Choosing the right university for you is a big decision with many factors to consider. The institution that you choose will not only be the one that ensures your academic goals, but it will also be where you will live, learn, play sports, socialize and work for several years. Therefore, before you start filling out those university application forms, take a step back and consider the many variables that affect the “fit” of a university to your unique personality and educational goals. Take a look at the following factors, and decide which ones mean the most to you.

    Consider your educational goals. You will discover that different schools are  more recognized or progressive in your chosen field of study than others. For this reason, talk to advisors, professionals in your field, or go to clubs organized by the alumni(校友). When you check out school ranking for your major, you may find that your first choice is not really a match, while another fits perfectly.

    Consider costs. It will be no surprise to you at this point that not all schools cost the same. Some of the more famous schools are so because they are difficult to get into and difficult to pay for. Don't let this necessarily stop you. Just keep this consideration in mind as you narrow your list of potential schools.

    Choosing a university should not be done only on reputation, but also take the academic programs and overall environment into consideration. Be aware that reputations are sometimes out of date or overstated, so first-hand experience is often beneficial.

    Once you've identified the factors that are most important to you, you've taken the first steps towards making a successful choice. Make sure you pick a university that will serve your needs throughout your university career.

    Winters are long and unforgiving in North Dakota. The winter of 1996 was especially brutal. It was a hard time in my own life too, A neck injury had kept me flat in bed for nearly a year. “Just in time for Easter,” my husband, Dick, said. But how could I feel the joy when the snow was four feet deep and I had months of painful physical treatment ahead?

    I was doing the dishes one day, feeling hopeless when there was a tap against the glass. It was a branch of the troublesome cottonwood (棉白杨).Back in the fall of 1979, it was a new subdivision (分支) then, an eight-foot stick. The people who'd briefly occupied the house before us had placed the pipe from the pump next to it. The earth was so wet that the poor thing had fallen down, most of its bare root system pointing skyward, and blowing hopelessly back and forth in the cold wind. Dick decided to pull it out one day, but I disapproved of it.

    “Look at how hard it's trying!” I said, pointing to the way it strongly kept hold of the earth. “It deserves a chance.”

    Dick borrowed some tools. We packed dry soil around the tree and put up some stakes (桩) into the ground, making it stand upright. That winter was still terrible. Surprisingly, in the spring my “rescue stick” put forth a few leaves, then with lots of branches. The year after that, we were able to remove the stakes. By the 1990s that little stick was a giant, towering over the house.

    Now the tapping at the window continued, louder as the wind picked up, almost as though to tell me to look up. At last, I did. I caught ray breath. In the window against the icy blue sky, thousands and thousands of fresh red buds were waving in the wind.

    The tree was bursting with life and I had a wonderful Easter.

    Have you ever lost your temper? Did you yell and scream or want to hit someone? If so, you are angry.

    Everyone gets angry. Maybe you “lose your cool” or “hit the roof.” Anger can even be a good thing. When kids are treated unfairly, anger can help them stand up for themselves. The hard part is learning what to do with these strong feelings.

    Don't lose control if you get angry. Taking it out on others never solves anything. Instead, admit to yourself that you are angry and try to figure out why. What can you do to keep the situation from happening again?

    It helps to talk about your anger with an adult, such as a parent, teacher, or relative. Once you talk about anger, those bad feelings usually start to go away.

Here are some other things you can do when you start to feel angry.

Talk to a friend you can trust

    Count to 10

    Get or give a hug

    Do jumping jacks or another exercise

    Draw a picture of your anger

    Play a video game

    Run around the outside of the house five times as fast as you can

Sing along with the stereo

    Pull weeds in the garden

    Think good thoughts (maybe about a fun vacation or your favorite sport)

    Take a bike ride, go skateboarding, play basketball —do something active!

    Never getting angry is impossible. Instead, remember that how you act when you are angry can make the situation better or worse. Don't let anger be the boss of you. Take charge of it!

    Can you imagine printing food? Some scientists are trying to revolutionize the dining experience by doing this. They hope that having a 3D printer in the kitchen will become as commonplace as the microwave. Scientists say that they are easy to use:you simply have to select a recipe and put the raw food "inks" into the printer. You can also change the instructions to make the food exactly how you want it. This means that it would be very quick and easy to create tasty and nutritious meals.

