from around the world, to seek their views on how the future of youth and education should look. Kieran joined several hundred observers mostly in their 20s and was the only UK school pupil to attend the event. Kieran thinks the trip was a life changing experience. " Before we left I didn't quite know what to make of it but when we got there we didn't stop, it was amazing," he said, " We went to three or four hours of debates each day and then did something cultural each afternoon. "

    The main theme of the forum was how youth can drive change in political and public life. It dealt with issues (问题) such as drug abuse, violence and unemployment.

    Kieran said: " It has really helped me to improve my confidence and social skills as well as my school grades and I was voted most improved pupil at school in August. "

    The Young Inspirations mentoring sessions take place each Friday in Banbury. For details visit www.younginspirations.com.

    One of the greatest contributions to the first Oxford English Dictionary was also one of its most unusual. In 1879, Oxford University in England asked Prof. James Murray to serve as editor for what was to be the most ambitious dictionary in the history of the English language. It would include every  English word possible and would give not only the definition but also the history of the word and quotations (引文) showing how it was used.

    This was a huge task, so Murray had to find volunteers from Britain, the United States, and the British colonies to search every newspaper, magazine, and book ever written in English. Hundreds of volunteers responded, including William Chester Minor. Dr. Minor was an American surgeon who had served in the Civil War and was now living in England. He gave his address as “Broadmoor, Crowthorne, Berkshire,” 50 miles from Oxford.

    Minor joined the army of volunteers sending words and quotations to Murray. Over the next 17 years, he became one of the staff's most valued contributors.

    But he was also a mystery. In spite of many invitations, he would always decline to visit Oxford. So in 1897, Murray finally decided to travel to Crowthorne himself. When he arrived, he found Minor locked  in a book-lined cell at the Broadmoor Asylum (精神病院) for the Criminally Insane.

    Murray and Minor became friends, sharing their love of words. Minor continued contributing to the dictionary, sending in more than 10,000 submissions in 20 years. Murray continued to visit Minor regularly, sometimes taking walks with him around the asylum grounds.

    In 1910, Minor left Broadmoor for an asylum in his native America. Murray was at the port to wave goodbye to his remarkable friend.

    Minor died in 1920, seven years before the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary was completed. The 12 volumes defined 414,825 words, and thousands of them were contributions from a very scholarly and devoted asylum patient.

    Parents and kids today dress alike, listen to the same music, and are friends. Is this a good thing? Sometimes, when Mr. Ballmer and his 16-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, listen to rock music together and talk about interests both enjoy, such as pop culture, he remembers his more distant relationship with his parents when he was a teenager.

    “I would never have said to my mom, 'Hey, the new Weezer album is really great. How do you like it?''' says Ballmer. “There was just a complete gap in taste.”

    Music was not the only gulf. From clothing and hairstyles to activities and expectations, earlier generations of parents and children often appeared to move in separate orbits.

    Today, the generation gap has not disappeared, but it is getting narrow in many families. Conversations on subjects such as sex and drugs would not have taken place a generation ago. Now they are comfortable and common. And parent-child activities, from shopping to sports, involve a feeling of trust and friendship that can continue into adulthood.

    No wonder greeting cards today carry the message, “To my mother, my best friend.”

    But family experts warn that the new equality can also result in less respect for parents. “There's still a lot of strictness and authority on the part of parents out there, but there is a change happening,” says Kerrie, a psychology professor at Lebanon Valley College. “In the middle of that change, there is a lot of confusion among parents.”

    Family researchers offer a variety of reasons for these evolving roles and attitudes. They see the 1960s as a turning point. Great cultural changes led to more open communication and a more democratic process that encourages everyone to have a say.

    “My parents were on the 'before' side of that change, but today's parents, the 40-year-olds, were on the 'after' side,” explains Mr. Ballmer, “It's not something easily accomplished by parents these days, because life is more difficult to understand or deal with, but sharing interests does make it more fun to be a parent now.”