    They say that if people used 3D printers to create meals there would be less need for traditional growing, transporting and packaging processes as food production would be a lot easier. For example, alternative ingredients (原料) such as proteins from insects could be changed into tasty products. And as is known,those traditional activities are not beneficial to our surroundings.

    This technology could also help people who suffer from dysphagia (a swallowing disorder).The patients could program the printer and softer versions would be made so that they would not have trouble swallowing them.

    However,some people think that using 3D-printed foods would be a disaster. It could take away many jobs,including those for growing,transporting and packaging food. Imagine a world where there was no need for farming or growing crops and the same tastes could be printed from a raw "food ink". Likewise, traditional cafes and restaurants might lose business. Also, there are concerns about the nutritional value of printed food:is it really possible to get the nutrients we need from food-based inks?

    What's more, cooking and eating together with family and friends has long been a traditional and enjoyable activity. It is hard to imagine a world where the pastime of cooking is dead and meals can be created at the touch of a button.

    The possibility of self-driving robot cars has often seemed like a futurist's dream, years away from coming into reality in the real world. Well, the future is apparently now. The California Department of Motor Vehicles began giving permits in April for companies to test truly self-driving cars on public roads. The state also cleared the way for companies to sell or rent out self-driving cars, and for companies to operate driverless taxi services. California, it should be noted, isn't leading the way here. Companies have been testing their cars in cities across the country. It's hard to predict when driverless cars will be everywhere on our roads. But however long it takes, the technology may change our transportation systems and our cities, for better or for worse, depending on how the transformation is managed.

    While much of the debate so far has been focused on the safety of driverless cars, policymakers should be talking more about how self-driving cars can help reduce traffic jams, cut emissions(排放)and offer more convenient and affordable choices to move around. The arrival of driverless cars is a chance to make sure that those cars are environmentally friendly and more shared.

    Do we want to copy or even worsen the traffic of today with driverless cars? Imagine a future where most adults own their self-driving cars. They accept long, slow journeys to and from work on crowded highways because they can work, entertain themselves or sleep on the ride. They take their driverless car to a date and set the empty car to circle the building to avoid paying for parking. Instead of walking a few blocks to pick up a child or the dry cleaning, they send the self-driving minibus. The convenience even leads fewer people to take public transport — an unwelcome side effect researchers have already found in ride-hailing(网约车)services. Policymakers should start thinking now about how to make sure the appearance of driverless cars doesn't worsen the transportation system we have today. The coming technological development presents a chance for cities and states to develop transportation systems designed to move more people, and more affordably. The car of the future is coming. We just have to plan for it.

    One day a professor entered the classroom and asked his students to prepare for a surprise test. They waited anxiously at their desks for the test to begin. The professor handed out the question paper, with the text facing down as usual. Once he handed them all out, he asked his students to turn the page and begin. To everyone's surprise, there were no questions but a black dot in the center of the page. The professor seeing the expression on everyone' face, told them the following, "I want you to write what you see there."

    The students were confused and got started on the inexplicable (令人不解的) task.

    At the end of the class the professor took all the answer papers and started reading each one of them aloud in front of all the students. All of them with no exceptions, described the black dot, explained its position in the middle of the sheet, imagined what the black dot stood for and so on.

    After all had been read, the classroom was silent. The professor began to explain, "I am not going to grade on you this time. I just wanted to give you something to think about. No one wrote about the white part of the paper. Everyone focused on the black dot and the same happens in our lives. We have a white paper to observe and enjoy, but we always focus on the dark spots. Our life is filled with love and care, and we always have reasons to celebrate—nature renewing itself every day, our friends around us, the job that provides our livelihood, the miracles we see every day…"

    In fact, we insist on focusing only on the dark spots—the health issues that bother us, the lack of money, the complicated relationship with a family member, the disappointment with a friend, etc. Take your eyes away from the black spots in your life. The dark spots are very small compared to everything we have in our lives, so enjoy each moment that life gives you.